Telecoms giant, MTN Nigeria Plc’s N97.18 billion public offer has recorded a subscription of N135.53 billion, representing an oversubscription of 39.5 per cent.
MTN Nigeria and its professional parties have announced the completion of the offer for sale, which saw the telecommunication company allocating additional shares to absorb oversubscription.
MTN Nigeria had offered 575 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to the general retail investing public at a price of N169 per share.
The application list for the offer had opened on December 1, 2021 and it closed by 5.00 pm on December 14, 2021 as scheduled.
Allotment details provided by MTN Nigeria indicated that additional 86.25 million shares were added to absorb oversubscription, in line with the provisions of the offer which allowed the issuer to absorb an additional 15 per cent of subscriptions.
A breakdown showed that all retail shareholders received full allotment despite the oversubscription while institutional shareholders under the book-building phase were pro-rated as a result of the oversubscription.
In a major boost for financial inclusion and gender equity, a total of 114,938 new accounts from new market participants were created at the stock market while approximately 76 per cent of successful applicants through the digital platform were women, with 85 per cent of these under age 40.
Valid applications were received for 801.97 million shares, leading to the activation of the approved 15 per cent oversubscription clause of an additional 86.25 million of MTN Nigeria shares. In all, 661.25 million shares were allotted.
A total of 126,720 retail investors submitted valid applications and received full allotment; and institutional investors including pension funds, insurance companies, asset managers, corporates, and foreign portfolio investors that participated in the book build were allotted 72.09 perent of their applications.
These include Nigerian pension funds representing approximately 6.5 million Nigerian contributors.
With the successful completion of the offer, MTN Group’s shareholding in MTN Nigeria reduced by 3.25 percentage points, from 78.83 per cent to 75.58 per cent.
In line with the innovative incentive structure of one free share for every 20 purchased, subject to a maximum of 250 free shares per investor, an additional 4.28 million shares will be allotted to qualifying investors who hold the shares allotted to them for 12 months till 31 January 2023.
The MTN Nigeria’s public offer set record as the first to be delivered through a digital platform, thus facilitating maximum participation by investors. Investors were able to submit applications through the issuing houses, stockbrokers, banks and online through a unique digital application platform, PrimaryOffer, administered by the NGX.
Chief Executive Officer, MTN Group, Ralph Mupita, said the group was pleased that the offer gave so many Nigerians the opportunity to become owners of MTN Nigeria.
Chief Executive Officer, MTN Communications Nigeria Plc, Karl Toriola, said it was a delight to welcome so many new shareholders to the MTN family, which is now up 11.6 times from the number before the offer.
Chief Executive Officer, Chapel Hill Denham, Bolaji Balogun, the Lead Issuing House said it was an honour to have worked with MTN to complete Nigeria’s first digital and predominantly green offering.
Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Temi Popoola said NGX was proud to have worked with the parties to the transaction in advancing Nigeria’s capital market through the adoption of forward-looking technology.
Chief Executive Officer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, Haruna Jalo-Waziri said the innovative offer further buttressed the necessity for digital transformation, allowing market access for all categories of investors, including institutional and retail investors within and outside of the country.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
