Crown Castle Buying Lightower, Doubling Fiber Footprint

With an eye on small cells, Crown Castle struck a deal to buy Lightower from Berkshire Partners, Pamlico Capital and other investors for $7.1 billion in cash. Lightower has an "attractive fiber footprint,” Crown Castle CEO Jay Brown said in a Tuesday news release. “Lightower’s dense fiber footprint is well-located in top metro markets in the Northeast and is well-positioned to facilitate small cell deployments by our customers.” Lightower brings with it 32,000 route miles of fiber, located primarily in top-tier markets including New York, Boston and Philadelphia, Crown Castle said, noting that the buy will double its fiber footprint. Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said in a Wednesday note to investors many view Lightower as the ''crown jewel'' in the private fiber space. Crown Castle said the deal is subject to state and federal regulatory approvals, including by the FCC.