African telecommunications infrastructure company IHS has appointed a new executive to drive the organisation's commercial strategy and development.
Rhys Philip has been appointed chief commercial officer in what the tower-sharing company says is a role that will see "continued expansion" across Africa and the Middle East.
Philip joins Nigeria-headquartered IHS from Ernst & Young, where he was partner and global head of transaction advisory services for the telecommunications sector.
In addition to advising tower businesses on many of the African transactions since 2007 - with particular focus on deals in SA, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda - Philip led cross-border transactions for operators, infrastructure businesses, financial investors and managed service providers.
Prior to Ernst & Young, Philip led mergers and acquisitions in-house for Vodafone and the BT Group, and spent a number of years in investment banking in the UK and Europe. He qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, after obtaining a law degree from Cambridge University.
IHS CEO Issam Darwish says Philip is "one of the most impressive experts" on African infrastructure in the market. "Having advised some of the world's largest mobile network operators, he is an exciting addition to the IHS leadership team, as we continue to grow our business."
Darwish says Philip's expertise in constructing value-driven acquisitions will be invaluable to IHS, particularly in the telecoms sector and at what he terms a "stage of [IHS's] growth".
Philip says he is "thrilled" to be part of IHS's continued growth story, with the opportunity to help increase the company's tower portfolio while attracting investors.
MTN deal
A Nigerian Stock Exchange-listed company, IHS owns and manages over 9 000 mobile network tower sites across Africa. The business recently secured two deals to own and manage MTN and Orange France Telecom's tower portfolios in Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire.
Last year, IHS bought just under 2 000 towers from SA-based MTN, for $248 million (about R2.3 billion).
At the time, MTN Group president and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa said the deal represented "considerable" benefits for the JSE-listed company, which aimed to spend about R24.7 billion on infrastructure last year.
Dabengwa said trimming MTN's capital expenditure would allow the company to invest in its customer base, and implement additional services to meet the demand for innovative products and data.
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