MTN seeks Nigerian buyers for 30 percent IHS stake worth up to $1.1 billion

MTN Group is seeking local investors to buy a 30 percent stake in IHS Nigeria, a sale that could raise between $900 million and $1.1 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the details are private.

The sell-down is a condition attached to MTN’s acquisition of IHS Holding Limited. Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission cleared the takeover this month on the requirement that MTN divest up to 30 percent of the Nigerian business to local investors, at market prices, over time.

The condition addresses a structural concern: IHS Nigeria’s towers carry traffic not only for MTN Nigeria but for rivals including Airtel and T2 Mobile. Full ownership by the country’s largest operator would put competitors’ network infrastructure in a competitor’s hands. Forcing a Nigerian minority in is the regulator’s remedy and it hands local institutions a rare shot at a piece of the country’s core telecoms plumbing.

MTN Group chief executive Ralph Mupita confirmed the use of proceeds while declining to put a value on the stake. “Proceeds from any sell-down would be used to pay down IHS-related debt,” Mupita said in an interview. “The deal would be done on market-oriented valuation basis.”

MTN entered advanced talks in February to buy the roughly 75 percent of IHS Holding it did not already own, in a transaction valuing the tower company at about $6.2 billion. IHS shareholders approved the deal in early August; the FCCPC cleared it on Aug. 24, with the Nigerian Communications Commission following. MTN has said it is comfortable with the conditions and expects completion in the second half of 2026.

Nigeria is IHS’s single biggest market, with roughly 18,000 towers out of about 29,000 across Africa. The two companies have a long history: MTN has sold thousands of towers to IHS through sale-and-leaseback deals, including more than 5,700 South African sites in 2022. Separately, MTN is exploring banking licences in selected markets as it weighs expanding lending off its own balance sheet. (Billionaires Africa)