Engineering News — December 08, 2017

RA ENGINEERING NEWS | December 8–14, 2017 45

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T

hree of Africa’s largest
telecom munication tower
companies plan to pursue
share sales in either London
or New York early next year,
taking advantage of high industry
valuations to fund expansion,
according to people familiar with
the matter.
Closel-held IHS Towers,
targeting an enterprise value
of $10-billion, plans to list in
New York, said the people, who
asked not to be identified as the
information was not public.
Helios Towers Africa is look-
ing at a valuation of at least
$2-billion, while Eaton Towers
is aiming for about $2-billion,
the people said.
Both will list in London, while
Eaton is also considering a secon-
d ary listing in Johan nesburg,
they said.
Africa’s phone mast industry is

booming, as rising wireless device

use leads to a leapfrogging of

traditional land-line connections.

Mobile subscriptions in sub-

Saharan Africa are set to surge

41% to 990-million in five years,

according to Ericsson AB.

Tower operators, which also sell

power to remote sites in Africa,

are looking to build new masts

and buy existing ones from

carriers such as MTN Group and

Vo d a c om G r o up.

The planned stock sales are

being timed to line up with robust

interest among investors for the

stable returns and growth offered

by tower companies, which host

equipment for carriers on their

masts.

Tower operator shares are

near record highs globally,

with many making acquisitions

as phone companies offload

infrastructure. Spain’s Cellnex

Telecom has gained 52% this year

and American Tower is up 39%.

“There is strong demand

for tower company assets and,

similarly, investor appetite

for emerging market telecom

businesses,” said Laura Graves,

MD for Africa at TowerXchange,

a networking and advisory group

for the towers industry.

She said she expects IHS

Towers, Helios and Eaton to

each list about half of their

share capital to bring in new

investors.

The African tower companies

have each appointed banks and

advisers and are meeting with

potential investors to test interest,

said the people.

IHS has hired Goldman Sachs

Group, Citigroup and Morgan

Stanley; Helios Towers is working

with Standard Bank Group, Bank

of America Merrill Lynch and

Credit Suisse Group; and Eaton

Towers is working with JPMorgan

Chase and UBS Group.

Representatives for IHS Towers,

Helios and Eaton declined to

comment.

Credit Suisse, UBS, BAML

and Standard Bank declined to

comment, while the rest of the

banks did not respond to requests

for comment. IHS is part-owned

by Johannesburg-based MTN,

French investment firm Wendel

SA and Goldman Sachs &

Company Millicom International

Cellular SA, which has mobile-

phone operations in Latin

America and African countries

includ ing Tanzania, and owns

a stake in Helios. Eaton is part-

owned by Ethos Private Equity.

Helios Towers said in

September that it was exploring

strategic options, including a

potential listing on the London

Stock Exchange, though no final

decision had been made.

IHS Towers told Bloomberg last

year that it would look to New

York and London for a possible

listing.

north of the country.
PPC also pointed to the success
of operations in Rwanda, with
robust volume growth and capa-
city use above 65%.
Sales volumes grew by more
than 30% for the period.
New investments in the
Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) and Ethiopia will
be fully commissioned during
the second half of the current
financial year, with both plants
completed and in the process of
being tested.
“PPC has reviewed its priori ties
over the last five months and will
continue to focus on these key
priorities in the next 12 months.
“These key priorities are
optimising the financial, opera-
tional and human capital elements

of the business,” the company

highlighted. This will also ensure

that the restructuring of the South

African and DRC debt is finalised

and implemented.

“The group has made sig-

nificant progress in improv ing

liquidity and smoothing the

maturity profile of the business.

“This is through the pending

restructuring of Southern Africa

debt maturing in June 2018 to a

more smoother payment profile

of between three to five years,”

he said.

Significant progress has been

made on finalising the DRC

fund ing agreements, with a term

sheet received from the funders

highlighting a 24-month capital

holiday, which will reduce the

required deficiency funding

from PPC.

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