Helios Investment Partners, Pembani Group, First City Monument Bank and other minority shareholders have agreed the sale of Helios Towers Nigeria (HTN), a tower company in Nigeria, to IHS Towers (IHS), the largest telecommunications infrastructure provider in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2016.

Issam Darwish, Executive Vice Chairman & Group CEO of IHS, said: “This transaction is significant in that it combines Africa’s two original tower companies and will enable us to strengthen our service offering to our customers while focusing on their needs."

"We remain committed to the Nigerian tower market where coverage levels are yet to mature and explosive data growth continues. The growing data traffic and increased smartphone use presents an exciting market opportunity for IHS, with the potential for up to 40,000 more towers required to meet this demand,” he said.

HTN was the first independent telecom tower company in Africa devoted to building and operating towers.

Founded in 2006 by Helios, the company has since grown rapidly and is recognized for providing best-in-class service to customers across Nigeria.

Babatunde Soyoye, co-founder and Managing Partner of Helios Investment Partners, said: “We are extremely proud of Helios’ pioneering role in introducing the shared infrastructure model to Africa,
founding and helping to develop HTN, the continent’s first independent telecom tower operator."

"With its enhanced operating model and market leading position, we believe the company has built a strong and sustainable platform to continue its development. We wish the management team, IHS and all of HTN’s employees continued success.”

IHS will acquire HTN’s portfolio of 1,211 diversified tower sites throughout Nigeria.

HTN and IHS established the mobile telecommunications infrastructure industry in Nigeria in the early 2000s and this transaction will be the first in-market consolidation in Africa.

The transaction will allow the continued delivery of best-in-class solutions to customers and additional investment in infrastructure upgrades.

Under the terms of the transaction and subject to requisite regulatory approvals, IHS will acquire the entire issued share capital of HTN from HTN Towers, which is ultimately owned by Helios Investment Partners, Pembani Group, First City Monument Bank and other minority shareholders.

Upon completion of the transaction, IHS will have full operational control of the underlying business and will market independent infrastructure sharing services to mobile network operators and internet service providers in Nigeria.

IHS's shareholder base includes global institutional investors such as Investec, Wendel, GIC, IFC, ECP and KIC.

Inder Bajaj, CEO of HTN, said: “We have built a unique urban centric portfolio across Nigeria with the highest tenancy ratio in the industry and a diversified tenant mix. IHS is the natural buyer of our business and we believe their deep knowledge and extensive experience in the sector will help to continue the strong level of customer service already being achieved by HTN.”