OK, many people have been asking us, when do we sell MTN, what do we do now, dump them and run, and so on. Paul sent an email yesterday to a client on one of these concerns, here we go, we will share it with everyone:
For now, we are just watching this nasty situation develop. We are disinclined to be sellers into this bout of weakness.
The Turkcell allegations are very detailed, so I assume that they are based on a high-level leak at MTN. However, MTN management have denied it all, so are these memos fakes?
The bribes paid to the SA ambassador and the Iranian deputy minister are more problematic, if true. The other allegations about military aid and help with the IAEA look like a red herring to me, especially since these did not materialise.
I doubt whether a US court will hear this matter. The Hoffman committee will likely dredge up some dirt and some heads might roll.
The bigger issue is how the anti-Iran sanctions will affect MTN directly and indirectly. The Iranian government is in dire straits, and might need to offer up some concessions.
Does that answer all the questions? If there are more, keep them coming as ever. There is no way that the fellows from Turkcell are making all of this up. Equally important to ask, who is feeding them (Turkcell) with all this information, as Paul implies above here? No really? Where are they getting all of this from? The stock got crushed yesterday, it is doing better today, but clearly this news is weighing on the share price.