MTN Is Said to Start $754 Million Ghana Unit IPO Next Week

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. will start selling more than a third of its Ghanaian unit for $754 million next week in an initial public offering that will be 10 times larger than the West African nation’s previous biggest-ever share sale, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The offer to raise 3.48 billion cedis of stock will start May 29 and close at the end of July, said the person, asking not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly. Africa’s biggest mobile-phone company by subscribers is offering 4.64 billion shares in the unit at 75 pesewas each, representing 35 percent of its value, according to the person.

MTN said May 3 the offer will start at the end of the month. The Johannesburg-based company is listing the stake on the Ghana Stock Exchange to meet conditions agreed to with the government in 2015, when it acquired the right to use fourth generation spectrum, a high-speed mobile data carrier for customers.

MTN declined to comment. Kwabena Osei-Boateng, managing director of IC Securities, which is arranging the placement, said by phone he couldn’t immediately comment.

If successful, the share sale will compare with the Ghana Stock Exchange’sprevious biggest IPO, when Agricultural Development Bank Ltd. raised 326 million cedis in December 2016.

Source: Bloomberg Business News