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The tower company is currently conducting a strategic review of its operations across its portfolio
According to anonymous sources speaking to Bloomberg, IHS Holdings Ltd. is mulling the potential sale of its businesses in Rwanda and Zambia.
Sources say the company is currently seeking interest from potential buyers, suggesting that any proceeds from the sales would be used to reduce the company’s debt.
IHS currently owns and operates over 40,000 sites across 11 countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Of these, 1,434 sites are based in Rwanda and 1,879 in Zambia, according to the company’s financial report from Q4 2023. Specific revenues from these business units were not included.
Since the start of the 2020s, IHS has been on an M&A spree, buying up thousands of towers, most notably in Africa and Brazil.
In summer last year, however, the company was dealt a major blow to its finances when the new Nigerian government relaxed foreign exchange restrictions, leading to the rapid devaluation of the naira. Today, the naira has lost roughly 70% of its value against the US dollar.
This devaluation has been punishing for IHS. Nigeria is the tower operator’s largest market, representing some 16,395 towers and the lion’s share of its annual revenue. The devaluation has cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars, including $267 million in the last financial quarter alone.
As a result, IHS has been undergoing a strategic review of its assets since March this year, having hired JP Morgan as financial advisors to help evaluate its options.
Regardless, IHS remains optimistic that about its growth trajectory.
“We own and operate 40,000 towers across eleven markets, covering approximately 800 million people who need their phones for almost every basic aspect of their life. And IHS sits at the heart of enabling sustainable connectivity as a leader of this domain,” said CEO Sam Darwish. “It is for these reasons that we believe IHS Towers is under-appreciated at our current valuation, and that we have to consider ways of unlocking value for our shareholders.”
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