MTN Nigeria Delays $550m Listing on NSE, Subject to Improved Market Conditions

MTN Group, through its Chief Executive Officer, Rob Shuter has disclosed that the telecommunications company expects the listing of its Nigerian unit on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to be done by the end of 2018. This is coming after Shuter suggested in November 2017 that the process would be concluded by mid-year 2018.

MTN may move Nigerian IPO to later in the year https://t.co/JgJlrcnCXG pic.twitter.com/sYg2pLEtUZ

— Ugo Obi-Chukwu (@ugodre) April 10, 2018

According to Reuters, Shuter said:

We are progressing very well with the Nigerian listing and if market conditions are appropriate, we will conclude that by the end of the year.

Recall that MTN had agreed to the NSE initial public offering (IPO) as part of the settlement of a $1 billion fine imposed by local regulators in 2015.  The telco had incurred the penalty after its failure to disconnect unregistered subscribers before the set deadline.

N330bn fine: MTN has so far paid N165bn, says NCC
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— The Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) April 10, 2018

A fine of N1.04 trillion had earlier been imposed on MTN. But after prolonged negotiations with both the NCC and the Federal Government, the fine was reduced to N330 billion.

Now, according to some sources, the telecom firm is looking to raise at least $500 million from the sale of shares. The unidentified sources say the company could dispose of as much as 30 per cent of its Lagos-based unit.

In addition, MTN is also preparing to list a 35 percent stake of its local unit in Ghana as part of a deal with the government to use fourth-generation spectrum, a high-speed mobile data service.

Although declining to give details, Shuter said:

The Ghana IPO is well advanced. We will make the specific announcement of that in accordance with the IPO schedule.

MTN is targeting close to $800 million dollars with the listing, which would be more than 10 times bigger than the country’s largest IPO to date, people familiar with the matter said in March.