In total the deal includes 819 towers, 602 in Brazil and 217 in Colombia, with IHS saying the acquisition will "ensure the company is well-positioned to support the upcoming roll-out of 5G by offering customers new locations for signal transmission and distribution, as well as supporting fibre deployment".
Sam Darwish, IHS chairman and group CEO, said: “Following our recent acquisition of Skysites in Brazil, I am delighted to announce the acquisition of a third Latin American tower operator.
"The addition of Centennial Towers’ Brazilian and Colombian operations adds scale to our IHS Towers Latin American portfolio and will further strengthen the deep expertise and solutions we can offer to current and potential customers in these markets. Latin America remains a key region for us with its high growth potential and, through these transactions, we will continue to increase our market presence and build on the momentum sparked by our initial entry into the region last year with the acquisition of Cell Site Solutions.”
IHS entered Brazil last year with the acquisition of Cell Site Solutions (CSS), now IHS Brazil, and followed up with the January acquisition of Skysites, which took the portfolio to 3,282 towers across the country.
The same CSS deal also took IHS into Colombia with that business renamed IHS Colombia in February 2020. The same month, IHS completed a $130 million acquisition and leaseback deal with Zain Group in Kuwait for 1,620 mobile towers. The company is also exploring a "potential IPO" in the US.
Commenting on the latest deal, Centennial Towers' CEO Steven Moskowitz added: “We are thrilled to enter into this transaction with IHS Towers as they recognise the uniqueness of Centennial’s diverse asset base in these two countries, which are primed for high levels of growth due to their strategic locations and quality construction. Centennial’s strong client relationships and proprietary management information systems will assist IHS Towers in advancing their drive to significantly increasing footprint and colocation growth in Latin America for years to come.”
