MTN’s best kept secret is out, hold on to your shares. At least chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko is reluctant to get rid of his.<\/p>\n
Nhleko had the option of selling 2 million shares in the company he shepherds, but only sold about 877 000, at a value of more than R90-million.<\/p>\n
Had he exercised the full option, he would have cashed in more than R200-million. As of March 2008, Nhleko had a 1.03% direct shareholding in MTN that amounted to R2.3-billion. He then bought 1 million shares in November and added another million to his portfolio last week.<\/p>\n
Cadiz Asset Management portfolio manager Rajay Ambekar said this was a sign of good faith in the company. He said: “Apart from the options, he made net purchases of R200-million during the year.<\/p>\n
He bought R100-million worth of shares at R73 per share.<\/p>\n
“In December, he bought another R100-million. The selling was in relation to his option. He sold less than half when he could have sold the lot. He will be receiving about R300-million when the Newshelf [BEE] entity is wound down, so he’ll be getting a lot of cash coming in this year.” <\/p>\n
In 2005, MTN executive directors established a holding company that held 18.7% of MTN on behalf of 2400 black managers and staff. The shareholding is now 13.1%, worth R24-billion. <\/p>\n
Late last year, MTN announced that it would unwind Newshelf, starting off with a special dividend of R3.1-billion that would be paid to the beneficiaries of Newshelf.<\/p>\n
Once Newshelf is dissolved, MTN will not have an empowerment vehicle. The company has already said that it would make proposals to shareholders for the implementation of a new BEE transaction during the first half of this year.<\/p>\n