Telecoms infrastructure company IHS Towers has announced its expansion to Latin America with the full acquisition of São Paulo-headquartered Cell Site Solutions (CSS) for an undisclosed sum.

Prior to the acquisition, CSS was owned by affiliates of Goldman Sachs and Centaurus Capital LP.

In a statement, IHS Towers said CSS will be fully integrated into IHS, including its management team and employees.

CSS has approximately 2,290 towers and other telecommunications infrastructure sites across Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

IHS added that CSS' four solutions – Build To Suit (BTS), Collocation, Distributed Antenna Systems and Small Cells - will enhance its offering.

Sam Darwish, IHS Chairman and Group chief executive officer, said: "IHS is expanding its footprint into Latin America. Brazil offers an exciting platform enabling us to go deeper into this new geography. Brazil's topography and compact urban areas, coupled with recent economic upturn, provide favorable macroeconomic factors for 4G and 5G deployment."

Darwish noted that as 5G transition gathers momentum, IHS will be well placed to deliver on these demands in the region, assisted by the CSS management team.

"We are also very excited about providing our vast range of offerings to the markets in Peru and Colombia," he added.

CSS' chief executive officer Rodrigo Medeiros said: "We are very excited to become part of IHS as we enter our next phase of development and take advantage of new market opportunities. IHS's principles are closely aligned with our DNA of developing solutions that exceed customer needs and seek to constantly improve ways to deliver high quality services to our clients in Brazil, Peru and Colombia, with the highest levels of integrity."

IHS claims to be the third largest independent multinational tower operator globally, controlling about 24,000 towers.

In Africa, it is a major player in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia.

IHS also announced agreements to acquire Zain's towers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, subject to certain regulatory and statutory approvals.

"Upon completion of the Zain Kuwait and Saudi Arabia transactions, IHS Towers will have approximately 33,100 towers in its portfolio which will confirm IHS' position as one of the largest independent multinational tower operators globally by tower count," IHS stated.