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MTN aims to list its Nigerian unit in an initial public offering (IPO) this year, plans for the IPO are well advanced and the company would provide exact details in the next few months its group chief executive Rob Shuter said yesterday.
“We are well advanced with the Nigerian listing. If market conditions are appropriate we should conclude it this year,” Shuter said in Lagos after MTN signed an agreement with Ecobank to form a partnership on mobile banking across Africa.
MTN plans to list its Nigerian unit on the Premium Board of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) which has firm’s likes of Dangote Cement Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc.
Standard Bank Group Limited and Citigroup Incorporated had been advising Africa’s largest mobile-phone company on the disposal of as much as 30 percent of the Nigerian unit.
MTN Group also plans extensive local marketing to target Nigerian investors as part of a retail offer and institutional book-build, which may also involve selected international institutions.
MTN Group agreed to list the Nigerian unit on the Nigerian Stock Exchange this year as part of a June 2016 agreement to pay a $1 billion fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers amid a security crackdown.
Gbenga Oyebode, a renowned lawyer and boardroom guru was also appointed chairman of the board committee on MTN floatation.
MTN Group said in a note preceding its recently released financials for the year ended December 31, 2017 that the application to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will commence in due course and “management has already initiated its Corporate Governance Rating Scoring with the NSE with a view to listing on the NSE’s Premium Board.”
The Nigerian stock market rose by 42percent last year, and is up 5.9 percent year to date.
MTN crossed major huddles to the Nigeria unit listing after three different Emergency General Meetings (EGMs), BusinessDay gathered.
At the meetings, the group got the nod of different categories of shareholders to proceed for the listing on the NSE.
At the latest Emergency General Meeting, issues of complaints by different categories of shareholders and that of shares managed by IBTC, among others were resolved.
MTN said last month in a note preceding its financials for the year ended December 31, 2017, that Nigerian operations maintained positive momentum during the year, with the overall macro‐economic environment stabilising and the increased oil price and production offering some relief, with data revenue increasing by 86.6percent.
The Nigerian operations had revenues of R36 billion, while EBITDA margin (excluding the impact of the regulatory fine) declined to 38.9 percent.
Shuter said MTN has struck an agreement with pan-African lender Ecobank to offer mobile banking across Africa, enabling both companies to leverage each other’s assets.
The move comes as telecoms operators are expanding mobile services to boost margins and access new revenue streams.
The two entities, with an extensive footprint on the continent, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop their partnership agreement, which will allow them to innovate and enhance access to affordable financial services via MTN Mobile Money and Ecobank Banking services.
Shuter said the South African telecoms group was targeting 60 million customers via mobile services over the next three years, up from 23 million now across the 14 markets where it has launched the product.
“Ecobank has very similar aspirations to us,” he said.
Ecobank, which operates in 36 African countries, has said it expects its digital banking platform to boost its customers to 100 million from 13 million by 2020 and that it will focus expansion on existing markets via low cost mobile services to tap customers on lower incomes.
Ade Ayeyemi, CEO of Ecobank said: “Combining Ecobank’s innovative digital banking range with MTN’s enormous subscriber base means that virtually every African can now have an instant bank account, savings accounts, loans and make instant remittances on their mobile phone.”
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