Towerco IHS has completed its acquisition of mobile towers from MTN Group in Rwanda and Zambia.
A total of 1,269 sites were sold: 550 in Rwanda and 719 in Zambia.
The deal was first announced in late December and is understood to have a value of around…
Towerco IHS has completed its acquisition of mobile towers from MTN Group in Rwanda and Zambia.
A total of 1,269 sites were sold: 550 in Rwanda and 719 in Zambia.
The deal was first announced in late December and is understood to have a value of around US$120m.
At the time, the Africa-focussed towerco said it would own around 10,500 towers on the continent once the transaction closes. IHS was advised by EY while MTN mandated Citi, TelecomFinance has learnt.
Under the agreement, MTN Rwanda and MTN Zambia will become anchor tenants on the towers for an initial term of 10 years.
MTN has a long-standing relationship with IHS and previously sold close to 1,800 towers in Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire to the towerco.
To finance the Rwandan and Zambian acquisitions, IHS will use some of the US$620m equity and debt funding secured since the beginning of the year.
The remaining proceeds will go towards financing future acquisitions, the tower operator said.
TelecomFinance reported previously that IHS is among the suitors for Bharti Airtel’s African towers. Other interested parties include Helios and Eaton.
Bharti’s portfolio on the continent has been valued at around US$1.8bn-US$2bn for 15,000 sites. Sources familiar with the matter indicated that the Indian operator is selling assets on a country-by-country basis across at least a dozen geographies.