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IHS Towers

IHS is a leading provider of communications infrastructure

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CAPITAL HELD BY WENDEL
19
AMOUNT INVESTED BY WENDEL
$830
m
YEAR OF ACQUISITION
2013

IHS is one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count. IHS is also the largest independent multinational towerco solely focused on the emerging markets. The group builds, leases and manages communications towers that it owns or which are owned by others. With 39,652 towers, IHS supports the leading mobile phone operators in each of its markets and is well-placed for future organic growth given the strong demand for infrastructure needs across Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

(1) Stake held and amount of equity invested by Wendel at December 31, 2023 for the stake held at that date, corresponding to €662 million.
Chiffres clés
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$2,125.5 m
2023 sales
i-1
No. 1
in Africa
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11
countries on 3 continents
tour-telecom-2
40,075
towers in portfolio2
(2) The number of towers is indicated as of December 31, 2023. The number of towers is pro forma for announced transactions, if any.

Why did we invest in IHS?

IHS is a leading provider of communications infrastructure for mobile phone operators. Over the last 22 years, the group has successfully developed along the entire telecom tower value chain, from construction and maintenance to leasing. It provides market-leading services to its customers, who are leading telecom operators, including Airtel, MTN, Orange, TIM and 9mobile.

With its investment in IHS, Wendel made its first direct investment in Africa, demonstrating at this time its intention to gain exposure to and participate in the continent’s rapid growth. Wendel chose a company with an increasing number of projects, high-quality management and an outlook of balanced and profitable growth in several important and promising African nations, especially in Nigeria which represents 65% of group sales in 2023.

IHS

Quotes from

Wendel is a long-term investor and therefore the ideal partner to support our high-growth, pan-African strategy. Wendel’s expertise, network and strong reputation are all advantages for IHS’s future.

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Sam Darwish
Founder, Executive Vice Chairman and Group CEO

IHS is driven by major long-term trends that offer it solid growth prospects and opportunities for international development.

jerome-michiels
Jérôme Michiels
Executive Vice-President of Wendel

$830 million invested by Wendel

To support IHS pan-African growth strategy, Wendel invested $826 million between 2013 and 2016, participating in five capital increases alongside IHS’s shareholders, who are primarily major financial institutions active in economic development and top-tier private equity companies. In 2019, Wendel exercised warrants in IHS that were issued in 2012 for a net value of $4 million.

IHS’ shareholders before its IPO include MTN, Emerging Capital Partners, International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, FMO, the Netherlands development bank, Investec Asset Management (now Ninety-One), Goldman Sachs, IFC Global Infrastructure Fund, African Infrastructure Investment Managers (Old Mutual and previously Macquarie), and the Singapore and Korean sovereign wealth funds GIC and KIC.

IHS’ ESG approach

The purpose of IHS Towers is to have a positive impact on communities in the countries where it operates, helping to improve the quality and availability of telecom infrastructure in an increasingly connected world.

Its investments in telecoms towers help to connect individuals, businesses and governments. With increased connectivity of individuals, opportunities for expansion are increasing. The impact of IHS Towers goes beyond the benefits of connectivity, in particular through the four pillars of its sustainable development strategy: Education and Economic Growth, Ethics and Governance, Employees and Communities and Environment and Climate Change.

Read IHS Towers’ 2022 Sustainability Report.

Wendel’s role in corporate governance

Franck Dangeard was proposed by Wendel to sit on the Board of IHS which comprises 9 directors in total.

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