Nigeria’s antitrust authority, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), alongside sector regulators, has granted conditional approval for MTN Group Ltd. to acquire the remaining 75.3% stake in IHS Holding Ltd. in a deal valuing the tower operator at an enterprise value of $6.2 billion.
To mitigate anti-competitive risks associated with Nigeria’s dominant mobile operator gaining direct control over shared passive telecommunications infrastructure, the regulator mandated that MTN must divest a 30% equity stake in IHS Nigeria to domestic Nigerian investors.
The transaction represents a strategic pivot for MTN, bringing thousands of cellular towers back onto its balance sheet after selling them to third-party tower companies over a decade ago.
Regulatory Context & Market Execution
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Safeguarding Multi-Tenant Competition: Because IHS Nigeria operates passive tower infrastructure utilized by rival mobile networks (including Airtel Nigeria, Globacom, and 9mobile), regulators enforced the 30% local ownership threshold to prevent discriminatory pricing and access bottlenecks.
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Domestic Liquidity Considerations: Local institutional investors and pension funds face foreign exchange constraints and tight domestic naira liquidity, raising questions on capital sourcing for the 30% stake placement. However, MTN expects to conclude the local placement on an arms-length basis alongside the final transaction close by year-end 2026.
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Financial Backdrop & Share Buyback: The approval coincided with MTN reporting a ~25% increase in half-year core EBITDA, supporting the launch of a $380 million share buyback program as the group expands its capital deployment into digital infrastructure.
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