Airtel Africa is set to list on the London Stock Exchange, as the continent’s second-largest mobile operator seeks to cut its debt levels. The share listing will only go ahead after it receives regulatory approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority. It has already submitted documentation for the listing.
The group, which is owned by Bharti Airtel of India, is weighing up a premium listing in London in which at least 25 per cent of its shares would be freely floated.
A listing by the group, which operates a telecoms and mobile money business across 14 African countries, has been widely expected in the market. In October it raised $1.25bn in an initial round of pre-IPO funding, plus a further $200m in January.
“Airtel Africa is a leading telecom and payment service operator with leadership and scale across our footprint,” said Raghunath Mandava, chief executive of the group. “The 14 countries where we operate offer strong GDP growth potential and have young and fast-growing populations, low customer and data penetration and inadequate banking infrastructure. These fast-growing markets provide us with a great opportunity to grow both our telecom and payments businesses.”
On a call with reporters, Mr Mandava said the company was “not looking very aggressively” at moving beyond its current geographic base, given the opportunities to expand in current markets. But he added he would not necessarily “say no” if an expansion opportunity arose.
The company has about 3,000 employees, generated revenue of around $3bn in the year ended March. It is also considering a listing of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
JPMorgan Cazenove will be the sole sponsor of the flotation. BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and JPMorgan have been engaged as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. Absa Group, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC and The Standard Bank of South Africa will act as joint bookrunners if the offer proceeds.
The move by Airtel comes after the continent’s largest telecommunication company, MTN, listed by introduction on the Nigeria Stock Exchange.
