MTN Uganda completes listing of 20% public float

MTN Uganda’s sale of shares left over from its 2021 Initial Public Offering was oversubscribed by almost 100%, the telecom executives have said.

The company said it received applications for 3 billion shares against 1.6 billion shares on offer, The shares sold represent 7.03% of the company’s total equity.

The firm’s 2021 IPO, in which it sought to sell 20% of its shareholding to expand local ownership to fulfill a regulatory requirement, was deeply undersubscribed.

Last month, MTN announced it was offering the shares left over from that IPO in a new sale on the secondary market at the Uganda Securities Exchange, where it is listed.

The share sale took place between May 27 and June 10. The company did not say how much it raised from the offer. MTN said it would issue an additional statement laying out the details of the offer results around June 20.

MTN has a subscriber base of about 15 million people and also offers mobile money financial services.

Charles Mbire, the company’s chairman said, “We have established a sustainable platform for growth. From this base, we are able to meet the growing and dynamic needs of our customers and the communities in which we operate and. Today, it is our commitment towards localisation and inviting Ugandans to be part of our growth story that brings us here. Localisation is a key objective for us as we prioritise creating shared value, broadening local participation and ownership in MTN Uganda, and deepening the Uganda capital market.”

He added, “In addition to being oversubscribed, the offer has resulted into approximately 19,600 Ugandan investors owning a stake in the company. We are proud to have helped Sensitivity: Public facilitate the broadest possible shareholder base in Uganda, with regional participation and in so doing, further developing the equity capital markets in this country. The achievement of this milestone has not been the company’s alone. Our success with our localisation objective has been a classic case of “together in progress”, and we would not have reached this point without the unwavering support of many key stakeholders.”

Sylvia Mulinge, MTN Uganda’s Chief Executive Officer  said, “I wish to affirm that MTN Uganda remains steadfast in its commitment to pursuing ventures that are beneficial to the people of Uganda. We believe in creating shared value and contributing to the country’s socio-economic development.”