- MTN Uganda, a South African subsidiary of the MTN Group, has announced its intention to sell one-fifth of its stake to Kenyan and other East African investors during its initial public offering (IPO) on the Kampala Stock Exchange.
- The telecom operator revealed it has received regulatory approvals to list 20 percent of its share capital.
- Details will be published in its prospectus, which will be released on October 11.
MTN Uganda, a South African subsidiary of the MTN Group, has announced its intention to sell one-fifth of its stake to Kenyan and other East African investors during its initial public offering (IPO) on the Kampala Stock Exchange. The telecom operator revealed it has received regulatory approvals to list 20 percent of its share capital. Details will be published in its prospectus, which will be released on October 11.
The share sale will be limited to citizens of the East African Community (EAC) trading bloc, Ugandan regulators specified. The bloc includes Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. According to Ugandan capital market authorities, the IPO is expected to raise approximately $1.2 billion and increase the number of retail investors on the Uganda Securities Exchange from about 40,000 to 200,000. This listing is expected to make MTN Uganda the second publicly listed telecom operator in the EAC after Safaricom’s IPO on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in 2008.
MTN Uganda stated in a release that this would be the largest IPO on the Ugandan market and would be conducted primarily via a paperless/green digital platform. The company added that the offer and listing are part of the MTN Group’s localization plans.
The Ugandan government had set a local listing as a prerequisite for renewing the telecom’s license. MTN Uganda, which began operations in the country in 1998, has 15 million subscribers. Its operating license was renewed for 12 years in February of last year after a $100 million payment, with the requirement for a local listing. South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd holds over 90 percent of the shares in MTN Uganda, while a Ugandan businessman holds less than five percent.
With a young population of 42 million, Uganda’s telecom and data market is considered potentially lucrative. Mobile penetration in Uganda has risen from 0.27 percent in 1998 to 67 percent in March 2021.