On the 11th day of October 2021, MTN will make publicly available, its prospectus, a company document where the company will be officially revealing the total number of shares on offer for sale, the price per share, among others guidelines for users to buy into the company.
This announcement was made yesterday, the 7th of October 2021 when the company held an event to reveal that it will be launching its IPO (the “Initial Public Offering”), an impactful moment for when a company becomes public and listing its shares for the wider public to buy.
In 2016, Uganda passed the National Broadband Policy in 2018 for the years 2016 – 2020 wherein it mandated that in order for telecommunication companies to renew their then expiring licenses, they ought to avail 20% of their shares to the public.
Last year, the same was restated when MTN Uganda was granted its new license for 12 years starting 1st July 2020. The Uganda Communication Commission then stressed the regulatory requirement of listing shares in the stock exchange as a pre – condition for the renewal of a license.
In an event held yesterday, the telecommunication giant made an official statement, announcing plans to reveal its prospectus on Monday next week, making it the biggest IPO in Uganda where it will be expected to raise upon USD. 1.2 billion. It is also the first IPO in Uganda since 2016 when CIPLA went public or the 2nd after UMEME in 2012.
The listing also follows other subsidiaries of MTN South Africa in Nigeria, Ghana and Rwanda that also listed on the country’s stock exchanges.
It is hoped that telecommunication companies listing would be a boost for Uganda’s stock exchange markets. After MTN, Airtel will also be expected to list, given that they underwent the same condition before having its license renewed.
