Johannesburg
– MTN – Africa’s largest cellphone company by subscribers – says it is swapping
its 51 percent interest in Nigeria Tower for an additional holding in IHS
Holding.
The
company says, as a result of the deal, its economic interest in IHS Group will
increase from about 15 percent to about 29 percent.
The deal
is not conditional.
MTN’s 15
percent stake in IHS was worth R11 billion. It did not disclose any other
values, other than that its carrying value in INT, which owns Nigeria Tower was
R4.6 billion, and it recorded a R2.5 billion loss in the six months to June in
that stake.
In a
statement issued on Wednesday, MTN said, “in exchanging all of its interest in
INT in Nigeria for additional shares in the pan-African IHS Group, all of MTN's
interest in IHS will sit alongside a world-class group of investors including
Wendel, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Government of Singapore
Investment Corporation (GIC), Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) and Emerging
Capital Partners (ECP), among other international investors”.
MTN
explains the deal enables it to simplify its its tower ownership structure and
diversify its tower infrastructure exposure across the IHS Group, which
operates in a number of markets across Africa.
Read also: MTN downgrade to junk 'no surprise'
Executive
chairman Phuthuma Nhleko says “the transaction represents a significant step in
MTN’s long-standing partnership with IHS. It simplifies our ownership structure
and diversifies our tower investments across the IHS Group. IHS Group is
extremely well positioned for future growth and build-out from 3G upgrades and
the move to long-term evolution across its key markets.”
IHS
Group is the largest independent tower operator in Africa, Europe and Middle
East and the tenth largest independent tower company in the world, with over 23
300 towers.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE