South African telco MTN Group has struck an agreement to acquire full ownership of IHS Towers for $2.2 billion.

The telco confirmed the agreement just a few days after engaging in talks to acquire the 75 percent stake in the tower company that it did not own.

In an announcement, MTN Group said it has agreed to buy the stake for a price of US$8.50 per share, valuing IHS Towers at an enterprise value of approximately $6.2bn.

MTN currently has a 24.7 percent shareholding in IHS.

Founded in 2001, IHS Towers is a tower infrastructure company focused on the emerging markets. The company has more than 37,000 towers across its seven markets, including Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia.

According to MTN, the acquisition will enable the company to “internalise the margin currently paid to IHS, benefit from current and future incremental third-party revenues, improve cost predictability and unlock significant long-term value embedded in its existing investment.”

“This proposed transaction is a pivotal step in further strengthening MTN Group’s strategic and financial position for a future where digital infrastructure will become ever more essential to Africa’s growth and development,” said Ralph Mupita, president and CEO, MTN Group.

“This transaction gives us a unique opportunity to buy back our towers and strengthen our ability to be partners for progress to the nation-states in which we operate.”

In recent years, MTN offloaded 5,700 towers to IHS in South Africa through sale and leaseback agreements.

“The proposed transaction deepens our long-standing partnership with MTN as it combines Africa’s largest mobile network operator with one of its largest digital infrastructure platforms and underscores the strong connection between IHS Towers and the African continent,” added Sam Dawish, chairman and CEO, IHS Towers.

A telecoms firm acquiring a tower company is a reversal of recent trends, with many telcos globally spinning out their tower portfolios into separate companies in recent years or offloading them to existing providers in sale-leaseback deals.