Investors should get their money ready as MTN Nigeria has finally converted from a private to a public company and is now ready to invite members of the public to subscribe to its shares. The conversion is to fulfill the requirement of the Nigerian Stock Exchange whose guidelines say that to be qualified to list in Nigeria, a company must be registered as a public limited company with no restrictions on the transfer of fully paid shares; have a minimum of three (3) years’ operating track record; have a pre-tax profit from continuing operation of not less than N300million cumulatively for the last three (3) fiscal years and a minimum of N100 million in two (2) of these years.

A Look At The New MTN Nigeria Plc

• In March 2019, MTN announced its earnings for the 2018 financial year, recording growth above inflation in full service revenue of 17.2 per cent and the addition of nearly six million new subscribers to the network.
• The company announced Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) of N453.1bn and expanded EBITDA margins to 43.6 per cent (excluding the CBN resolution amount).
• The company also added 4.5 million active data customers in 2018, delivering data revenue growth of 39.3 per cent and expanding to 18.7 million the number of people that it connects to the possibilities that the Internet provides.
• The company just acquired more 607,462 new internet users in February, increasing MTN’s data subscription to 46,538,633 as against 45,931,171 in January.
• MTN said the proposed listing on the NSE would create a new telecoms asset class for investors and provide a wider group of Nigerians with a chance to participate in the MTN investment opportunity.
• MTN is not going to list through IPO, but by introduction in the first half of 2019. Listing by introduction means MTN is not offering its shares to the public yet. 
• The President/Chief Executive Officer, MTN Group, Mr. Rob Shuter, disclosed at the MTN Group’s investor update conference call in February of what listing by introduction means.

“It means that we will list the company in the initial phases without any public offer or sell-down or initial public offering. I think this will enable us to get the company listed whilst the market still digests the implications of what has happened over the last few months,”

He added, “We will in phase two be doing a project to increase the Nigerian participation in MTN Nigeria, targeting more a free float of around 35 per cent than the free float we have today which is around 20 per cent. So, we aim to conclude at least the listing by introduction in the first half of 2019, pretty much as soon as we can, and then subject to market conditions, appetite and demand we would in phase two do the sell-down.”

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After the phase one, which would be completed by the first half of 2019, the shares would be open to Nigerian investors as part of the second phase of the listing.

The upcoming listing is a key milestone for the MTN Group and is part of its commitment to localisation in the markets in which it operates.
MTN Nigeria has previously been a registered private company in Nigeria. This listing would mean that much more information about the company would now be open to the public. 

• Listing by Introduction
• To be able to list by introduction, the company would usually have raised capital prior to applying to list, and also must meet the listing requirements — including a minimum number of public shareholders (300 to list on the Main Board; 51 to list on the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM) and minimum public float (20% for the Main Board; 15% for ASeM). ASeM provides a platform for small and mid-sized fast growth companies to raise critical long term capital at relatively low cost to realize their business potential.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.