MTN Uganda announces secondary share offering in line with regulations

MTN Uganda Limited has announced an offer 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 lead broker sponsoring this MTN Uganda share offering.

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

MTN Uganda began trading on the USE segment of the main investment market on December 6, 2021. This followed a successful initial public offering (IPO) in 2021. It was then the second publicly traded telecommunications company in the region after Safaricom PLC. Airtel Uganda joined this list last year after its own public offering.

The current MTN Uganda share offer has two key objectives. Firstly, it is in line with MTN’s aim to expand Ugandan ownership in the company. This provides an opportunity to purchase shares for both individual (retail) and institutional (professional) Ugandan investors. Secondly, the offer meets the regulatory requirements set out in the company’s national telecommunications operator license, the National Broadband Policy 2018 and the Uganda Communications Commission regulations. The regulations require telecommunications companies to publicly offer their shares

“Telecommunications companies should offer 30% of their shares to the public as part of a primary offer, targeting only Ugandan/East African citizens and institutionss” – states the regulations.

Share ownership of MTN Uganda

In the initial public offering, the company issued 20% of its shares. The Ugandan telecommunications company is owned by MTN Group which has 83.04% of the shares, Uganda National Social Security Fund has 9.159%, Government of Uganda has only 0.1876%, Duet Asset Management Ltd has 0.1340 and Firstrand Limited has 0.0983 %. Long-term shareholder Charles Mbire’s stake is currently four per cent.

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