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ABUJA, July 8 (Reuters) – MTN Nigeria has not yet filed its IPO application, said Sunday regulates a list of securities that could value the company at around $ 5 billion and help revitalize the local stock market.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) statement came after the national media reported on Thursday that the local branch of the South African telecom giant was ready for its shares to be listed.
"Neither MTN Nigeria Limited, nor any of its advisers or representatives filed any application with the SEC regarding such IPO," the regulator said.
The company must also move from a private company to a public company before it can sell its shares.
The SEC said in Sunday's statement that MTN Nigeria is private, meaning that it has fewer than 50 shareholders, and that the company or its advisers have not requested any form of regulatory control .
MTN did not answer a phone call, a text message and an email requesting a comment.
According to pre-IPO documents seen by Reuters in February, the telecommunications firm has planned to start in July and raise at least $ 400 million to reduce the debt of its Nigerian unit, valued at $ 5.23 billion. dollars.
According to some sources, the company wishes to issue shares electronically. This has not yet been done in Nigeria and new systems need to be put in place to enable it.
MTN selected Nigerian investment firm Chapel Hill Denham as its lead manager, while Rand Merchant Bank, Renaissance Capital and Vetiva Capital, South Africa, were selected as joint issuers.
Africa's largest telecommunications company had planned to register its Nigerian unit in 2017, as part of a settlement with the Nigerian government on unregistered SIM cards for which it has been fined $ 1.7 billion.
He then delayed the IPO due to market conditions. (Report by Felix Onuah and Chijioke Ohuocha Written by Paul Carsten, edited by Elaine Hardcastle)
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