Palistar Capital, an alternative asset manager focused on mission-critical communications and digital infrastructure, announced the combination of its pool of wireless assets, managed exclusively by Symphony Wireless, Palistar’s dedicated cell site acquisition affiliate, with another Palistar portfolio company, CTI Towers, Inc., which owns 757 towers.
In conjunction with the transaction, Symphony Wireless will change its name to Symphony Towers Infrastructure. According to Wireless Estimator’s Top 100 Tower Companies in the U.S., the transaction creates the nation’s sixth-largest private tower owner.
According to a spokesperson, the second largest private tower owner in the country, Harmoni Towers, another Palistar portfolio company that owns 1,688 towers, will remain a separate operating towerco.
Symphony Towers will exclusively operate, manage, and market approximately 3,000 assets across all 50 states on behalf of Palistar, becoming one of the fastest-growing businesses in U.S. wireless infrastructure.
The combined entity will be led by Bernard Borghei as its CEO. Borghei, who joined Symphony Wireless in April 2024, is a veteran of the telecommunications infrastructure industry with over 30 years of sector experience, including as a co-founder of Vertical Bridge.
Symphony Towers will continue to grow its wireless tower portfolio by initiating new investments on behalf of Palistar, including acquiring portfolios and individual wireless infrastructure assets.
Omar Jaffrey, Founder and Managing Partner of Palistar and Founder and Chairman of Symphony Towers, stated: “We are excited about the benefits and growth this new entity will bring to our clients. This combination reflects the long-term investment Palistar is making in wireless and digital infrastructure. Palistar expects to continue investing in the highest-quality U.S. wireless infrastructure in the coming years, and Symphony Towers is key for us to deliver on that vision.”
Borghei explained, “This transaction creates premium operational and business efficiencies for Palistar’s wireless tower portfolio by consolidating the outstanding management teams and processes of both Symphony Wireless and CTI. As a result, Symphony Towers will leverage the scale of the wireless tower portfolio, providing exceptional value and a world-class operating experience to its customers.”
“Our focus will include driving both organic growth by offering best-in-class solutions to Palistar’s customers and inorganic growth via the continued acquisition of towers, ground leases and rooftop assets. We are committed to delivering value across the tower ecosystem, including to wireless carriers and the tower companies, as well as to cellular site and tower owners. We are grateful to all our partners in this transaction for their support in furthering these goals,” Borghei said.
David Bacino, Chief Executive Officer of CTI and Operating Partner at Palistar, added, “We are extremely proud of the value we provide to our customers and partners in the wireless, cable, and broadcast sectors, and look forward to Symphony Towers delivering those top-tier solutions going forward.”
Upon closing this transaction, Bacino will return to his role as Operating Partner at Palistar.