MTN subsidiary in Uganda has nominated Dyer and Blair Limited, a Kenyan firm as a lead retail broker in their Initial Public Offering (IPO), which debuted on Monday, October 11th 2021.
The nominated firm is owned by a Kenyan billionaire Mr. Jimnah Mbaru, who earlier on led a group of local investors in acquiring its shareholding from KCB in 1983.
The firm operates in East Africa through its wholly owned subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda and is a member of Nairobi Securities exchange (NSE), Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and the Rwanda Stoch Exchange (RSE).
The said deal is set to be the biggest in the Ugandan market, guaranteeing Mbaru’s firm a fat cheque. The IPO is expected to increase the number of retail investors at the Uganda Stock exchange (USE) to 200,000 from the current 40,000.
Dyer and Blair was founded in 1954 in Nairobi as a partnership of stockbrokers Hickman and Grey. Ownership of the firm changed hands in 1956 to Derek Ingram Dyer and Patrick Murdoch Blair before it was acquired by KCB in 1973.
Since Mbaru took over in 1983, the firm has played an instrumental role in some of the biggest deals by publicly listed firms across East Africa. It converted into a fully-fledged licensed investment bank in 2004.
MTN Uganda, a subsidiary of South Africa’s MTN group is the largest telecom by market share in Uganda. It listed its shareholding on Uganda securities exchange (USE) on Monday, October 11, after receiving regulatory approvals.
The IPO is expected to raise Ksh 132 billion. Dyer and Blair Uganda was selected as the lead retail broker. The approval also gives Kenyan investors a chance to take part in the IPO through SBG securities and Dyer and Blair which is a lead broker.
“MTN group (has) appointed SBG securities Uganda Limited as transaction adviser and lead sponsoring broker, S&L advocates as legal advisers, KPMG Certified Public Accountants as reporting accountant, Crested Stocks and Securities Limited and Dyer and Blair Uganda Limited as lead retail brokers and equity stockbrokers UGanda Limited and UAP-Old Mutual Financial Services Uganda Limited as selling agents,” the firm noted in its IPO prospectus.
Kenyan investors have continuously benefited from Initial Public Offering innitiatives by MTN Uganda. For instance; on October, 5th 2021, the sibsidiary confirmed that they had received approvals to list 20% of their shareholding, allowing Kenyans and other investors from East Africa to take part in the IPO.
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