Newsroom

« Back to Newsroom

DukeNet Sells Tower Portfolio to GTP

12/15/2009, GTP

In a sign of the close relationship that it shares with the utility industry, Global Tower Partners closed on the purchase of 141 towers Dec. 4 from DukeNet Communications Services, a subsidiary of Duke Energy. The towers are located in eight states, including Ohio and the Carolinas. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

It is GTP's third asset purchase from a utility and the tower company's second from Duke, which occurred in 2003. In 2006 and 2007, it acquired a series of monopoles built inside utility substations in Tampa and Orlando, Fla., from Progress Energy.

"We have a longstanding relationship with Duke," Marc Ganzi, chief executive officer, Global Tower Partners, told AGL Bulletin. "GTP has a pretty good history of buying assets from utility companies. The fact that we have done transactions with utility companies does give those sellers confidence in our capabilities to operate in and around their infrastructure. We are looking to continue those relationships going forward."

Other buyers were aggressively competing with GTP for the Duke assets, Ganzi said. He credited GTP's relationship with Duke for helping seal the deal.

"You make relationships and if you do the right thing, you treat the seller right and the seller treats you right, there is always the possibility to do business again," Ganzi said. "But at the end of the day, our existing relationship with Duke and their confidence in our ability to execute was ultimately what carried the day for us."

GTP looks to acquire towers where it is difficult to construct in high barrier-to-market areas. DukeNet's freestanding towers built within the utility infrastructure fit that criterion.

"What we saw in the Duke portfolio was a set of assets built inside of components of their utility infrastructure that are really difficult to replicate," Ganzi said. "The opportunity to get assets inside of utility substations and along electrical transmission and distribution infrastructure is always unique and different. Ultimately, this is where 3G and 4G technologies are going. Having these types of high-barrier-to-entry locations will prove to be very valuable."

GTP has looked at 186 transactions during 2009 and has closed on 42 purchases. It anticipates closing on three more and will look at a dozen more by year's end.

The year began year began with GTP acquiring 235 towers in January from AT&T Mobility located in 24 states. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. In the following month, GTP closed a previously announced purchase of towers from SureWest Communications for $9.2 million.

DukeNet was formed after the acquisition of Lattice Communications in 2006, according to its website, and the subsidiary received the exclusive rights from its parent company, Duke Energy, to develop sites on real estate owned in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. In 2008, DukeNet acquired 115 tower sites from Vangard Wireless for a total of 142 tower sites within the Midwest and Southeast.

Also in February, GTP added $55 million dollars to its senior credit facility from Toronto Dominion Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Barclays Bank and Deutsche Bank. In December 2008, GTP closed a $165 million senior credit facility. Macquarie funds -- Macquarie Infrastructure Partners and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners II -- own 84.9 percent of GTP.

About Global Tower Partners

Global Tower Partners (), based in Boca Raton, Florida, is one of the leading providers of outsourced antennae site facilities to the wireless communications industry in the United States. GTP's business includes the ownership, development, leasing and management of antennae sites on towers and commercial real estate rooftops. GTP owns or master leases more than 10,000 wireless sites, including 3,200 towers throughout the United States. GTP's customers are leading wireless communications providers including AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint-Nextel, MetroPCS, Leap Wireless, CellularOne and Clearwire.

« Back to Newsroom