BAI Communications, , which is majority-owned by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), announced the close of its acquisition of Mobilitie, one of the largest privately-held telecommunications infrastructure companies in the U.S.
The agreement for the acquisition had been initially announced on June 28 this year.
BAI operates neutral-host networks in Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
With the close of the acquisition Mobilitie becomes a BAI Group company, alongside BAI’s majority-owned Transit Wireless in the U.S.
As part of the acquisition, BAI acquires Mobilitie’s portfolio of assets, including existing telecommunication infrastructure contracts with transit operators in San Francisco and Seattle, as well as 220 large public venues’ DAS networks, 10,000 small cells and 300 tower sites across the U.S.
BAI noted that the acquisition enables the firm to strengthen and expand its current services, as it couples Mobilitie’s expertise in above-ground connected venue infrastructure solutions with BAI’s ability to deliver 5G communications infrastructure in complex transit environments.
Mobilitie will continue to operate as a separate entity within BAI, and its existing operations and customer partnerships will remain unaffected.
As part of BAI, Mobilitie will further advance its neutral host networks to help U.S. mobile network operators and venue owners expand 5G coverage. BAI also said it has identified North America as a region targeted for expansion as it accelerates its growth across transit, smart cities, venues, fiber networks, private networks, and public safety services.
Igor Leprince, group CEO of BAI Communications, said: “The natural fit between Mobilitie’s expertise and that of BAI enables us to extend the services we offer clients across both entities. This will be increasingly beneficial as we see the prioritization of connected infrastructure continue to gather momentum in the US and around the world,” he added.
“This acquisition makes a significant contribution to our strategy for portfolio balance across neutral host, transit communications and broadcast with an increasing focus on North America, the UK and Europe, in addition to deepening our extensive Australian operation,? the executive added.
Christos Karmis, president of Mobilitie, said: “Closing this acquisition is an exciting development for Mobilitie, our customers and telco partners as it will expand and accelerate our deployment of wireless infrastructure solutions in the marketplace and position us to better support our customers globally.?
“Furthermore, our complementary offerings make for an exciting proposition for both Mobilitie and BAI customers, as close collaboration between the teams enables us to offer the most innovative and robust wireless solutions available in the marketplace today and in the future,? Karmis added.
