The Johannesburg-listed telecommunications company said the transaction remained on course for completion before the end of 2026, although three important regulatory decisions were still outstanding.
The deal would combine Africa’s largest mobile operator with the continent’s biggest independent telecommunications-tower company, giving MTN greater control over infrastructure serving its networks and those of competing operators.
In its latest quarterly update, MTN confirmed that IHS shareholders, Nigerian regulators and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, commonly known as COMESA, had approved the transaction. Reuters also reported that MTN still expects to complete the acquisition before the end of the year.
MTN announced the transaction in February, offering $8.50 for each outstanding IHS share. The offer would increase its existing interest of approximately 24.7% to full ownership and remove IHS from the New York Stock Exchange.
The $6.2 billion and $2.2 billion figures explained
The two values attached to the acquisition measure different things.
The transaction gives IHS an enterprise value of approximately $6.2 billion. Enterprise value includes the company’s equity, debt and other financial obligations after accounting for cash.
However, MTN is paying about $2.2 billion for the roughly 75% of IHS shares it does not already own. That is the acquisition’s equity consideration rather than the value of the entire business.
The financing plan includes approximately $1.1 billion from MTN and another $1.1 billion from cash held on IHS’s balance sheet. MTN said it would not issue new shares to fund the transaction.
Once completed, IHS will become a wholly owned MTN subsidiary and cease trading in New York.
The takeover will give MTN control of more than 28,000 towers across Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Zambia. IHS is the leading independent tower operator in all five markets.
Nigeria represents its largest operation, with almost 16,000 towers, followed by South Africa with approximately 5,700. IHS also has about 2,700 towers in Côte d’Ivoire, 2,400 in Cameroon and 2,000 in Zambia.
Nigeria approves deal—but demands local ownership
Nigeria’s approval comes with a significant ownership condition. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission requires MTN to sell up to 30% of the Nigerian component of IHS to local investors at market prices over time.
MTN has accepted the condition, which is intended to preserve Nigerian participation in infrastructure considered essential to the country’s digital economy.
The Nigerian Communications Commission also granted approval in principle, subject to conditions governing how the tower infrastructure will be managed and made available to other operators.
The requirement means MTN could own IHS at the group level while eventually sharing ownership of its Nigerian tower business with domestic investors.
South Africa and regional regulators hold the remaining approvals
In South Africa, the Competition Commission has recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve the acquisition with conditions. The tribunal must make the final determination.
The recommended safeguards seek to protect jobs, preserve fair access to tower infrastructure and prevent MTN’s South African operation from receiving preferential treatment over competing telecommunications companies.
They would also require IHS to remain operationally independent and protect commercially sensitive information belonging to its other customers.
The other outstanding approvals are from ECOWAS and CEMAC, whose decisions cover the transaction’s implications across West and Central Africa.
MTN operates in every African market where IHS currently owns towers. Acquiring the company would allow MTN to bring infrastructure it previously sold or outsourced back under its control.
MTN says the combination would improve cost predictability, capture income currently paid to IHS and retain revenue generated from other operators that lease space on the towers.
The group also expects the acquisition to increase earnings and free cash flow while strengthening the infrastructure needed to expand fourth-generation, fifth-generation and fixed-wireless services.
MTN served approximately 323 million customers at the end of September, including 181.7 million active data subscribers and 70.3 million active mobile-money users. Its networks processed $512.5 billion in financial-technology transactions during the first nine months of 2026.
Those figures explain why gaining greater control of the towers supporting its services is strategically important.
The acquisition is not yet completed. But with shareholder, Nigerian and COMESA approvals secured, the decisions from South Africa, ECOWAS and CEMAC now represent the final major regulatory obstacles to one of Africa’s largest telecommunications infrastructure transactions.
Source: africa.businessinsider.com
