MTN Group is in talks with telecom tower operator IHS Holding to sell its towers in South Africa in a deal valued at $2 billion.
Johannesburg-based MTN has earlier received enquiries from American Tower Corp. as well.
Earlier, a deal between Helios Towers Africa and Bharti Airtel, one of the rivals of MTN, did not take off to sell telecom towers in Africa.
MTN has about 19,000 telecom sites in South Africa. MTN has more than 231 million subscribers across 22 markets in Africa. MTN is restructuring its South African mobile operations to regain market share from the country’s biggest phone carrier Vodacom Group Ltd, according to Reuters.
IHS manages more than 23,000 telecom towers across the Africa continent, including about 15,000 in Nigeria. The company is 26 percent owned by French buyout firm Wendel SA, while its investors include Goldman Sachs Group. IHS raised more than $2.6 billion in debt and equity in November.
editor@telecomlead.com
