Conditional trading on the shares of Airtel Money, the mobile payments arm of telecommunications giant- Airtel Africa, opened Friday on the London Stock Exchange, while full trading and formal admission on the bourse is planned for October 14 in what is seen as one of the biggest on the bourse in years.
Reuters reports that the share price rose by about £2 each, 2 percent above the £1.96 IPO price.
The mobile payments firm raised around £529 million by selling 270 million shares, thereby valuing Airtel Mobile Commerce NV, the company’s formal name, at an estimated £5.3 billion.
An additional 27 million shares have been made available by Mastercard Asia/Pacific PTE. Limited, under an over-allotment option, which when exercised in full, could bring the final offer size to £582 million, representing approximately 11% of Airtel Money’s share capital at admission. The company’s issued share capital following admission is expected to comprise 2.7 billion shares.
Airtel Africa, in a note to the LSE and the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), by Simon O’Hara, the Group Company Secretary, affirmed that it is not selling its own “existing Airtel Money shares in the offer and is expected to remain a long-term strategic shareholder and to support Airtel Money’s next phase of development as an independently listed business.”
That leaves other existing shareholders like the Qatar Investment Authority and TPG Inc., selling their shares in the IPO.
Already the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, has been allocated 34.29 million shares in the offering for a total consideration of £67.2 million.
The allocation represents IFC’s full commitment under its cornerstone investment agreement, according to the offer details.
The IPO was marketed to qualified institutional investors in the United States, institutional investors in the United Kingdom and other international markets, as well as eligible UK retail investors through participating investment platforms and brokers.
Of the 270 million shares offered by existing shareholders, eight million have been allocated to retail investors through the UK retail offer.
Commenting on the development, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder of Airtel and Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, described the London listing as a vote of confidence “in the UK as an attractive global destination for investment….”
He expressed delight “to welcome the successful listing of Airtel Money on the London Stock Exchange.”
Mittal recalled that Airtel Africa listed in London in 2019, given the UK’s established investor base and willingness to invest in dynamic emerging market companies.
“The same conditions made London the obvious choice for this new listing in 2026. The over-subscription of the Airtel Money offering shows the appetite of the UK market for high-quality investable assets,” he added.
Also commenting on the IPO, Ian Ferrao, chief executive officer of Airtel Money, described the London listing as a significant milestone for the business and an opportunity to expand its digital financial services offering across Africa.
“Our listing in London marks an important new chapter for our business and reflects what we have built across Africa and the significant opportunity ahead,” Ferrao said, adding that the company had grown by addressing the need for simpler and more accessible financial services across the continent.
Investor participation, he further noted, reflected confidence in its business model and long-term growth prospects, just as he acknowledged the contributions of customers, employees, agents, partners, shareholders, governments and central banks in advancing financial inclusion across Airtel Money’s markets.
He pledged the company would remain focused on building what it described as Africa’s leading digital financial services platform, connecting more people and businesses to the formal financial system.
Airtel Money is a popular fintech platform across a dozen Sub-Saharan African nations and has processed $213 billion in the 12 months through June. The company reportedly has 53 million monthly active users and operates a range of branches and kiosks for paying utility bills, arranging microloans, and buying goods.
