- Symphony CEO Bernard Borghei left the company late last week
- Borghei didn’t give a reason for his departure, other than an “ongoing irreconcilable difference” with Symphony’s financial sponsor
- The company today welcomed a new CEO, telecom industry veteran David Bacino
Sometimes change comes at you fast. The CEO of Symphony Towers, Bernard Borghei, abruptly left the company on Friday and a new CEO was announced on Tuesday.
So far, no one is publicly saying exactly what transpired behind the scenes. Borghei announced his departure over the weekend on LinkedIn, saying it’s been a successful 15-month run at the helm. But due to “ongoing irreconcilable difference with Symphony’s financial sponsor, I decided to leave the company and pursue other opportunities,” he explained.
Fierce reached out to him. He declined to provide details out of respect for the parties involved but told Fierce that it was “100%” his decision to leave. Borghei previously confirmed the same to Data Center Dynamics.
Symphony Towers bills itself as one of the largest private telecom infrastructure platforms in the U.S. Its specialty is acquiring, managing and leasing tower, rooftop and non-traditional cell sites across the country. Customers include all the big U.S. wireless carriers.
Borghei, one of the founders of Vertical Bridge, told Fierce earlier this year that he was excited about the company’s prospects and he was looking at 2025 as a pure growth year for Symphony Towers, both organically and through acquisitions. The company counts about 3,000 assets under its control.
Palistar Capital backs Symphony
Borghei didn’t identify the financial sponsor mentioned in the LinkedIn post, but it’s most likely Palistar Capital, an alternative asset management company. Palistar Capital was founded in 2019 by Omar Jaffrey, the chairman of Symphony Towers.
In a statement, Palistar said it does not comment on personnel departures.
“We will continue to execute on our successful strategy that we have been doing for over a decade. No changes for us,” the company said in response to questions from Fierce. “We have created an efficient entity for our investors aligned with our goals and objectives.”
To that end, Palistar today announced a new CEO for Symphony Towers, David Bacino, an operating partner at Palistar who has 33 years of experience in the telecom industry. Prior to serving as CEO of CTI Towers from 2021 to 2025, Bacino was the president of Melody Wireless Infrastructure, which was sold in 2021 for $1.625 billion in one of the most successful exists in wireless digital infrastructure in the U.S.
Palistar also confirmed the completion of its previously announced combination of assets – that of CTI Towers with Symphony Towers, creating one of the largest pools of wireless assets in North America.
"I'm confident that David Bacino – a trusted member of the Palistar leadership team and a proven expert in the tower industry – is the right person to lead the team at Symphony Towers and to manage these critical infrastructure assets,” Jaffrey said in a press release.
No word on where Borghei will turn up next, but judging by the well wishes on his LinkedIn post, he’ll land on his feet somewhere in the not-too-distant future.