AT&T Said to Seek Sale of Cell Towers Valued at $5 Billion

AT&T, the largest US phone company, is seeking buyers for its wireless towers and working with TAP Advisors and JPMorgan Chase on the sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

The assets could fetch about $5 billion and possible buyers include Crown Castle International, SBA Communications and American Tower, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the process isn’t public. A sale would bolster AT&T’s balance sheet as it undertakes a $14 billion network upgrade, plans a stock buyback that may top $11 billion, and considers acquisitions in Europe. The tower industry is consolidating, with fewer companies controlling bigger swaths of the equipment needed to transmit wireless signals amid booming demand for mobile communications.