MTN Shares Oversubscribe As 126,720 Nigerians Become Part Owners

Nigeria’s leading telecommunication network, MTN, which has a subscriber base of more than 67.8 million, released a press statement today informing the management of the Nigerian stock exchange (NGX) and the investing public that its retail public offer was oversubscribed with 126,720 Nigerians becoming new shareholders of the company.

A press statement sent to the Nigerian stock exchange and published on the corporate disclosure section of the ngxgroup.com website says that the company is excited and impressed with the outcome of the "PublicOffer of the series 1 of the 575 million shares sale".

The company secretary, Uto Ukpanah, said that the company’s first public offer via digital platform showed that its shares were not only oversubscribed by 139.47%, activating the allocation of an additional 86.25 million shares but that over 90.7% of new stock market participants participated in the MTN share offer.

Further breakdown shows that approximately 85% of these retail shareholders fell into the younger demographic of less than 40 years of age.

"114,938 CSCS accounts were created, representing new market participants, with approximately 76% of successful applicants via digital platform being women and 85% being under the age of 40."

Despite the pressure of over-subscription, all retail shareholders received their full allotment, while the institutional shareholders under the Bookbuild were pro-rated/distributed.

Uto informed all that the offer was not only oversubscribed with 801.97 million units’ application, which led to the activation of the approved 15% over-subscription clause of an additional 86.25 million MTN Nigeria shares.

"In all, 661.25 million MTN Nigeria shares were allotted. A total of 126,720 retail investors submitted valid applications and received their full allotment; and institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, asset managers, corporate, 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 3.5% points, from 78.83% to 75.58%, which was 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 January 31, 2023."

MTN Group Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupital, while commenting on the development, said, "We are pleased that this offer has given so many Nigerians the opportunity to become owners of MTNN, with over 6.6 million Nigerians directly or indirectly becoming shareholders in MTNN."

"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, primary offer, which enabled wider investor participation across Nigeria.

"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," Mupital said.

Also, Chief Executive Officer of MTNN, Karl Toriola, said, "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.

"We are pleased with the level of digital innovation we championed with this offer, with the active collaboration of our lead issuing house and the various regulatory bodies.

"Deepening retail participation in Nigeria’s capital markets is a process, and we are off to a great start, demonstrating the role digital platforms can play in expanding access," Toriola said.

NGX’s Chief Executive Officer, Temi Popoola, said: "NGX is proud to have worked with MTNN, Chapel Hill Denham, and other parties to the transaction in advancing Nigeria’s capital market through the adoption of forward-looking technology."

The CSCS Chief Executive Officer, Alhaji Haruna Jalo-Waziri, said: "We are excited to be part of the innovation brought by the offer, which afforded the successful launch of the primary offer digital application platform."

"This further buttresses the necessity for digital transformation, allowing market access for all categories of investors, including institutional and retail investors within and outside of the country."