MTN lists on Nigeria bourse, offers citizens 20pc stake

Africa’s telecommunication giant MTN has finally listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in a N2 trillion ($6.54 billion) flotation.

The telco’s stock on Thursday jumped by 10 per cent to close at N99($0.27) per share from N9 ($0.025) the previous day.

A total of 5.5 million shares worth N545.59 million ($1.51 million) were exchanged in 15 deals.

MTN Chief Executive Officer Terri Moolman said 20 per cent of the company’s shares would be reserved for Nigerians.

Mr Moolman said MTN’s listing would contribute to the growth of the nation’s bourse adding that it would float an Initial Public Offering (IPO) at a later date depending on market conditions.
Ownership of the firm is expected to increase to about 35 per cent from the current 20 per cent after the IPO.

Moolman said that the telco’s parent company, MTN Group Limited, was willing to dilute its shareholding from 78.8 per cent to 65 per cent to enable the local unit be at par with that of other multinationals listed in Nigeria.
On issue of delisting, Moolman assured brokers and investors that the company was in Nigeria to stay.

“We believe in this market and we are here to stay,” Moolman said.

NSE Chief Executive Officer, Oscar Onyema, said that the firm was the first telco to be listed on the NSE Premium Board.

The board is a listing segment for the elite group of issuers that meet the exchange’s stringent corporate governance and listing standards.

“This Board features Dangote Cement Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, Zenith International Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc,” said Mr Onyema.

“Having MTN Nigeria listed in our market is a testament of the exchange’s commitment to building a dynamic and inclusive market and creating channels for sustainable investment,” he added.

Investment banking franchise Stanbic IBTC Capital and stock brokerage firm Chapel Hill Denham acted as a financial advisers in the historic listing.

“This listing would encourage many other large unlisted companies both within that sector and as well as other sector to start to think about the Nigerian stock market,” said Bolaji Balogun, CEO of Chapel Hill Denham.