Airtel Money starts trading in London with a $7 billion target
The mobile money business, which operates in 13 African countries, opened slightly below its offer price. Full trading begins on 14 October.
London — Airtel Money, the mobile money arm of Airtel Africa, began conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, Premium Times reports.
The shares were priced at £1.96 in the initial public offering, which targets a market value of about $7 billion. They opened at £1.93 and briefly touched £2.
Unconditional trading is due to begin at 8am on 14 October.
Who is selling
The offer is a sale of 270 million existing shares by institutional shareholders. Those named in the listing include Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, Mastercard and The Rise Fund.
Airtel Africa is not selling. It said it "is not selling existing Airtel Money shares in the offer" and expects to remain "a long-term strategic shareholder", keeping about 78% of the company. About 16.5% of the shares are expected to be freely traded.
The business
Airtel Money provides money transfers, digital banking and bill payments in 13 African countries, including Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya.
This report is based on reporting by Premium Times.
