MTN Nigerian unit IPO ready in six months, CEO says

MTN Group Ltd. said it is focused on laying the groundwork for an initial public offering of its Nigerian business and should complete the process in the next six months, Rob Shuter, chief executive officer said.

“We have a lot of advisers running around getting everything ready,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Wednesday.

“It’s a complicated process and there’s a lot of regulation that needs to be arranged. We are moving forward well with the project and anticipate concluding that in the next six months or so.”

MTN had agreed to the Lagos IPO as part of the settlement of a $1 billion fine imposed by Nigerian regulators in 2015. Africa’s biggest wireless operator by sales incurred the penalty after missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers amid a security crackdown in the country.

Shuter joined MTN in March after holding executive roles at Vodafone Group Plc in Europe. He is the permanent replacement for Sifiso Dabengwa, who resigned after the Nigerian fine was imposed. Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko had run the company in the interim period.

MTN’s two other main countries are Iran and South Africa. In the former, Shuter said the company isn’t “holding back” on expansion plans even as U.S. President Donald Trump objects to the terms of a nuclear deal that led to the lifting of economic sanctions last year. MTN has about 49.5 million customers in Iran, just under Nigeria’s 50.3 million., and has repatriated almost $1 billion from the country in the last 12 months.

“We are putting a lot of investment into the ground in Irancell,” Shuter said. “There is a huge demand for mobile data there, its one of our fastest growing data markets. It is business as usual.”

MTN has no immediate plans to expand into new countries, and is instead focused on improving operations in existing markets, which include conflict areas such as Afghanistan and South Sudan, according to the CEO.

The company needs to “build what we need to and get our networks into shape,” Shuter said. “In months to come I think there will be an opportunity to participate in the consolidation of the market.”

MTN shares rose 0.2 percent to R122.96 around midday in Johannesburg, valuing the company at R231 billion ($16.3 billion).