In a landmark move for the African telecommunications sector, MTN Group has officially entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire the remaining 75.3% stake in IHS Holding Limited (IHS Towers).
The deal, announced on February 17, 2026, values the tower operator at an enterprise value of approximately $6.2 billion.
This transaction represents a dramatic strategic reversal for MTN, which spent the last decade divesting its physical infrastructure to focus on service delivery, but is now moving to reintegrate those assets to gain direct control over its network backbone.Under the terms of the agreement, MTN will pay $8.50 per share in cash for the shares it does not already own, which amounts to a total cash consideration of approximately $2.2 billion for the remaining equity.
This offer price represents a massive 239% premium over IHS’s share price at the start of its strategic review in March 2024 and a 36% premium over its 52-week average.
The deal has been unanimously approved by the IHS Board of Directors and has already secured backing from major shareholders, including Wendel, ensuring that over 40% of the required shareholder support is already in place.
The acquisition is structured to coincide with IHS Towers’ exit from the Latin American market. Earlier in February 2026, IHS announced the sale of its Brazilian and Colombian units to Macquarie Asset Management for approximately $685 million.
Once those disposals are finalized, MTN’s acquisition will focus on IHS’s core African portfolio, which consists of nearly 29,000 high-quality towers serving critical markets.
By bringing these assets back in-house, MTN expects to internalize the lease margins it currently pays to IHS, improve its cost predictability, and capture future revenue from third-party tenants who use the same infrastructure.
Financially, the deal is being executed without the issuance of new equity. MTN plans to fund the $2.2 billion cash requirement by utilizing roughly $1.1 billion already sitting on the IHS balance sheet, with the remainder coming from MTN’s own liquidity and existing debt facilities.
Following the completion of the merger later in 2026, IHS Towers will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTN Group.
This consolidation is expected to significantly boost MTN’s net income and cash flow while positioning the company to more aggressively expand its 5G and data services across the continent.
Would you like me to prepare a social media summary or a brief executive memo based on this acquisition?
Source: The Guardian
