MTN Nigeria Communications Plc is finalizing plans to distribute free shares to shareholders who purchased shares in the company during its December 2021 public offer for sale.
MTN Nigeria stated in a regulatory filing over the weekend that it was finalizing arrangements to allot incentive shares to shareholders who bought into its public offer and held at least 20 ordinary shares between January 31, 2022, and January 31, 2023.
In its December 2021 public offer for sale, the communication firm included an innovative incentive structure of one free share for every 20 purchased, subject to a maximum of 250 free shares per investor. As a result, an additional 4.28 million shares will be allocated to qualifying investors who hold the shares assigned to them for 12 months until January 31, 2023.
Following regulatory approval, the company stated that all qualified shareholders on the company’s register as of January 31, 2023, would have their incentive shares credited to their Central Securities and Clearing System accounts.
To be eligible for the incentive shares, a subscriber must have held at least 20 shares for the previous 12-month period and be on the company’s register as of January 31, 2023.
MTN Nigeria’s N97.18 billion public offering received N135.53 billion in subscriptions, representing a 39.5 per cent oversubscription.
MTN Nigeria issued 575 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to the general retail investing public for N169 per share. The offer’s application list opened on December 1, 2021, and it closed at 5.00 pm on December 14, 2021, as planned.
According to MTN Nigeria’s allocation details, an additional 86.25 million shares were added to absorb oversubscription, following the offer’s provisions, which allowed the issuer to absorb an extra 15% of subscriptions.
According to the breakdown, retail shareholders received their full allotment despite the oversubscription, whereas institutional shareholders in the book-building phase were pro-rated due to the oversubscription.
In a significant boost for financial inclusion and gender equity, the stock market created 114,938 new accounts from new market participants, with approximately 76 per cent of successful applicants through the digital platform being women, with 85 per cent of those under 40.
Valid applications for 801.97 million shares were received, resulting in the activation of the approved 15% oversubscription clause for an additional 86.25 million MTN Nigeria shares. In total, 661.25 million shares were issued.
