Fifteen hundred Vertical Bridge towers helped secure funding of $321 million
Vertical Bridge, the largest private owner and manager of wireless communication infrastructure in the U.S., today announced it has closed on a $321 million asset-backed securities offering led by Deutsche Bank Securities and Barclays. The issuance, which is secured by more than 1,500 Vertical Bridge tower sites across the U.S., gives the company additional flexibility to continue its real estate portfolio expansion. Concurrently, Vertical Bridge paid off its existing Senior Credit Facility, and the company entered into a new $400 million Senior Secured Credit Facility led by TD Securities, with Barclays Bank PLC, CIT Bank N.A., Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase Bank, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., as joint lead arrangers and joint book runners.
“We are extremely pleased with investor response to Vertical Bridge’s first ABS offering. This securitization puts in place long-term funding that matches to the long term nature of our cash flows. The strong investor interest and the pricing speak to the quality and value of our assets,” said Alex Gellman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Vertical Bridge in a press release this morning. “The simultaneous completion of a new $400 million credit facility allows Vertical Bridge to continue to purchase and develop attractive sites across the U.S.”
The $321 million ABS notes are comprised of multiple tranches, a $240 million tranche rated A by Fitch and A2 by Moody’s, a $29 million tranche rated BBB by Fitch and a $52 million tranche rated BB- by Fitch. The securities have a five year Anticipated Repayment Date with a 30 year final maturity and carry a blended fixed interest rate of 3.81%. The notes were sold at par. They are secured by mortgages on certain tower sites, a security interest in the towers and tenant leases associated with the sites, first priority perfected security interest in the personal property associated with all non-mortgaged sites, and a pledge of the equity interest of the asset entity holding the tower sites.
