MTN Group has promised to protect jobs and pay for at least 12 months as it moves to acquire IHS Towers in a deal valued at about $6.2 billion.
Documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on February 18 show that MTN will maintain pay and core benefits for IHS employees for one year after the merger takes effect.
IHS had 2,864 employees worldwide as of December 31, 2024. Many of them work in Nigeria, where both companies play major roles in telecoms infrastructure.
Under the agreement, MTN must keep compensation and benefits at levels no less favourable than those in place before the deal closes. The protection period is described in Section 6.7 of the Agreement and Plan of Merger as a 12-month “Continuation Period”.
During that time, base salaries or hourly wages will remain in place. Short-term cash incentives must stay comparable. Health, retirement and welfare benefits must also stay similar in overall value. Defined benefit pensions and some local post-employment benefits are excluded.
MTN has also agreed to honour existing IHS severance terms. Any employee who loses their job during the protection period will receive severance benefits no less favourable than those already provided under IHS policies.
The company will recognise prior years of service for benefit eligibility, vesting and holiday accrual. Staff will not see their tenure reset after the merger.
Equity awards will be handled in cash. Vested stock options and restricted stock units are expected to be cancelled and converted into cash payments based on the merger price.
Unvested awards may be converted into cash-based retention incentives that continue to vest on their original schedules.
The acquisition is structured as an all-cash transaction at $8.50 per share. That represents a 239% premium to IHS’s share price at the start of its 2024 strategic review and a 36% premium to its 52-week average.
The deal excludes IHS’s Latin American assets. It focuses on Africa, the Middle East and selected emerging markets.
Funding will come from $1.1 billion in cash already on IHS’s balance sheet and another $1.1 billion from MTN’s liquidity and debt capacity.
IHS owns and manages about 39,000 telecom towers across Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Nigeria is its largest market.
If completed, the transaction will bring those towers under closer control of MTN. The company will rely less on third-party tower operators and will also gain stronger management over passive mobile infrastructure across its footprint.
Reports say this could help MTN cut operating expenses, improve network reliability and speed up 5G rollout in key African markets. It also places MTN in a stronger position against competitors such as Airtel Africa and Orange.
Regulators in Nigeria and other countries are expected to examine the deal as towers are critical national infrastructure. Labour authorities are also likely to monitor how the 12-month pay and benefits guarantee is carried out, especially in markets where both firms employ large workforces.
The offer provides immediate cash at a premium for IHS Towers shareholders and secures long-term control of essential infrastructure for MTN, which underpins its network operations.
