MTN Group has agreed to reopen talks with top continental tower operator IHS Holding in a bid to resolve governance issues that have placed a wedge between the companies for more than a year.
MTN, which is IHS’s biggest shareholder, has sought voting rights in line with the 26% economic interest it owns in the tower company and wants more power to nominate board members, which IHS has pushed back on.
Following a breakthrough in commercial talks that saw MTN and IHS renew tower leases of 26 000 sites across six African markets, negotiations on governance issues are now also back on the table, the companies said.
“The renewal of the various contracts across our markets into the next decade put MTN operations in the respective markets onto a more sustainable footing,” MTN CEO Ralph Mupita said of the lease agreements.
“We look forward to working constructively with IHS on the outstanding governance issues now that commercial arrangements have been concluded.”
The tension between the two companies started as far back as June last year, when an IHS annual meeting devolved into a standoff over investor power after the African tower operator dismissed demands from its two largest shareholders, MTN and Wendel.
While IHS managed to reach an agreement with Wendel on the French shareholders concerns over governance, it still needs to negotiate with MTN to try and reach an agreement.
