Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Stockholders' Equity

Equity

15.EQUITY

Warrants—In August 2005, the Company completed its merger with SpectraSite, Inc. and assumed outstanding warrants to purchase shares of SpectraSite, Inc. common stock. As of the merger completion date, each warrant was exercisable for two shares of SpectraSite, Inc. common stock at an exercise price of $32 per warrant. Upon completion of the merger, each warrant to purchase shares of SpectraSite, Inc. common stock automatically converted into a warrant to purchase shares of the Company's common stock, such that upon exercise of each warrant, the holder has a right to receive 3.575 shares of the Company's common stock in lieu of each share of SpectraSite, Inc. common stock that would have been receivable under each assumed warrant prior to the merger. Upon completion of the Company's merger with SpectraSite, Inc., these warrants were exercisable for approximately 6.8 million shares of common stock. These warrants expired on February 10, 2010. No warrants were outstanding at December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

Stock Repurchase Program—During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company continued to repurchase shares of its common stock pursuant to its publicly announced stock repurchase program.

In March 2011, the Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program, pursuant to which the Company is authorized to purchase up to an additional $1.5 billion of common stock (“2011 Buyback”).

During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company repurchased 872,005 shares of its common stock for an aggregate of $62.7 million, including commissions and fees, pursuant to the 2011 Buyback. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had repurchased a total of approximately4.3 million shares of its common stock under the 2011 Buyback for an aggregate of $243.9 million, including commissions and fees.

Between January 1, 2013 and January 21, 2013, the Company repurchased an additional 15,790 shares of its common stock for an aggregate of$1.2 million, including commissions and fees, pursuant to the 2011 Buyback. As of January 21, 2013, the Company had repurchased a total of approximately 4.3 million shares of its common stock under the 2011 Buyback for an aggregate of $245.2 million, including commissions and fees.

Under the 2011 Buyback, the Company is authorized to purchase shares from time to time through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions at prevailing prices in accordance with securities laws and other legal requirements, and subject to market conditions and other factors. To facilitate repurchases, the Company makes purchases pursuant to trading plans under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which allows the Company to repurchase shares during periods when it otherwise might be prevented from doing so under insider trading laws or because of self-imposed trading blackout periods.

The Company continues to manage the pacing of the remaining $1.3 billion under the 2011 Buyback in response to general market conditions and other relevant factors. In the near term, the Company expects to fund any further repurchases of its common stock through a combination of cash on hand, cash generated by operations and borrowings under its credit facilities. Purchases under the 2011 Buyback are subject to the Company having available cash to fund repurchases.

Distributions—During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company declared and paid the following regular cash distributions to the stockholders:

Declaration Date	Payment Date	Record Date	Distribution per share	Aggregate Payment Amount (in millions)
March 22, 2012	April 25, 2012	April 11, 2012	$ 0.21	$ 82.9
June 20, 2012	July 18, 2012	July 2, 2012	$ 0.22	$ 86.9
September 19, 2012	October 15, 2012	October 1, 2012	$ 0.23	$ 90.9
December 6, 2012	December 31, 2012	December 17, 2012	$ 0.24	$ 94.8

The Company accrues distributions on unvested restricted stock unit awards granted subsequent to January 1, 2012, which will be payable upon vesting.  As of December 31, 2012, the Company had accrued $0.7 million of distributions payable upon the vesting of restricted stock units.

To maintain its REIT status, the Company expects to continue paying regular distributions, the amount, timing and frequency of which will be determined and be subject to adjustment by the Company's Board of Directors.