StratCap Wireless is a digital infrastructure asset management company that invests in towers, ground leases, easements, and data centers. Assets are added to the company’s portfolio through investments in tower developers, as well as broker-assisted and off-market transactions.
StratCap Wireless came into existence in 2018, when StratCap, a privately-held, global alternative investment management organization, created an in-house platform to take advantage of investment, acquisition and development opportunities in the digital infrastructure space.
2023 in Review
Last year was a very busy one for StratCap Wireless. In December, it sold the assets of the firm’s fund, Strategic Wireless Infrastructure Fund I, LLC (SWIF I) to K2, a national, private equity-backed tower company. Proceeds from the sale, which included 100 towers, resulted in an approximate 40 percent gain in gross asset value.
Alongside the SWIF I sale, StratCap continued to grow its platform by adding an array of digital infrastructure assets, including towers, rooftop easements, and data centers. “As we accelerated our growth in 2023, we brought in an institutional partner, which provided considerable funding,” said Todd Rowley, CEO of StratCap Wireless.
Things are not slowing down in 2024. StratCap announced last month that it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by HMC Capital Limited (HMC), an Australian alternative asset manager that has AUD$10 billion in assets under management.
“HMC brings a lot of things to the table for us,” Rowley said. “It has a strong balance sheet and keen expertise in asset management. They have aggressively grown their company and have a vision of highly accelerated growth for StrapCap’s digital infrastructure platform.”
Insight into Network Operators
StratCap Wireless’ ace in the hole is its leadership’s experience working for network operators, according to Rowley. Its executives have been involved in network builds, financing, spectrum acquisition, and M&A; and they understand what goes into the carriers’ decision-making processes.
“We come at investing in digital infrastructure from a carrier-friendly perspective,” Rowley said. “We have been in this business for a long time, and that comes with established, long-term relationships with the carriers.” In addition to the wireless carriers, StratCap Wireless has investments in first responder networks, broadcast towers, and other unique digital infrastructure.
Rowley has more than 30 years of experience, including a tenure with Sprint/Nextel. Others in StratCap Wireless’ management come from the operator space. For example, Eric Graham, General Counsel, spent 13 years in various executive roles with C Spire, the fifth largest wireless operator in the U.S. Chief Operating Officer Scott Riggs co-founded and served as CEO and Chairman of Clearwave Communications, a regional fiber-optic company.
Rowley also credits the firm’s success on its ability to be a good partner with the tower developers and creating win-win relationships by structuring deals that meet each other’s needs.
“We are not just somebody that’s going to buy your site and run with it,” he said. “We look at ways for our developer partners to share long term in the growth and the upside. And I think that’s an important component.”
In turn, the tower developers that StratCap Wireless seeks out are trustworthy partners looking to grow their companies long-term. “We are careful about picking our partners,” Rowley explained. “Do they bring to the table a strong relationship with a carrier or multiple carriers? Generally, those relationships are built at the regional and local level.”
2024: From The Pipeline into the Portfolio
StratCap Wireless continued to see a robust pipeline of acquisition opportunities throughout 2023. In fact, it acquired the most assets in its history. And, in 2024, the pipeline has stayed active.
“We feel like we are well positioned to partner with developers and bring our expertise, our capital, and our relationships with carriers to the table. A good percentage of our sites are now coming through our developer partners, and we’re really helping them grow their business and accelerate it,” said Rowley.
StratCap Wireless has seen attractive historical growth in its digital infrastructure platform, and it is now starting to scale its telecom holdings. The addition of HMC Capital to the mix, along with other financial partners, will likely allow the company to invest in larger scale assets than they have in the past – especially in the tower and data center sectors. The goal now is to build on previous successes, expand the overall acquisition pipeline, and continue assisting tower developers with their builds.
Rowley is optimistic that opportunities for data centers and cell towers will remain strong. The AI goldrush is ushering in a new era that will be heavily dependent on data center real estate, and the number of cell sites is expected to increase by two to three times over the next five to seven years, driving demand for additional towers.
“The need for more capacity in wireless networks and shorter propagation characteristics of these higher spectrum bands will bring more pressure on densifying these networks,” Rowley said. “We look at ourselves as the partner that can provide those cell towers and other transmission network locations to help augment growth in the capacity of the carriers’ networks.”
For more information on StratCap Wireless, visit their website.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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