Nigerian authorities have approved MTN Group’s $2.2 billion acquisition of IHS Towers, but outlined conditions for the deal.
The approval was granted by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC – Nigeria’s anti-competition regulator.
The FCCPC, however, placed a condition on the approval, requiring MTN Group to sell down up to 30 percent of its stake in the Nigerian component of IHS Towers at market prices over time to address key competition concerns.
Further details of the Nigerian government’s condition indicated that the 30 percent sell-down of IHS Towers by MTN Group would address concerns over the company’s dominance of telecommunications infrastructure in Nigeria at the expense of competitors such as Airtel and T2 Mobile.
The condition also means that the South African firm, MTN Group, will not have unfettered control over Nigeria’s telecommunications tower services.
DAILY POST reports that IHS Towers is at the centre of the expansion of mobile broadband, 5G and other digital services across African markets.
Recall that MTN Group earlier approved a R6 billion ($375 million) share buyback after reporting strong first-half results.
Details showed that the telecommunications giant’s EBITDA rose 24.4 percent to R56 billion in constant currency terms, while service revenue increased by 9.7 percent to R115.3 billion on a reported basis and by 17.5 percent in constant currency terms.
MTN’s subscriber base grew by 6.7 percent to 317.7 million, while active data users climbed by 9.1 percent to 179.3 million.
Nigeria sets 30% stake sell-down as condition for MTN-IHS $2.2bn acquisition deal