LONDON, UK: Pantheon Infrastructure, the listed global infrastructure fund, has invested $30m (£23m at current exchange rates) in US wireless communication infrastructure operator Vertical Bridge, through a co-investment vehicle managed by DigitalBridge Group Inc. (NYSE:DBRG), a leading global digital infrastructure investor managing $45bn in digital infrastructure assets.
Vertical Bridge is the largest private owner and operator of tower and wireless communication infrastructure in the US, with a portfolio of more than 8,000 towers and 300,000 total sites. Its portfolio, which spreads across all 50 states and in Puerto Rico, includes towers, rooftops, billboards, utility attachments and other locations that support wireless network connectivity.
Vertical Bridge has rapidly expanded since its founding in 2014 and is well-positioned to continue this growth as it addresses the rising demand for 5G-enabled devices and services. Vertical Bridge is certified as carbon neutral, becoming in 2020 the world’s first tower company to achieve net-zero emissions.
The US digital infrastructure sector has transitioned from being niche to a core sub-sector in recent years and is benefitting from strong secular tailwinds fuelled by the growth in mobile data consumption, migration to the cloud and the deployment of high-speed networks.
Richard Sem, Partner at Pantheon Ventures, PINT’s investment manager, said: “We are pleased to have made an investment in a sector that is experiencing such strong tailwinds, and alongside a sponsor in DigitalBridge with an excellent track record investing in this space. As the largest privately-owned operator of wireless communications towers in the US, and the world’s first tower company to become carbon neutral, Vertical Bridge is very well placed to capitalise on the growing demand for 5G-enabled services.”
PINT is a closed-ended investment company and an approved UK Investment Trust, listed on the Premium Segment of the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market. The independent Board of Directors of PINT have appointed Pantheon, one of the leading private markets investment managers globally, as investment manager.
PINT aims to provide exposure to a global, diversified portfolio of high-quality infrastructure assets through building a portfolio of direct co-investments in infrastructure assets with strong defensive characteristics, typically benefitting from contracted cash flows, inflation protection and conservative leverage profiles.
