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| Clermont Meridian Trading Evaluates Airtel Africa's $1 Billion London Listing Plans |
Clermont Meridian Trading has today reported that Airtel Africa Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel Ltd, is seeking a public market listing in London as part of its plans to extend its internet and mobile money services across Africa.
According to Clermont Meridian Trading intelligence, the company plans to raise roughly $1 billion in a stock offering in June. Airtel is present in 14 African countries, including the DRC, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Uganda, and Zambia.
SoftBank Group Corp, Warburg Pincus LLC, and Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd were among six worldwide investors who contributed $1.25 billion to the telecom operator last year. In January, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) raised another $200 million, putting the company at slightly under $5 billion.
"Airtel Africa plans to list on the London Stock Exchange's main market, utilizing its premium listing sector, which has stricter standards than the European Union's minimal requirements, and sell 25% of new shares to pay down current debt," commented George Willis, Senior VP or Equity Trading at financial services company Clermont Meridian Trading.
Airtel Africa's net debt was $4 billion in March, down from $7.7 billion the previous year, thanks to a capital injection from current partners. For the year ended March, its net income was $83 million, up from a net loss of $49 million the previous year. The telecoms company also wants to go public on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
"The 14 nations where we operate have tremendous GDP growth potential, young and fast-growing populations, poor customer and data penetration, and insufficient banking infrastructure," said Raghunath Mandava, the company's chief executive. "We have a fantastic chance to build both our telephony and payments operations in these fast-growing areas."
Bharti Airtel, the company's Indian owner, canceled the IPO of African mobile phone mast company Helios Towers last year without offering a reason. According to a source at the time, the planned IPO price was too low for shareholders, who valued the company at up to $2.8 billion.
According to further Clermont Meridian Trading intelligence, proceeds from the European IPO market fell to their lowest level in more than a decade in the first three months of 2019. Airtel Africa's listing on the London Stock Exchange would follow Middle Eastern payment providers Finablr and Network International, which began trading a few months ago.
The company has appointed JP Morgan, Citigroup Inc, BofA Merrill Lynch, Absa Group Limited, Barclays Bank PLC, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs International, and Standard Bank Group Ltd as advisers.