Last year, MTN Group announced its public offer to retail investors for the sale of up to 575 million shares held in MTN Nigeria and was priced at N169.00 per share (the Offer). The Offer opened on Wednesday, 1 December 2021 and closed on Tuesday, 14 December 2021.
According to MTN, this offer was in line with its commitment to reduce its shareholding in MTN Nigeria from 78.8% to 65% over time. The objective of the Offer was to provide as many Nigerian retail investors as possible with an opportunity to own shares in MTN Nigeria. The minimum subscription was for 20 shares and lots of 20 shares thereafter. In addition, the Offer included an incentive in the form of 1 free share for every 20 shares purchased, subject to a maximum of 250 free shares per investor. The incentive is open to retail investors who hold the shares allotted to them for at least 12 months, post the allotment date
I just read the news and best believe, I somewhat did not take it seriously, not until a mentor reached out, advising that I got a few units – as he felt it could turn out a great investment in future. This advice was a good one but not sufficient in itself for me to put in cash, at least not yet. I sat myself down and did a little research, perhaps I might get a few insights and more reasons as to why investing would be a great idea.
Unbeknown to him, I had gone through my monthly expense tracker and saw how much I spent on data and calls. For context, I’ve got a personal line, CUG and Mifi – all MTN as provider. Unlike their green contemporaries who had rewarded me with HNI program for my high data consumption, MTN blatantly refused. I shared in my recent article on 5 Investments You Should Make in 2022 about my investing rule of thumb; “if I must consume it, I must own a portion of it, at least.” You can read it here.
If I spent that much monthly on call and data, it is only reasonable for me to own a part of the company – and just maybe, get back something in return for of dividend payments and growth in money invested as a shareholder.
My reasons for investing in MTN asides from being prompted by my mentor and being a heavy consumer of data & calls were;
- In 2019, MTN entered the stock market at N90, now its selling at about N190 (that’s a 111%+ growth.)
- MTN remains Nigeria leading telecommunications giant. Literally, everywhere you go.
- The company heavily invests in infrastructure especially roll out of 5G
- Lastly and most importantly, the recent financial license.
I’d highlighted all these brilliant reasons to invest only for me to procrastinate till the last day of the offer – which I obviously missed. I had planned to get at least 3,000 units via the primary offer app but somehow missed the deadline.
Sadly, I missed the deadline date for the offer and it came with a steep price. Nonetheless, I was able to get 1,000 units through Trove – it however came at a slightly higher price and missed out on the free share for every 20 shares bought.
Nonetheless, lesson learnt. We move.
