News
AAT Closes on $180 Million of Common Equity - Funds to
Fuel Company Expansion through Acquisitions and Build-to-Suit Projects
St. Louis, MO, November 13, 2003
St. Louis-based AAT Communications Corp. announced today that it has closed on approximately $180 million of equity capital, which has been raised from current and new investors, including: Charterhouse Group; affiliates of Sandler Capital Management; The Oklahoma Publishing Company; and WallerSutton 2000, LP. The new funds will be used to help AAT expedite its growth plan through acquisitions and build-to-suit tower projects.
"This new investment illustrates the opportunity that equity sources see in AAT as a leading consolidator in the wireless tower sector. It also validates our business philosophy of forming and honoring long-term relationships," said Jerald L. Kent, Chief Executive Officer of AAT and of Cequel III, the management company overseeing AAT's operations. "Cequel III's managers have had productive partnerships with Charterhouse Group and other investors involved in this transaction for many years prior to our involvement with AAT, and we are proud to continue working with these institutions in the context of one of our most promising ventures."
Since Cequel III's appointment as AAT's management company in May 2002, AAT has expanded five-fold the number of towers it owns (from roughly 300 to more than 1,500 sites). The Company is presently in active negotiations or scheduling construction for several hundred additional tower sites. In total, AAT's portfolio includes more than 7,500 sites, spanning 48 states, counting both the properties it owns and those it manages.
"This build-up investment is consistent with Charterhouse's strategy of backing management teams with outstanding track records. We are very pleased to be investing additional capital in AAT, further supporting a team that we have successfully partnered with in multiple ventures over the last twenty years," said Thomas C. Dircks, Managing Partner of Charterhouse Group. "Our manager-partners are very effectively implementing our original business plan in this attractive industry segment. We are also very excited about the addition of three value-added investors as new partners in AAT."
In 1998, Charterhouse Group became the original private equity investor in AAT and, following this latest financing round, remains AAT's controlling shareholder. Charterhouse introduced the Cequel III management team to AAT in 2002, based on a twenty-year relationship with Jerry Kent, Howard Wood, and other Cequel III executives.
Founded in 1950, St. Louis-based AAT is the nation's largest privately held provider of wireless tower sites, serving major wireless carriers and a premier group of site-management clients.
About Charterhouse Group
Charterhouse Group is a private equity firm with three decades of experience in building leading middle-market companies. Established in 1973, Charterhouse currently manages in excess of $1.3 billion in equity through several limited partnerships. Since its inception, Charterhouse has invested in over 80 platform companies with a focus on the business services, healthcare services, telecommunications, consumer products, and industrial sectors. For more information, please visit www.charterhousegroup.com.
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