BAI Communications of Australia is aiming big in the U.S. with its purchase of Mobilitie, the privately held telecommunications infrastructure giant founded and headed by Orange County entrepreneur Gary Jabara.
The Business Journal broke the details of the sale of the Newport Beach-based company, the largest privately held telecommunications infrastructure company in the U.S., in the June 28 print edition, prior to the deal being officially announced shortly after that.
Neither party has disclosed the financial terms of the sale. Investment banking sources told the Business Journal the price was almost $1.7 billion.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, BAI’s majority shareholder, said the acquisition “represents a major expansion of BAI’s business in North America.”
“The acquisition significantly extends BAI’s operations across one of the world’s fastest growing connected infrastructure markets, and represents an important step in BAI’s growth strategy,” said the board, known as CPP Investments.
Mobilitie’s infrastructure offerings enable wireless coverage in a variety of settings, ranging from stadiums to casinos as telecommunications companies increasingly focus on super-fast 5G wireless technology.
Mobilitie, founded in 2005 by Jabara, has made a name for itself as a go-to company for the deployment of wireless infrastructure projects in dense locations where cellphone use is extremely high.
San Francisco, Seattle
Company assets being sold include outdoor and indoor Distributed Antenna Systems, which are used in venues such as horse racing complex Churchill Downs in Kentucky, concert venues, universities, and other areas where large groups of wireless users are concentrated. It’s the biggest installer and operator of DAS systems in the country.
The company’s projects include public transit systems in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, Staples Center and L.A. Live in Los Angeles, and the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
BAI said the acquisition of Mobilitie is a “significant step” in growth strategy of the Australia-based company.
Mobilitie also counts a large portfolio of wireless communication towers, as well as a growing collection of small cell systems across the country that are expected to be increasingly used for 5G wireless connectivity, among its other assets and product lines.
BAI, which beat out several private equity giants and other firms for Mobilitie, has been looking to increase its presence in the U.S and already owns New York’s Transit Wireless.
BAI designs, builds and operates a variety of communications infrastructure, including cellular, Wi-Fi, broadcast, radio and IP networks. In addition to Transit Wireless, its operations span Australia, Canada, the U.K. and Hong Kong.
5G Player
“BAI’s significance as a 5G player, together with Mobilitie, will enable unprecedented support of U.S. wireless carriers. It puts us on a clear, long-term path to greatly accelerate business and help our customers, especially the mobile network operators,” Jabara said in an announcement announcing the sale.
Jabara will leave the company following the sale. The tech firm counts some 200 people in its local operations.
The transaction is expected to close in the current three-month period that ends on Sept. 30, and is subject to regulatory clearance.
The company will be run from Newport Beach as a division of BAI.
