South African telecoms giant local unit, MTN Nigeria is planning to issue shares and raise debt to fund its operations after its listing on the local bourse this Thursday.
The telecoms firm is proposing an Initial Public Offering (IPO) shortly after the Thursday listing which has been confirmed by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and also plans to issue a bond of an undisclosed amount.
“This is just the beginning, we still intend to pursue a future public offer giving more Nigerians greater access to the MTN opportunity,” Ferdi Moolman, chief executive of MTN Nigeria, said.
The company also said the Nigerian unit will raise debt as it said it was relying on local funding in naira to mitigate exchange rate volatility.
The firm, which will be joining the likes of Dangote Cement on the local bourse controls major market share in the local industry and contributes a third of the total earnings of its parent company.
MTN Group CFO, Ralph Mupita said the listing was an important step towards increasing local ownership in MTN Nigeria and building the country’s equity capital markets.
MTN Group said the company has received approval from the Nigerian Stock Exchange to list its shares on Thursday, giving its existing shareholders access to trade their shares on the bourse.
MTN decided to list its local company in Nigeria in 2016 after agreeing to pay a $1.7 billion fine to settle a SIM card dispute with the government. Earlier, the company said it planned to list in the first half of 2019.
The company said last week it would list 20.4 billion ordinary shares on the Nigerian stock market.
In December, MTN agreed to make a $53 million payment to resolve a dispute in Nigeria. The move ended a multi-billion dollar dividend repatriation row, hitting its share prices in Johannesburg.
The company has been one of the main beneficiaries of Nigeria’s push to liberalise its economy over the past two decades. But it has come under increased pressure from the government to boost local ownership.
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