Airtel moves ahead with IPO plans

Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel is forging ahead with the planned listing of its Airtel Africa division, confirming in a filing to the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) that it has submitted a registration document for the initial public offering (IPO) to the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The offer – estimated to be worth in excess of USD1 billion – will comprise new shares, with the company expecting to have a free float of 25% of its issued share capital, plus a further 15% to be made available via an over-allotment option. In addition, Airtel noted that it was also considering a listing on Nigeria’s Stock Exchange. The Indian group is planning to use the money raised through the offering to trim its debt burden. Airtel Africa operates in 14 markets across the continent, and generated turnover of USD3.08 billion in the year to end-March 2019, up from USD2.91 billion in the previous year. The company counted a total of 98.9 million mobile subscribers at that date, including 30.0 million data users, compared to 89.3 million and 24.9 million respectively in March 2018.