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The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo) are investing $2.4-billion in BAI Communications Pty Ltd. to help the wireless infrastructure company fund acquisitions and new partnerships.

The latest investment from the two pension funds comes after Australia-based BAI announced on Monday an agreement to acquire Mobilitie, the largest privately held telecommunications infrastructure company in the United States, for an undisclosed amount.

CPP Investments has been a majority shareholder in BAI since 2009, holding 86 per cent of the company. The pension fund initially acquired a 100-per-cent stake in BAI, then called Broadcast Australia, in a $1.73-billion deal with Macquarie Group Ltd. that also included almost 50-per-cent stakes in two British telecom companies, Arqiva and Airwave.

Since then, the pension fund sold some of their investment in BAI to other institutional investors, including AIMCo.

Under CPP’s ownership, BAI has expanded to provide cellular and WiFi connectivity for large infrastructure projects around the world, including the subway systems in Toronto, New York and Hong Kong, through its majority-owned Transit Wireless business. BAI also acquired Boston-based inMotion Wireless Inc., another transit WiFi service provider, in a private deal in 2017.

The acquisition of Mobilitie represents a major expansion of BAI’s business in North America as the company rolls out its 5G networks. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approvals.

Also planned is a partnership between BAI and Transport for London (TfL) in Britain, which will bring WiFi to the London Underground. All stations and tunnels are expected to have mobile coverage in four years.

“We’ve been focused on leveraging and growing the strengths of the BAI management team and providing capital to support BAI’s expansion on a global basis, and Mobilitie is a key part of this growth,” said Scott Lawrence, CPP Investments’ head of infrastructure, in an e-mail.

CPP’s infrastructure investment strategy involves holding large-scale infrastructure businesses with stable cash flows, according to its website. As of Dec. 31, CPP had $38.2-billion invested in infrastructure, accounting for 8 per cent of its total holdings.

As of March 31, 2021, CPP had more than $497-billion under management. AIMCo manages more than $129-billion.

“During the pandemic, the need for BAI became even more apparent as digital trends accelerated,” Mr. Lawrence said. “Now, we are working hard to enhance access to data that populations around the world will need even more post-pandemic, wherever people travel, work, entertain and socialize.”

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