MTN has acquired nearly R1,4bn in its own shares in the past three months in a move it says is meant to improve returns to its shareholders. Between 8 March and 28 May 2012, the telecommunications group says it has bought back shares to the value of R1,36bn. The total value of shares bought back
MTN’s share price is likely to remain wobbly as jittery foreign investors face massive pressure from US authorities and lobby groups to quit their exposure in Africa’s R255bn cellphone giant because of its business activities in Iran. The company is in danger of being smacked with US sanctions for allegedly providing the Iranian government
New twists have emerged in the US$4,2bn lawsuit filed by MTN’s cellphone rival, Turkcell, in a US court. Chris Kilowan, the disgruntled former MTN director in Iran who, according to sources, approached Turkcell with MTN memos that formed part of the court filings but have yet to be verified, could find that his actions backfire on him.
MTN, the R255bn Johannesburg-listed cellphone giant, is in danger of being whacked with sanctions by the US for its telecommunication activities in Iran and Syria. US President Barack Obama issued an executive order this week that allows American authorities for the first time to impose sanctions on individuals or entities found to have
By many measures, Turkcell is thriving. It is Turkey’s biggest mobile operator, serving 35m subscribers there and another 30m through subsidiaries and minority stakes in other countries. It boasts 10bn Turkish lira (US$5,6bn) in annual revenues and a market capitalisation of $10,7bn (it is listed in both New York and Istanbul). And all
MTN’s Turkish rival, Turkcell, which is suing the Johannesburg-based cellphone giant for US$4,2bn, is embroiled in a bitter internal battle as shareholders square up for control of the company. Turkcell, listed in New York and Istanbul, has a market capitalisation of $11bn. In court papers filed in the US recently, Turkcell accused
MTN has again gone on the attack, accusing rival Turkcell of making “ludicrous” allegations that the SA-based operator influenced SA foreign policy on Iran in order to win an operating licence in the Middle Eastern country. In a statement, MTN Group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa says MTN “did not cause
MTN is facing a storm over claims that it helped the Iranian government to spy on local subscribers and assisted the regime in its brutal crackdown on protesters in 2009 and 2010. In court papers lodged in the US last week, rival mobile operator Turkcell alleged that MTN told its Iranian military-linked partners it
Cellphone giant MTN was so desperate to win a mobile operating licence in the “virgin” territory of Iran that it allegedly put together a package of bribes, trading opportunities in sophisticated weaponry, capital investment and diplomatic influence that the Islamic Republic could not resist, write Sharda Naidoo, Craig McKune and Stefaans Brümmer
Johannesburg-listed MTN Group is in crisis management mode trying to limit reputational damage after Turkcell filed an explosive lawsuit in the Washington federal court on Thursday morning (SA time), implicating government officials and executives from Africa’s largest mobile phone operator in a bribery and sophisticated weapons scandal
