Andean Telecom Partners (ATP) closed on an all-cash acquisition today, buying less than 200 sites in Colombia from SBA Communications, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The transaction represents SBA’s exit from the Andean country, company executives said on a recent earnings call.

The company entered into a sale agreement on 20 February, according to a company filing.

“Subsequent to year-end we exited our operations in the Philippines and entered into an agreement to exit Colombia, eliminating subscale markets and allowing us to better focus our attention on growing and operating other key markets,” SBA executives said in the filing.

SBA Communications looked at the market exits as an unusual step for the company to take.

“We much prefer to not (exit) and (instead) find ways towards improved scale and better positioning with the leading carriers in those markets. So that’s what we’re focused on,” SBA President and CEO Brendan Kavanaugh said during the earnings call in response to an analyst question. “But having said that, in some cases like we did in Colombia, and like we did in the Philippines, if we come to the conclusion that we don’t see a reasonable viable path to getting there anytime soon, then for purposes of being focused with our operations and where we are spending our time and energy, we would consider it.”

Slow progress on the sale process

Meanwhile, the ongoing sale process for ATP itself is beginning to wither, said sources familiar with the matter.

Some infrastructure funds had shown interest, but most parties have left the table, and only two bidders remain: a strategic and an investment fund, the first source said.

The PJT Partners-led sale process entered the second round last July.

ATP is being marketed off EBITDA between USD 125m-USD 133m, with the sell-side aiming for a 15x-16x valuation.

Colombian utility company Interconexión Eléctrica owns 25% of ATP. DigitalBridge Group controls 23%; Equity International holds 15% and other investors hold the remainder.

The company owns and operates macro cell towers, fiber networks and distributed antenna systems with thousands of owned and managed sites across Colombia, Peru, Chile and Ecuador, according to its website.

DigitalBridge declined to comment. ATP, PJT and SBA did not respond to requests for comment.