Crown Castle Selling Fiber, Small Cell Businesses for $8.5 Billion

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2025 – Crown Castle is selling its long-haul fiber assets to Zayo and its small cell business to private equity firm EQT, an $8.5 billion deal in total, the companies announced Thursday. Crown Castle will retain its roughly 40,000 towers.

The company’s expecting to use cash from the transaction for $3 billion in stock buybacks and to pay down debt. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026 after regulatory reviews.

“We believe a focused, pure-play U.S. tower business will be uniquely well positioned to benefit from the anticipated consistent growth in mobile data demand,” Crown Castle CEO Steven Moskowitz said in a statement. The company is one of the largest tower owners in the country.