MTN clears more regulatory hurdles for $2.2bn IHS takeover across Africa

MTN is clearing regulatory hurdles across Africa in its bid to take full control of IHS Towers, the continent’s largest cellphone tower operator, in a $2.2 billion (R36 billion) all-cash deal (Business Day).

South Africa’s Competition Commission has recommended the deal be approved with conditions, and MTN has also secured conditional approvals in Nigeria, its largest market: the Nigerian Communications Commission gave conditional approval in September, while the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission gave its go-ahead in August on condition that MTN sell up to 30% of IHS’s Nigerian business to local investors over time (Business Day).

Approvals in Zambia were also recently granted by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (Business Day).

“IHS and MTN are pleased that the proposed acquisition of IHS by MTN has been referred by the Competition Commission of South Africa to the country’s Competition Tribunal, as is customary for a transaction of this nature,” said MTN chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer Nompilo Morafo (Business Day).

The deal, announced earlier this year, would see MTN acquire the 75% of IHS shares it does not already own and delist the tower operator — valued at an enterprise value of about $6.2 billion — from the New York Stock Exchange. MTN expects to complete the transaction by the end of the year, subject to outstanding approvals (Business Day). IHS shareholders backed the deal about two months ago, and in August IHS completed the sale of its Latin American tower operations in Brazil and Colombia, exiting the region to align with MTN’s Africa focus (Business Day).