Millicom exchanges equity for 24% share in Helios Towers Africa

Telecommunications company Millicom will cash in its equity in Helios Towers Africa (HTA) for 24 percent of the company's shares.

Helios Towers Africa is one of the largest telecommunications tower companies in Africa. In 2010, a group of companies owned by HTA acquired 2,450 towers owned by Millicom who kept an equity stake in the towers that are now being traded in.

The exchange comes at a transitional time for HTA: the company recently raised $363 million from shareholders as part of a revaluation aimed at helping the company build its capacity where it already works.

HTA owns more than 4,800 towers in Ghana, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company estimates that in 2014 they reached more than half of the potential market in Ghana as well as 70 percent of the mobile market in South Africa.

The exchange with Millicom will be official once HTA's shareholder reorganization is complete.

Millicom is a major provider of mobile service, with more than 60 million mobile customers primarily in Africa and Latin America.