African mobile networks operator Helios Towers is planning to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the media reported. This decision for Helios Towers to list on LSE comes after it abandoned plans for an initial public offering last year.
In March 2018, the company announced plans for an initial public offering in London and Johannesburg.
The estimated valuation of the telecom company from the initial public offering was at $2.47 billion. It plans to raise $125 million through issuance of new shares, along with the sale of its existing shares held by the International Finance Corporation, Millicom and Bharti Airtel.
Helios Towers operates mobile towers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania. The company has more than 6,800 towers and leases them to customers including Airtel Africa, MTN, Orange, Tigo and Vodacom. It was founded in 2009 and incorporated in Mauritius.
Kash Pandya, CEO of Helios Towers told the media, “The Sub-Saharan Africa telecommunications market is and will continue to be one of the most exciting and high growth in the world. The underlying demographic and macro-economic trends are compelling: a young, growing and increasingly urbanised population whose demand for high quality mobile voice and data services continues unabated, which is being further fuelled by expansion of 3G and 4G services and one day 5G services; and GDP growth across our markets is expected to be 4.5 percent. per annum to 2024.”
The company has demonstrated strong performance in 18 consecutive quarters in adjusted EBIDTA. It reached $201 million at the end of the second quarter of 2019.