Nigerian Regulator Says MTN Hasn’t Yet Filed IPO Application

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd.’s Nigerian wireless unit hasn’t yet submitted an application for an initial share sale, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Sunday in a statement.

MTN also has yet to announce how much it aims to raise from the listing, which MTN Group CEO Rob Shuter initially planned for the middle of this year, before pushing the deadline to the end of the year. Earlier this week, Lagos-based BusinessDay reported that the company plans to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange next month and may use a portion of the proceeds to reduce debt.

“Neither MTN Nigeria Limited nor any of its advisers or representatives has filed any application with the Commission regarding the said IPO,” the SEC said by text.

The Johannesburg-based wireless operator, Africa’s largest by sales, agreed to the listing of its Nigerian unit in June 2016 as part of the settlement to a $1 billion fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers amid a security crackdown by authorities.

Responding to the earlier BusinessDay report, the company said that it was going through the process of the IPO, but was unable to give details on the timeline at this point.

“If MTN finally files a formal and complete application with the Commission, it would be treated with the usual diligence and urgency that is applicable to all such filings,” the Commission said.

Source: Bloomberg Business News