British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of the largest institutional investors in Canada, has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Pinnacle Towers, a major independent telecom tower operator in the Philippines.
Pinnacle Towers, established in 2020 to address the increasing demand for telecommunications infrastructure in the Philippines, is backed by global private equity firm KKR.
The PE major, which made its investment in Pinnacle Towers from its Asia Infrastructure Funds I and II, will retain its majority shareholding in Pinnacle Towers following the transaction. Financial details of the deal, which is expected to close by Q3 2025, were not disclosed.
The deal marks BCI’s latest foray into Asia-Pacific infrastructure and supports its strategy of investing in high-growth emerging markets alongside institutional partners, per the announcement.
Lincoln Webb, executive vice president and global head, Infrastructure & Renewable Resources, at BCI, said the investment aligns with the company’s emerging markets strategy of backing high-quality infrastructure assets alongside its institutional partners.
“The Philippines represents a compelling market for long-term capital, especially in essential digital infrastructure services,” Webb added.
BCI Infrastructure & Renewable Resources has a global portfolio with nine active investments in the Asia-Pacific region, including Rakuten Mobile (a leading communications tower company in Japan), Altius (a communications tower company in India), and Cube Highways (the largest toll road operator in India).
Pinnacle Towers has developed a portfolio of around 7,000 towers across the Philippines, combining build-to-suit projects, sale-and-leaseback agreements, and tower management services for leading mobile network operators.
The transaction comes about six months after KKR initiated a private placement for Pinnacle Towers to raise between $300 million and $400 million, according to a MergerMarket report.
The report further said that the deal involves a partial sell-down by KKR, combined with a new equity injection, and that the deal size will depend on the stake offered.
KKR first acquired a stake in Pinnacle Towers in November 2020 for an undisclosed amount. It made the investment through its infrastructure fund.
In 2022, KKR acquired 3,529 telecom towers from Globe Telecom, one of the major telco companies in the Philippines, through Pinnacle’s subsidiary Frontier Tower.
It also announced a deal in March 2023 that would see PLDT, another telco company, selling 1,000 telecommunications towers for more than $200 million.
The PE major then invested an additional $400 million in Pinnacle Towers to further develop and acquire telecom towers in the country.
