MTN’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) to issue 20% of its shares in its Ugandan subsidiary has closed ahead of the planned listing of the operation on the Uganda Stock Exchange next month.

The IPO closed yesterday at 4pm, having opened on 11 October amid high expectations that the IPO would be well subscribed. The IPO sought to sell 4.4 billion shares in MTN Uganda, whittling down MTN’s stake from the current 96%.

With the initial offer closing on Monday, it is now expected that the allotment of the shares under the IPO will be announced on 3 December, with the “listing of shares on the Uganda Stock Exchange and start of trading” in the shares set for 6 December.

Ugandan corporate finance specialist, Dan Edoma, said MTN Mobile Money being “part of the listing of MTN UGAND” made the investment case compelling.

On 19 November MTN said that at least 60 000 investors had shown interest in investing in the company via the IPO through opening of Securities Central Depository Accounts.

Those who missed the deadline to snap shares under the IPO now have to wait for the listing to be able to buy shares in the entity on the stock exchange through stockbrokers.

“The IPO was closed yesterday. You can buy shares on the secondary market after the 6th of December with the help of a stockbroker,” MTN Uganda said in response to a Twitter user.

The IPO was open to four categories of investors which include local and professional Ugandan retail investors, East African Community retail and professional investors as well as foreign investors, according to MTN’s listing prospectus.

The company has about 15 million registered network users in Uganda and analysts say it has capacity to boost its data subscribers from the current four million base.

Mobile Money is also another compelling investment case and growth driver, given the rising popularity of digital finance services and opportunities for integration with other Fintechs, remittance companies and traditional financial services.