MTN Group has agreed to sell as many as 931 base stations in Cote d’Ivoire and 827 base stations in Cameroon to IHS Holding for USD141 million and 143 million respectively, or a total of USD 284 million, Reuters reported. Under the deal, HIS will be the sole shareholder of the tower companies to be set up in each country. These will manage the towers and other passive infrastructure.
MTN units in the two West African nations will become the anchor tenants on the towers for an initial term of ten years. The sale of towers is in line with MTN’s infrastructure-sharing strategy aimed at monetising assets and optimising costs.
The agreements include a commitment from IHS to roll out a “build-to-suit programme” to support MTN’s future requirements in both countries, and to pursue opportunities to build tower sites for other wireless operators. IHS previously built and maintained sites for MTN in Nigeria and Sudan.
Its CEO, Issam Darwish, said this latest deal with MTN represents the next step in its expansion across Africa. When the transaction is complete, IHS said it will be the largest independent tower company in West Africa with a presence in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire. The transactions are expected to close in the first quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.
