JSE-listed MTN Group is targeting a 2017 Nigeria bourse listing for its Nigeria-based operations – a move that will be reliant on suitable market conditions.
The group is set to embark on preparations for the NSE listing as and when it is "commercially and legally" possible, with a management task team established to undertake the process.
This undertaking forms part of a settlement arrangement with the Nigerian government after MTN Nigeria incurred a multibillion-dollar fine for failing to deactivate 5.2-million unregistered cellphone SIM cards by August 2015.
The Nigerian Communications Commission reduced the penalty significantly to N330-billion, or $1.67-billion, to be paid in tranches over a three-year period.
MTN Nigeria appointed Stanbic IBTC Capital and Citigroup Global Markets as its joint transaction advisers and joint global coordinators, with Stanbic acting as the lead issuing house.
The company said it would appoint a full syndicate, including Nigerian receiving agents, Nigerian receiving banks and other advisers, in due course.