MTN Uganda announces secondary share offering to comply with regulations

MTN Uganda Limited has announced the offering of a portion of its ordinary shares (up to 1,574,807,373 shares) to Ugandan investors. SBG Securities Uganda Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited, is acting as the principal broker sponsor for this MTN Uganda share offering.

This share offering is in compliance with the regulations of the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), particularly Rule 15(a) of the Listing Rules 2021. This rule allows existing shareholders of listed companies to sell their shares directly to the public on the secondary market. The USE approved this offer.

MTN Uganda began trading on the main segment of the USE Investment Market on December 6, 2021. This follows a successful initial public offering (IPO) completed a month previously. At the time, it was the second telecommunications company in the region, after Safaricom PLC, to be listed on the stock exchange. Airtel Uganda joined this list last year after its own IPO.

The current MTN Uganda share offering pursues two key objectives. Firstly, it is in line with MTN’s objective of expanding Ugandan participation in the company. This provides a chance for individual (retail) and institutional (professional) Ugandan investors to acquire shares.

Secondly, the offering meets regulatory requirements outlined in the Company’s National Telecommunications Operator License, National Broadband Policy 2018 and Uganda Communications Commission regulations. The regulation requires telecommunications companies to offer their shares to the public.

“Telecommunications companies are expected to offer 30% of their shares to the public through a primary offering reserved for Ugandan/East African nationals and institutions.s,” specify the regulations.

MTN Uganda Shareholders

In the initial IPO, the company floated 20% of its shares. The Ugandan telecommunications company is owned by the MTN Group which has an 83.04 percent stake, the Uganda National Social Security Fund owns 9.159%, the Ugandan government owns only 0.1876%, Duet Asset Management Ltd in holds 0.1340 and Firstrand Limited 0.0983%. The stake of long-time shareholder, Mr. Charles Mbire, now stands at four percent.

The company was founded in 1998 and is currently led by a Kenyan CEO, Ms. Sylvia Mulinge. Negotiations are open to the public from Monday May 27, 2024 to Monday June 10, 2024.