MTN snaps up global giant worth R100 billion

MTN, Africa’s biggest wireless carrier, has agreed to take over the remaining stake in IHS Holdings it doesn’t already own in a deal that values the mobile infrastructure company at about $6.2 billion (R99.7 billion), including debt.

IHS investors will get $8.50 per share in cash, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. That’s a 3% premium to the company’s closing share price on 4 February, before Bloomberg News reported on the plans. 

The deal combines Africa’s largest mobile network operator with one of the continent’s biggest independent tower platforms, giving MTN direct ownership of infrastructure that it previously leased.

Many telecom operators have been selling off or spinning out their tower businesses to focus on core services, and this additional control puts MTN in a position to cut leasing costs and deepen its role in Africa’s telecommunications build-out. 

MTN is IHS’s largest shareholder and will buy the approximately 76% of the stock it doesn’t already own. Another shareholder, Wendel, has also agreed to vote in favor of the deal. 

The transaction is expected to close this year, and is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. To close the deal, IHS will need a minimum of $355 million on its balance sheet at closing.

IHS will have to successfully complete sales of its Latin American tower and fiber operations to meet MTN’s requirements. 

IHS traded at $8.24 in New York on Tuesday before its shares were halted on the news.