IHS Holding Limited (IHS Towers), an independent tower company, has completed the sale of 100% of Rwanda operations to Paradigm Tower Ventures.
First announced in May, the deal is worth $274.5 million, representing a transaction multiple of 8.3 times adjusted EBITDA after leases, and includes about 1,465 sites.
According to IHS Towers, the sale of the company’s Rwanda operations is part of its strategic initiatives targeted at shareholder value-creation options following over ten years of commercial success in the East African country.
The acquisition of IHS Rwanda will mark the first investment by Paradigm’s new Sub-Saharan African tower platform, whose focus is on the growth of new build shared wireless infrastructure across the region.
Paradigm is backed by a consortium of equity and debt finance providers, including Convergence Partners and Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited, who acted as mandated lead arranger, sole funder and financial advisor.
Co-founder and Chairman of Paradigm, Stephen Harris, previously commented: “Rwanda represents an exciting market with high demand for shared wireless infrastructure. The Paradigm team is very much looking forward to building a strong customer-focused business, providing high-quality and secure infrastructure to mobile network operators.”
