MTN Nigeria debuts with $6.5b listing in Nigeria Stock Exchange

MTN Nigeria, owned by South Africa’s MTN Group, on Thursday listed in Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in a N2 trillion ($6.54 billion) flotation.

The listing turns the telecoms company into the exchange’s second-largest stock by market value.

MTN Nigeria’s shares climbed 10 percent from their listing price of 90 naira after the float went live.

“The telecoms space accounts for a little over 9 percent of GDP so bringing in the big companies in that space is very critical for us and MTN being the largest and the market leader, this is a major listing for us,” said CEO, Nigeria Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema.

The listing is aimed at helping to settle rows with Nigerian authorities, over SIM cards and tax payments.

MTN is still in the middle of a 2 billion dollar tax row with the country’s attorney general which the company says will delay a further sale of shares and a public offering.
According Reuters Financial Correspondent, Chijioke Ohuocha no set time has been given given by MTN for the public offer.

“MTN agreed to this listing as part of a settlement to long-running disputes with the Nigerian government, which it has fulfilled today. With this particular listing, local investors and indeed international investors, will have the opportunity to buy into the telecoms story in Nigeria. MTN Group owns 78.8% of the Nigerian business,” Ohuocha added.

MTN Nigeria gains N184 billion in listing rally https://t.co/nStjZg0UrZ

— TODAY (@todayng) May 17, 2019

Nigeria accounts for a third of MTN’s group profit but it’s increasingly been one of its most problematic markets.

There are over 52 millions subscribers on the network in Nigeria.