Africa’s largest telecommunications towers operator, IHS Holdings, plans to enter new markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia ahead of a potential attempt to sell shares in either New York or London.
The company is looking to build on two recent deals in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, according to Chief Executive Officer, Sam Darwish . “We are actively looking to add additional towers from the gulf area and we recently also looked at Southeast Asia,” he adds.
The international expansion could help IHS increase its appeal to investors after abandoning plans for an initial public offering last year. Based in Mauritius and with operations in Nigeria and other African countries, IHS was seeking to raise about $1 billion in New York. Rival African operators Helios Towers Plc. and Eaton Towers Ltd. also scrapped aspirations for an IPO in 2018.
Part of the IHS strategy is to connect towers with fiber networks, and the group is currently running a pilot project in Nigeria.