South African telecoms giant MTN said it plans to buy all of IHS Towers for $2.7 billion, in a reversal of its earlier strategy to divest from tower businesses over the last half decade.
IHS owns and operates thousands of telecom towers in five African countries, including Nigeria and South Africa, as well as in Brazil and Colombia. Founded in Lagos, IHS went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 and completed a purchase of nearly 6,000 towers in South Africa from MTN the following year. MTN also exited tower businesses in Ghana and Uganda in 2020 to focus attention on bigger markets.
IHS confirmed MTN’s takeover approach but said it was “non-binding” for now and that there was “no certainty that a transaction will be agreed upon.”
Tower companies are a key part of the infrastructure mix that extend essential digital services: Mobile network operators like MTN have moved beyond call and text services to become crucial players in digital finance in Africa with a growing portfolio of mobile money services.