MTN’s Nigeria IPO Done by Year-End If Market Allows, CEO Says

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. expects the listing of its Nigerian unit on the Lagos stock exchange to be done by the end of 2018, its CEO said, after suggesting late last year that the process would be concluded by mid-year.

“We are progressing very well with the Nigerian listing and if market conditions are appropriate, we will conclude that by the end of the year,” Rob Shuter said Tuesday in an interview in Lagos.

Shuter said in November that the initial public offering of MTN’s Nigerian business, which is the biggest of the company’s 22 markets across Africa and the Middle East, would be completed within six months. He declined Tuesday to share more details on the process.

MTN agreed to the Nigerian Stock Exchange IPO as part of the settlement of a $1 billion fine imposed by Nigerian regulators on MTN in 2015. Africa’s biggest wireless operator by sales incurred the penalty after missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers amid a security crackdown in the west African country.

Source: Bloomberg Business News