On Wednesday, global alternative assets manager Apollo Global Management announced that it has reached a deal with Australia-based property investor Lendleaseto acquire a portfolio of U.S. telecommunications infrastructure assets, including several operating cell towers and a pipeline of towers under development.
These assets, which are headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and which operated under the name Parallel Infrastructure prior to Lendlease acquiring the portfolio back in 2017, will revert to the original corporate name under Apollo’s ownership.
Parallel Infrastructure is a leading build-to-suit tower operator with nearly 500 macro cell towers across the US and several hundred more under contract or in late-stage development. Parallel’s customer base includes all of the major U.S. wireless carriers, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, which lease space on towers under long-term contracts.
A 5G Play
“Parallel Infrastructure is an established, critical infrastructure business that’s positioned for significant growth driven by increased data consumption and the continued shift to 5G networks across the United States,” said Dylan Foo, Senior Partner and Co-Head of Infrastructure at Apollo. “Our corporate carve-out experience was critical to the transaction and setting the business up for future growth.”
Commenting on the acquisition, Parallel Infrastructure CEO Yannis Macheras said, “We’re thrilled to work with Apollo to grow our infrastructure portfolio. Dylan and the team have a track record of creating long-term value in the infrastructure asset class, and we believe their support will accelerate our strategy and add to the toolkit of what we can offer to our customers.”
Apollo’s David Cohen added: “We’re excited to support Parallel Infrastructure and its experienced management team in this next phase of growth, as the Company continues to serve as a trusted partner to carriers building out their wireless networks across the nation. This investment underscores the increasing importance of enabling wireless connectivity across communities of all sizes and geographies.”
The acquisition builds upon Apollo’s 30-year track record in which Apollo-managed funds have invested more than $20 billion in infrastructure-related opportunities across its platform. Apollo’s infrastructure business is currently investing out of its second dedicated infrastructure fund, which focuses on opportunities in communications, power and renewables, transportation and midstream energy.