Discover how investments into private cell tower companies are changing the dynamics of the tower business. Read SITA's latest presentation.

1. INVESTMENTS FLOWING INTO
PRIVATE CELL TOWERS
By Ken Schmidt
President of Steel in the Air

2. INVESTMENT BANKS & TOWERS
“Cell tower acquisition & development in the U.S. has
traditionally been the purview of large, public tower
companies, such as American Tower (AMT), Crown Castle
(CCI), and SBAC.
In the last 2-3 years, Investment Banks have shown an
increasing willingness to finance small to mid-sized,
privately owned cell tower companies. The escalation of
this trend to invest in new entrants is not coincidental to an
increase in the multiples of cash flow that are paid for
tower acquisitions and a dearth of active tower
developers.”
Ken Schmidt, President of Steel in the Air

3. WHYARE CELL TOWER
INVESTMENTS ON THE RISE?
A combination of low
interest rates and
exploding demand make
communication towers a
good addition to any
portfolio.

4. THE DATATSUNMAI
HAS YET TO CRASH
• AT&T alone has seen a 100,000%
increase in the amount of data
transmitted across its network from
2007-2015.
• Additionally, consumer demand for
mobile devices is expected to
skyrocket. Industry studies forecast
more than 200 Billion new Internet of
Things devices will be connected to
wireless networks by 2020.
• According to the CTIA, during the past few years, there has been a 57%
year-over-year increase in wireless data consumption on mobile networks.

5. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
CAN’T KEEP UP
• Wireless providers in the U.S. have spent more than $134 billion in capital
investments in the past five years.
• Industry analysts forecast increases in cell site deployment from all Big
Four Wireless Carriers through 2016: 20-30K macro cell towers and ~250K
small cells.
• All Big Four Wireless Carriers will be deploying new sites in sufficient
quantities for the first time since 2008/2009.
• The industry extends far beyond traditional wireless carriers and involves
equipment manufacturers, backhaul producers and more. Technological
innovations require equipment upgrades, which happen systematically at
existing cell sites across the U.S.
• Modifications to accommodate new frequencies from the recent 700MHz
and AWS-3 Auctions are currently taking place, and require multiple lease
amendments.

6. CELLTOWER INVESTMENTS
HAVE A STABLE FOUNDATION
• Grade A “Blue Chip” Company Tenants
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon
• Prepaid Long Term Leases
• Fixed Escalations typically around 3%
• Incremental growth on existing towers require very low
capital investment
• Limited operating expenses which do not increase linearly
with revenue

7. STOCK STEADILY INCREASES
FOR TOP 3 CELL TOWER COMPANIES
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
SBAC
CCI
AMT

8. MAJOR TOWER ACQUISITIONS FOR
TOP 3 U.S. CELL TOWER COMPANIES
American Tower (AMT)
2015 – 11,448 sites from Verizon
2013 – 5,400 towers and 9,000 rooftop sites from Global Tower Partners
Crown Castle (CCI)
2015 – 10,000 miles of Fiber for Small Cell builds
2013 – 9,700 towers from AT&T
2012 – 7,200 towers from T-Mobile
SBA (SBAC)
2012 – 2,300 towers from Mobilitie
2012 – 3,256 towers from TowerCo

9. TOWERS OWNED BY TOP 3 U.S.
CELL TOWER COMPANIES
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
American Tower
Crown Castle
SBA Communications
*from the Wireless Estimator 8/17/15
39,739
14,87
3
39,928

10. TOTAL FUNDING RECEIVED BY 11
PRIVATE CELL TOWER COMPANIES
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
650
700
*in Millions of Dollars

11. BLUE SKY TOWERS
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
3/14/14 $80 M Peppertree Capital
Mgmt.
To fund 700-800 new
cell sites in the next 5
years (2/3 rooftops sites/
1/3 macro cell towers)
Formed: 2014
Towers Owned: Unknown; although we expect that it’s <50
Sites Managed: ~1,000, including rooftop and smaller cell sites that don’t
provide cellular income.
Footprint: NE United States

12. CENTRAL STATES TOWER
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
11/16/13 $35 M CIT Corporate
Finance
To refinance debt and
provide capital for
construction &
development of new
towers.
8/10/12 $35 M Goldman Sachs
Specialty Lending
Group
To continue development
of tower sites.
4/06/10 $25 M Goldman Sachs
Specialty Lending
Group
To continue growth of
tower portfolio.
Formed: 2008
Towers Owned: 265

13. CTI TOWERS (COMCAST)
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
10/14 $30 M Debt Financing -
Undisclosed
To aggregate tower
portfolio.
2011 Undisclose
d
Seaport To continue development
of tower sites.
Formed: 2011
Towers Owned: 230
Towers Managed: 800

14. HORVATH TOWERS, LLC
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
11/20/13 $20 M The PrivateBank To develop and manage
cell sites for wireless
carriers.
10/20/13 $68 M Peppertree Capital
Mgmt.
To develop cell towers.
Formed: 1996
Towers Owned: 235

15. INSITE WIRELESS
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
8/14 $177.5 M Secured cellular site
2013-1 Rev Notes
backed by
mortgages.
To develop and operate
cell phone towers.
2011 Undisclose
d
Seaport To continue development
of cell sites.
Formed: 2010
Towers Managed: 1,100 + 16 DAS Networks
Major Acquisitions: 2015 – 294 towers from CTI Towers; 2012 – Turis Sites of Canada

16. LIBERTY TOWERS (CIG)
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
8/13 $35 M Fir Tree Partners Preferred Stock Financing
Agreement
8/13 $25 M Fir Tree Partners To acquire cell towers.
9/12 $150 M Macquarie Bank To aggregate cell tower portfolio.
Formed: 2007
Footprint: NE United States
Towers Owned: 200 (recently sold)

17. PEGASUS TOWER
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
9/20/13 $20 M Cornerstone Holdings,
LLC & Highland
Holdings, LLC
To develop a new
portfolio of towers.
4/01/07 $15 M National City Bank To aggregate a sizeable
tower portfolio.
6/02/06 $20 M Peppertree Capital
Fund, LP & Primus
Capital Fund V
To fund wireless
communications sites
developed and acquired
through the U.S.
Formed: 2006
Towers Owned: 172

18. PHOENIX TOWER
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
5/11/15 $32.5 M Banco General,
TowerBank, MetroBank
To support acquisitions,
new tower build
programs & growth
strategy
Formed: 2014
Towers Owned: 620
Major Acquisitions: 60 cell towers from American Tower Corp’s Panamanian
tower business; 500 towers from T4U Holding Brasil

19. SKYWAY TOWERS
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
1/20/13 $77 M Tinicum L.P. & Permit
Capital Private Equity Fund
To develop wireless
communications
towers in strategic
location.
6/12/11 $65 M Goldman Sachs Specialty
Lending Group
To grow tower
portfolio.
3/08/09 $55 M Tinicum L.P. & Permit
Capital Private Equity Fund
To buy and build
tower sites.
Formed: 2009
Towers Owned: 250
Major Acquisitions: 2009 - 60 towers from Towers of Texas

20. TARPON TOWERS II, LLC
DATE CAPITAL SOURCE PURPOSE
4/21/15 $60 M Redwood Capital
Investments & Tarpon
Towers
To buy and build cell
tower sites.
3/15/10 $15 M Spire Capital Partners
6/09/09 $25 M ABS Capital Partners To acquire and build
cell towers.
Formed: 2010
Towers Owned: 78
Footprint: Primarily SE & NE United States
Affiliations: Dixie Towers, LLC; North Atlantic Towers, LLC; Florida
Tower Partners, LLC

21. VERTICAL BRIDGE
DATE CAPITA
L
SOURCE PURPOSE
12/10/14 $470 M Incremental equity
commitments in second
round capital raise
To support acquisitions,
new tower build
programs & growth
strategy
9/10/14 $230 M Digital Bridge Holdings;
The Jordan Company &
The Edgewater Funds
To support acquisitions,
new tower build
programs & growth
strategy
Formed: 2002
Towers Owned: 2,864 owned/ managed and 1,406 land parcels
Major Acquisitions: 2015 – 43 towers from Townsquare Media, 411 broadcast towers
from iHeartMedia, 200+ towers from a merger with CiG Wireless
Corp.; 2014 - 595 decommissioned towers from U.S. Cellular
*Vertical Bridge has the exclusive right to market 1,000+ Conterra
towers.

22. Steel in the Air has been
assisting private landowners,
business and venue owners
and government entities with
cell tower and cell site lease
negotiations and valuation
since 2004.
© 2015 Steel in the Air – All Rights Reserved.
We welcome any questions or feedback.
Email: Ken@steelintheair.com
Phone: (877) 428-6937