Airtel Money has priced its London initial public offering at £1.96 ($2.59) per share, valuing the mobile money business at £5.3 billion ($7 billion) ahead of its October 14 debut, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.
This marks the first time the market will put a public price on Airtel Africa’s fastest-growing business, after years of turning mobile money into a major part of the group’s financial story. But the $7 billion valuation is below the $8–9 billion range reported when the IPO was announced, and most of the sale proceeds will go to existing investors rather than Airtel Africa or Airtel Money.
The listing gives investors a price for a business processing more than $245 billion in annualised transactions, while giving early shareholders a route to cash out without Airtel Africa giving up its strategic position.
In September, Airtel Money was expected to raise around $800 million. Now the company expects to sell 270 million existing Airtel Money shares at £1.96 ($2.59) per share, generating £529.2 million ($698.54 million), before an additional 27 million shares that could be sold through an over-allotment option.
Originally published by TechCabal.