Macquarie completes $952M acquisition of IHS Towers' Latin America portfolio

Macquarie Asset Management has finalized its acquisition of IHS Towers' wireless tower operations across Latin America, a deal that transfers more than 8,700 tower sites in Brazil and 250 sites in Colombia to the Australian investment firm. The transaction, initially unveiled in February, was formally closed on August 7, according to a company announcement.

While Macquarie did not disclose the financial terms in its closing statement, the deal was previously valued at an enterprise value of approximately $952 million. The acquisition strengthens Macquarie's infrastructure footprint in the region, where demand for connectivity and digital services continues to expand rapidly.

Fernando Lohmann, Brazil country lead for Macquarie Asset Management, said the completion underscores the firm's long-term commitment to the Brazilian market. "Brazil continues to be one of the most attractive infrastructure markets globally, supported by growing demand for connectivity and long-term investment in critical services," he said. "The successful completion of this transaction underscores our long-standing commitment to Brazil and our confidence in the country's future. As digitalization accelerates across Brazil and the broader region, resilient communications infrastructure will play an increasingly important role in supporting economic growth and social development."

The closing arrives as IHS Towers moves closer to completing its separate $2.2 billion sale to MTN Group. Shareholders of IHS voted in favor of the MTN takeover earlier this month. In a stock market filing last week, IHS said the divestiture of its Latin American assets aligned with MTN's stated intention "to acquire only IHS's African assets."

Founded in 2001, IHS Towers operates as a tower infrastructure provider focused on emerging markets, with more than 37,000 towers across seven countries, including Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia. The sale of its Latam operations marks a strategic repositioning of the company's portfolio, concentrating its remaining assets in Africa ahead of the MTN acquisition.

Industry observers view the transaction as part of a broader trend of infrastructure investors seeking exposure to high-growth digital markets in Latin America, where mobile data adoption and tower demand are rising steadily. For Macquarie, the acquisition adds a substantial portfolio of tower assets in two key markets, positioning the firm to benefit from long-term connectivity investments in the region.