BEVERLY HILLS, JULY 29, (THEWILL) – Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, MTN Group, has revealed that its Nigeria unit is on track to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2017 as part of an agreement with the Federal Government.
MTN Nigeria aims for the listing to take place during 2017, subject to market conditions, after agreeing to pay a reduced fine of N330 billion in a settlement with the Nigerian Government of a long-running dispute over unregistered SIM cards.
MTN Nigeria’s fine for failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers was reduced from N1.4 trillion to N330 billion after a series of negotiations.
MTN Nigeria appointed Stanbic IBTC Capital, Standard Bank of South Africa and Standard Advisory London and Citigroup Global Markets as joint transaction advisors and global coordinators, with Stanbic acting as lead issuer.
“MTN Nigeria is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has resolved to proceed with preparations for a listing of MTN Nigeria on The NSE as soon as commercially and legally possible and has established a management task team with the responsibility to guide the company towards a listing.
“At present, MTN Nigeria is targeting that the listing takes place during 2017, subject to suitable market conditions,” the statement from its group corporate affairs said.
It however added a caveat saying the disclosure “does not constitute an announcement of an intention to float MTN Nigeria. MTN Nigeria will make further announcements at appropriate intervals on progress in this regard.
“The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities referred to herein in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.”
MTN is the largest mobile phone operator in Nigeria with 57 million subscribers, and the country accounts for about a third of its revenue.
The group announced its first half-year (H1) loss in at least 20 years following the NCC fine.
The firm, which was launched in 1994 in Johannesburg, South Africa, currently connects subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, with 230.3 million subscribers as at April 30, 2016.
Story by David Oputah
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