Airtel Africa Plc

Airtel Africa's mobile payments business Airtel Money is heading for a stock market valuation of around £5.3 billion when it floats this month in what would be one of the biggest London listings in recent years. The group has set the offer price at £1.96 per share for its Airtel Money business, with plans to make its stock market debut on October 14. Airtel Africa, which is already listed on London's FTSE 100 index, is looking to raise around 800 million US dollars, or £601 million, from the initial public offering, and wants Airtel Money to be listed separately on the London Stock Exchange. Existing shareholders in Airtel Money are expected to sell a total of 270 million shares worth around £529 million, while up to an extra 27 million shares could be sold if an over-allotment option is used, and majority shareholder Airtel Africa is not expected to sell shares except under that option. International Finance Corp has agreed to buy up to £67.2 million of shares from existing shareholders at the offer price as part of a cornerstone investment agreement. Airtel Money is used by around 53 million people across Africa and generated revenues of around 1.4 billion US dollars, or £1.1 billion, in the last financial year, and it is thought to be the first large African fintech to list on a global stock exchange.

Airtel Money has launched plans for a £6bn float on the London Stock Exchange, the City's biggest listing since 2021. The African payments giant, which operates in 13 countries and is a subsidiary of FTSE 100 mobile operator Airtel Africa, is understood to be seeking to raise around $800m on the main market later this year, with at least 10pc of current shares expected to be floated and a valuation of around $8bn targeted. Airtel Africa, which holds a 77.9pc stake and said it expects to remain a long-term shareholder, is ultimately controlled by Bharti Enterprises, the Indian telecoms conglomerate run by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal. Airtel Money, which has around 53 million monthly users and reported $1.4bn of revenues last year, giving it underlying earnings before interest and other charges of $676m, is expected to join the London market in October, with Citigroup leading the float alongside Barclays, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. The listing offers a welcome boost for the London Stock Exchange, where new listings have fallen from nearly 60 in 2007 to barely a handful in each of the last four years.