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23 December 2019; London: IHS Holding Limited (“IHS”), one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure in the world by tower count has signed an agreement to purchase the infrastructure solutions provider, Cell Site Solutions - Cessão De Infraestruturas S.A. (“CSS”), headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil from affiliates of Goldman Sachs and Centaurus Capital LP. Under the terms of the agreement, IHS will acquire 100% of CSS and it will be fully integrated into IHS. On completion, which is subject to all necessary regulatory approvals, the management team and all employees will join IHS. The purchase price remains undisclosed.
CSS has approximately 2,290 towers and other telecommunications infrastructure sites across Brazil, Peru and Colombia. The company’s four solutions – Build To Suit (BTS), Collocation, Distributed Antenna Systems and Small Cells, further complement and enhance IHS’ offering as it seeks to bring increased connectivity to emerging markets and pursue the strategic expansion goal of becoming the world’s leading emerging markets towerco. The addition of three new markets in the Latin America region add significant future growth potential to the IHS business.
I am delighted to announce that through the acquisition of CSS, IHS is expanding its footprint into Latin America. In particular, and as the largest market within this region, Brazil offers an exciting platform enabling us to go deeper into this new geography. Brazil’s topography and compact urban areas, coupled with recent economic upturn, provide favorable macroeconomic factors for 4G and 5G deployment. As networks prepare for 5G transition, IHS will be well placed to deliver on these demands following our exceptional 18-year track record globally coupled with the excellent track-record of the CSS management team over the last six years. We are also very excited about providing our vast range of offerings to the markets in Peru and Colombia.
On behalf of our Board and Executive Committee, I extend the warmest welcome to the CSS team. Through this acquisition, IHS is gaining a new tower portfolio, direct access to an increasingly sophisticated market, and a team whose wealth of expertise will ensure a smooth integration for all CSS customers.
We are very proud of the leading BTS franchise and large, high quality tower portfolio that the dedicated and exceptional CSS team has built with Goldman Sachs support. We are appreciative of the successful partnership with Goldman Sachs which allowed us to quickly grow from a start-up into a robust platform to deliver value to our customers. We are very excited to become part of IHS as we enter our next phase of development and take advantage of new market opportunities. IHS’s principles are closely aligned with our DNA of developing solutions that exceed customer needs and seek to constantly improve ways to deliver high quality services to our clients in Brazil, Peru and Colombia, with the highest levels of integrity. We are very much looking forward to joining a company that has such an outstanding track record of growth through both BTS development and M&A, which we are confident will help us further establish CSS as a leading telecom infrastructure provider throughout Latin America.
We are very proud of the success the management and employees of CSS have achieved and feel privileged to have supported them in their growth since we partnered in founding the company in 2012. CSS’ vision has been to invest in the improvement of the country’s infrastructure by creating the strongest BTS tower franchise in Brazil, and clients have recognized the value they bring and the excellent service they provide.
We have enjoyed partnering with the CSS management team on this investment and we wish the team continued success with IHS Towers.
Citi is serving as financial advisor and Allen & Overy LLP along with Souza, Mello e Torres Advogados are serving as legal counsel to IHS.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Banco Itau BBA S.A. are serving as financial advisors to CSS. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr e Quiroga Advogados are serving as legal counsel to CSS and affiliates of Goldman Sachs and Centaurus.
ENDS
About IHS: IHS is one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure, or tower operators in the world by tower count with approximately 24,000 towers. IHS is one of the largest independent tower operators in EMEA and the third largest independent multinational tower operator globally, in both cases by tower count. IHS continues to grow and develop its business with leading market positions in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia. IHS also announced agreements to acquire Zain’s towers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, subject to certain regulatory and statutory approvals. Upon completion of the Zain Kuwait and Saudi Arabia transactions, IHS Towers will have approximately 33,100 towers in its portfolio which will confirm IHS’ position as one of the largest independent multinational tower operators globally by tower count.
For more information, please email: communications@ihstowers.com or visit: www.ihstowers.com