MTN Group is seeking local investors to acquire a 30% stake in IHS Nigeria as part of conditions attached to its acquisition of IHS Holding Limited, with the proposed stake sale expected to raise between $900 million and $1.1 billion.
Bloomberg reported the development, citing people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the details are private.
The development comes just three days after Nairametrics reported that MTN Group had secured conditional approval from Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for its proposed acquisition of IHS Holding.
The approval is conditional on MTN selling down up to 30% of the Nigerian component of the IHS business to local investors at market prices over time.
What they are saying
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that the proposed sale of the 30% stake could generate between $900 million and $1.1 billion for MTN.
MTN Group Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, confirmed that proceeds from the sell-down would be used to reduce debt linked to the IHS transaction, while declining to provide details on the potential value of the stake.
- “Proceeds from any sell-down would be used to pay down IHS-related debt,” Mupita said in an interview when asked about the deal. “The deal would be done on market-oriented valuation basis.”
IHS operates about 29,000 telecom towers across Africa, with Nigeria and South Africa representing its largest markets. In Nigeria, the tower company operates about 18,000 mobile-phone towers, according to people cited by Bloomberg.
Get up to speed
In February this year, MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network operator, entered advanced discussions to acquire the roughly 75% stake in IHS Holding Limited that it did not already own.
The approval, however, came…
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