Colony Capital’s digital infrastructure investment arm has marked its entry into Brazil with the acquisition of Highline do Brasil II Infraestrutura de Telecomunicações.

The manager said Digital Colony Partners has bought Highline from Latin America alternative asset manager Patria Investments for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2012 by Pátria, Highline constructs and operates of a portfolio of sites, designed for the installation of communication equipment.

The company owns a portfolio of wireless infrastructure assets, including macro towers, which spans all the major urban, suburban, and rural areas of Brazil.

Steven Sonnenstein, managing director at Digital Colony, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Highline as we enter the Brazilian digital infrastructure market. The company has a best-in-class asset base, multiple avenues for growth, and a talented and strong management team well-versed in scaling a tower platform.”

“As Brazilian mobile network operators increase their 4G coverage, seek to augment capacity in the country’s dense urban areas and prepare their networks for 5G deployment, there is a significant opportunity for Highline to grow.”

Highline will continue to be led by CEO Fernando Viotti and an executive team.

Viotti said: “Whether considering how to alleviate current capacity overload or strategising how to meet the network demands of 4G/5G adoption, IoT devices and overall subscriber usage, Brazilian mobile network operators have made macrosite location availability their top priority moving forward.”

“Our partnership with Digital Colony will allow us to expand our services ‒ including our flagship build-to-suit program ‒ to meet the growing infrastructure needs of the country’s mobile network operators, and offer new sites on which to deploy their equipment.”