MTN Group has announced plans to reduce its stake in MTN Nigeria through a public offer once the subsidiary returns to profitability.
The move aligns with the company’s longstanding strategy to broaden local ownership in its most lucrative market.
Speaking at an editors’ roundtable this week, MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita confirmed the group intends to cut its shareholding from the current 76 percent to around 65 percent. The announcement was first reported by South African tech outlet ITWeb.
“This is something we have said long ago — that over time we would want more Nigerians owning the company, and we are prepared to sell down to 65 percent,” Mupita said.
The proposed share sale would mark MTN’s second major retail public offering in Nigeria. The first occurred in 2021 when the telecoms giant sold 575 million shares to local investors. That offer was oversubscribed, ultimately resulting in the allocation of 661.25 million shares, including a 15 percent greenshoe option, and reducing MTN Group’s stake from 78.8 percent to 75.6 percent.
More than 126,000 investors participated in that round, including Nigerian pension funds representing roughly 6.5 million contributors. In 2022, the group reaffirmed its intention to further reduce its stake to approximately 65 percent.
However, Mupita clarified that the latest public offer would only proceed once MTN Nigeria resolves its current negative equity position and resumes dividend payments. As of this week, MTN Nigeria shares are trading at ₦235 per share.
The announcement comes amid a flurry of activity by MTN in Nigeria. The company recently relocated its national headquarters to Eko Atlantic, signed a partnership to launch a Nollywood streaming platform, and is working on a satellite-to-mobile project in collaboration with Lynk Global — part of a broader strategy to compete with rivals like Vodacom in South Africa.
The planned sell-down underscores MTN’s commitment to fostering greater Nigerian participation in the ownership of its operations while also reinforcing its long-term investment in the market.
