Airtel Africa Limited plans to raise gross proceeds of $750m through its listing on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, it said on Tuesday.
Confirming its intention to float, Africa’s second-largest mobile operator said it would freely float at least 25 per cent of its shares as it looks to pay down its debt. Up to a further 15 per cent will be made available under an overallotment option, according to the Financial Times.
The exact number of shares to be sold and the indicative price range of the offer will be determined “in due course”, it added. Following admission to trading, the group, which is owned by Bharti Airtel of India, will have a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.5.
Airtel Africa operates a telecoms and mobile money business across 14 African countries. It revealed it was weighing up a widely-anticipated IPO last week.
In October last year, the company raised $1.25bn in an initial round of pre-IPO funding, plus a further $200m in January.
JPMorgan will be sole sponsor of the IPO. BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and JPMorgan will act as joint global co-ordinators and joint bookrunners and Absa Group, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited will act as joint bookrunners.
The planned IPO of Airtel Africa is aimed at reducing its debt pile of more than $16 billion, according to a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
“Further, Airtel Africa is also considering a listing of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange,” the telecoms firm added in the statement.
The Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa, Raghunath Mandava, told reporters last week, when the share sale was first announced, that a successful IPO would spark a “stronger growth phase” in Africa, Bloombergreported.
