SENS Note - 12 October 2012

MTN --sale of towers in Cote d Ivoire and Cameroon

MTN announces sale of towers in Cote d Ivoire and Cameroon to IHS for a total of USD284m MTN and IHS Holding Ltd (IHS") announced today that they have entered into definitive agreements pursuant to which IHS will acquire up to 931 towers for USD141 million from MTN Cote d’Ivoire (MTN CIV) and up to 827 towers from MTN Cameroon (MTN CMR) for USD143 million. Under the definitive agreements, IHS will be a 100% shareholder of the tower companies set up in each country to manage the towers and other passive infrastructure. MTN CIV and MTN CMR will be the anchor tenants on the towers being purchased, on commercial terms, for an initial term of ten years. The sale of towers is in line with MTN’s infrastructure sharing strategy aimed at the monetisation of its assets and cost optimisation. The agreements include a commitment from IHS to roll out a build-to-suit programme to support MTN’s future requirements in both countries. IHS is a leading African telecommunications infrastructure provider headquartered in Nigeria. Founded in 2001, IHS provides services across the full tower value chain managed services, deployment and site ownership. The transactions are expected to close during the first quarter of 2013. MTN continues to view infrastructure sharing as one of its key strategies in driving efficiencies in its operations across Africa and the Middle East and will continue to pursue appropriate initiatives in that regard.

Click here for original article