The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is nearing a deal to acquire U.S. wireless solutions provider Mobilitie, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
According to the report, the potential transaction is expected to value Mobilitie at more than $1.3 billion.
CPPIB operates an infrastructure arm that invests in large-scale infrastructure businesses with stable long-term cash flows and minimal risk, Bloomberg noted. The pension’s infrastructure group seeks deals with minimum equity investments of about CAD500 million ($415 million), according to CPPIB’s website.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ended its fiscal year on March 31, 2021, with net assets of CAD497.2 billion, compared to CAD409.6 billion at the end of fiscal 2020.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, the entity also operates offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney.
The pension has owned an 86% stake in BAI Communications, another wireless-solutions provider, since 2009.
Mobilitie, based in California, specializes in wireless infrastructure including communication towers, indoor and outdoor neutral host DAS networks, CBRS and private LTE networks, small cells, IoT, fiber networks and Wi-Fi networks. Mobilitie’s Advanced Technology Group engineers wireless solutions that improve wireless service at the largest and most complex venues across all major industries-including sports and entertainment, real estate, hospitality, education, healthcare, government and transportation.
“Our core business is shared infrastructure across towers, small cells, and in-building systems; as well as providing the services that accompany these assets. The in-building segment is certainly significant to our business, primarily because we focus on complex properties and venues where our neutral-host model is a win for the building or venue owners and our customers,” Jason Caliento, EVP of network strategy at Mobilitie, previously said in an interview with In-Building Tech.
Caliento also noted that the firm has been working in 5G deployments at sports venues in preparation for future in-person events following the pandemic. “The company has a sizable portfolio of marquees sports and entertainment venues, and our teams are actively designing and deploying 5G across that entire portfolio in preparation for the in-person events that will come later in the year. There have been some really compelling advancements in what 5G can bring in terms of virtual reality and augmented reality, and we’re proud to be facilitating those user experiences.”
Mobilitie is headquartered in Newport Beach, California and has regional offices across the United States.
