MTN Group makes final exit from Jumia, rakes in $138m

MTN Group has completed its exit from Jumia, a leading e-commerce platform in Africa, selling its 18.9 percent stake and raising $138 million from the deal.

This was contained in the MTN Group third quarter for 2020 (Q3 2020) financial report, released on Friday.

MTN announced in August 2020 that it had filed with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to prepare for a secondary sale of shares in Jumia as part of a R25 billion ($1.40 billion) divestment plan aimed at reducing debt and risk, and simplifying its portfolio over the next three to five years.

“The group has now fully exited its 18.9 percent investment in Jumia Technologies AG (Jumia), realising a total consideration of approximately R2.3 billion (US$138 million),” the statement read.

“We are proud to have been a partner in the evolution of one of Africa’s pioneering online marketplace businesses and will continue our relationship with Jumia through ongoing operational partnerships in some markets.”

The group said it has also fully exited the localisation of an 8 percent shareholding in MTN Zambia, realising net proceeds of R204 million.

“We are pleased to announce that a sale and purchase agreement has been concluded to transfer an 8 percent holding in MTN Zambia to the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) in Zambia. The group has received net proceeds of approximately R204 million for the transaction.”

It also said the group intends to sell down 12.5 percent of its investment in MTN Ghana with a focus in local shareholding, “which will increase MTN Ghana’s free-float on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to 25 percent”.

The group further said it intends to exit its 75 percent stake in MTN Syria and plans to sell its 20 percent shareholding in Belgacom International Carrier Services SA (BICS).