DigitalBridge Forms New Tower Company in Iceland

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DigitalBridge Group (NYSE: DBRG) announced yesterday that funds affiliated with DigitalBridge Investment Management, the firm’s investment management platform, have completed the combined acquisition of two of Iceland’s largest tower portfolios from Sýn hf. (Sýn) and Nova hf. (Nova), the leading Icelandic mobile network operators, to create ÍslandsTurnar.

ÍslandsTurnar is the first independent tower company of scale in Iceland with national coverage to support the two MNOs as they execute their 5G deployment plans. Sýn and Nova will be long-term dual-anchor tenants on all ÍslandsTurnar’s towers. The transaction includes a material build-to-suit program. The company did not disclose financial terms of the transaction or the existing and projected tower counts. 

The investment advances DigitalBridge’s expanding presence in the Nordics. In 2018, the firm acquired Digita Oy, an independent tower operator based in Finland. At the end of 3Q21, DigitalBridge reported that Digita had a national portfolio of 300 active towers and 2,400 total sites including micro data centers and IoT sites.

“The creation of ÍslandsTurnar is a unique opportunity to establish a leading independent tower company in Iceland and support both Sýn and Nova in their operation of high-quality mobile networks as well as accelerating their 5G network deployment,” said Marc Ganzi, President and CEO of DigitalBridge. “We are excited to play a role in Iceland’s stable, attractive and digitally advanced telecom market, bringing DigitalBridge’s deep experience of successfully owning and operating tower portfolios on a global basis.”

“This is an exciting opportunity to set up the first independent tower company in my home market of Iceland. We are proud that two anchor tenants of the caliber and technical experience of Sýn and Nova have entrusted us with their mission-critical network infrastructure. I am looking forward to working with DigitalBridge to deliver high-quality telecommunication infrastructure services in Iceland,” said Joakim Reynisson.

Reynisson, an industry veteran with more than 30 years of telecom experience, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of ÍslandsTurnar, effective immediately. Prior to this role, he was Chief Technology Officer of Nova for over a decade.

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