Berkshire Partners, the Boston-based private equity firm, announced a majority growth investment in TowerNorth Development, the W. Berkshire, MA, independent developer, owner, and operator of towers and critical wireless infrastructure assets in the United States and Europe. The capital is intended to position TowerNorth for strategic growth. TowerNorth founding investor, Wincove Private Holdings, re-invested in the transaction. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
Since its founding in 2012, TowerNorth has grown its wireless infrastructure portfolio with newly built towers in 24 states that span the Midwest, Northeast, and Southern U.S. TowerNorth lists 114 U.S. towers on its website. The company also owns towers in Poland.
TowerNorth says its understanding of the wireless infrastructure industry allows it to efficiently deliver build-to-suit sites to its MNO customers within stringent timelines, while navigating complex zoning and real estate challenges. The company counts wireless carriers, local jurisdictions, utilities, and property owners among its customers.
“TowerNorth has seen tremendous growth since inception, and we continue to see significant opportunities ahead as the buildout of 5G and successor networks continues,” comments Bert Stern, TowerNorth CEO. “We are thrilled to partner with Berkshire Partners’ Digital Infrastructure team, which has experience scaling digital infrastructure companies, and we look forward to leveraging their tower experience and operational capabilities as we continue to develop complex site solutions and large-scale build-to-suit tower programs for our carrier partners.”
Berkshire Partners has decades of experience in partnering with shared wireless access, data center, and network infrastructure businesses that want to accelerate their growth. The firm was an early investor in Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI).
Its portfolio companies included Tower Development Corporation, with towers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, that was subsequently sold to Crown Castle and Torres Unidas, a wholly-owned tower developer and acquirer in South America, that was bought by Andean Tower Partners, a DigitalBridge Group (NYSE: DBRG) portfolio company.
Berkshire Partners’ biggest tower investment is in Protelindo, headquartered in Jakarta, the largest independent owner and operator of wireless infrastructure in Indonesia, according to Inside Towers Intelligence. The company reported 29,792 towers at the end of 2Q23.
John Kelly, Managing Director at Berkshire Partners, says “In addition to bringing the capital required to support TowerNorth in executing on its contracted tower pipeline, we look forward to helping Bert and his team scale the business to ensure continued best-in-class tower availability and development.”
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
Reader Interactions