BTA2023 MTN Group has agreed to acquire the remaining stake in IHS Towers in a $6.2 billion all-cash transaction, moving to take one of Africa’s largest digital infrastructure companies private.
Under the deal, IHS shareholders will receive $8.50 per share in cash — a 36% premium to the company’s 52-week volume-weighted average price. Once completed, IHS will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and become a wholly owned subsidiary of MTN.
The acquisition marks a significant shift in Africa’s telecom infrastructure landscape. Over the past decade, operators including MTN spun off tower assets to independent infrastructure firms to reduce debt and unlock capital. Now, as mobile data consumption surges and digital services expand, control over tower infrastructure is becoming strategically critical.
MTN already owns approximately 24% of IHS on a fully diluted basis and has committed to vote its shares in favour of the transaction. Long-term investor Wendel has also pledged support, meaning more than 40% of shareholders have already backed the proposal.
MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita described the transaction as a pivotal step in strengthening the company’s strategic and financial position in a future where digital infrastructure will be central to Africa’s growth.
Founded in 2001 by Sam Darwish, IHS Towers manages more than 37,000 towers across seven African markets, including Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Zambia, alongside operations in Brazil and Colombia. At its peak, the company operated roughly 40,000 towers across eleven countries.
The transaction will be funded through a combination of MTN’s existing stake rollover, approximately $1.1 billion in MTN cash, about $1.1 billion from IHS’s balance sheet, and the rollover of existing IHS debt. IHS will also be required to maintain a minimum cash balance of $355 million at closing.
Completion is expected in 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, as well as the successful divestment of IHS’s Latin American tower and fibre businesses.
If finalised, the deal will consolidate one of Africa’s largest independent tower operators under its biggest mobile network group — signalling a new phase of vertical integration in the continent’s rapidly evolving digital economy.
