Oct. 13, 2006

Global Tower Partners may be the next tower company to get swallowed up as the industry’s giants fight over who will be king.

Global Tower Partners is owned by Blackstone Group LP, and, according to media reports, the buyout firm is exploring its options of either selling the tower company or filing for an initial public offering.

Speculation as to the future of both SBA Communications Corp. and Global Tower Partners has run rampant since last week, when Crown Castle International Corp. announced it was buying Global Signal Inc. for about $5.8 billion in stock and cash.

Should the deal go through, CCI will command more than 24,000 towers, enough to knock American Tower Corp. out of its No. 1 position.

AMT could regain its status if it buys SBA or Global Tower Partners.

SBA owns about 7,200 towers, while Global Tower Partners owns around 2,180.

None of the companies rumored to be interested in Global Tower Partners offered a comment on the issue.

Source: RCR News