AT&T Announces $4.85 Bln Tower Deal With Crown Castle Int'l

(RTTNews) - AT&T (T) announced Sunday that it has agreed to lease the rights to approximately 9,100 of its company-owned wireless towers to Crown Castle International Corp. Crown Castle will also purchase approximately 600 AT&T towers. In exchange, AT&T will receive about $4.85 billion in cash up-front proceeds.

Under the terms of the leases, Crown Castle will have exclusive rights to lease and operate approximately 9,100 towers. The average term of the lease rights is about 28 years. As the leases expire, Crown Castle will have fixed price purchase options, totaling approximately $4.2 billion, based on their estimated fair market values at the end of the lease terms.

The company also said that it will sublease capacity on the towers from Crown Castle for a minimum of 10 years for $1,900 per month per site, with annual rent increases of 2 percent. It has the option to renew up to a total of 50 years.

AT&T will also have access to additional reserve capacity on the towers for future use. During the terms of the leases, Crown Castle will have full operating rights to and responsibilities for the towers. Crown Castle will also be able to sublease other available space to other companies.