Media Venture Partners ranked #1 in transactions by SNL.com

Media Venture Partners LLC advised on a number of tower deals in the quarter, and RBC Capital Markets LLC advised on Verizon Communications Inc.'s acquisition of Plateau Wireless assets from New Mexico-based ENMR Telephone Cooperative. However, SNL Kagan did not record a transaction value for any of those deals.

In all, SNL Kagan counted 26 deal announcements in the communications sector during the first quarter, with an aggregate transaction value of $3.87 billion. By comparison, the first quarter of 2011 saw 41 deal announcements, with an aggregate transaction value of $9.90 billion. SNL Kagan defines transaction value as deal value plus net debt, and for some deals, a transaction value was not given or could not be determined.

Ranked by number of transactions instead of total transaction value, Media Venture Partners led the pack with its three tower deals, while J.P. Morgan and Moelis shared the No. 2 spot thanks to their adviser positions on SBA's big tower buy and Zayo's acquisition. The rest of the list was filled out with advisers who worked on just one deal in the quarter.