Vertical Bridge Completes $1.4 Billion Asset-Backed Securitization

USA - English

• USA - English

BOCA RATON, Fla., March 1, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC ("Vertical Bridge" or "the Company"), the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure in the United States, today announced that it successfully issued $1.368 billion of tower revenue notes secured by a geographically diverse portfolio of 3,526 tower sites across all 50 states. The offering marks the seventh successful asset backed securities (ABS) financing by Vertical Bridge since 2016.

Proceeds from the offering, led by Barclays as structuring agent, will be used to repay the Series 2018-1 and 2020-1 Notes, cover associated transaction fees and expenses, and support the growth of the Company's infrastructure portfolio.

"We greatly appreciate the confidence demonstrated by several large investors who supported our seventh and largest ABS issuance during a challenging period in the markets," said Alex Gellman, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. "As a repeat issuer who has taken a consistent program approach to our financings, we have the flexibility to continue aggressive growth of our infrastructure portfolio in support of our customers' rapid expansion and deployment of advanced technologies like 5G."

The final order book had 43 investors, including many repeat investors, as well as 17 new investors to the Vertical Bridge ABS platform. The Company achieved several milestones with this issuance:

• Largest transaction offered in the non-traditional ABS market thus far in 2022
• Largest 'BB' rated tranche ($242 million) ever offered, and largest 'BBB' rated tranche ($202 million) offered since 2013 in the tower ABS market sector
• First ever 10 year 'A' rated tranche and only the second to be offered in the tower ABS market since 2018.

"We want to thank the team at Barclays for structuring and leading this successful transaction, which we believe demonstrates that investors understand and appreciate the unique opportunity the tower business offers," said Michael Romaniw, Chief Financial Officer. "We've spent years building relationships with our investors, helping them understand the attractiveness of the assets, the stability of the business, and the consistent performance that Vertical Bridge delivers given our role in supporting the growing demand for wireless data."

The issuance achieved a blended all-in yield of 3.915% on average tenor of 7 years and achieved tighter all-in yield than the 2020-1 transaction with additional leverage and two additional years of tenor. Due to investor demand, the Senior 'A' rated class bonds were priced with a split between 5.5 and 10 year offerings.

"We were pleased to support Vertical Bridge on this transaction, which saw significant investor enthusiasm and set a number of milestones for the company and its broader securitization platform," said Michael Metallo, a Director at Barclays.

About Vertical Bridge
Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC is the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure and locations in the United States, with a portfolio of more than 318,000 sites, including over 9,000 owned and master-leased towers and the nation's largest and tallest collection of broadcast tower sites. The Company's portfolio spreads across all 50 states and Puerto Rico and is comprised of towers, rooftops, billboards, utility attachments, convenience stores and other locations in support of wireless network deployments. In addition to colocation, Vertical Bridge offers build-to-suit, edge data centers and inbuilding wireless network solutions.

Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Vertical Bridge was founded in 2014 and is led by a senior management team with over 300 years of collective experience in tower infrastructure and related sectors. Vertical Bridge became the first tower company in the world to reach net-zero emissions, gaining CarbonNeutral® certification in 2020. The company was recertified in 2021. For more information, please visit https://www.verticalbridge.com/

Media Contact

Erica Dotterer, Vertical Bridge, (561) 331-5601, [email protected]

SOURCE Vertical Bridge