HOUSTON-Crown Castle International Corp. said it has acquired 619 wireless communications towers from Powertel Inc. for approximately $262 million in cash.
The agreement provides Powertel with a 10-year lease, with three five-year renewal terms. Crown Castle said it will receive $1,800 per month per tower from Powertel as anchor tenant, subject to a 15-percent rent increase at the end of each five-year term.
Crown Castle and Powertel also executed a binding letter agreement related to the purchase of 31 sites, which are existing Powertel sites or sites in the process of being constructed. The agreement also includes a build-to-suit arrangement through Dec. 31, 2000.
“The new build-to-suit agreement brings our companywide total to approximately 2,000 new tower sites contracted to be built over the next five years, primarily in markets where we have significant tower clusters with anchor tenants like Powertel, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth and One2One,” said Ted B. Miller Jr., Crown Castle chairman and chief executive officer.
In related news, Crown said it closed its first transaction with BellSouth, involving wireless towers in Kentucky and Indiana. The closing is part of several closings to be completed in Crown Castle’s previously announced 1,850 tower transaction with BellSouth.
