A CS&L wireless tower acquisition from Windstream highlights an ongoing move into the wireless infrastructure business for the newly formed telecommunications REIT. Communications Sales & Leasing (CS&L) is the REIT spin-off from Windstream, created to assemble, own, and lease telecommunications network assets.
CS&L will be acquiring 32 existing towers and operating rights for 49 additional tower sites. In addition, the deal also gives CS&L rights for future construction and operation of wireless towers on 1,000 properties that CS&L currently leases to Windstream. Total transaction cost is $3 million and subject to some regulatory approvals.
“This acquisition is consistent with CS&L’s strategy of owning and constructing mission critical communications infrastructure, and advances the Company’s goal of expanding its relationships with the largest wireless carriers,” says CS&L in a press release announcing the deal. “Additionally, the 1,000 properties represent growth potential for future wireless tower construction.”
CS&L Wireless Tower Acquisition
This wireless infrastructure deal follows another CS&L acquisition with close ties to wireless. They recently acquired PEG Bandwidth, a fiber network with deep wireless backhaul focus.
This is the second transaction for the REIT since its spin-off from Windstream. CS&L executives have commented in the past that they want to acquire wireless and fiber asset holdings that will help diversify and balance against the large consumer broadband network assets that they currently own and lease back to Windstream.
They now own a considerable fiber network (PEG) serving three of the four top wireless carriers and own or have the rights to develop close to 1,100 tower sites (subject to regulatory approvals).
