By Dipo Olowookere
There are indications that the listing of shares of MTN Nigeria on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) may eventually happen next week.
According to Bloomberg, shares of the leading telecommunications company in the country may even trade at N80 to N90 per unit when listed on the NSE.
This week, the firm completed the registration of 20.355 billion units of its shares at 2 kobo each with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in preparation for its listing on the local stock exchange.
Quoting a source familiar with the process, Bloomberg said MTN Nigeria plans to list around 20 percent of 20.355 billion registered shares of the company on “the bourse and they could trade at N80 to N90.”
“Africa’s biggest mobile-phone company could go ahead with the placing on May 16, said the people, who asked not to be named as the matter is private. The move could be delayed as some steps required by the Nigerian Stock Exchange still have to be completed,” it reported.
Quoting MTN Nigeria’s head of corporate relations, Tobechukwu Okigbo, the journal said, “We don’t have a specific date, we are looking at some time before the end of this quarter.”
Business Post reports that if shares of MTN Nigeria are eventually traded at N90 on the stock exchange when listed, its market capitalisation will be N1.832 trillion, second behind Dangote Cement, which presently has a market value of N3.050 trillion. The third most capitalised stock on the NSE will then be Nestle Nigeria presently at N1.204 trillion.
Adedapo Adesanya