MTN Group has applied to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for approval to acquire a controlling stake in IHS Towers, a move that could reshape Africa’s telecommunications infrastructure landscape and mark a major strategic shift for the continent’s largest mobile operator.
In a notice to investors on Thursday, MTN said it is in advanced discussions to purchase 75% of IHS Towers, which would make it the majority shareholder in the independent tower company. The telco cautioned that talks are ongoing and that there is no certainty the transaction will be completed, urging shareholders to exercise caution until further disclosures are made.
IHS Towers, founded in Nigeria in 2001, operates about 40,000 towers across Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, making it one of the world’s largest independent providers of shared telecommunications infrastructure. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation of about $2.76 billion, with its shares trading at $8.23 on February 5, 2026.
The potential deal underscores MTN’s growing focus on infrastructure control as competition intensifies and network investment costs rise. Like many mobile operators, MTN has historically leased tower space from third-party providers such as IHS, benefiting from the neutral-host model that allows multiple operators to share infrastructure while lowering upfront capital expenditure.
An acquisition would represent a shift away from that model, giving MTN direct ownership of assets critical to network expansion and performance. Analysts say this could reduce long-term operating costs, speed up service deployment, and give MTN greater leverage in rolling out new technologies across its footprint.
The transaction would be particularly significant in Nigeria, IHS’s largest market, which accounted for nearly 59% of the tower company’s revenue in the third quarter of 2025. Bringing those assets under MTN’s control would further entrench the operator’s position in its most important market while tightening the link between network infrastructure and service delivery.
If completed, the deal would rank among the most consequential infrastructure transactions in Africa’s telecoms sector, highlighting a broader trend of operators reassessing the balance between asset-light models and direct ownership in the age of data-heavy, technology-driven networks.
Source: Tech Cabal
