MTN chair sells R123m of shares ahead of CEO’s arrival

Johannesburg - MTN Group Executive chairperson Phuthuma Nhleko sold shares worth about R123m ($8.8m) as he prepares to hand over the day-to-day running of Africa’s biggest wireless company to incoming chief executive officer Rob Shuter.

Nhleko will also benefit from the termination of share options valued at R130m, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement after the market closed on Wednesday. He will return to his previous role as non-executive chairperson when Shuter joins from Vodafone on March 17.

MTN said in November 2015 Nhleko would retake the helm after CEO Sifiso Dabengwa resigned in the wake of a record $5.2bn fine in Nigeria. The chairperson led negotiations with the country’s authorities, eventually agreeing to pay about $1bn, and hired Shuter as his successor. As CEO for almost nine years until 2011, he transformed MTN from a small South African wireless carrier into a telecommunications giant with customers in 22 countries.

The chairperson sold about 1.08 million shares at R113.86 each. He had just over 2 million shares at the end of 2015, according to MTN’s annual report.

MTN shares declined 0.6% to R113.20 by the close in Johannesburg, extending the year’s decline to 15%. That values the company at R217bn.