MTN Group announced on Thursday it has sold its majority stake in MTN Yemen to an affiliate of its minority shareholder, Zubair Corporation LLC.
Effective 17 November 2021, MTN Group transferred our majority shareholding in Yemen operations to Emerald International Investment LCC.
Emerald is a subsidiary of Zubair Investment Centre LLC, an affiliate of Zubair Corporation LLC, which is the minority shareholder in MTN Yemen.
“The decision to exit Yemen was driven by a need to simplify the portfolio and focus our limited resources on executing a pan-African strategy,” said MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita.
“We would like to thank the 719 employees of MTN Yemen for their commitment over the years, and the 4.7 million subscribers of MTN Yemen for their custom and trust in the brand. We wish Emerald well in the next phase of development of this business as they work with the team that served MTN well over the years.”
In August 2020, MTN Group announced plans to focus on its pan-African strategy and exit the Middle East over the medium term, thereby simplifying our portfolio and reducing risk.
In the first half of 2021, MTN Yemen contributed 0.3% to MTN Group EBITDA. MTN Group held 82.8% of the shares in Yemen operation, whose operating licence for its 2G network is due for renewal at the end of 2021.
The Group fully impaired the consolidated net assets of MTN Yemen as at 30 June 2021
and no further material impact is therefore expected on earnings as a result of the exit.
Also read: MTN Is Exiting Syria Through Abandoning The Operation
MTN GROUPannounced on Thursday it had initiated an exit of Syria, by abandoning the operation given the regulatory actions and demands that make operating in the market untenable.
“We reserve our right to seek redress through international legal processes given the actions of the Syrian authorities that have left us with no other choice than to exit,” the company said in a financial results note to investors.
MTN said in the first quarter Syria operation represented less than 1% of MTN Group EBITDA, before deconsolidation in February 2021.
On 25 February 2021, the Administrative Court of Damascus placed MTN Syria under judicial guardianship, appointing the chairman of TeleInvest (the non-controlling shareholder of Syria operation) as the judicial guardian with the responsibility for managing MTN Syria’s day-to-day operations.
