Diamond Communications, one of the largest privately owned tower companies in the United States, and Sculptor Capital Management recently announced an agreement to acquire Melody Wireless Infrastructure Inc. (MWI) for $1.625 billion. The deal is a definitive Stock Purchase Agreement that includes investment funds affiliated with Sculptor Real Estate (SRE).
SRE is Diamond’s long-time partner and founding shareholder of Diamond. MWI is a private U.S. REIT that owns a portfolio of approximately 2,300 tenanted wireless communication sites. These sites include a combination of rooftop installations, communication towers and ground leases under communication towers located throughout the U.S. in all 50 states, with a focus on urban and suburban areas. The acquisition significantly enhances Diamond’s U.S. footprint of owned and managed wireless collocation properties nationwide.
“(This acquisition) gives us more relationships with building owners,” Diamond CEO Ed Farscht told Connected Real Estate Magazine. “It gets us a lot more size and scale in the industry. We’re already one of the largest privately held companies and this further solidifies that. (The acquisition) also gives us more sites to offer to our customers.”
“We are excited to be continuing our 15-year relationship with Diamond, investing in the wireless infrastructure sector, and we commend the Melody team on the quality of the assets that they have assembled,” SRE President Steven Orbuch said in a statement.
The Melody acquisition aligns with Diamond’s goal of continuing to build and develop relationships with CRE owners. Diamond has deployed various systems including fiber, outdoor DAS (distributed antenna systems) and in-building wireless.
We provide holistic solutions to building owners around the country,” Farscht told Connected. The first thing we think about is, ‘Does it create shareholder value? Does it help our customers?’ Those are our top two priorities. If we can drive those things and capitalize on our skillsets, we can bring a greater group of assets to our customers and create additional value for our shareholders.”
Diamond remains on the lookout for assets that make sense, help its customers and drive shareholder value.
“Every project is different and every customers’ needs are different,” Farscht said. “What we will try to do is provide a holistic solution for them and have all of those capabilities in-house so that we can provide them to our customers.”
The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. June 2021 is the expected consummation date.
“Melody has built a great company with a diverse group of assets,” Farscht said in a statement. “This transaction is transformational for our business and will further solidify Diamond’s position as one of the largest privately held wireless infrastructure companies in the United States. The Melody assets complement Diamond’s existing portfolio and positions Diamond to drive long-term organic growth and significantly enhance our customer relationships. We are also excited to build on our relationship with Sculptor, which has supported Diamond from our founding in 2006.”
“I am pleased that we have found a great home with Diamond and Sculptor for an exceptional pool of wireless infrastructure assets and business that we built over seven years while delivering great value for our investors,” Melody co-founder Omar Jaffrey said in a statement.
Joe Dyton can be reached at joed@fifthgenmedia.com.
