From Business Day Live

MTN Group said that it would sell a total of 1,228 mobile network towers in Rwanda and Zambia to IHS Holding. The company did not disclose the price.

The deal would unlock value, reduce costs of maintaining the infrastructure and enable MTN to focus on providing its products and services, it said.

“We are confident these transactions are a positive step towards freeing up management time to focus on products and services, thereby fulfilling our mission of ‘making our customers’ lives a whole lot brighter,” MTN Group president and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa said.

The sale follows a similar transaction in 2011 when the operator sold 1,000 of its base stations in Uganda.

MTN has previously sold its mobile network towers in Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire to IHS.

IHS Towers is Africa’s largest independent mobile infrastructure company. In 2013 the company received $522m of new capital, $280m in debt and $242 in equity, which represented one of the largest capital expansion on the continent.

The transactions bring the total number of towers in IHS’s portfolio to 10,500.

“IHS will market services on the towers in Rwanda and Zambia, promoting tower sharing and co-location to help drive network improvements, better service to subscribers and economic growth,” IHS said.

IHS Group CEO Issam Darwish said he was pleased with the expansion into the two territories.

“We are delighted to be extending our relationship with MTN in Rwanda and Zambia. These latest deals are testament to our commitment to client service, enabling the most efficient, effective and reliable networks for our clients,” he said.

Each transaction is expected to close independently during the first half of 2014, subject to customary closing conditions.

Written by Samuel Mungadze/ Read more at Business Day Live