By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Telecommunications firm, MTN, has held a meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to discuss ways to go about the sale of its Nigerian unit.
During the meeting, SEC emphatically told MTN that it was ready to support the company on its share sale as long as it was within local laws. It advised the telecom firm to ensure retail investors were protected.
MTN plans to list its Nigerian unit on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2017, subject to market conditions, part of an agreement with the Nigerian government after agreeing to pay a reduced fine of $1.7 billion in a settlement over unregistered SIM cards.
Speaking with Reuters, the Director General of SEC, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, said MTN had discussed the possibility of issuing three different classes of shares to targeted investor groups.
But he said the company was yet to submit a formal application for the share sale.
MTN Nigeria has appointed Stanbic IBTC Capital, Standard Bank of South Africa and Standard Advisory London, and Citigroup Global Markets, as joint transaction advisors and global coordinators, with Stanbic acting as lead issuer.
MTN is the largest mobile phone operator in Nigeria with 57 million subscribers.