MTN Nigeria To Sell 15% Stake To Investors Despite Bearish Market

MTN Group Ltd. has disclosed intensions to continue with its plans to sell 15% of its stake in MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd. (MTNN) to Nigerian investors, despite the unattractive nature of the equity market.

The South African company’s decision was fueled by the dispute it had with the Nigerian regulatory authorities over tax and capital flight.

The Group owns about 79% of its Nigerian subsidiary MTNN, and a 15% sale of stake to local investors would reduce its ownership of the subsidiary to 64%.

MTNN contributed one third of the Group’s total revenue in 2019 and has over 69 million subscribers in the country.

The N290.1 billion gross profit posted by MTNN accounted for 40% of the Group’s gross earnings for 2019.

Recall that MTNN was listed on the Nigerian stock Exchange in 2019 at a share price of N90, while THE WHISTLER reported on Tuesday that the company’s share price had fallen by 10% to its initial listing price of N90.

The Chief Financial Officer, Ralph Mupita, told Bloomberg that despite the impact of  coronavirus on the global financial market and the dwindling oil price, it would push to sell in smaller amounts.

“In Nigeria we still want to do part of our retail offer, even if it’s a smaller part of the total planned sale,” he said.