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About 6.6 million Nigerians are now shareholders in MTN Nigeria Communication Plc.
The telecoms giant announced raking in N111.75bn from its share offer to Nigerians and strengthening its position as Nigeria’s leading telco with nearly 70 million subscribers. The offer commenced 1 December 2021 and closed 14 December, 2021.
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“We are pleased that this offer has given so many Nigerians the opportunity to become owners of MTN Nigeria. 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. We are proud that our offer was the first Nigerian public offer to use the digital application platform, PrimaryOffer, which enabled wider investor participation across Nigeria,” said CEO, MTN Group, Ralph Mupita.
“We thank the Nigerian authorities for their support of this Offer. We remain committed to playing our humble role in driving digital and financial inclusion in Nigeria over the medium,” Mupita added.
“We are delighted to welcome so many new shareholders to the MTN family, up 11.6 times from the number before the offer. It has been inspiring to see so many Nigerians, many of whom are young, acquire shares for the first time, and use a digital platform to do so. This is the beginning of a journey to broaden our shareholding and there will be more opportunities to participate,” said CEO, MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola.
According to company secretary, MTN Nigeria, Uto Ukpanah, “the Offer was oversubscribed with valid applications for a total of 801.97 million units, leading to the activation of the approved 15% over-subscription clause of an additional 86.25 million MTN Nigeria shares.
Ukpanah added: “In all, 661.25 million MTN Nigeria shares were allotted. A total of 126,720 retail investors submitted valid applications and received full allotment; and institutional investors including pension funds, insurance companies, asset managers, corporates, and foreign portfolio investors that participated in the bookbuild were allotted 72.09% of their applications. This includes Nigerian pension funds representing approximately 6.5 million Nigerian contributors.
“Following the successful completion of the Offer, MTN Group’s shareholding in MTN Nigeria reduced by 3.25 percentage points, from 78.83% to 75.58%.
“In line with the innovative incentive structure of 1 free share for every 20 purchased, subject to a maximum of 250 free shares per investor, an additional 4.28 million MTN Nigeria shares will be allotted to qualifying investors who hold the shares allotted to them for 12 months till 31 January 2023”.
