MTN, a multinational telecommunications company operating in many African, European and Asian countries is considering other options of trading its shares in Nigeria.

The wireless carrier facing a combined $10 billion in claims from authorities in Nigeria, said it may no longer seek to raise capital through an initial public offering on the country’s stock exchange.

Africa’s largest mobile carrier is considering other ways to have its stock traded in Lagos, including a so-called introduction, in which existing shares are listed, Chief Financial Officer Ralph Mupita said in an interview in Johannesburg.

“The IPO type of listing has become challenging under current market conditions,” Mupita said. “We are exploring other options. The Nigerian business would not get fair value under current market conditions.” A listing by introduction is the simplest way forward, he said.

MTN could complete the listing in its biggest market by the end of this year or first quarter of 2019, the CFO said. The company’s stock has plunged in the wake of a dispute with the central bank over the repatriation of $8.1 billion out of Nigeria and a separate tussle over $2 billion in back taxes. Listing the business in Lagos forms part of a settlement two years ago over unregistered SIM cards, when MTN negotiated a $5.2 billion fine down to about $1 billion.

“We have sought legal protection for our Nigerian business and a judge has been appointed for upcoming hearings,” Mupita said. The central bank last week said it is considering new information provided by MTN and four banks into the outflows and that it expects to resolve the matter soon.

MTN’s shares pared an earlier gain of as much as 3.7% to trade 2.3% higher at R89.59 as of 3:57 pm in Johannesburg on Monday. In the weeks after Nigerian authorities challenged the transfer of funds, MTN plunged 35%, but the stock has since recovered about half of that drop.

“That costs our shareholders $5.5 billion,” said Mupita. MTN’s investor base is about 44% South African. Other major shareholders are based in the US, UK, Europe and the Middle East.

MTN still sees a great business case for Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, with less than a third of users currently on the internet, Mupita said.

“We are engaging with authorities and investors and hope to reach a speedy resolution on the matter, to deal with the overhang on our share and the concerns of shareholders about Nigeria’s investment climate,” Mupita said.

MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South Africa-based multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African, European and Asian countries