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March 18, 2022, London/São Paulo: IHS Holding Limited (NYSE: IHS) (“IHS Towers”), one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count, has completed the acquisition of São Paulo Cinco Locação de Torres Ltda. (“SP5”), a Grupo Torresur (“GTS”) portfolio company comprising 2,115 towers. The completion of this acquisition brings IHS Towers’ total Brazil tower count to 6,7451, in addition to the secondary fiber network, covering approximately 6.4 million homes, that we currently operate.
As previously announced, this acquisition is expected to deliver Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA of approximately US$38 million and US$36 million, respectively, in the first full year following closing (based on the exchange rate at the time of signing). The purchase price of the transaction, on a cash and debt free basis, is US$315 million.
Having only entered Latin America two years ago, this acquisition further demonstrates our deep commitment to the region, and its strategic importance in enabling us to fulfil our ambition of becoming the leading emerging market communications infrastructure provider.
Sam Darwish, IHS Towers Chairman and CEO, commented “I am pleased to announce the completion of our fifth transaction in Latin America since our entry into the region in 2020, and the continued strengthening of our market position. More recently, the GTS transaction complements the 2021 acquisitions of Skysites, Centennial, and I-Systems, which combined, further enhances our ability to support the upcoming rollout of 5G in Brazil. Today, Brazil represents our second largest market, in terms of tower count, and I am excited to support the country’s largest mobile network operators through our cutting-edge solutions.”
Jimmy Eisenstein, GTS Chairman and CEO, said “The sale of our SP5 portfolio represents the culmination of our strategy to create an important infrastructure business focusing on historically underserved regions of Brazil. Since our acquisition, our team has driven strong organic revenue growth, proving the critical role of SP5 to the market.”
Michael Gray, Managing Director representing Providence Equity Partners (“Providence”), the controlling shareholder of GTS, commented, “We are proud of all that GTS’s outstanding management and employees have accomplished since we made our first investment in 2010, during the early stages of the independent tower market in Brazil. We believe the GTS team has created an exceptional business with tremendous long-term value and industry-leading operating results.”
1 Tower count as of December 31, 2021 on a pro forma basis for completion of this transaction.
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About IHS Towers: IHS Towers is one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count and is the largest independent multinational towerco solely focused on the emerging markets. The Company has more than 39,000 towers pro forma across its 11 markets, including Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Kuwait, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia. For more information, please email: [email protected] or visit: www.ihstowers.com
About GTS: GTS is a leading owner and operator of telecommunications infrastructure in Brazil with more than 2,800 towers. As a pioneer in the tower market in Brazil, GTS has acquired more than 6,000 towers and divested more than 3,000 towers after creating proven businesses with long track records of strong organic growth. GTS was founded by tower industry veteran Jimmy Eisenstein and his team and Providence Equity Partners.
About Providence Equity Partners: Providence is a premier asset management firm with approximately $31 billion in aggregate private equity capital commitments. Providence pioneered a sector-focused approach to private equity investing with the vision that a dedicated team of industry experts could build exceptional companies of enduring value. Since the firm’s inception in 1989, Providence has invested in over 170 companies and has become a leading private equity firm specializing in growth-oriented investments in media, communications, education and technology.