There has been a near-global trend for mobile operators to divest their towers into joint ventures or to independent tower operators, and the US carriers were in the vanguard. But now Sprint may be set to buck that trend, if it is drawn into a new towerco established in the US by its parent Softbank of Japan, in partnership with Australian property firm Lendlease Group. The new venture is branded Lendlease Towers. Each party has committed an initial $200m to the initiative, to fund the acquisition of about 8,000 towers, including rooftops and poles, and the new firm is targeting $5bn of telecom infrastructure assets in the medium term. Sprint assets will be included in the portfolio. Denis Hickey, CEO…