The results of the Series 1 Offer for the sale of MTN Nigeria ordinary shares have come in – and by all accounts they seem to be very positive.
The offer, for the sale of 575 million MTN Nigeria shares to Nigerian investors, was implemented by way of a bookbuild to qualified institutional investors and a fixed price offer to retail investors.
In the event, it was 1.2 times oversubscribed with a total of 802.0 million shares subscribed for by more than 126,000 investors. These included Nigerian retail and institutional investors, where participating Nigerian pension funds represent approximately 6.5 million Nigerian contributors.
The offer, cleared last year by Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), also marks the first time that a digital application platform, PrimaryOffer, was used for a Nigerian public offer. PrimaryOffer describes itself as “an online platform that provides you with an easy way to buy into offers in the Nigerian Capital Market”.
More than 74 percent of retail offer subscribers applied via the PrimaryOffer platform. Many of these investors were new market participants. Gross proceeds from the offer amount to approximately R4.3 billion (about $281.4 million).
Ralph Mupita, MTN Group president and CEO, was clearly happy with the outcome of the sale. He said, “With over 6.6 million Nigerians directly or indirectly becoming shareholders in MTN Nigeria, the objective of broadening the shareholder base and creating shared value has been achieved.”
According to the ITWeb site, the news comes after MTN Nigeria this week delivered growth across all its revenue lines in the country, for the financial year ended December 2021, which, the company says, demonstrated the underlying strength and momentum of the business.
The share bonanza may not be over yet. MTN Group says it will continue its work to deliver on its stated intention of broadening the local shareholder base in MTN Nigeria.
Its goal is to hold approximately 65 percent of the business in the medium term. Following the Series 1 Offer, MTN Group’s shareholding in MTN Nigeria reduced from 78.8 percent to 75.6 percent.
