TowerXchange has encountered a relatively shallow pool of financial institutions with a track record of investment in the telecom tower industry outside North America. Securing debt at reasonable interest rates, particularly in markets with perceived medium to high levels of country risk, remains one of the principle inhibitors to international tower industry growth. In this feature, TowerXchange present a simple list of the institutions we recognise as having provided or arranged international debt for the tower industry, plus part one of a matrix defining those institutions’ appetite for towers – and the contacts towercos and their advisors need to accelerate the process.
“How do I scale from 100 towers to 1,000 when the loan I need is greater than the National banks in my country will provide?” Asked one towerco CEO.
“It’s tough to compete with publicly listed towercos with their low cost of capital when we can’t get bank debt at interest rates less than in the teens,” said another.
Accessing affordable debt is a critical challenge for small to medium sized towercos.
Over the next few editions of TowerXchange, we intend to build out this special feature into a comprehensive who’s who of banks and DFIs with experience of financing towercos outside of the U.S. including a brief profile of selected institutions’ appetite for and track record in towers plus, crucially, the contacts you need if you want to approach that institution for a loan.
If you represent a financial institution which should be included in the TowerXchange who’s who but isn’t, please email Kieron Osmotherly at kosmotherly@towerxchange.com. And if you’re a towerco seeking affordable debt – feel free to drop me a line too!
TowerXchange is not an advisory firm, we do not intend this article to be ‘advice’ and you should undertake your own research – this is simply an anecdotal summary of some of our known contacts in this segment of the ecosystem.
The appetite and experience of potential debt providers… and the contacts you need!
Source: TowerXchange
Download the TowerXchange Who’s who PDF
