Service-Telecom LLC, a rapidly growing independent telecom tower infrastructure company, announced that it had completed the acquisition of 100% stake in Link Development LLC. Service-Telecom is one of the leaders of the tower infrastructure market in the Moscow region, and it is actively expanding its presence in the major regional markets. Link Development is a leading player in the Northwest region of Russia, focusing on Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region.

The combined company will manage more than 1 000 sites (mast structures and steel poles of different height) in the key markets of Russia. It enjoys a portfolio of diversified long-term contracts with all federal mobile network operators; average tenancy ratio of 1.8 is one of the highest in the industry.

Nikolay Berdin, Service-Telecom CEO, on the acquisition:

‘Being the first strategic acquisition of a tower company in the Russian telecom market, this transaction is a very important step in the implementation of Service-Telecom’s strategy to become a leader on a national scale in the Russian telecom market. We join efforts of our teams in the key markets to provide our clients and partners with high quality services, to offer more competitive proposition for the further construction of LTE networks, and to build foundation for future development of 5G networks. We will continue to improve our operational efficiency and will follow the growth strategy combining M&A activities with proactive organic regional expansion.‘

About Service-Telecom

Service-Telecom was established in 2015 to provide site leasing and site development services to mobile network operators. In the end of 2Q 2017, the Company’s portfolio reached 500+ sites. Service-Telecom is currently present in the Moscow region, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar, Stavropol and the Urals (Sverdlovsk region).

About Link Development

Established in 2008, Link Development is the first Russian tower company that started building infrastructure for site sharing. The network of the company is developing and now reached the number of 350+ sites in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod, Vologda and the Arkhangelsk region.

Advisors for the transaction

Aspring Capital, an independent Russian investment bank providing M&A, fund raising and other corporate finance services, acted as a financial advisor for the transaction. DLA Piper represented the interests of Service-Telecom in this transaction and Dentons advised the seller.