Newlight Partners

Background and Newlight Value Add

In TowerCo, Newlight found an opportunistic and scalable leadership team, with expertise in evaluating, acquiring and integrating large tower portfolios (3,000+ towers), tuck-in acquisitions, and executing on organic growth through new site development. Newlight entered the relationship with an appreciation that TowerCo was operating a growth business in a growth industry. TowerCo’s business model featured long-term contracts, recurring revenues that grow over time with escalators and tenant lease-up, meaningful barriers to entry and high-quality tenants. The cell tower industry continues to benefit from growing demand for wireless services and the need for carriers to upgrade their networks to increase coverage and capacity.

Long-term Partnership

Newlight worked hand-in-hand with TowerCo and its leadership team for over 13 years, building a relationship of trust and encouraging cross-pollination of expertise. As a result, TowerCo could rely on Newlight’s guidance as it sold sites from its maturing portfolio while seeking to retain flexibility around keeping certain sites and rebuilding the business through organic and inorganic growth opportunities.

M&A

Newlight worked closely with TowerCo’s management to underwrite and execute on various acquisition opportunities, including TowerCo II’s acquisition of over 3,000 sites from Sprint Nextel in 2008.

Capital Raising and Structuring

Newlight’s capital markets expertise proved to be an important tool for TowerCo’s management team to execute on its growth plans, which included large-scale asset acquisitions. In 2008, Newlight co-led an equity syndication process for the Sprint Nextel acquisition, which TowerCo II closed on an all equity basis amidst the financial crisis. Newlight guided TowerCo II in raising a $240mm senior secured credit facility in 2009, which was upsized to $440mm in 2011. Newlight also oversaw a number of standalone revolving credit facilities for TowerCo since 2005.

The Case Studies are not necessarily representative of all past or current Newlight portfolio companies but were selected to illustrate Newlight's management approach and are intended for potential portfolio company executives. Certain statements about Newlight made by portfolio company executives herein are intended to illustrate Newlight’s business relationship with such persons, including with respect to Newlight’s facilities as a business partner, rather than Newlight’s capabilities or expertise with respect to investment advisory services. Portfolio company executives were not compensated in connection with their participation, although they generally receive compensation and investment opportunities in connection with their portfolio company roles, and in certain cases are also owners of portfolio company securities and/or investors in Newlight-sponsored vehicles. Such compensation and investments subject participants to potential conflicts of interest in making the statements herein. Newlight does not make any representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completements of the information contained herein and it should not be assumed that investments made in the future will be comparable in quality of performance to the investments described herein. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. See the “Case Studies” section of the Disclosures page for important information about these Case Studies.