MTN Nears Full Takeover of IHS Towers After Shareholder Approval
IHS shareholders have approved MTN's plan to take full ownership of the tower company, with the deal now awaiting regulatory approvals across multiple African markets. The transaction would give MTN direct control of Africa's largest independent tower infrastructure group, reshaping ownership structures across the continent.
IHS Towers: MTN is buying back the margin it sold away
When MTN originally sold its towers to IHS, the logic was sound: unlock cash, let a specialist run the infrastructure, focus on customers.
But owning towers and leasing them back means paying rent on your own infrastructure — permanently. MTN's own announcement names this plainly: it wants to "internalise the margin currently paid to IHS."
A $2.2 billion deal to stop writing a cheque to yourself is not a growth story. It's a correction. The real question is how much that annual margin cost, and whether MTN could have deployed $2.2 billion more productively elsewhere.
4 sources
- MTN moves closer to full IHS takeover · itweb.co.za · T2
- IHS shareholders back MTN’s bid for full ownership · techcabal.com · T1
- IHS shareholders approve MTN’s full takeover plan · thecondia.com · T2
- IHS shareholders approve MTN takeover, company awaits regulatory approvals · nairametrics.com · T2