Thread by @AyoBankole

Forget the trending topics for a second, before you sleep, make a mental or paper note of how you will save to buy MTN shares once the IPO is launched.

No quantity will be too small.

Thank me later.

Woke up now to scores of DMs and responses about this tweet, so I’ll do a thread on why and how to invest in the MTN IPO once I’m settled at work.

I apologise again for my inability to respond to all the DMs and responses. Hence why I’m doing this thread instead. This is a basic explanation that speaks to everyone, but whatever I write here should NOT be taken as universal truth.

Pls speak to a stockbroker first. Thread.

1.What are IPOs? IPO means Initial Public Offer. It is simply the 1st time a company goes public and makes available it’s capital market instruments available to the public. IPOs are arguably the best way to buy into a promising business. I'll share an example.

GTB’s IPO sold for N10 in 2004, today GTB trades at N40 per share $ has consistently declared dividends, at times twice a year. MTN is far bigger. There may not be a better time to buy into the company than during the IPO, afterwards, you’ll buy from resellers(secondary market).

The price by then will be artificial price, which may be far more expensive, as the market would have seen the real value. I think it’s also important to note that MTN controls 45% of the Nigerian telco market share; and has announced its intentions to obtain a banking license.

2. Why should you buy MTN shares? MTN is Africa’s leading provider with a revenue of almost $10billion as at 2017, with Nigeria contributing about 33% of that revenue (as high as 37% in 2014, while South Africa contributed 27%) and the rest shared amongst over 20 countries.

Till now, South Africans have been enjoying the dividends from services that Nigerians are paying majority for. MTN’s share price in SA was 85rands as at yesterday, that’s over 2200 in naira, and they have been paying average dividend of 550 cents. MTN Ghana also recently listed.

Nigeria is a big deal to MTN. When Nigerian govt fined MTN Nigeria, it lost about 19% of it’s share price and fired it’s CEO. So listing in Nigeria means Nigerians are finally getting the chance to own part of MTN's success story, even when others are failing and/or reselling.

3. How do you buy the shares? It’s really easy. All you have to do is set some money aside (no matter how little, depending on the price & terms MTN releases). Rob Shuter, CEO of MTN, has confirmed that MTN will list on the NSE in the first half of this year – that’s before June.

So you can start saving from now. Engage a stockbroker to open an account - you can google top stockbroking firms in Nig. What works for me may not work for you,so I won’t recommend any for free. Once the IPO is launched, pick up the subscription form or ask your broker for help.

4. Everyone has been waiting for this listing; and I thought it’ll be nice to inform my followers so they don’t get carried away with other trending topics. Take position in 2019.

All the best.