Telefonica’s Vivo sells 800 wireless towers to SBA

Bloomberg reports that US-based SBA Communications Corp has purchased 800 wireless towers in Brazil from Telefonica SA’s Vivo division for BRL362.8 million (USD178 million), giving it a toehold in the Latin American country. The deal comprised cash in hand and a revolving credit line deal, with SBA saying the acquisition will hopefully yield cash flow of between BRL19 million and BRL23 million in fiscal 2013. Tower companies such as SBA, which make money by leasing out antenna capacity to other carriers, have been taking advantage of a positive market for borrowers with low interest rates and good access to capital. SBA, which is based in Boca Raton, Florida, is the third largest publicly traded cellular-tower company by market valuation, behind American Tower Corp and Crown Castle International Corp.