Africa-focused towerco IHS has bought 2,136 towers from Etisalat Nigeria in the country. The Nigerian mobile operator, a subsidiary of the UAE’s Etisalat, will then lease back the sites. The value of the transaction, expected to close later this year,…
Africa-focused towerco IHS has bought 2,136 towers from Etisalat Nigeria in the country.
The Nigerian mobile operator, a subsidiary of the UAE’s Etisalat, will then lease back the sites. The value of the transaction, expected to close later this year, has not been disclosed.
TelecomFinance understands that Etisalat Nigeria mandated Standard Bank for advice on the sale, while IHS was advised by UBS. Norton Rose provided legal advice to Etisalat and IHS hired Allen & Overy.
Since the start of the year, IHS has secured US$620m in equity and debt funding. Some of it helped fund the purchase of more than 1,200 towers from telecoms group MTN in Rwanda and Zambia. The rest will be used for new acquisitions, the towerco said in May.
The African tower market is particularly active, with Orange and Bharti Airtel also in the process of offloading some of their passive infrastructure.
Just weeks ago, Helios Towers Africa snapped up 3,100 Bharti towers in four African nations. The Indian giant is looking to sell another 12,000 such sites across the continent, possibly to IHS and Eaton Towers.
In Nigeria alone, another two tower sales processes are ongoing: Bharti’s and MTN’s.
Etisalat Nigeria CEO Matthew Willsher said the decision to sell the company’s passive infrastructure is aimed at increasing its network coverage and capacity.
Once the deal closes, IHS will own and manage over 6,540 towers in Nigeria on which it will promote tower sharing and colocation.
