African towerco IHS Towers has raised US$522m through a combination of debt and equity as it looks to continue its expansion.
“The proceeds will be used to refinance a certain amount of existing debt and for business development purposes, such as…
African towerco IHS Towers has raised US$522m through a combination of debt and equity as it looks to continue its expansion.
“The proceeds will be used to refinance a certain amount of existing debt and for business development purposes, such as acquisitions and build-to-suit programmes,” IHS CCO Rhys Phillip told TelecomFinance.
The company plans to build more than 1,000 towers in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Cameroon.
IHS secured US$280m of debt from the World Bank’s investment arm IFC, while the remainder came from backers.
The Nigeria-listed company raised US$142m from existing investors such as Wendel, and US$100m from a new investor, one of Asia’s “premier” sovereign wealth funds. The towerco did not disclose the name of the SWF.
IHS said the new unnamed shareholder will provide access to additional finance and intellectual resources, according to a company statement.
The towerco’s vice chairman and CEO Issam Darwish commented in the statement: “Raising over US$1bn in 12 months is a clear sign of a strong business model and a vote of confidence from new and existing shareholders in the future growth of mobile telecoms in Africa.
“We are now uniquely positioned to expand into new markets … Over the last two years we have tripled our towers under management across Africa to 8,500.”
According to CCO Phillip the company plans to increase the portfolio of towers under management to 20,000 within the next three years.
IHS, which describes itself as Africa’s largest independent mobile infrastructure provider, has 8,500 towers in its portfolio and has built more than 3,000 for clients. At present it operates across five countries in Africa.
