The CEO during the briefing
Selorm Adadevoh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, has indicated that the company’s Initial Public Offer (IPO), which closed on July 31, 2018, has yielded GH¢1,146,589,464.75, representing 32.97 percent of the total share offer.
According to him, GH¢443,631,446.25, representing 38.69 percent of total share value, was raised by Ghanaians while non-Ghanaian applicants purchased 937,343,080 shares valued at GH¢702,958,018.50, representing 61.31 percent.
At a media briefing held at the MTN House on Thursday, the CEO explained that patronage trend showed that Ghanaians purchased the shares more than non-nationals, adding that MTN Ghana intends to allow more Ghanaians to own shares in the country’s biggest telecommunications company.
In May, this year, MTN Ghana offered 4,637,394,533 ordinary shares of MTN valued at GH¢3,478,045,900 at an offer price of GH¢0.75 per share, representing 35 percent of the issued shares.
The CEO commended the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and other partners for supporting the initiative and explained that several factors, including media engagements and publicity, low entry price point and low minimum number of shares and market and regional engagements with stakeholders ensured the success of the share offer.
“This is the largest primary share offer of our time and in the history of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), he stated.
He indicated that the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a minimum threshold of 10 percent, equivalent to GH¢347,804,50, but MTN attracted more investors.
“We are happy about this show of public interest, participation and confidence, and for us it’s a clear indication that our intention to localize effort and demonstrate long-term commitment to Ghana has taken the right trend and on course to have more local participation in our business,” he indicated.
“As we wait for the first day of trading of the MTN Shares on the Ghana Stocks Exchange (GSE) on September 5, 2018, successful applicants will also be allotted certificates for all the shares applied for.
By Solomon Ofori