Airtel Africa Appoints Global Banks For An Intended IPO On An International Stock Exchange

Shares of Bharti Airtel are trading higher on both the indices and are among the top gainers in the Nifty50 index, after its subsidiary Airtel Africa Ltd. announced the appointment of global banks for an intended IPO on an international stock exchange, as per media reports.

The banks appointed are J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, BofA Merrill Lynch, Absa Group Ltd, Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs International, and Standard Bank Group. This follows the recent subscription of shares in Airtel Africa by six leading global investors comprising Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel, SoftBank Group International, and others for an aggregate consideration of $1.25bn.

Earlier this month, Airtel Africa also announced its newly constituted Board of Directors that includes representatives from Bharti Airtel and investors. The new Board of Directors brings a wealth of industry and governance experience to further drive the Airtel Africa business.

The financial performance of Airtel Africa continues to improve, having turned positive in terms of net profit and operating free cash flow.

Airtel Africa Ltd is a Pan-African telecommunications company with operations in 14 countries across Africa. Airtel Africa is driven by the vision of providing affordable and innovative mobile services to all, and is supported in pursuing this vision by its largest shareholder, Bharti Airtel. Its product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless voice and data services and mobile commerce through “Airtel Money.”

Bharti Airtel Ltd is currently trading up 2.27% at Rs335.40 from its previous closing of Rs327.95 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs328.20 and has touched a high and low of Rs338.25 and Rs328.20 respectively. – IIFL