U.S. Tower Change of Ownership Transactions Remain Active
U.S. tower change of ownership transactions remained active through the first half of 2026, comparable with activity through the first half of 2025, according to the Inside Towers Database. In 2025, the Database shows a total of 2,447 Change of Ownership transactions. Of that total, 1,140 transactions took place through 1H25. On a similar pace, there have been a total of 1,035 transactions through the first six months of 2026.
It is important to understand what Change of Ownership means in this context. In its basic form, a Change of Ownership involves a tower owner selling their tower or towers to another tower owner or operator. At the same time, however, the definition is broad enough to include an ownership transfer between entities within the same organization. Understand further that we are only counting transactions related to registered, constructed towers. The Inside Towers Database shows the names of the parties involved with the transaction to indicate the type of Change of Ownership.
Of the total 3,482 transactions in the past 18 months, private tower companies are most active, accounting for 1,537 or 44 percent of the transactions. Vertical Bridge, with 316 transactions, led all private tower companies, mainly assigning tower ownership to its various entities. Tower Ventures followed with 184 transactions representing a combination of selling several towers and assigning ownership to entities. APC Towers was involved in 149 transactions mainly related to the sale of its towers to American Tower in 2025, Inside Towers reported. TAG Tower had 120 transactions related to transfer of ownership, mainly to its entity, TAG Towers III.
Transactions and deal making among private tower companies remain active, particularly with smaller towercos in the lower middle markets, according to Clayton Funk, Founder and CEO of Signal Strength Advisors. “There are tons of deals on the table,” says Funk.
Among the 243 public tower company transactions, American Tower affiliates accounted for the lion’s share with 192. Crown Castle affiliates had 45 transactions and SBA Communications had six.
Mobile network operators had 519 transactions with sales to tower companies and assignments to operating entities. AT&T Mobility led the MNOs with 419 transactions, followed by Verizon Wireless with 48 and T-Mobile with 10.
Non-telco organizations accounted for a total of 1,251 or 36 percent of the transactions for the period, with a lot of towers changing hands. Among the most active were broadcasters with 449, broadband companies with 350 followed by energy companies and utilities with 129.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
