Operator cleared to dispose of stake in ATC Ghana.

Further to the roll out of its asset realisation programme (‘ARP’), introduced in March 2019, MTN Group has confirmed it has received regulatory approval for the disposal of its stake in ATC Ghana.

This follows the company’s announcement on 11 March 2020 reporting its 2019 annual results and the conclusion of the disposal of its stake in ATC Uganda for R2,2-billion.

In a statement the company explained that it is due to receive further transaction proceeds of approximately US$384-million (R6,7-billion, based on an exchange rate of R17,4:$1) in the next week.

This takes the total proceeds received for the disposal of both ATC Uganda and ATC Ghana to R8,9 billion, which will be applied to paying down US-dollar debt and general corporate purposes.

The statement reads: “On completion, the Group will have realised R15.0-billion within the first 12 months of its initial three-year ARP. Consequently, MTN has enhanced its ARP guidance framework to a target of at least R25-billion in further asset realisations over the medium-term (3-5 years), and a holding company leverage target ratio of below 2,0 times.”

The Group declared a final dividend of 355 cents per share on 11 March 2020, bringing the total dividend to 550 cents per share for the 2019 financial year.

Earlier this month the operator stated that it was close to concluding negotiations with the Competition Commission regarding data price cuts.

ITWeb reported that CEO Rob Shuter was close to establishing a set of undertakings and a deal with the Commission is “imminent”.

MTN said it remains focused on “its strategic execution and committed to its clearly-defined and disciplined capital allocation framework.”