Pittsburgh-based Everest Infrastructure Partners is cutting a massive check for cell towers in some of the most wide-open corners of the American West. The company has agreed to buy a 214-site portfolio of wireless communications towers from ATN International's Commnet Wireless unit for up to $297 million in cash. The towers, clustered across the Southwestern United States, will change hands through staged closings, with the first batch expected to wrap in the second quarter of 2026. ATN says the move is designed to free up cash to pay down debt and reinvest in its core businesses.
In a press release, ATN International said Commnet Wireless and certain subsidiaries signed a purchase-and-sale agreement for an all-cash deal valued at up to $297 million. The company expects gross proceeds at the initial closing in the ballpark of $250 million to $270 million, with roughly $20 million to $35 million tied to post-closing conditions and staged payments over the following year. ATN said it plans to use the money to reduce leverage, reinvest in existing operations and selectively chase growth opportunities.
“This transaction allows us to unlock the inherent value of our tower portfolio,” ATN CEO Brad Martin said in the announcement, as ATN International reported, pitching the sale as a way to shore up the balance sheet rather than a retreat from infrastructure. Everest President Mike Mackey called the purchase “a high-quality portfolio of communications tower assets” that he expects will support strong tenant growth across the sites.
Everest, founded in 2015 and headquartered at Nova Place on Pittsburgh’s North Side, is privately held and markets thousands of wireless sites, rooftop locations and indoor systems across the United States. The company has already pushed overseas into Australia, New Zealand and Portugal as it builds scale, according to WPXI.
The nuts and bolts of the transaction are laid out in ATN's Form 8-K filed with the SEC, which details staged closings, site management agreements, leasebacks and preferred backhaul arrangements that will let Commnet keep serving customers at certain locations even after Everest takes ownership. The filing also points to a potential termination fee of around $14.9 million if the agreement is scrapped under specified conditions.
Industry watchers say the deal fits a familiar pattern: carriers and regional operators selling off tower real estate while specialist infrastructure owners scoop up portfolios, then pack on additional tenants to support 5G densification. Telecom trade outlet Inside Towers flagged the Everest-ATN agreement as part of a broader wave of tower sales in secondary and rural markets.
Regulatory Review and Next Steps
The purchase still has to clear the usual hurdles, including third-party consents and review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, so the actual timeline will hinge on regulators and site-level milestones. ATN's public disclosures indicate that roughly 25 to 30 percent of the gross proceeds are expected to go toward taxes, payments to minority investors and transaction-related costs, with the remainder earmarked primarily for debt reduction and reinvestment in the business.
For Everest, the Commnet deal is the latest in a steady string of acquisitions that have bulked up the Pittsburgh firm's footprint in the United States. The company’s own materials highlight earlier transactions, including a 2025 purchase of a 70-site tower portfolio from Tower Ventures, as examples of its strategy to buy assets that can support more tenants and future 5G investment, according to Everest Infrastructure Partners.
