MTN to offer 35% shares to Ghanaians through IPO by end-Q1 2018

Telecommunications giant MTN is expected to do a public offer to issue 35 percent of its shares to the Ghanaian public by the end of the first quarter of 2018, according to reports. This is just as it has indicated plans to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

MTN is said to have commenced moves to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange, GSE, since 2016, as part of conditions under which it secured the 4G license in late 2015.

It was expected to finalize processes to float shares on the GSE by 2017.

Kofi Yamoah, managing director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), confirmed to JoyBusiness that the company has submitted all the necessary documents and awaiting approval from the regulatory bodies before going public.

“They’ve submitted the necessary documents to the GSE for review. We believe that at the end of the first quarter, we’ll see the public offer for that entity taking off,” Yamoah said

He described the move as one of the significant activities to occur before the end of the first quarter of 2018.

Last year, Ebenezer Asante, the CEO of MTN Ghana, had explained that the move to sell part of the company’s shares to Ghanaians is part of the localization that came with the 4G license.

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“It’s very clear from the license that 35 percent of MTN should be moved into Ghanaian hands and since we required the license we have engaged the regulators both in the NCA as well as the central bank and also with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” he said.

This is said to impact positively on trading in the Ghanaian market.

In all 42 corporate notes and bonds were listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange with a value of Ghc6709 million by the end of December 2017 as against 23 with a value of Ghc444 million in 2016.

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.”