Yesterday, February 17th, 2026, MTN Group made a significant announcement about plans to fully acquire IHS Towers in a deal valued at $6.2 billion.
MTN already owns 24.7% of IHS Towers, but wants to buy back the remaining 75% for $2.2 billion in an all-cash deal— MTN Group will source $1.1 billion from available liquidity and debt, while another $1.1 billion in cash will come from IHS’s balance sheet.
MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita views the acquisition as a “pivotal step in further strengthening MTN Group’s strategic and financial position for a future where digital infrastructure will become ever more essential to Africa’s growth and development.”
Meanwhile, for IHS Chairman and CEO, Sam Dawish, the proposed acquisition “provides certainty and immediate returns for shareholders and deepens the long-standing partnership with MTN.”
For context, MTN previously owned the towers but sold thousands to IHS, keeping ownership of around 25%. The move was necessary at the time as part of a cost-cutting strategy and shift focus to its core business of delivering connectivity and digital services, network expansion, among others.
However, MTN has now gone full cycle, and subject to regulatory approvals, the telecommunications giant expects the full takeover deal to be sealed later in 2026.
How important are the telecoms towers?
The towers are a critical infrastructure in telecommunications network. The towers house facilities like the mast, antennas, cooling systems, surveilance cameras, and the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) that processes signals and connects to either fibre or microwave link, allowing calls or data to travel seamlessly across long distances.
Sending and receiving of radio signals between a user’s mobile device and the operator’s core network is also facilitaed via the BTS, a component of the base station.
When a phone call is made, it lands at the nearest base station, where it checks the identity of the caller, whether the caller has enough airtime, which network the caller is calling from, and on which network the call is terminating.
Victoria Fakiya – Senior Writer
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Even when a subscriber is not actively making a phone call, your mobile device is always in constant communication with the nearest base station. This is why your phone battery drains even when it’s not in use.
The base station covers a specific geographic area, and whenever a subscriber changes location, your mobile device connects to the nearest base station. Without these towers and the equipment they house, network connectivity is almost impossible, except via satellites.
So because of this importance, the base station has to be operational 24/7. Due to Nigeria’s epileptic power supply, the towers usually have alternative power sources, such as generators and, in some cases, solar power, to keep the lights on.
Unfortunately, during attacks or misunderstandings with some landlords, the base station is vandalised, thereby affecting the quality of service on the network for that specific area.
Why MTN’s renewed strategy makes economic sense
To fully acquire IHS Towers, MTN is paying IHS shareholders a premium: $8.5 per share, a staggering premium of approximately 239% premium over IHS Towers’ share price during the company’s strategic review in March 2024. It also represents a premium of about 36% to the 52-week volume-weighted average price as of February 4, 2026, and a premium of approximately 3% over IHS Towers’ unaffected closing share price of $8.23 on the same date, when reports indicating ongoing negotiations with MTN went public.
Jane Egerton-Idehen, MD/CEO of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), Nigeria’s national satellite operator, believes that for MTN’s plan to acquire IHS is a “great way to mitigate the risk of managing the quality of the network.”
MTN’s 24.7% stake in IHS Towers means that the company might be leaving some things to the whims of whatever happens, and it seems they are now ready to fully have everything in-house and under their control.
In its 2025 year-in-review, the company stated that it suffered 9,218 fibre cuts, with 211 of its sites hit by vandalism, and with the resultant effect on the network’s quality of service, MTN received over 1.6 million customer complaints via calls, emails, social media, and walk-in centres.
“I don’t think it’s a bad move if they re-acquire the towers,” Jane says. “I suspect that’s another way to ensure that they protect that part of the network, give it stability, invest in it, and probably return better quality to subscribers.”
On the question of whether the investment is worth it, considering that MTN is paying a premium, Jane believes that if purchasing the towers is a huge determinant of the quality of the network, then paying a premium is a no-brainer, as it will keep subscribers happy, and MTN will also avoid losing market share.
“In the long term, you will get more value. If you can invest in it, and your customer experience is better. Then it’s really worth it. And if your subscribers are happy, you would retain them.”
The deal also helps MTN better manage rental costs, and currency risks, and full cntrol to accelerate its fibre and 5G roll-out plans.
How does this deal affect competitors?
Telecoms towers are often co-located, meaning that multiple network providers can use the same towers to provide services for their subscribers.
With MTN’s imminent 100% takeover of IHS, the likes of Airtel and 9mobile (now T2) will likely be concerned, seeing that MTN already enjoys a superior market share.
“I think the regulator will have to make sure that they look into that one. Because you know how it raises concerns about fairness. It will actually require the sector to work together, collaborate.”
True to Jane’s words, Nigerian regulators have come out to say MTN’s full acquisition of IHS Towers will be subject to a “thorough assessment.”
“Given the strategic importance of telecommunications infrastructure to national security, economic growth, financial services, innovation, and social inclusion, and to ensure strategic actions by private sector operators are in line with the market development agenda under the Renewed Hope policy directions of the President, the Ministry will undertake a thorough assessment of this development in collaboration with the relevant regulatory authorities to review its impact on the sector,” a statement from Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy read.
MTN’s move to completely take over IHS Towers signals strong intentions and a willingness to have critical infrastructure that affects quality service delivery under its full control.
