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Crown Castle announces cell tower ABS

Crown Castle International Corp. announced that it plans to offer up to $1.9 billion of series 2005-1 cellular tower-backed notes via a yet-to-be disclosed underwriter. Proceeds for the notes will go to refinance $1.4 billion of outstanding high-yield debt ranging in coupons from 7.50% to 11.25%. The cellular communications firm, rated B3 by Moody's Investors Service and CCC+ by Standard & Poor's, expects to issue investment grade rated securities to pay down the outstanding debt at the 50 basis points over Treasurys tender offer plus $40 early concent payment. While Crown Castle has retained Morgan Stanley to act as agent for the tender offers, it has not named a lead manager for its securitization.

"The offering is being structured as an issuance of debt securities, the servicing and repayment of which is expected to be made solely from the cash flow from the operation of the U.S. towers that are part of the transaction," the company said in a release.

The company's 7.5% notes due August 2011, are trading 400 basis points tighter in early trading Wednesday on an estimated 113.0 tender offer, according to JPMorgan Securities.

Crown Castle engineers, deploys, owns and operates technologically advanced shared wireless infrastructure, including extensive networks of towers, offering wireless communications coverage to 68 of the top 100 U.S. markets and to substantially all of the Australian population. Crown Castle owns, operates and manages over 10,600 and over 1,300 wireless communication sites in the U.S. and Australia.

 

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