Airtel Nigeria has officially filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the listing of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. It was gathered from top sources at the commission on Tuesday that the telecom company’s application was filed two weeks ago. It was learnt that SEC was presently examining the application in line with its rules and regulations, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.
The source said SEC would continue to protect the interest of investors in the market in line with its mandate to regulate and develop the capital market. The source added that the application would be given express consideration if the company met all the requirements for listing on the nation’s bourse.
The parent company of the telco, Bharti Airtel, in its filing in London on Monday, said that it intended to list the shares on the NSE at the same time with the listing of its Africa unit at the London Stock Exchange.It, however, said its plans were subject to regulatory approval of the SEC and the NSE.
Its African unit had been set at a share price of 80 to100 pence a share for its initial public offer on the LSE to raise about $750m. According to the India-based network operator, the offer is expected to comprise approximately 595.2 million to 744.0 million new shares to be issued by the company.
The planned listing of Airtel Nigeria on NSE follows the successful listing by introduction of MTN shares on the premium board of Nigeria’s bourse, as part of a condition for failing to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered SIM cards in Nigeria.
The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof Umar Danbatta, had recently described the listing of MTN shares as a precedent and expressed optimism that other mobile network operators would follow suit. “We triggered the listing of MTN on the NSE and MTN has complied. I remember issuing warning to MTN to ensure that they comply with the provision of the settlement agreement before May 2019,” the EVC said. “Certainly, having set this precedence now, the stock exchange market is bullish through this listing, we hope all operators will follow suit. We hope they will do this when it is suitable for them to list because they have not committed any offence.” Punch
