IHS Holding Limited, one of the largest mobile telecommunications infrastructure providers in Africa, has completely acquired Helios Towers Nigeria Limited (HTN) and by extension, their 1,211 diversified tower sites situated across Nigeria.
Under the terms of the acquisition, IHS owns the entire issued share capital of HTN and now has full operational control of the underlying business. This doesn’t disrupt activities and business will continue as usual for HTN’s towers. The towers will be integrated into the IHS network and connected to their operating centre that monitors each tower.
IHS believes all stakeholders will benefit from this acquisition because meaningful relationships will be developed seeing as a considerable part of the IHS portfolio is located in Nigeria. IHS will also work on rolling out its renewable energy solutions and diesel reduction initiatives while maintaining unparalleled network uptime.
According to Inder Bajaj, the Chief Executive Officer of HTN, “IHS has a proven track record in telecoms infrastructure services and is the natural buyer of our business. We strongly believe their deep knowledge and extensive experience in the sector will help to continue the strong level of customer service achieved by HTN.”
This acquisition allows for the continued delivery of best-in-class solutions to customers and additional investment in infrastructure upgrades. IHS is committed to maintaining HTN’s existing relationship and position with its bondholders and a meeting of bondholders, held in April, agreed to waive any redemption rights that may have arisen as a result of this change in control.
In the words of IHS founder, Executive Vice Chairman and Group CEO, Issam Darwish, “The completion of this transaction is significant in that it combines Africa’s two original tower companies and will enable us to strengthen our service offering to our customers while focusing on their needs. We remain committed to the Nigerian tower market and this transaction provides IHS the opportunity to optimise a larger portfolio through innovative green energy solutions and delivery of market leading quality of service.”
IHS has used transactions like this one to create significant local technical and engineering employment opportunities throughout Africa. Over 95% of IHS employees are African and IHS employs close to 40,000 people directly and indirectly through its exclusive subcontractors.
