Global Signal Inc. announced that David Grain is stepping down from his position as president of the nation’s third-largest tower company. The company said its chairman and chief executive, Wesley Edens, will take on the president’s title also.
“We appreciate David’s efforts on behalf of Global Signal and wish him well,” said Edens. “I have the highest personal and professional regard for David and thank him for all his contributions and service to Global Signal.”
The company didn’t offer reasons for Grain’s departure, saying only that he left to pursue personal and other business interests.
“From the time I joined Global Signal three years ago, the company has more than tripled its asset base and market capitalization and today is one of the leading cell tower companies in the U.S.,” commented Grain. “I believe now is the right time for me to move on to other challenges and I leave with total confidence in the future of Global Signal.”
Grain served as senior vice president of AT&T Broadband before joining Global Signal in 2003. In 2004, he led Global Signal through its initial public offering.
Global Signal owns, leases or manages some 11,000 towers and other wireless communications sites nationwide and in Canada.
Earlier in December, the company declared a fourth-quarter dividend of 50 cents per share on its common stock.
The dividend payment underscored a significant financial improvement compared with the third-quarter when the company reported a net loss of $15.4 million, or 23 cents per share. The company attributed the loss to costs associated with integrating Sprint Nextel Corp.’s tower sites into its operations.
Global Signal acquired the Sprint Nextel towers in late May, paying $1.2 billion in cash for the exclusive rights to lease or operate 6,600 of Sprint Nextel’s towers for 32 years.
The company said the dividend is payable Jan. 19.
No other details of the company’s fourth-quarter results were disclosed.
In other tower company news, Crown Castle Corp.’s subsidiary, Site Safe Inc., which provides RF health and safety-compliance solutions for the wireless industry, may get scooped up by wireless infrastructure services company VelociTel Inc.
Though VelociTel did not disclose potential terms of it acquisition plans, the company noted that Site Safe’s solutions would allow it to offer more sophisticated engineering services to augment its current wireless infrastructure services.
