Rwanda’s Crystal Telecoms offers Kenyans shares in IPO

Kenyan investors will have a chance to participate in the initial public offering (IPO) of Rwandan telco Crystal Telecoms that opens on Thursday.

The IPO, first announced in April, will run for two weeks until June 5, according to the offer timetable released by the firm on Wednesday. It will be open to East African Community (EAC) individual and institutional investors.

Crystal Telecom, which is wholly owned by Crystal Ventures Ltd, owns a fifth of MTN Rwandacell. The firm will disclose the size of stake on sale in its prospectus on Wednesday.

“Through Crystal Telecom, we are supporting the efforts of the government of Rwanda to promote broader share ownership and further develop the Rwandan capital markets,” said chairman Jack Kayonga in an earlier statement.

The shares will be listed at the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) on July 17, although investors will know their allocation on June 17.

The MTN Rwandacell stake is Crystal Telecoms’ only investment, having held the same since 1998.

According to Crystal Venture, the IPO is a continuation of its investment strategy of cashing in on mature holdings with the intention of redeploying capital in support of other early-stage ventures. Renaissance Capital (Rencap) is the lead transaction adviser in the IPO.

Upon listing, Crystal will become the third Rwandese company to list on the Kigali exchange joining brewer Bralirwa and Bank of Kigali.

There are four Kenyan companies cross-listed on the exchange — the Nation Media Group, KCB, Equity Bank and Uchumi Supermarkets.
Safaricom IPO in 2008 opened the gates for EAC citizens to get same treatment in public issue.

Since then East Africans, particularly Kenyans, have acquired shares in Stanbic Uganda and Bralirwa. Previously countries maintained tight capital controls.