Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of telecom major Bharti Airtel, on Tuesday said it is looking to undertake an IPO to list shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The company had sought approval from U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority for the offer.
Additionally, the company is also considering listing its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Any net proceeds from the issue of new shares would be used to reduce debt.
Last year, Airtel Africa had raised $1.25 billion from six global investors, including SoftBank Group Corp., Warburg Pincus LLC and Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd., valuing the company at $4.4 billion.
Airtel operates in 14 African markets, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Uganda and Zambia. Airtel Africa has a debt of about $3.5 billion.
Clear strategy
“Since first investing in Africa almost nine years ago, we have well leveraged our expertise in emerging markets to deliver on a clearly-defined strategy to build Airtel Africa into a market leading mobile service provider, increasingly expanding beyond voice into data services and Airtel Money. Today, Airtel Africa is the second largest mobile operator in Africa,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal chairman, Airtel Africa.
