Airtel Africa pockets N61bn from share buyback, amid sell off by MTN

Bharti’s Airtel Africa has increased the company’s control in its Nigerian subsidiary, Airtel Networks Limited, after conducting a buyback of minority shares, a new statement showed.

In the statement released to the investing public, the transaction which occured on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) saw Airtel Africa acquire 8.22 percent minority shareholdings, worth N61 billion.

The undisclosed number of shares purchased increased Airtel Africa‘s stake to 99.96 percent ownership. This comes at a period its rival, MTN Group, is selling part of its stake to the public.

Airtel “today announces the completion of the minority shareholding buyback of Airtel Networks Limited (‘Airtel Nigeria’), a subsidiary of Airtel Africa plc and a leading provider of telecommunication services in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Airtel gets CBN’s super-agent license

“The total consideration for the 8.22% minority shareholdings acquired under the buyback is NGN61bn, equivalent to $147m using an exchange rate of 415.07 NGN/USD. Airtel Africa now holds 99.96% ownership over its largest subsidiary”, the statement reads.

Meanwhile, MTN Group has put up 575 million shares (of MTN Nigeria) for sale, which will be sold at N169 per share, beginning Wednesday, December 1, 2021 – that’s 11.05 percent lower than the share value it traded the previous day MTN Group’s transaction started.

The y’ello network will earn N97.17 billion from the sell off, instead of N109.25 billion it would have pocketed if each share was sold at the price of N190.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now