IHS seeks to scupper rival's deal on MTN Nigeria towers
07/12/2023 13:05
By Nqobile Dludla
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 7 (Reuters) - IHS Holding IHS.N has
offered improved commercial terms to MTN Nigeria MTNN.LG for
the lease of 2,500 towers it lost to American Tower Corporation
(ATC) AMT.N , saying the move would prevent network disruption
in Africa's most populous country.
MTN Nigeria, owned by South Africa's MTN Group MTNJ.J
announced in September that the leasing on 2,500 sites due to
expire in 2024 and 2025 was awarded to ATC Nigeria after a
bidding process.
The mobile network operator said the deal would diversify
its towers portfolio and unlock significant network cost
efficiencies.
IHS Towers Chairman and CEO Sam Darwish told Reuters that
these towers represent only a small fraction of his company's
total tenancies but it is willing to match ATC's terms.
"IHS has offered improved commercial terms on the 2,500
towers to close the gap (between the offers) as our main aim is
to prevent network disruption in Nigeria," he said, without
providing details on the terms.
MTN said the agreement with ATC is final and that MTN would
continue to engage constructively with IHS on further
opportunities that arise, including renewal of its other sites.
"Our preference is always for bilateral renewal, subject to
competitive pricing and terms. In this instance the ATC proposal
was superior," the operator told Reuters.
IHS owns 16,000 towers in Nigeria, of which 14,600 are
leased by MTN. About 13% of MTN's portfolio sits with ATC, while
80% sits with IHS.
There is mounting fear that the cell-tower operator may lose
more contracts as MTN Nigeria reviews other tower contracts
coming up for renewal. The remaining tower leases with IHS
expire between 2025 and 2029. The majority of those expire in
2029.
IHS is also embroiled in a shareholder dispute with MTN
Group, its largest shareholder with a 26% stake, along with
French financial investor Wendel and activist investor
Blackwells Capital over governance issues.
Darwish said that IHS continues to engage with Wendel and
MTN on the issues.
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla
Editing by David Goodman)
((nqobile.dludla@thomsonreuters.com; +27103461066;))