IHS Shares Drop to All-Time Low After Losing Nigeria Contract Renewal

By Will Feuer

Shares of IHS Holding dropped for a second consecutive trading day after the operator of telecommunications infrastructure lost out on a Nigerian contract renewal from MTN Group.

New York-listed shares tumbled almost 23% to $4.59 on Monday, on pace to close at an all-time low. The selloff extends a decline that began on Friday. Shares are down more than 25% so far this year.

MTN said last week that it had selected a subsidiary of American Tower to manage some 2,500 network sites in Nigeria, the contracts for which are due to expire in 2024 and 2025. IHS confirmed Friday that it currently manages the sites.

MTN said American Towers' ATC Nigeria Wireless Infrastructure Solutions will start providing the services for the affected sites in 2025.

IHS said that in the second quarter, the management of the roughly 2,500 towers generated revenue of about $45 million. The company's total revenue that quarter was $546.2 million.

MTN said the move will diversify its site portfolio.

MTN commands a 26% stake in IHS, and recently teamed up with hedge fund Wendel to argue that the two firms, which collectively own about 45% of IHS' shares, should have more say in who sits on the tower operator's board.

The move to not renew the contracts with IHS appears to be driven by the corporate-governance dispute, analysts at TD Cowen said in a research note. They said the selloff in IHS shares reflects investor concerns over what more damage MTN can do to IHS, but the analysts said they don't believe MTN can do much more from here.

Write to Will Feuer at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 11, 2023 12:25 ET (16:25 GMT)

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