Cleary Gottlieb represented Wendel in its recently announced settlement agreement with IHS Holding Limited (IHS Towers).
The agreement addressed various corporate governance matters involving IHS Towers, of which Wendel is a significant shareholder, and settled related litigation among the parties.
Under the settlement agreement, IHS Towers has agreed to propose amendments to its articles of association for shareholder approval at its 2024 annual general meeting. The proposed amendments would, among other matters, gradually declassify the IHS Towers board, lower the ownership threshold for shareholders to nominate directors or bring business before a general meeting, introduce a right for shareholders to requisition a general meeting, and lower the voting threshold for shareholders to remove directors.
Wendel is one of Europe’s leading listed investment firms. Wendel seeks to implement long-term development strategies, which involve boosting growth and margins of companies so as to enhance their leading market positions.
IHS Towers is one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count and is one of the largest independent multinational towercos solely focused on the emerging markets. IHS Towers has nearly 40,000 towers across its 11 markets, including Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Kuwait, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zambia.
For more information, please see the press release here.