BOSTON-Consistent with the tower industry’s consolidation trend, American Tower Corp. scored high last week with several new transactions.
The company signed a $39 million agreement to acquire 108 wireless communication towers from Dobson Tower Co. and build a minimum of 65 towers for Sygnet Communications Inc., both subsidiaries of Dobson Communications Corp.
American Tower also announced it purchased the assets of San Francisco-based Watson Communications Systems Inc. for approximately $73 million in cash.
The 108 existing towers from Dobson are located primarily along interstate and major highways in western New York and Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, said ATC. The 65 build-to-suit towers may be developed in Sygnet licensed areas.
The agreement provides Sygnet, which once owned and operated the towers being purchased, with a 10-year lease and three five-year renewal terms for existing towers and future build-to-suit sites.
The Watson transaction includes 11 wireless and 10 broadcast communication towers in the San Francisco Bay area. American Tower’s subsidiary, ATC Teleports, also acquired a nine-antenna teleport system in San Jose, Calif.
Steven Moskowitz, ATC’s vice president and general manager of the Northeast region, said the location of the Dobson towers is excellent both in terms of population coverage and future wireless carrier expansion.
He said along with providing deployment solutions, ATC hopes to increase its sales of products and services to Sygnet and “truly partner with them in the future.”
American Tower also said last week it completed its merger with CommSite International Inc., an antenna-site development and site management company based in Vienna, Va. The cash-for-stock transaction, valued at $38.8 million, includes existing towers, build-to-suit agreements and a portfolio of managed sites and lease/sublease contracts, said American Tower.
