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By Chijioke Ohuocha
ABUJA, May 17 (Reuters) - MTN Nigeria MTNN.LG said on
Friday it has signed a 200 billion naira ($653 million) loan
with seven local banks, a day after it floated its shares on the
Lagos stock market.
The seven-year loan deal coordinated by Citibank C.N was
signed with a consortium of Access Bank ACCESS.LG , Guaranty
Trust Bank GUARANT.LG , Zenith Bank ZENITHB.LG , Fidelity Bank
FIDELIT.LG , FCMB FCMB.LG , United Bank for Africa UBA.LG
and First Bank FBNH.LG .
MTN Nigeria, majority owned by South Africa's MTN Group
MTNJ.J , floated its shares in a $6.5 billion listing on
Thursday turning into the second-largest company on the exchange
after Dangote Cement DANGCEM.LG . The Lagos-listed shares gained a further 10% on Friday, its
second day of trading. The shares, which listed at 90 naira,
closed 10% higher at 99 naira on
Thursday. "Am delighted that, so soon after our successful listing on
the Nigerian Stock Exchange, we are able to complement it with
such an important addition to our portfolio of debt," Fredi
Moolman, MTN Nigeria's Chief Executive, said.
The MTN unit has 52.3 million users in Nigeria in 2017 and
accounts for a third of the Johannesburg-based parent's profit.
However, it has had fraught relations with the Nigerian
authorities, including rows over SIM cards and tax payments.
It listing follows MTN Group's agreement with Nigerian
regulators to settle most of those disputes.
MTN Nigeria on Friday said the new debt is part of a
programme to raise debt in Nigeria, aimed at mitigating exchange
rate volatility. The telecoms firm said it raised a loan of 200
billion naira in 2018.
It plans to use the funds to finance capital expenditure and
working capital, MTN said.
($1 = 306.45 naira)