Vertical Bridge Merges With Eco-Site

Vertical Bridge announced yesterday that they have merged with Eco-Site.

Eco-Site was founded in 2012 in North Carolina and for the last eight years has operated under the entities Eco-Site, LLC, Eco-Site II, LLC, Eco-Site Holdings, Inc., Eco-Site II Holdings, Inc., and Eco-Site Tower, LLC.

Airwave Advisors has Eco-Site listed as the thirteenth largest cell tower company in the United States with 600 cell towers. Vertical Bridge is listed by Airwave Advisors as the fifth largest cell tower company in the United States with 3,000 cell towers.

Vertical Bridge’s press release, however, lists their new total of sites to over 20,000 sites. In addition the press release claims that combined the two companies have constructed over 1,600 cell towers in the last five years.

What Does This Mean For Cell Tower Lease Landlords?

If you are a Vertical Bridge cell tower lease landlord this means no change and business as usual.

If you are an Eco-Site cell tower lease landlord beware Vertical Bridge’s Estoppel trick. Earlier this year we reviewed an estoppel request from Vertical Bridge for our client to sign and it was nothing close to a full overhaul of the lease, not an estoppel.

Anytime your tenant is asking you to consent to assignment of a lease agreement – review the paperwork carefully. If you need any assistance with your Vertical Bridge or Eco-Site lease, do not hesitate to give us a call.

Vertical Bridge To Go Public In 2021?

The next logical step would be to take Vertical Bridge public in a similar fashion as the top tower companies before them. American Tower Corporation, Crown Castle, and SBA Communications. An additional cell tower REIT on Wall Street would not be a bad thing. Cell tower REIT stocks have had steady growth over the last five years and include a dividend yield between 3.20% (NYSE: CCI) and 0.65% (NASDAQ:SBAC)