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MTN wins conditional approval for $6.2 billion IHS Towers acquisition

MTN wins conditional approval for $6.2 billion IHS Towers acquisition

Money Moves

Nigeria's regulator clears the takeover, requiring MTN to sell 30% of the tower business to local investors

August 30th, 2026: MTN confirms clearance, targets H2 2026 close

Overview

Updated Aug 31

MTN Group, Africa's largest mobile operator, cleared the biggest regulatory hurdle in its $6.2 billion takeover of IHS Holdings in late August. Nigeria's competition regulator approved the deal on one major condition: MTN must sell up to 30% of the Nigerian tower business to local investors.

The acquisition reverses MTN's decade-old strategy of selling its towers and leasing them back. Complete ownership would put MTN in control of nearly 29,000 towers across Africa, including sites that rivals Airtel and Glo lease to run their own networks.

Why it matters

If the deal closes, MTN controls the towers its rivals lease to keep their networks running in Africa's biggest telecom market.

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Key Indicators

$6.2 billion
Deal enterprise value
Total implied value of IHS Holdings across the all-cash transaction.
30%
Required Nigerian sell-down
MTN must sell this portion of the Nigerian business to local investors at market prices.
29,000
Towers IHS operates in Africa
Infrastructure that mobile operators lease to deploy their network equipment.
$2.2 billion
Cash MTN pays for remaining stake
Consideration for the roughly 75% of IHS Holdings MTN does not already own.

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People Involved

Organizations Involved

Timeline

February 2026 August 2026

4 events Latest: August 30th, 2026 · 1 week ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date
  1. MTN confirms clearance, targets H2 2026 close

    Latest Regulatory

    MTN confirms the FCCPC clearance and says it expects to complete the acquisition in the second half of 2026.

  2. FCCPC clears deal with 30% sell-down condition

    Regulatory

    Nigeria's competition regulator grants conditional approval, requiring MTN to sell up to 30% of the Nigerian business to local investors.

  3. IHS shareholders approve the takeover

    Corporate

    IHS shareholders vote in favor at an extraordinary general meeting, clearing the required two-thirds majority.

  4. MTN launches $6.2 billion bid for IHS Towers

    Announcement

    MTN announces an all-cash offer for the IHS stake it does not own, planning to take the tower company private.

Scenarios

1

MTN closes the deal and sells a 30% Nigerian stake to local buyers

Likely Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: MTN Group; Bloomberg; Nairametrics

MTN expects completion in the second half of 2026. The company is reportedly seeking Nigerian investors for a stake worth $900 million to $1.1 billion, with CEO Ralph Mupita saying proceeds would pay down IHS-related debt. This is the outcome MTN itself is projecting.

2

Sell-down stalls and the deal slips into 2027

Possible Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: Semafor

Semafor notes that local institutions face foreign-currency shortages and tight liquidity, making it hard to finance a roughly $1 billion stake purchase. If no Nigerian buyers step up, MTN could miss its year-end target and push completion into 2027 while regulators hold the transaction open.

3

MTN walks away from the acquisition

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: Not widely predicted; a low-probability tail risk

If the sell-down condition or remaining regulatory requirements prove too costly or restrictive, MTN could abandon the deal. The company has downplayed this risk, calling completion a priority for the second half of 2026 and saying it is comfortable with the FCCPC conditions.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2010-2015

MTN's tower sale-and-leaseback era (2010-2015)

In the early 2010s, MTN and other African operators sold thousands of towers to independent companies like IHS and Helios Towers, then leased space back. The model shifted capital-heavy tower upkeep off operator balance sheets and funded network expansion.

Then

Independent tower companies grew quickly across Africa on the strength of these deals.

Now

Created the tower industry that now dominates African telecom infrastructure, with operators renting rather than owning their sites.

Why this matters now

This acquisition reverses MTN's own sale-and-leaseback strategy, putting tower ownership back inside the operator.

2019-2020

Airtel Africa's tower sales to Helios Towers (2019-2020)

Airtel Africa sold tower portfolios in several African markets to Helios Towers and leased them back, using the proceeds to cut debt and fund network upgrades.

Then

Helios expanded its footprint while Airtel strengthened its balance sheet.

Now

Reinforced the industry norm of operators renting towers from independent owners.

Why this matters now

Most African operators are still divesting tower assets. MTN is moving against that trend by re-integrating them.

October 2021

IHS Towers' NYSE debut (2021)

IHS Holding listed on the New York Stock Exchange in one of the largest African tech listings of its time, raising public capital to expand its tower portfolio across Africa.

Then

The listing gave IHS access to public markets for expansion capital.

Now

After barely five years as a public company, this deal takes IHS private again under its largest customer, MTN.

Why this matters now

The takeover undoes IHS's public-market journey, folding a NYSE-listed infrastructure firm back into a single operator's control.

Sources

(10)