SBA Communications Corp. (SBAC) agreed to pay cell tower firm Mobilitie LLC $1.09 billion to acquire over 2,300 tower sites in the U.S. and Central America and other assets in a cash-and-stock deal.
SBA, which owns and operates wireless communications infrastructure in North and Central America, said it will pay $850 million in cash and 5.25 million Class A shares. The deal's value is based on the company's closing price on Friday.
The cash portion of the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, will be paid from a combination of cash on hand, existing credit facilities and $500 million in financing commitments from Barclays PLC (BCS, BARC.LN) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM).
Along with the tower sites SBA is acquiring, the company will also take ownership of some of Mobilitie's indoor and outdoor distributed antenna system assets in Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City and Auburn, Ala.
SBA President and Chief Executive Jeffrey A. Stoops said the towers could be readily integrated into the company's existing portfolio, as they are all located in areas where SBA already does business. He said the deal was particularly important as consumer demand for wireless data services continues to rise.
Stoops added SBA expects the transaction will immediately add to equity free cash flow per share.
The company's shares were inactive premarket at $46.27.
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john.kell@dowjones.com
