MTN South Africa has completed the sale of its entire passive tower portfolio in South Africa, valued at R6.4 billion. The towers have been sold to IHS Holding, with MTN confirming that it has sold the “passive” parts of the towers, and not the “active”, or radio, components.
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IHS Towers will own 70% of the South African towers business with the remaining 30% to be owned by a broad-based black economic empowerment consortium.
“With this acquisition, IHS now has an operational footprint in 11 emerging markets with seven in Africa, in addition to four in Latin America and the Middle East, with a global tower count of nearly 39 000 towers,” the company said.
“The closure of this acquisition is an important milestone in IHS’s growth story. IHS was founded in Africa and the region continues to be a key anchor for our company,” said HIS.
MTN said the transaction aims to ensure:
- Limited financial impact on MTN SA’s current running costs versus leaseback costs
- Improved network performance, including improved power management
- Flexibility to maximise the benefit of MTN SA’s active network sharing, including current agreements in place with Cell C and Telkom
- Local currency exposure, that is, all payments in rand
- A minimum 30% Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) ownership
- Cooperation between MTN and IHS to work towards the group’s emissions targets aligned to net-zero by 2040 for scope 3 emissions
HIS Holding, listed on the NYSE, is one of the world’s largest independent tower owners and operators. In terms of its agreement with MTN, it will also provide power management services to 13 000 sites, including those in the acquisition portfolio, across South Africa.
“The transaction will also include the outsourcing of power and related services across the entire MTN SA site footprint of approximately 12,800 — thus incorporating an additional 7,100 third-party sites,” MTN said in a statement.
