If you live in the MENA region, you may need to thank IHS Holding for your text messages making it through to the other person. The mobile phone tower operator, which also operates in Africa and Latin America, is now eyeing an IPO that could raise up to $540m, valuing the company at a total of $8b. IHS plans to sell 18 million shares priced between $21-24 per share.
With over 30'000 towers, IHS posted a profit of $77m in the first half of 2021. The company's revenue grew 15% during the same period. The IPO (led by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Citi) will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker IHS.
Why it matters
The IHS IPO follows a wave of European and North African telecom companies selling stakes to try and monetize assets that are attractive to investors. Investors may be particularly interested in IHS since it holds most of its towers in high-growth markets such as Nigeria.
