South Africa to sell shares in MTN to black investors

JOHANNESBURG – A fund controlled by the South African government will sell about 11,7 million shares in mobile phone operator MTN to black investors for 931 million rand, the fund and MTN said yesterday.

The National Empowerment Fund, an arm of the Department of Trade and Industry that aims to redress the economic imbalances of apartheid, will sell the shares to black individuals and investment groups for 79,61 rand each – a 20 per cent discount to the 99,51 rand 30-day average on July 20. If the MTN stock price drops below 99,51 rand at close of trade on August 16, when the offer closes, the shares will be sold at a 20 per cent discount to this level.The shares would be equal to a stake of about 0,63 per cent.Investors in the Asonge share scheme will have to hold their shares for at least a year.After that investors who keep their stock for another 12 months will get an extra share for every 10 shares they own.South Africa is pushing companies to meet quotas on black ownership, management and procurement to shift more of the mostly white-controlled economy into the hands of the black majority 13 years after apartheid ended.Shares in MTN, the biggest mobile operator in sub-Saharan Africa, traded flat at 104,30 rand by 1203 GMT, lagging a slightly firmer Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks.Nampa-ReutersIf the MTN stock price drops below 99,51 rand at close of trade on August 16, when the offer closes, the shares will be sold at a 20 per cent discount to this level.The shares would be equal to a stake of about 0,63 per cent.Investors in the Asonge share scheme will have to hold their shares for at least a year.After that investors who keep their stock for another 12 months will get an extra share for every 10 shares they own.South Africa is pushing companies to meet quotas on black ownership, management and procurement to shift more of the mostly white-controlled economy into the hands of the black majority 13 years after apartheid ended.Shares in MTN, the biggest mobile operator in sub-Saharan Africa, traded flat at 104,30 rand by 1203 GMT, lagging a slightly firmer Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks.Nampa-Reuters