Blackstone raises $1.4bn for 5G investment

Blackstone Tactical Opportunities has completed the successful recapitalization of wireless communications infrastructure operator Phoenix Tower International (PTI). New York-based Blackstone unit raised $1.4 billion of dedicated capital for PTI to execute its global business plan across the digital infrastructure sector, officials announced in a press release. Originally having invested in the company in 2014, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities has seen PTI’s business swell to 8,000 cell towers and related sites across 14 markets in three continents with a focus on US dollar and Euro-denominated contracts. Sitting within the private equity business, Blackstone's opportunistic investment platform returned 7.7% in the last quarter and was up 13% in 2019. The Tactical Opportunities team gathered $5.3 billion in inflows last year, according to Blackstone’s recent earnings statement. Blackstone invests globally across asset classes, industries and geographies, seeking to identify and execute on attractive, differentiated investment opportunities. As part of the strategy, the team leverages the intellectual capital across Blackstone's various businesses while continuously optimizing its approach in the face of ever-changing market conditions. Phoenix’s management team is led by Dagan Kasavana, CEO, and Tim Culver, executive chairman. The pair have deployed over $3.5 billion of capital in the sector to date. Blackstone expects to commit substantial incremental capital for PTI to acquire and build wireless communications across the Americas and Europe. According to Kasavana, as customers shift toward their 5G build-out needs, they require well-capitalized infrastructure providers that they trust with a mandate to work with them globally and across all of their infrastructure needs. “PTI has the track record, expertise and balance sheet to be a market leader in the coming years with Blackstone's ongoing support,” he added. “We are very proud of the success of our PTI platform and pleased to be able to continue investing behind our thesis on the fundamental attractiveness of the wireless infrastructure business model, which is backed by exponential growth in data connectivity demand,” said Jasvinder Khaira, senior managing director with Blackstone Tactical Opportunities. He said that the fundraise provides a dedicated pool of capital for Blackstone to continue investing behind this theme.

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