Crown Castle rises after $8.5 bln fiber assets sale to EQT, Zayo

Shares of wireless tower operator Crown Castle CCI.N rise 6.4% to $99.51 premarket

CCI to sell its small cells business to EQT Active Core infrastructure fund and fiber solutions business to Zayo Group Holdings for $8.5 bln in aggregate

MoffettNathanson says it is a very good deal for Zayo strategically, if the company can finance it prudently and integrate it without hiccups

CCI invested about $17.5 bln in its fiber unit through M&A and capital expenditures and the recent sale indicates a recovery of less than half of its cumulative investment - brokerage

"But what's done is done, and the market has baked in this sort of valuation for a while," says MoffettNathanson

The buyers appear better positioned to enhance the value of the acquired assets and CCI will be able to manage down its expense base - brokerage

Brokerage says that the management has learned lessons as it did not signal any plans to engage in M&A that would stray from its plan to make co a pure play, U.S. tower business

Up to last close, CCI shares have fallen ~14% over the past 12 months