Third party lease buyout companies buy cellular leases, bundle them together and then resell them as a packaged product. During the past few years, between 3-6 major buyout companies have begun operating in earnest. Because of their reliance on the market’s fluctuations, they are especially susceptible to economic trends. As such, the amount they will offer for a particular lease can vary greatly year to year, if not month to month.
Steel in the Air has been amassing data on buyout offers since these companies first arrived on the scene. Since 1999, our proprietary cellular asset database has grown to encompass over 285,000 cell tower and cell site locations nationwide. We have served over 3,000 clients, reviewed over 8,000 cellular leases and tracked over 2,000 lease buyout offers to date.
While it’s true that each buyout offer is as unique as the property on which it’s located, there are certain aspects that most of them have in common.
Essential and is mapped out specifically by the carrier to fulfill a predetermined capacity (including frequency and amount of not just users, but data per user).
Identifying the cell site’s purpose is critical when determining a value for the lease – and we know how to do it. Using our proprietary database, we take a look at what other structure or ground space might be equally lucrative in promoting a wireless carrier’s agenda.
A major concern is technological innovations, which are happening as we speak. Questions such as: “Is there a risk my lease will be terminated due to LTE deployment?” are valid and actionable. We provide our opinion of potential future risk in three ways: whether new technology will replace terrestrial-based cellular sites (sites that require property), how recent mergers and acquisitions will affect the likelihood of consolidation between or amongst carriers, and how the most advanced cellular technologies might influence the infrastructure of wireless carriers’ networks now and in the future.
We will evaluate the current cash flow of anyone interested in buying your lease. In the case of a tower owned and operated by a tower company (or a carrier-owned tower with multiple tenants), we examine how much money the tower owner is making from the operation of the tower. We independently research and identify any and all tenants (the companies who are using the tower to service their subscriber base) to assess their use of the site. We also evaluate the equipment and antennas on the tower and the ground space itself to determine the cost/revenue, future revenue, and total value of the cell site.
Again, please give us a call. We’re happy to discuss the situation. If we can answer questions easily, off the top of our heads, we will gladly do it, in good faith and for free.
If you’d like more information about lease buyouts, please see our website: Cell Tower Lease Buyout Guide, which we’ve created just for you.
