IHS Holding Limited (NYSE: IHS), widely known as IHS Towers, has agreed to be acquired by MTN Group Limited in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $6.2 billion, marking one of the largest infrastructure transactions in Africa’s telecoms sector.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, IHS Towers shareholders will receive $8.50 per ordinary share in cash. The offer represents a 239% premium to the company’s share price when it launched its strategic review on March 12, 2024, a 36% premium to its 52-week volume-weighted average price, and a 3% premium to its unaffected closing price of $8.23 on February 4, 2026, when reports first emerged of negotiations with MTN.
The transaction provides shareholders with what the company described as “certainty and immediate returns,” allowing them to realize value created during the strategic review process, which began amid geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility in several of its key markets.
IHS Towers’ Board of Directors has unanimously approved the deal and recommended that shareholders vote in favor of it. MTN, which already holds an approximately 24% fully diluted stake in IHS Towers, has committed to vote all of its shares in support of the transaction. Long-term shareholder Wendel has also provided a letter backing the deal. Combined, the two investors account for more than 40% shareholder support.
Upon completion, IHS Towers will delist from the New York Stock Exchange and become a wholly owned subsidiary of MTN.
Strategic Rationale
IHS Towers is one of the world’s largest independent owners and operators of shared communications infrastructure by tower count, with operations spanning 11 countries and a portfolio that peaked at around 40,000 towers.
Chairman and CEO Sam Darwish said the deal deepens the long-standing partnership between the two companies and underscores IHS Towers’ strong ties to Africa.
“This announcement creates a compelling opportunity that provides certainty and immediate returns for our shareholders,” Darwish said, noting the company’s growth over 25 years from a single tower in one market to a multinational infrastructure platform.
MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita described the acquisition as a pivotal step in strengthening MTN’s strategic and financial position.
“This transaction gives us a unique opportunity to buy back our towers and strengthen our ability to be partners for progress to the nation states in which we operate,” Mupita said, adding that MTN would maintain high service standards and governance across the combined tower business.
Funding and Conditions
The deal is expected to close in 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, as well as other customary conditions.
It will be funded through the rollover of MTN’s existing stake in IHS Towers, approximately $1.1 billion in cash from MTN, around $1.1 billion from IHS Towers’ balance sheet, and the rollover of existing IHS debt. IHS will also be required to maintain a minimum cash balance of $355 million at closing.
Completion of the transaction is partly dependent on IHS Towers finalizing the previously announced sales of its Latin American tower and fiber operations.
If approved, the acquisition would consolidate MTN’s control over critical digital infrastructure assets, positioning the telecom giant to play an expanded role in Africa’s rapidly evolving connectivity and digital economy landscape.
