(Ecofin Agency) - MTN Nigeria’s IPO will be organized in two phases, the operator’s CEO Ferdinand Moolman indicated during a press meeting in Lagos on March 13, 2019.  

According to the executive, this is to guarantee the successful listing of MTN Nigeria on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) because investors’ appetite for this operation has been cooled down by a lengthy wait.

Indeed, the operator initially announced that the IPO should be held in 2018 but, a series of issues disrupted the agenda. In August 2018, the Central Bank of Nigeria accused MTN of illegal dividend repatriation and slammed on them an $8.1 billion fine. It caused a legal battle that finally led to an agreement by MTN to pay $52.6 million on December 12, 2018.

Ferdinand Moolman explained that it would have been reckless to launch an IPO while those issues were on the table. He further indicated that prior to the fine, the IPO was delayed because there was a need to send “to training for compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements.”

Since all those issues have now been resolved, MTN Nigeria should launch its IPO by the end of Q3, 2019 (maybe at the beginning).

Let’s note that initially, MTN Nigeria expected to raise $500 million via this IPO.