By Kit Norton

New Street Research believes a reported $250-a-share takeover price for SBA Communications could "doom" the tower industry even as the sector has long-term growth potential with 5G infrastructure and AI.

TMT Finance reported Wednesday that KKR & Co and Brookfield Asset Management are among the funds that have shown interest in possibly acquiring SBA Communications. The potential purchase price for the tower owner and operator is $250 a share, or $39 billion, according to TMT Finance.

This is the second report that infrastructure funds are interested in SBA Communications. Bloomberg initially reported on April 2 that SBA is exploring options, including a sale, citing people familiar with the matter.

SBA shares have jumped 27% higher since the news broke it was considering a sale. As of the closing bell on Wednesday, American Tower and Crown Castle have gained 2.7% and 5.8%, respectively, since the initial Bloomberg report on SBA Communications.

Following Bloomberg's report, SBA Communications told Barron's it isn't commenting on the "rumors."

The unconfirmed takeover price of $250 a share implies a 14% premium compared to the $218.71 closing price on Wednesday, and a 46% premium to the April 1 closing price of $171.56.

"If true, we are truly surprised by this number given SBAC's historical bullishness on the space and that it once traded at a high of $389," New Street Research analyst David Barden wrote Thursday.

The analyst views the $250 a share price as an undervaluation of SBA Communications and of the industry as a whole. Barden is "constructive on the long-term prospects for the tower industry" even as share prices have declined after the 5G rollout.

The analyst added that if SBA Communications sells at that valuation, it will "doom the industry to that ceiling for a meaningful time."

Barden added that as public tower companies currently trade at multi-year lows, the plan seems to be to buy SBA when it's down, re-leverage it and wait "for time to pass and exit at a better multiple."

Barden, using the $250-a-share price point for SBA, wrote that it implies prices for fellow tower operators Crown Castle and American Tower of $79.53 and $222.82, respectively.

SBA stock fell 1.1% to $216.30 on Thursday. Meanwhile, Crown Castle advanced 0.5% to $85.98 per share. American Tower gained 0.8% to $177.61. For comparison, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.12% and 0.3%, respectively.

Write to Kit Norton at kit.norton@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 09, 2026 11:10 ET (15:10 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.