MTN Group to sell 14% of its Nigerian business

MTN Group says it is looking to reduce its majority shareholding in its Nigerian subsidiary by 14%.

Bloomberg reports that the company hopes to raise $4 billion from the sale of some of its assets.

The company is also looking to sell some of its stake in IHS Holdings, the largest operator of wireless towers.

MTN Group said it has raised 14 billion rand since it started offloading ‘non-essential’ businesses in March and it is ready to step up the process.

Selling 14% of its Nigerian business would reduce the group’s stake to 65%.

According to the company, proceeds from the assets sale would be used to pay off some debts and invest in its main markets — the company announced on Wednesday that it would invest an additional $1.6 billion in Nigeria.

A spokesperson for the company also said it is “seriously investigating” the prospect of taking part in the planned privatization of Ethiopia’s phone monopoly.

Since the asset sale programme began in 2019, the company has sold minority stake in two tower joint ventures, Travelstart, its booking website, and redeemed preference shares in Nigeria.

A federal high court sitting in Lagos, on Wednesday, struck out a tax claim case against the telecommunications company after Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation, withdrew from the case.