Africa’s leading mobile telecommunications company, the MTN Group, has exchanged 51 per cent of its interest in Nigeria Tower InterCo B.V., the parent company of INT Towers Limited, the Nigerian telecom tower operator, for an additional shareholding in IHS Holding Limited, thereby extending its shareholding in IHS to 29 per cent from the 15 per cent it previously held.
MTN announced in a statement issued from its headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday February 1, 2017, that although as a result of the Transaction, MTN’s economic interest in IHS Group will increase from approximately 15% to approximately 29%, “there are no conditions precedent to the Transaction and it is expected to close once the new shares in IHS Group have been issued during Q1 2017.”
The statement says in exchanging all of its interest in INT in Nigeria for additional shares in the pan-African IHS Group, all of MTN’s interest in IHS will sit alongside “a world-class group of investors including Wendel, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) and Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), among other international investors.”
The Transaction enables MTN to simplify its tower ownership structure and diversify its tower infrastructure exposure across the IHS Group which operates in a number of markets across Africa. Moreover, the Transaction will better enable MTN to crystallise value for MTN’s shareholders in the future. The investment in IHS Group allows MTN to benefit economically from its previously owned passive infrastructure and continued network investment.
MTN’s Executive Chairman, Phuthuma Nhleko, said that “the transaction represents a significant step in MTN’s long-standing partnership with IHS. It simplifies our ownership structure and diversifies our tower investments across the IHS Group. IHS Group is extremely well positioned for future growth and build-out from 3G upgrades and the move to LTE across its key markets.”
Issam Darwish, Executive Vice Chairman and Group CEO of IHS Group, said: “The MTN transaction and partnership was transformational for IHS and has allowed us to invest a significant amount of capital to better serve our customers, accelerate our growth and the development of critical telecommunications infrastructure across Africa. We are delighted to announce the transaction which simplifies the shareholding structure of IHS Group and marks an important milestone as we strengthen our capital structure and our position as the leading independent tower company in EMEA.”
The Transaction is a Category 2 transaction in terms of the JSE Listings Requirements.
IHS Group is the largest independent tower operator in Africa, Europe and Middle East and the tenth largest independent tower company in the world, with over 23,300 towers. Founded in 2001, IHS Group provides services across the full tower value chain – colocation on owned towers, deployment and managed services. IHS Group continues to grow and develop its business with leading market positions in Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia and Rwanda and has also recently led in-market consolidation in Africa through its acquisition of Helios Towers Nigeria in early 2016.
The MTN Group, launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 30 September 2016, MTN recorded 234.2 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.