South African owned telecoms company, MTN, has announced that it is exiting Belgacom International Carrier Services SA (BICS) with the sale of its 20% shareholding for 1.8 billion rand ($121.41 million/€100 million)
The African telecoms giant says it intends to use the funds to pay down its US dollar debt and for general corporate purposes.
MTN sold the 20% stake to Proximus, a Belgian telecommunications company based in Brussels. Proximus is also buying another minority owner, Swisscom who is also selling its 22.4% stake in BICS.
According to a statement from MTN, “MTN will record a profit on the disposal of around R1.2 billion during the first half of 2021.”
“The sale represents further progress in MTN’s stated asset realisation programme (ARP), which aims to reduce debt, simplify its portfolio, reduce risk, improve returns and unlock value.” it added.
As at June 2020, Group service revenue increased by 9,4%* to R80,2 billion (2019: R67,9 billion). This was led by growth of 12,4%* in MTN Nigeria and 19,4%* in MTN Ghana.
