KKR investing in telco towers

MANILA, Philippines — Global investment firm KKR is expanding its presence in the Philippines with an investment into the telecom sector.

KKR is investing in Pinnacle Towers Pte. Ltd. as part of efforts to build the leading independent telecom tower platform (TowerCo) in the country through Pinnacle’s principal subsidiary Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc.

Pinnacle specializes in building telecom tower projects, providing operators with capital-efficient infrastructure solutions to rapidly expand their coverage.

David Luboff, partner and head of Asia Pacific Infrastructure at KKR, said the telecommunications sector in the Philippines has grown rapidly in the past few years amid the increasing demand for connectivity.

“This has led to a resource imbalance and the need to expand existing infrastructure to allow operators to provide better service and coverage to their customers,” he said.

KKR’s investment in Pinnacle reiterates the company’s commitment to supporting the Philippines’ transition to a connected, digital nation.

“We look forward to assisting the Pinnacle team to deliver the benefits of a more digitally enabled economy to the Filipino people, especially in growing regions such as Visayas and Mindanao,” Luboff said.

Pinnacle’s subsidiary FTAP is one of the first independent TowerCos in the Philippines to secure a provisional license to operate from the Department of Information and Communications Technology and is a pioneer in the tower market.

“With the investment, Pinnacle aims to strengthen and expand the Philippines’ telecom infrastructure at a time when Filipino mobile users increasingly demand reliable data-rich, high-speed, affordable connectivity, and more generally to address the rapidly growing demands for telecom infrastructure in and around Southeast Asia. Pinnacle specializes in undertaking build-to-suit telecom tower projects, providing operators with capital-efficient infrastructure solutions to rapidly expand their coverage,” KKR said.

For his part, Pinnacle chairman and CEO Patrick Tangney said the company welcomes global investor KKR.

“We look forward to benefiting from the firm’s experience in managing telecom infrastructure projects across the world. KKR’s investment comes at a pivotal time: the Philippines and Asia more generally – is one of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic mobile markets. Improving telecom infrastructure has become a key priority, especially in our current environment,” he said.

With KKR, Pinnacle would be able to further its goal of providing high-quality telecom infrastructure solutions that improve the lives of mobile users in the Philippines and other relevant markets in Asia Pacific.

KKR made its investments through its infrastructure fund, which represents KKR’s second infrastructure investment in the Philippines.