19 July 2019

Raghunath Mandava, chief executive at Airtel Africa

 

Airtel Africa said it is targeting a valuation of up to GB£3.6bn as it moves ahead with its London listing.

The telecommunications and mobile money firm has almost 100 million subscribers, making it the second largest mobile operator on the continent. Plans to float were first announced in early June.

Its IPO has been priced at 80p to 100p a share, with Airtel offering 595.2 million to 744.0 million new shares. Final pricing will be announced June 28th, with shares to start trading in London on the same day. 

“We have built Airtel Africa into the second largest mobile operator in Africa and our clear strategy and efficient business model make us well positioned to capture the growth opportunities across our markets, in voice, data and mobile money,” said chief executive Raghunath Mandava. ”Our leadership position, positive track record and the exciting growth opportunities in the markets where we operate, have resulted in significant interest in our business. We are excited to be able to give an opportunity to a broader audience of institutional investors to participate in some of the fastest growing telecom and payment markets in the world through the IPO of Airtel Africa shares on the London Stock Exchange.”

The company added that it plans to pursue a Nigerian listing to run concurrently with the London IPO.

Airtel Africa, which is headquartered in Amsterdam, operates in 15 African nations, including Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Rwanda and Seychelles.

Its main shareholder is Airtel Africa Mauritius (68%), which is part of India’s Bharti Airtel. The firm revealed in May that it would go ahead with the listing in a bid to cut debt levels across the business.