MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) Plc announced on Tuesday that its first public offer for sale of 575 million shares was oversubscribed by 139.47 per cent.
The oversubscription necessitated the allocation of an additional 86.25 million shares, company secretary Uto Ukpanah said in a statement also posted on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) website.
The statement disclosed that 661.25 million MTNN shares were allowed and that 126,720 retail investors submitted valid applications and received full allotments.
The statement added that 114,938 new central securities clearing system (CSCS) accounts were created, representing new market participants.
It said that approximately 76 per cent of successful applicants via digital platform were women and 85 per cent were under age 40.
The statement also said that following the successful completion of the offer, MTN Group shareholding in MTNN reduced by 3.25 per cent, from 78.83 per cent to 75.58 per cent.
“We are pleased that this offer has given so many Nigerians the opportunity to become owners of MTNN with over 6.6 million Nigerians directly or indirectly becoming shareholders in MTNN,” MTN Group chief executive officer, Ralph Mupita, said.
“The objective of broadening the shareholders base and creating shared value has been achieved. We are proud that our offer was the first Nigerian public offer to use the digital application platform, primary offer, which enabled wider investor participation across Nigeria.
“We thank the Nigerian authorities for their support of this offer, we remain committed to playing our humble role in driving digital and financial inclusion in Nigeria over the medium.”
Chief executive officer of MTNN Karl Toriola said: “We are delighted to welcome so many new shareholders to the MTN family, up 11.6 times from the number before the offer.
“It has been inspiring to see so many Nigerians, many of whom are young, acquire shares for the first time and use a digital platform to do so. This is the beginning of a journey to broaden our shareholding and there will be more opportunities to participate.
“We are pleased with the level of digital innovation we championed with this offer with the active collaboration of our lead issuing house and the various regulatory bodies.
“Deepening retail participation in Nigeria’s capital markets is a process and we are off to a great start, demonstrating the role digital platforms can pay in expanding access.”
Chief executive officer, Chapel Hill Denham, the local issuing house, Bolaji Balogun; NGX CEO, Temi Popoola; and CSCS CEO Haruna Jalo-Waziri all said they were proud to be part of the process.
