Wireless construction company Berliner Communications Inc. said it has begun negotiating with underwriters to commence an initial public offering.
“We see geographic expansion and further offerings via acquisition of selected companies as the best way for us to continue on the path we have chosen,” said Rich Berliner, president and chief executive officer of the company, which provides infrastructure services including radio-frequency engineering, site acquisition and construction.
With annual revenues of about $20 million, Berliner has purchased an engineering company and construction company within the last two years and is considering more purchases before the end of the year. Berliner said his company has received at least one term sheet, giving the company the capability to go public immediately.
“We have multiple alternatives for additional financing going forward,” said Berliner. “One option is a public offering that would provide us with a big source of financing. We could choose to raise some private equity and debt, do some acquisitions and then go public … Depending on how we proceed, I have no doubt that we will be able to move forward aggressively to double or triple our size again next year.”
In January, Berliner secured $1.5 million in financing from Critical Capital Growth Fund L.P. The Elmwood Park, N.J.-based company primarily partners with carriers to build out wireless infrastructure.
“Our goal has been to target carriers that have made the decision to spend a lot of internal resources on marketing wireless services and work with our firm as an outsourcing partner,” said Berliner. “We tend to do much more of the infrastructure buildout process for our carrier partners than others.”
Analysts believe carriers will become much more dependent on outsourcing wireless infrastructure services going forward as intense competition pushes them to focus heavily on marketing and selling wireless services.
“I believe that there will be a complete rethinking of the infrastructure development process in the next year, similar to the changes that carriers and build-to-suit companies went through two years ago,” said Richard Siber, associate partner with Andersen Consulting in Boston. “It was a leap of faith to sell your towers to another company, but at this point, it is a very attractive and viable option. Outsourcing the development of wireless infrastructure with a strong partnering relationship will be the next logical step for carriers going forward.”
