Verizon Communications has made a deal to promote the rights to lease, function and handle greater than 6,300 towers throughout the USA to telecom infrastructure firm Vertical Bridge for $3.3 billion.
Ron Bizick, president and CEO of Vertical Bridge, mentioned that the deal was the most important U.S. tower transaction in almost a decade.
The towers are owned by varied subsidiaries of Verizon, which retains possession of the towers and is getting into right into a 10-year lease-back of capability because the anchor tenant on the towers, with choices to extent as much as 50 years. The transaction is being structured as a pay as you go lease, Verizon famous, with $2.8 billion in money upfront. It’s anticipated to shut by the tip of this yr, topic to regulatory approvals.
Each Vertical Bridge’s father or mother firm DigitalBridge and international funding firm CDPQ, which is a big shareholder in Vertical Bridge, are contributing to the financing of the transaction, which firm executives described as pivotal for the corporate’s realization of its long-term technique.
“This transaction represents a big step for Vertical Bridge,” mentioned Bizick. “The imaginative and prescient of the corporate founders 10 years in the past was to create a everlasting, non-public, and at-scale U.S. tower firm. This transaction marks a big milestone within the realization of that imaginative and prescient. Upon the completion of this transaction, these property, along with our present portfolio which incorporates hundreds of younger, purpose-built towers, improve Vertical Bridge’s place as a quick, pleasant, and versatile colocation associate to the wi-fi trade.”
Marc Ganzi, CEO of DigitalBridge and vice chairman of Vertical Bridge, known as it a “landmark transaction … [that] marks an inflection level” for the corporate, which was shaped in 2014. “This transaction not solely solidifies our management within the tower area but in addition strategically positions us to capitalize on the rising demand for wi-fi infrastructure, particularly as AI-driven applied sciences and 5G proceed to reshape connectivity wants throughout industries,” he added.
Verizon already has an present build-to-suit three way partnership with Vertical Bridge, primarily based on a deal made in 2023 with the intention to help speedy growth of Verizon’s 4G and 5G infrastructure.
The 6,339 towers are scattered throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In a joint launch, the 2 firms mentioned that the deal “will help Verizon’s efforts to drive down tower-related prices and supply higher vendor range in a concentrated trade.” Which will significantly attraction to cell community operators as they tighten their capex and opex spending.
“Because the nation’s largest mobility supplier, we’re effectively positioned with higher monetary flexibility to put money into our enterprise, return worth to our shareholders and make the nation’s greatest community even higher for purchasers,” mentioned Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg. “This transaction builds on our present relationship with Vertical Bridge whereas realizing substantial worth for this distinctive set of property and permits us to be agile in optimizing the community with among the finest working companions.”
