Edgar Brandt
The much anticipated public listing of Namibia’s dominant mobile telecommunications provider, which during the last financial year posted more than N$2.6 billion in profits and paid almost N$1 billion in dividends, has been approved by the Main Board of the Namibia Stock Exchange (NSX).
MTC revealed the approval on Friday and announced that in terms of the Companies Act, the prospectus for the listing was registered by the Registrar of Companies on 19 August 2021.
This is the largest proposed listing by a Namibian company since the establishment of the NSX, with 49% of the ordinary shares being made available to the general public. Of course government will retain majority shareholding through Namibia Post and Telecommunications Holdings Limited (NPTH), which, after the listing, will keep a minimum of 51% of MTC. A local investment analyst welcomed the announcement, say it is “good news at a fair price”. The analyst also told New Era it will be interesting to witness the dynamics around issues such as institutional investors versus government protocol and further mentioned governance, information privacy and the monopoly factor as possible investor concerns.
Meanwhile, according to an MTC statement, the prospectus is expected to open on 20 September 2021, with an anticipated listing before the end of November 2021 for the company that doubled its revenue between 2006 and 2011.
“We take great pleasure to invite you to share in the prosperity by subscribing for shares in this truly Namibian company. The listing will provide an opportunity for all MTC customers, staff, stakeholders and the public, in general, to acquire MTC shares and participate in the ownership of MTC,” read the MTC statement. It continued that in the event the public offer is oversubscribed, the order of the allocation process will first be to previously disadvantaged Namibians, then to MTC staff and customers, followed by Namibian natural persons and corporates – and finally, to Namibian institutions, SADC and international investors.
Shareholding applications for the general public will be made available online on the MTC website from 20 September 2021 at 09h00, or by collecting a prospectus, and completing and submitting an application form at any mobile home, selected Nampost outlets or a stockbroker as from the same date. The offer to subscribe for shares is expected to close on 1 November 2021 at 12h00.
“We have dedicated and trained staff members in all mobile homes and selected Nampost outlets to assist you with the completion of your application form. A step-by-step information leaflet will also be available at all mobile homes and will explain the process to apply for, and pay for shares, as well as what documents are required to accompany the application form. A dedicated help desk number was created as a channel to assist our clients and the public from 20 September 2021 with questions on the application process on the toll-free number 90112,” said MTC spokesperson Tim Ekandjo.
MTC currently has about a 91% share of Namibia’s mobile market, and it is close to achieving 100% network coverage by population settlement, which it aims to achieve by 2023. By the end of September 2020, MTC had reached 2.6 million active customers. The increase in revenue during the last financial year (2029/20) was attributed by the CEO, Licky Erastus, to strategic responses to the market’s evolving needs. These responses included cost containment, customer base growth and increased data revenue.
– ebrandt@nepc.com.na