Mobile operator MTN to sell and leaseback S.Africa towers for $412 million

JOHANNESBURG: Africa’s largest mobile operator MTN Group said on Wednesday it will sell and leaseback more than 5,000 towers in South Africa to London-based IHS Towers for 6.4 billion rand ($412 million) to help lower costs.

MTN, with 277.3 million subscribers across 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East, is in the middle of a 25 billion rand divestment plan launched in March 2019 to simplify its portfolio over the next three-to-five years.