IHS Holding Ltd. 'B' Rating Affirmed; Outlook Stable; Proposed Senior Unsecured Notes Rated 'B'

Telecom infrastructure company IHS Holding Ltd. (IHS) intends to issue senior unsecured notes to redeem its 2025 US$510 million bonds (issued by IHS Netherlands B.V. and guaranteed by IHS) and pursue its growth strategy. We forecast IHS will maintain S&P Global Ratings-adjusted funds from operations (FFO) to debt above 20%. While we expect the IPO and bond proceeds to accelerate IHS' organic and inorganic growth, we do not anticipate material changes to IHS' credit metrics in the outlook period. We therefore affirmed our 'B' long-term issuer credit rating on IHS. At the same time, we assigned our 'B' issue-level rating to the proposed senior unsecured notes which will be issued by IHS Holding Ltd. Our stable outlook on IHS reflects

...November 16, 2021 - Telecom infrastructure company IHS Holding Ltd. (IHS) intends to issue senior unsecured notes to redeem its 2025 US$510 million bonds (issued by IHS Netherlands B.V. and guaranteed by IHS) and pursue its growth strategy. - We forecast IHS will maintain S&P Global Ratings-adjusted funds from operations (FFO) to debt above 20%. - While we expect the IPO and bond proceeds to accelerate IHS' organic and inorganic growth, we do not anticipate material changes to IHS' credit metrics in the outlook period. - We therefore affirmed our 'B' long-term issuer credit rating on IHS. At the same time, we assigned our 'B' issue-level rating to the proposed senior unsecured notes which will be issued by IHS Holding Ltd. - Our stable outlook on IHS reflects our expectation that group EBITDA will continue to improve as tenant colocation improves, supporting FFO to debt of 20%-30% on average over the next two years. JOHANNESBURG (S&P Global Ratings) Nov. 16, 2021--S&P Global Ratings today...

Ratings Action