MTN Shares Comes Alive On NSE, As Firm Plans To Raise Local Ownership To 35 Pct

MTN Nigeria gained 10 percent on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on the first trading day to close at 99 naira per share after the historical listing of the telecoms firm on the local bourse.
Total of shares of the company worth 548.59 million naira was bought and sold by investors at the first trading day.
The local unit of South African telecoms firm was listed by introduction on the NSE on Thursday with a total of 20.4 billion shares quoted at 90 naira per share.
Meanwhile, ownership of the telecoms firm is expected to increase to around 35 percent from the present 21.2 percent after a proposed Initial Public Offer (IPO) that will follow Thursday's listing of the telecoms firm on the local bourse.
MTN Group Chief Financial Officer Ralph Mupita told investors in Lagos on Thursday that the parent company of the local telecoms firm are willing to dilute its shareholding from the present 78.8 percent to 65 percent to enable the local unit be at par with that of other multinationals listed in Nigeria.
He said MTN plans to proceed with the public offering following a listing in Africa’s biggest economy on Thursday and after it resolves a $2 billion tax dispute with Nigeria’s attorney general.
MTN, is the first telecoms firm to be listed on the local bourse with a market capitalisation of about $5.1 billion, overtaking Nestle Nigeria Plc and became second biggest firm on the NSE Dangote Cement Plc from investors.