Airtel Money to raise £529 million in LSE IPO at £5.3 billion valuation

Airtel Money will offer 270 million shares at £1.96 each, with trading set to begin on October 14; existing investors will sell part of their holdings in the London IPO

Airtel Mobile Commerce NV Airtel, the non-banking financial company (NBFC) of Airtel Africa, will raise £529 million through its initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the company said Thursday in a statement, with 270 million shares on sale at an offer price of £1.96.

 

At this price, the NBFC, which operates the “Airtel Money”brand, could be valued at £5.3 billion, or $7 billion, the statement added.

 

This, according to Bloomberg estimates, may be one of the largest IPOs on the LSE in the past five years.

 

Citigroup, Barclays, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorganChase are the bookrunners for the IPO.

 

Existing investors such

as TPG-backed The ‌Rise Fund II Aurora, Qatari sovereign wealth fund Qatar

Holding, Mastercard Inc, and Chimetech will sell some of their holdings. 

 

In 2021, TPG, Mastercard, Qatar Investment Authority, and Chimetech Holding acquired minority stakes in Airtel Money for $550 million.

 

Bharti Airtel International may sell an additional 27 million shares through an over-allotment option after the stock starts trading on the LSE on October 14.

 

“Based on current indications received from Airtel Money’s existing shareholders, it is expected that approximately 16.5 per cent of Airtel Money’s issued ordinary share capital will be held in public hands (within the meaning of UK Listing Rule 5.5), assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised (increasing to approximately 17.5 per cent if the maximum number of additional Airtel Money shares are acquired pursuant to the over-allotment option),” the statement added.

 

Airtel Africa is expected to remain a long-term strategic shareholder and to support Airtel Money’s next phase of development as an independently listed business, the company added.

 

Airtel Money is expecting it would have a free float, which would make it eligible for inclusion in the FTSE UK indices.

 

The financial-services platform, which operates in 13 markets of Africa, had earlier said that it had entered into an agreement with International Finance Corporation (IFC). Under that, existing shareholders will sell shares worth up to £67.2 million ($90 million) at the final offer price.

 

With 53 million monthly active users as of June 30, the company, which was launched in September 2011, has expanded its customer base at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent since the year ended March 31, 2018. During this period, it has also deepened its penetration of Airtel Africa’s growing telecom subscriber base each year, from 20 per cent to 41 per cent.

 

Airtel Money’s processed value has increased at a 33 per cent CAGR over the same period to reach $213 billion. Revenues reached $1.3 billion for the year ended March 2026, with the margin of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation being about 50 per cent.