MTN launched and Initial Public Offering today, offering for a 35% stake in its Ghana unit, which it hopes will raise 3.47 billion cedis ($743 million).
The group is required to float shares on the local stock exchange under an agreement with Ghanaian authorities for access to 4G spectrum licence in the 800MHz band, which was granted to it in late 2015. In terms of that deal, MTN must sell up to 35% of its shares.
MTN will sell about 4.63 billion shares in MTN Ghana at 0.75 cedis per share, in what is expected to be the West African country’s largest IPO.
“The minimum amount to be raised for the offer to be deemed successful and for the listing to proceed is approximately GHS0.35bn, which represents approximately 10% of the total offer size. Given the objective of targeting a broad base of Ghanaian investors, allocation to non-Ghanaian investors is to be restricted to 5% of the issued shares of MTN Ghana.”, the group said.
Brokerage firm IC Securities is lead adviser for the transaction. If successful, MTN Ghana will be the most valuable company and the first mobile operator to be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
MTN is the leading mobile operator in Ghana with 17.8 million voice subscribers as of September, ahead of AirtelTigo, Vodafone and Nigeria’s Globacom.
