Communications Sales & Leasing purchases 49 of Windstream's wireless towers

Communications Sales & Leasing, the real estate investment trust spinoff of Windstream, is growing its network property portfolio by acquiring 32 wireless towers and operating rights for 40 towers from Windstream for $3 million.

The agreement is part of an agreement CS&L made with Windstream when it spun out of the telco last April.

Upon completion of the deal, the wireless operators that currently lease access to these towers will become customers of CS&L. Additionally, CS&L will receive rights to construct and operate wireless towers on about 1,000 properties currently leased to Windstream by CS&L.

CS&L said that the acquisition of Windstream's towers not only reflects its plan to own and construct communications towers, but also advances its goal to expand its relationships with the largest wireless operators. What's more, the 1,000 properties represent growth potential for future wireless tower construction.

After meeting necessary regulatory approvals and other customary terms and conditions, the acquisition of the ownership and operating rights to the 81 towers is expected to close in April 2016.

Windstream itself is a large supplier of wholesale Ethernet fiber-based services to wireless operators. During the fourth quarter, the service provider reported mixed carrier service revenue results: While quarterly revenues rose $2 million sequentially to $171 million, they declined 6 percent year-over-year to $688 million for the year 2015.

This is the second deal that CS&L has made to acquire communications assets since it was spun out of Windstream last year. In January, CS&L struck a deal to acquire competitive fiber provider PEG Bandwidth for $409 million, a deal that gave the company a fiber network consisting of over 300,000 strand miles in the Northeast / Mid Atlantic and South Central regions of the United States, as well as Illinois.

For more:
- see the release

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