African towerco, IHS Towers, will also launch an initial public offering (IPO) which would value it at more than $7 billion.
IX Acquisition, a so-called blank check company targeting the tech, media and telecom sectors and ICT industries in Europe and emerging markets, has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in New York to raise up to $200 million in an initial public offering (IPO).
Towers and fibre assets
The London-based company plans to raise $200 million by offering 20 million units at $10, and to be listed on the Nasdaq.
The company is led by Executive Chairman Guy Willner, the Co-founder and Chair of datacenter operators IXcellerate and IXAfrica, and the Founder and former CEO of IXEurope.
The firm will be looking to acquire fibre assets and towers in Europe and is one of the first special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to target this sector, which has seen, for example, Cellnex grow rapidly in a very short term as telcos look to offload assets to raise cash.
With headquarters in Barcelona, Cellnex was spun off from a tollroad group five years ago and now has a market cap of about €24 billion – more than Spain’s biggest telco, Telefonica.
Out of Africa
Earlier this week, the African towerco, IHS Towers announced it had filed for an IPO with the US SEC to raise about $380 million.
If the IHS Towers’ IPO goes to plan, it will value the company at more than $7 billion, and it will be the largest US listing by an African company.
The group operates more than 30,000 towers in five African countries as well as in other markets in South America and the Middle East, and is the world’s fourth largest independent towerco, according to the Financial Times.
South Africa’s MTN, Africa’s biggest mobile operator by subscribers, owns 29% of IHS. Other stakes are held by Goldman Sachs and Wendel, the French private equity investor.
IHS, which is the world’s fourth biggest independent tower operator, could raise about $380m in net proceeds at the middle of the offering price range, according to the regulatory filing.