Barings Completes Sale of Wireless Infrastructure Group

LONDON, Jan. 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barings, one of the world's leading asset management firms, announced today that it has sold its investment in Wireless Infrastructure Group ("WIG" or the "Company") to 3i Infrastructure plc ("3i Infrastructure").

Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, WIG is an independent communications infrastructure provider. The Company operates a portfolio of over 2,000 communication towers and is the United Kingdom's market leader for the deployment of neutral host distributed antenna system networks needed to deliver mobile signals to large public venues. Barings initially made its controlling investment in WIG in December 2012, and the transaction comes as the Company continues to scale up its deployment of high capacity, 5G-ready wireless infrastructure. This includes new communication towers serving rural communities, together with small cells and fiber networks in busy urban centers.

 "We are delighted that 3i Infrastructure has extended its investment into WIG," said Scott Coates, CEO of Wireless Infrastructure Group. "WIG is busy investing in new infrastructure across the United Kingdom, from new towers in the Highlands of Scotland to 5G-ready small-cell networks that will connect self-driving cars in the West Midlands.  Barings has been a great partner and WIG is well positioned to continue our scale up."

"Barings' five-year investment in WIG has been highly successful, with the company doubling in scale, developing a leading position in small cells, expanding its capabilities and delivering great service to customers," said Matt Sandoval, Head of Telecom and a managing director in Barings' Private Equity / Real Assets Group. "WIG is a prime example of the real asset and asset-based private equity investments that Barings targets. With WIG, we early on identified a macro theme that has played out favorably and yielded outstanding results for our clients."

With over 650 investment professionals globally, including more than 250 dedicated solely to alternative investments, Barings leverages its global presence and local expertise to source investment opportunities worldwide. Within Barings, the Barings Alternative Investments group seeks to find differentiated sources of return in global real estate, private equity and real assets through; a Private Equity / Real Assets group that focuses on control investments within real assets and asset-based businesses; a Real Estate group that offers a diverse range of opportunities across the four quadrants in both public and private real estate equity and debt markets; and a Funds and Co-Investments group that makes minority investments in unaffiliated, third-party private equity funds, as well as related equity co-investments, and transactions in the private equity secondary market. Learn more at www.barings.com /strategies.

About Wireless Infrastructure Group
Wireless Infrastructure Group is an independent communications infrastructure provider headquartered in the Edinburgh with offices in London, Solihull, Bellshill, Basingstoke and the Netherlands. Following its launch in 2006, Wireless Infrastructure Group has invested in over 2,000 assets including communications towers and other wireless infrastructure. The business builds and operates communication towers in rural and suburban areas, together with fiber-based networks to enable mobile coverage in large buildings and on city streets. Wireless Infrastructure Group is fully independent of any network operator and invests in high capacity infrastructure available to all networks. For more information about Wireless Infrastructure Group, visit www.wirelessinfrastructure.co.uk.

About Barings
Barings is a $299 billion* global asset management firm dedicated to meeting the evolving investment and capital needs of our clients. We build lasting partnerships that leverage our distinctive expertise across traditional and alternative asset classes to deliver innovative solutions and exceptional service. Part of MassMutual, Barings maintains a strong global presence with over 650 investment professionals and offices in 16 countries. Learn more at www.barings.com.

*As of Sept. 30, 2017

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Contact:  
Brian Whelan, Barings, 704.805.7244, brian.whelan@barings.com