MTN said to pick more banks to work on planned Nigerian IPO

The Johannesburg-based wireless operator has picked several banks and brokers including Renaissance Capital, FirstRand’s [JSE: FSR] Rand Merchant Bank and Nigerian firm Chapel Hill Denham to work with global coordinators Citigroup and Standard Bank [JSE:SBK], said the people, who asked not to be named as the matter is private.

The company met its bankers on Wednesday and held a presentation for foreign and local analysts on Friday in Lagos to give them more details about the deal and MTN Nigeria’s finances, they said.

MTN is yet to decide what portion of the subsidiary to sell, they said. It may aim to raise about $400m, or roughly 10% of the stock, two of the people said.

An MTN spokesperson declined to comment.

The company agreed to the listing in June 2016 as part of a $1bn fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers amid a security crackdown by Nigerian authorities.

The penalty, originally set at $5.2bn, led to the resignation of MTN’s then chief executive officer, a first-ever full-year loss and a slump in the share price that’s yet to be clawed back.

MTN Nigeria has 52 million subscribers and generated R36bn of revenue in 2017, according to MTN’s financial statements. It made earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of R14bn.

Rob Shuter, MTN’s current CEO, said in an interview this month that he expected the IPO to be finalised by the end of the year.

MTN is also selling shares of its Ghana unit, which has 19 million subscribers, in the capital, Accra. It may list a 35% stake there for almost $800m, people familiar with the matter said in March.