Nigeria's telecommunications regulator has approved MTN Group's $6.2 billion acquisition of IHS Holdings, conditional on the sale of a 30 percent stake in the combined Nigerian tower unit to local investors, according to MTN's interim financial results disclosed on August 24.
The requirement channels ownership of critical tower infrastructure toward domestic capital. Nigeria's Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the National Communications Commission, which jointly reviewed the deal, imposed the local stake sale as a condition of approval. Tower ownership transfers have become a standard tool among African regulators seeking to retain domestic control over telecom infrastructure assets.
MTN Group, Africa's largest mobile operator by subscribers, has been pursuing the IHS consolidation to reduce site operating costs. IHS Holdings operates roughly 13,000 towers in the country. The combined entity would create a single infrastructure platform serving multiple carriers, a model deployed in mature markets including South Africa.
The deal values IHS Holdings at $6.2 billion on an enterprise basis. MTN had announced the acquisition in 2024 and faced a lengthy review process, as the combination would merge Nigeria's two largest independent tower operators by footprint. Tower consolidations in concentrated markets typically trigger close regulatory scrutiny over whether the resulting entity could raise prices for non-owner tenants.
The 30 percent local stake requirement means MTN must divest roughly $1.86 billion in Nigerian tower equity to domestic investors within a defined period. The regulator did not specify whether those investors must be Nigerian citizens, domestic institutions, pension funds, or a combination thereof, or set a timeline for completion of the stake sale in publicly available filings. MTN said in its interim results that it expects the transaction to close in the second half of 2026, pending completion of the stake sale conditions.
The approval removes a major execution risk for MTN, which has carried acquisition-related costs through 2026. Completion of the local stake sale will determine the actual capital available to MTN from the tower combination and the degree to which the deal's profitability forecasts are met. If MTN has not sold the 30 percent stake to local investors by the end of 2026, the regulator could claw back approval or impose additional conditions on the merged tower platform.
