Airtel Africa appoints JPMorgan, Citigroup, 6 other banks to work on IPO

Bharti Airtel's Africa business arm Monday announced the appointment of eight global banks including J P Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs to work on its initial public offer plan.

"Airtel Africa Limited Monday announced the appointment of global banks for an intended IPO on an international stock exchange. The banks appointed are JP Morgan, Citigroup, BofA Merrill Lynch, Absa Group Limited, Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs International and Standard Bank Group," Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Airtel Africa operates in 14 countries across Africa where it offers 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services and mobile commerce through 'Airtel Money'.

The development comes after the recent subscription of shares in Airtel Africa by six leading global investors comprising of Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel, SoftBank Group International and others for an aggregate consideration of $1.25 billion.

The company plans to utilise this fund to lower debt of its Africa unit which stands at around $5 billion.

Earlier this month, Airtel Africa also announced its newly constituted Board of Directors that includes representatives from Bharti Airtel and the investors.

"The new Board of Directors brings a wealth of industry and governance experience to further drive the Airtel Africa business," Airtel said.

Bharti Airtel reported 3.6 per cent decline in its India revenues on year-on-year while the Africa revenues rose 10.8 per cent.

The revenue from Africa business rose to Rs 56.472 billion during September quarter from Rs 52.03 billion in the same period of the previous year.