Boston, MA -- April 15, 2005 -- Great Hill Partners, LLC is pleased to announce that Global Tower Partners ("GTP"), a portfolio company of Great Hill, has been acquired by The Blackstone Group. Great Hill formed GTP in October 2003 in partnership with Marc C. Ganzi and was an active partner in the company's development during its seventeen-month investment period. During its tenure, the company successfully completed ten acquisitions and recently signed a definitive agreement to purchase 563 wireless communications towers from Dobson Communications.
Marc C. Ganzi, Chief Executive Officer of GTP, said, "Our relationship with Great Hill allowed us to position ourselves as one of the premier privately-held tower operators, and our new partnership with Blackstone is a natural fit that will further provide GTP with sufficient access to capital to achieve its strategic growth plans."
John G. Hayes, Chairman of the Board of GTP and Managing Partner at Great Hill, stated, "We are very pleased with our partnership with Marc and his team. His identification and evaluation of attractive acquisition opportunities was a key to the success of our investment and in building GTP into the platform it is today."
About Global Tower Partners
Global Tower Partners (www.global-towers.com), based in Boca Raton, Florida, with seven regional offices around the country, is one of the leading providers of outsourced antennae site facilities to the wireless communications industry in the United States. GTP's business includes the ownership, development, leasing and management of antennae sites on towers and commercial real estate rooftops. GTP owns or master leases more than 2,741 sites, including 642 towers concentrated in the Midwest and Eastern United States. GTP's customers are leading wireless communications providers including Nextel, Sprint PCS, AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile, Cingular, Verizon, Centennial Wireless, Dobson Communications, Tritel Communications.
About Great Hill Partners
Great Hill Partners is a private equity firm that manages over $1 billion in capital and focuses on investing in growth companies operating in the education, business services, media, information, IT, and communication sectors. Great Hill Partners is currently investing its $460 million fund, Great Hill Equity Partners II, L.P., and targeting investments of $20 million to $75 million. For more information, please visit www.greathillpartners.com.
