American Tower Corporation is a publicly held company that is a leading owner and operator of wireless and broadcast communications sites in North America. The company was formed in 1995 as a unit of American Radio Systems, and was spun off from that company in 1998 when that company merged with CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...

. Today American Tower owns and operates over 30,000 sites in the United States, Mexico, Brazil and India. Headquartered in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, American Tower has local offices nationwide.

In 2005, American Tower merged with SpectraSite Communications, Inc., expanding its global portfolio to over 22,000 owned communications sites including over 21,000 wireless towers, 400 broadcast towers and 100 in-building DAS (Distributed Antenna System) sites. The merger further established American Tower’s position as one of the largest tower owner and operators in North America.

Mergers and Acquisitions

American Tower said on February 24, 2010 that its indirectly held, wholly owned Indian subsidiary had entered into a definitive stock purchase agreement that will lead to it acquiring all of the issued and outstanding shares of Essar Telecom Infrastructure, an Indian wireless infrastructure services company.

The total consideration for the acquisition is estimated to be approximately US$430 million and is subject to certain post-closing adjustments, the company said.