Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications group Bharti Airtel, has listed shares of its Nigerian subsidiary on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
This follows South African mobile operator MTN‘s May listing on the
Lagos-based bourse.
Airtel Africa’s listing in the third-largest after the initial public offering of Dangote Cement and the introductory listing of MTN Nigeria, according to ITWeb.
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Airtel Nigeria’s market capitalization was valued at around $3.7 billion with 3.75 billion shares sold at around $0.99 per share, The Punch reported.
Based in London, Airtel Africa provides mobile and mobile money services in 14 African countries, primarily in East, Central and West Africa. It is a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications group Bharti Airtel.
Airtel Nigeria is Airtel’s largest subscriber base in Africa with nearly 38 million users, accounting for 37.6 percent of Airtel Africa’s 99.8 million customers, according to Extensia.
The mobile operator listed in London in June 2019, but the shares opened below the issue price of $1.01.
Airtel Africa’s London and Nigeria listings are aimed at raising $750 million to finance strategic operations and reduce debt, ITWeb reports.
Although the capital is being raised on stock markets in Africa and Europe, the new funding is expected to be spent in India. Holding company Bharti Airtel hopes to better position itself in the country’s highly competitive mobile market, according to TheBusinessStandard.
In May, MTN Nigeria listed 20 billion ordinary shares valued at $0.25 each,
BankerAfrica reported.
The company’s $5 billion listing made it the second-largest firm on the Nigerian stock exchange. Dangote Cement’s $8.3 billion market cap made it the most valuable listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange to date, according to Bloomberg.
