The acquisition of 275 towers from GCI makes Vertical Bridge the largest tower owner in Alaska.
Peppertree Capital Management has increased its funding commitment to Blue Sky Towers from $80 million to $120 million as towerco Vertical Bridge and General Communication, Inc. also announced today that they have signed an agreement to acquire 275 sites from GCI’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Alaska Wireless Network (AWN).
“We are very proud of our accomplishments to date and consider ourselves fortunate to have Peppertree as our partner. We have much more to accomplish,” states Tom Remillard, CEO of Blue Sky. “Peppertree’s knowledge of the wireless infrastructure ecosystem has contributed significantly to helping us to rapidly, prudently, grow the business.”
Regarding the AWN acquisition, Alex Gellman, Vertical Bridge’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, stated, “Vertical Bridge is excited to be chosen as a long term partner with AWN. These are unique, high quality, fiber ready towers built in very good locations. The tower portfolio provides full coverage of the major population centers and the vast connecting corridors in this great state.”
The value of the transaction was estimated to be $91 million.
AWN will be an on-going tenant on all of the sites in the sale-leaseback transaction. With the closing of this transaction, Vertical Bridge will be the largest tower owner in the state of Alaska with approximately 300 wireless/broadcast sites.
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In what appears to be the highest fine ever levied against a tower owner, the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau levied a $620,500 settlement with General Communication, Inc. for failing to register numerous communications towers through the agency’s Antenna Structure Registration system.