Airtel Africa has listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on July 9th in a $4.4 billion flotation. The listing makes the company’s stock the third largest in terms of market value on the Nigerian bourse. After its debut, the telecom company’s shares jumped by 10 percent from their listing price. Also, around 100,000 shares were traded since its listing.
The company was scheduled to get listed on July 5 but it was postponed to ensure the company meets its listing requirements. India’s Bharti Airtel owns 68.3 percent stake in the company, which operates in 14 countries across the African continent. Bharti Airtel offered shares in its African unit two weeks ago through a London IPO and said it would dual list in Nigeria.
It also becomes the second company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as the Nigerian Stock Exchange after Seplat. The list of shareholders in the telecom company includes Singapore’s Temasek, Japan’s SoftBank, Singtel and US investment firm Warburg Pincus.
The company’s shares registered in Britain may be moved from the London market to Nigeria once approved but shares registered in Nigeria cannot be moved to London. Recently, Airtel Africa’s main rival MTN also listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in a $6.5 billion flotation
The listing by Airtel Africa in Nigeria is done with an aim to raise $750 million. It will help the company to finance strategic operations and at the same time reduce its debt.
Airtel Africa chairman Sunil Mittal told the media that, “Since first investing in Africa almost nine years ago, we have 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.”
During the fiscal year which ended in March 2019, the Nigerian market contributed to 35.9 percent of the Airtel Africa’s revenue.