Miebi Senge
15 July 2008
STARCOMMS Plc, Nigeria's fourth largest telecommunications company yesterday made history in the industry by becoming the first operator to get listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Before Monday's listing on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Starcomms had successfully raised N64.35 billion through a private placement offer.
Proceeds from the private placement beefed up the company capital base. However two institutional investor Actis, and Emerging Capital Partners LLC, (ECP) divested some of their holdings from the company thus widening the shareholder base.
The shares of the company which were listed at 12.27pm made significant gain, as it went up five per cent after only five minutes of listing/trading to close at N14.33k.
Reacting to the development Mr. Maher Qubain, Chief Executive Officer said "At Starcomms, we do not just cook up figures. We operate as a transparent company and today's history making event is meant to drive our growth. We want to become the 3rd, if not 2nd biggest telecom operator in Nigeria by 2010. This is a promise, and at Starcomms, we keep our promise".
The historic listing presents an excellent opportunity for every Nigerian to buy into one of the fastest growing and profitable sectors of the telecom sub-sector of the Nigerian economy.
Chief Maan Lababid, Chairman of the company said: "I am very pleased with the outcome of the private placement. Investors have shown that they believe in the future of Starcomms and in the management team in place led by our CEO, Mr. Qubain,. With Actis and ECP, we have grown the business into a world class, well managed national telecom operator and a market leader.
I look forward to the next exciting phase of development for the company, as we grow in size to serve even more Nigerians as we get listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange today."
Mr. Qubain, briefing stock brokers on the company's performance sheet, stated "Starcomms now controls 3 per cent of the Nigerian telecom market. We also have 37 per cent of the fixed wireless sector. By the end of 2008, we would have reached a subscriber base level of 2.5 million. That is our target. Our current subscribers base is approximately 1.6 million by end of June 2008. I make bold to state that at Starcomms, we deliver on our promise".
Simon Harford, CEO, Actis, West Africa while commenting on the successful private placement which culminated in the public listing of the company's shares said: "We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to be involved with such a dynamic and growing business as Starcomms.
Actis's partnership with Chief Lababidi, the management team, ECP and the Board has meant we have been able to contribute to the growth of the company and the development of the business into a market leader in an exciting and competitive market. The successful closing of the private placement is testament to the very positive investor sentiment and interest in this country."
Navaid Burmey, Managing Director, ECP: "We are proud to have worked with Starcomms and Actis while the company expanded its regional footprint, developed new services and generated top corporate business accounts."
The proceeds from the private placement will enable the company to expand its product range and network thereby bringing more telecom choices to Nigerians nationwide. Now, as the company achieves its landmark listing, we hope to watch its growth accelerate as a publicly-owned company. ECP is very pleased that Starcomms has emerged as the first company to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange."
Both the private placement and listing on the floor of stock exchange were handled by Chapel Hill Advisory Partners Limited and IBTC Asset Management Company Ltd.
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