Vertical Bridge Completes Issuance of ABS Securities

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VerticalBridgeTower company Vertical Bridge has closed on a $321 asset-backed securities offering led by Deutsche Bank Securities and Barclays. The issuance is secured by more than 1,500 Vertical Bridge U.S. tower sites and gives the company more flexibility to continue its real estate portfolio expansion.


At the same time, Vertical Bridge paid off its existing Senior Credit Facility, and the company entered into a new $400 million Senior Secured Credit Facility led by TD Securities, with Barclays Bank PLC, CIT Bank N.A., Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase Bank, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc.

Vertical Bridge CEO and Co-Founder Alex Gellman said the company is pleased with investor response to its first ABS offering which “puts in place long-term funding that matches to the long term nature of our cash flows.”

The $321 million ABS notes are comprised of multiple tranches, a $240 million tranche rated A by Fitch and A2 by Moody’s, a $29 million tranche rated BBB by Fitch and a $52 million tranche rated BB- by Fitch. The securities have a five year anticipated repayment date with a 30 year final maturity and carry a blended fixed interest rate of 3.81%.

They are secured by mortgages on certain tower sites, a security interest in the towers and tenant leases associated with the sites, first priority perfected security interest in the personal property associated with all non-mortgaged sites, and a pledge of the equity interest of the asset entity holding the tower sites.