July 31, 2018
New York, New York, – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced that funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities (“Tac Opps”) have agreed to sell a minority stake in Phoenix Tower International (“PTI”) to John Hancock. The stake was acquired by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (“JHUSA”) and the John Hancock Infrastructure Fund, GP (“JHIF”). JHIF, a private equity fund with approximately $2 billion of committed capital, is managed by the Power & Infrastructure team. “Providing growth capital to outstanding management teams is a hallmark of Blackstone’s investments in the mobile and internet infrastructure sector,” said Jasvinder Khaira, a Senior Managing Director in Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group. “The exceptional growth of PTI has made it the leading private tower company in the Americas and we are thrilled to have John Hancock join us as partners, as we continue to grow the business.” “We are pleased to expand our telecommunications infrastructure platform with an investment in PTI,” said Recep Kendircioglu, Senior Managing Director of the John Hancock Power and Infrastructure Group and Portfolio Manager of JHIF, an infrastructure Fund on Manulife’s Private Markets platform. “We have confidence in the future of the telecom infrastructure space, PTI’s management team and are pleased to work with Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group to the benefit of our investors.” Dagan Kasavana, PTI’s CEO, said, “I am incredibly proud to have Blackstone and John Hancock as PTI’s investors. The powerful combination of these two firms provides PTI with the support it needs to continue deploying capital globally.” Tim Culver, PTI’s Chairman, said: “Both Blackstone and John Hancock are partners that share PTI’s values and vision to position PTI as the leading wireless infrastructure platform to serve our customers, employees and business partners.” PTI is the fastest growing wireless tower operator in the Americas and a market leader in all its operating markets. The company was founded in 2013 by Dagan Kasavana, with a mission to own and operate high quality wireless infrastructure assets in global markets experiencing strong growth. Blackstone Tactical Opportunities invested in PTI in 2014. With 120 employees and headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, PTI manages over 3,500 owned sites (including sites under contract), over 2,500 managed sites under marketing rights agreements and 974 km of fiber in 10 countries. Blackstone was advised by Guggenheim Securities and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. John Hancock was advised by TAP Advisors LLC and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.About Phoenix Tower International:
PTI owns and operates more than 3,500 sites (including sites under contract), over 2,500 managed sites under marketing rights agreement and 974 km of fiber and other wireless infrastructure and related sites throughout Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, French West Indies, Mexico, Panama, Peru and the United States, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.Contact Information
Phoenix Tower International:
Cat Drettmann
+1-561-227-9649
cdrettmann@phoenixintnl.com
