BOCA RATON, Fla. and HELSINKI, Finland, April 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Colony, a global investment firm focused on enabling the next generation of mobile and internet infrastructure, today announced that a Digital Colony affiliate has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100 percent of the capital in Digita Oy ("Digita") from First State Investments ("First State").
Digita is the owner and operator of the premier nationwide digital terrestrial television ("DTT") and radio broadcasting tower infrastructure network in Finland. Founded in 1999 as a spin-off from national broadcaster Yle, Digita is Finland's leading TV and radio broadcasting network and the only platform with the ability to reach nearly 100 percent of the Finnish population. The company is also Finland's largest independent tower network owner, providing infrastructure solutions to the country's largest mobile network operators. Digita will continue to be led by CEO Juha-Pekka Weckström and the existing management team.
"I am grateful for the support First State has provided to Digita over the years," said Weckström. "Together with First State, we have invested more than €40 million into Digita to upgrade our network and to start new business lines including data centers and internet of things ("IoT") services. Partnering with Digital Colony will help Digita continue to enhance its network and facilitate a first class customer experience."
"Digita is well-positioned to extend its business model into adjacent markets as the deployment of 5G will increase demand for new macro towers, rooftop sites, small cell deployments, and data centers," said Ben Jenkins, Managing Partner at Digital Colony. "We look forward to partnering with Digita's highly experienced team to ensure that the company's processes and systems remain best in class to provide customers state-of-the-art solutions across the entire value chain."
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement to sell Digita to Digital Colony," said Niall Mills, Partner, Infrastructure Investments at First State. "Under our ownership, Digita has successfully refocused on its core competencies, extended all of its key broadcasting contracts, led the transition to high definition DTT and secured all six ultra-high frequency DTT Multiplex licenses in 2017. This secures Digita's role as Finland's nationwide TV broadcast infrastructure provider over the long-term. We are confident that under Digital Colony's ownership, Digita will continue to be well positioned to further develop as Finland's leading tower network company."
The transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, is expected to close in Q2 2018. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and ICECAPITAL served as financial advisors, with Roschier acting as legal advisor to First State. Ashurst LLP provided legal counsel to Digital Colony.
About Digital Colony
Digital Colony is a global investment firm focused on enabling the next generation of mobile and internet infrastructure. Digital Colony is a joint venture between Digital Bridge Holdings, LLC, a leading owner and operator of digital infrastructure businesses and Colony NorthStar, Inc. (NYSE: CLNS), a leading real estate investment management firm. The principals of Digital Colony collectively have 23 years of investment and operating history, having founded, operated and successfully exited from multiple businesses in the digital infrastructure space. Digital Colony's focus is to invest in four key segments of mobile and internet infrastructure (macro cell towers, data centers, small cell networks, and fiber networks) to take advantage of physical infrastructure convergence ahead of the anticipated global 5G rollout and beyond.
About Digita
Digita transmits radio and television programs to nearly everyone living in every corner of Finland every day of the year. Digita also applies the latest digital technology in order to develop and offer versatile online television and radio services. In addition, its service portfolio includes comprehensive Internet of Things services based on its nationwide network, as well as world-class Data Center Services. Digita's clients are the national broadcaster YLE, media houses and mobile and broadband operators that provide quality content and services.
About First State Investments
First State Investments is a global asset management business with experience across a range of asset classes and specialist investment sectors. First State Investments is owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and as at 31 December 2017 managed £127.5 billion of assets on behalf of clients worldwide. In Australia First State operates as Colonial First State Global Asset Management. First State offers a range of investment solutions to institutional and retail investors globally, including equities, debt, multi-asset and unlisted infrastructure.
First State Investments approach to investment is driven by a commitment to providing the best possible outcomes over the long term for its investors. To achieve this, First State Investments ensure its interests are aligned with its investors and upholds a culture of always acting in its clients' best interests.
SOURCE Digital Colony
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