Crown Castle Closes Deal with CPS Energy for $41 Million

Crown Castle International completed a deal last week with CPS Energy to acquire their communication towers for $41 million. CPS Energy plans to use these proceeds to pay off existing debt. “Managing cell tower assets, which includes leasing space to other companies, is not part of our core business, so after analyzing our options, it became clear selling would be the most beneficial for our customers,” said Fred James, senior vice president of energy delivery services. CPS Energy began building towers in the 1990s to fulfill its communications needs, because during that time there weren’t towers available to lease space on. “There was pent-up value in those towers we weren’t able to realize,” added David Jungman, who manages business planning and development for CPS Energy. “We’ve got that value now, with the sale, plus we still have access to the towers.” Crown Castle will now own and manage the towers as well as take over the leases. Jungman made the decision to let a company that specializes in managing cell towers do just that, allowing CPS Energy to focus on its core mission of providing reliable, affordable power to its customers.