Johannesburg - Vodacom Group’s Tanzania unit received
regulatory approval to extend the deadline of its share sale for three weeks,
allowing investors more time to take part in the country’s biggest initial
public offering to date.
The offer will now expire on May 11, Ian Ferrao, managing
director of the Vodacom-owned business, said in a statement on Tuesday. The
extension will give retail and institutional investors more time to take part,
he said.
“Vodacom Tanzania expects a continued influx of
applications for shares during the course of this week,” Ferrao said.
Vodacom, the Johannesburg-based operation UK’s Vodafone
Group, is offering 476 billion shillings ($213 million) of shares in the mobile
operator after the government ordered all telecommunications companies in the
country to sell at least a 25 percent stake on the Dar es Salaam exchange to
boost domestic ownership. Once completed, the sale will boost the bourse’s
capitalisation by at least 2.4 percent to about 20.7 trillion shillings,
according to data on its website.
‘Unfavorable timing’
The final listing is now expected by June 6, Ferrao said.
On April 14, Fortius Rutabingwa, head of market research at adviser Orbit
Securities Ltd., said the IPO is undersubscribed.
Tanzania’s telecommunications industry was worth about
$996 million by the end 2016, Vodacom said in its prospectus, citing estimates
by International Data Corporation.
Read also: Vodacom Tanzania moves ahead with listing
Vodacom posted a 9 percent decline in profit last year to
29.1 billion shillings, following a 75 percent drop in 2015. Growth was underpinned
by the data and mobile-money payment segments, which grew by 23.7 percent and
10.5 percent respectively, while voice revenue fell by 4 percent.
“The timing of this mandatory IPO has been unfavorable
for Vodacom primarily due to current poor liquidity in the market and also
coming on the heels of the company trying to recover from a period of financial
downturn that started in 2014,” said Nathan Chiume, an independent stocks
analyst.