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MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has announced a landmark proposal to sell a 60% majority stake in its fintech subsidiaries, MoMo Payment Service Bank and Y’ello Digital Financial Services – YDF, to its parent company, MTN Group.

The transaction, valued at N152.06 billion, was detailed in a shareholder FAQ ahead of the company’s Annual General Meeting scheduled for April 30, 2026. Under the proposed shared ownership structure, MTN Nigeria will retain a 40% interest, with both entities eventually transferring their stakes into a new holding company registered with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The deal is a core component of the “Ambition 2030” strategy, which aims to position MTN Group as Africa’s premier provider of connectivity, fintech, and digital infrastructure. To facilitate this, the transaction will involve a combination of fresh capital injection directly into the subsidiaries and a secondary acquisition of shares from MTN Nigeria.

An independent fairness opinion by KPMG valued the fintech businesses at N95.5 billion, representing a 2.1x premium over their carrying value as of December 2025—a figure deemed fair and reasonable for shareholders.

A primary driver for the divestment is the need for substantial financial investment to sustain the rapid growth of these fintech units. While MoMo PSB and YDF saw a staggering 79.7% revenue growth in 2025 and an expansion to 3.7 million active wallets, they currently remain loss-making.

By shifting the majority ownership to MTN Group, the subsidiaries will gain access to the specialized funding required to scale in Nigeria’s competitive digital finance market without further straining MTN Nigeria’s own financial resources.

For MTN Nigeria, the restructuring offers a strategic opportunity to streamline its balance sheet and protect its core connectivity business. The company intends to reallocate capital toward strengthening its network leadership and improving service quality. Furthermore, decoupling the loss-making fintech results from its primary financial statements is expected to enhance overall performance, bolster free cash flow, and support the sustainability of shareholder dividends over the next three to five years.

Crucially, the company assured investors that their holdings in the listed telecom entity would remain unchanged. Shareholders will still benefit from the high-growth fintech sector via the retained 40% stake, while the parent company takes on the heavy lifting of expansion.

If approved at the upcoming AGM, the transaction is expected to conclude by December 31, 2026, marking a significant shift in the landscape of Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem.