MTN raised GHc1.1b but failed to sell all shares in IPO

MTN Ghana failed to sell all the shares it made available in its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

According to Bloomberg, MTN sold about a third of the shares it made available. The telco giant realised 1.1 billion cedis ($236 million).

MTN sold 1.5 billion securities of the 4.6 billion shares at 75 pesewas each when it offered a 35 percent stake in the unit in May, the document showed.

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Although the telecom giant failed to sell all the shares on offer, the proceeds are three times larger than the previous biggest IPO in Ghana. The adb Bank raised GHC 326 million in December 2016.

The IPO is coming at a time when MTN is fighting a surprise order late Wednesday from Nigeria’s central bank to refund $8.1 billion it says was repatriated improperly from the country over eight years through 2015.

The shares will be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange with trading due to start Sept. 5, according to the sale’s prospectus.

Telecom giant MTN Ghana Limited launched its Initial Public Offer in May 2018 to trade 35% of the company’s value.

The company was hoping to raise about GH¢3.478 billion from the exercise and to possibly list on the Ghana Stock Exchange on September 5, 2018.

According to the leading telecommunications company, the listing forms part of conditions for securing the 4G LTE licence for 800MHz spectrum in 2015.

MTN Ghana has over 17.83 million subscribers with a market share of approximately 55.09% as at December 2017.