MTN Appoints Africa Practice PR for $500 Million IPO, NSE Stock Listing

Africa’s leading Information Technology Company, (ICT) MTN,  has finally appointed Africa Practice, one of the country’s leading Public Relations agency as its PR agency specifically for its impending $500 Million Initial Public Offer (IPO) and listing on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) Brandcrunch can authoritatively reveal.

Africa Practice emerged winner of the coveted brief ahead of agencies which include Quadrant MSL Corporate & Financial Porter Novellli and Zenera Consulting.

It will be recalled that the multinational ICT company was reported on this platform to have commenced a search for PR agency specifically with verifiable competencies in IPO and related financial PR services.

The search was fueled by the management decision to separate this “crucial” assignment from the company’s routine PR requirements currently entrusted to BHM and XLR8, its recently appointed brands and corporate PR agencies respectively.

This translates that the agency, Africa Practice will handle all communication (PR) related issues issues concerning the IPO and the South African conglomerate’s listing on the nations stock market.

The South African multinational company last year announced its decision to compliment its listing on the South African Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange with a listing on the Nigeria Stock Exchange. This was part of the agreement reached with the Nigerian government as part of the soft landing in its unpopular $1billion fine slammed on the company coming on the heels of its failure to disconnect unregistered subscribers.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the Standard Bank Group Ltd. and Citigroup Inc. have been chosen as  advisers on the disposal of as much as 30 per cent of its MTN’s Nigerian unit on the NSE.

“MTN had agreed to list the Nigerian unit as part of June 2016 agreement to pay one billion dollars fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers amid a security crackdown”.

In line with the plans for the IPO, MTN is also said to have recently appointed Chapel Hill Denham, a Nigerian investment firm, as lead manager for the planned sale of 500 million dollars shares in its Nigerian business during the first half of this year.

Similarly, South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank, Renaissance Capital and Vetiva Capital have been appointed as joint issuers to the offer while seven placement agents have been selected to help market the shares.