South African mobile operator MTN is set to list on the Ghana and Nigeria stock exchanges later this year, and the company is expecting to raise around $960 million as a result.
Africa’s biggest mobile phone company by subscribers will make 30 percent of its Nigerian shares available for listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, with those shares worth around $512 million, according to ENCA.
The listing is taking place as part of the conditions places upon the telecoms giant in the West African country regarding their $1 billion fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unsubscribed Nigerian customers.
Most of the shares will be sold to Nigerian institutions and individuals. MTN is the biggest tax contributor, biggest employer and biggest company in Nigeria, and now Nigerians will be able to own a piece of the mobile operator through the shares.
The successful share sale would be the biggest on the Nigerian Stock Exchange after Starcomms, which raised $796 million with its 2008 listing, according to Techcentral.
Meanwhile in another West African market, MTN has also agreed to sell shares in Ghana as one of the conditions of a deal to gain spectrum rights.
MTN will make 35 percent of its shares available to investors on the Ghana Stock Exhange by the end of the first quarter of 2018, according to ITWebAfrica.
The company originally aimed to list in 2017, but the process was delayed. The decision to list on the Ghanaian bourse was reached as part of the terms of agreement for the acquisition of a 15-year $67m 4G license in 2015.
Ebenezer Asante, CEO of MTN Ghana, explained the need to list the company’s shares on the country’s stock exchange.
“It’s very clear from the license that 35 percent of MTN should be moved into Ghanaian hands, and since we required the license we have engaged the regulators both in the NCA as well as the Central Bank and also with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” Asante said, according to Myjoyonline.
The combination of Nigeria’s $512 million and Ghana’s aim to raise around $450 million means that MTN could raise in the region of $962 million between the two listings.
In August 2017, Vodacom Tanzania completed the largest initial public offering ever seen on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) in its 19 years of existence.
MTN competitor Vodacom raised $219 million for the listing, becoming the first to comply with new regulatory changes requiring telecoms companies in the country to list at least 25 percent on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, according to BusinessTech.
The mobile operator is listed on the Main Investment Market Segment of the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange under the ticker ‘VODA’.
