Airtel Money Debuts in London in Possible Biggest IPO in Five Years
Airtel Money, the mobile-money arm of FTSE 100 group Airtel Africa, begins trading in London this morning after pricing at £1.96 a share. Airtel Africa itself is not selling.
Airtel Money began conditional trading on the London Main Market at 8.00am today after pricing its offer at £1.96 a share. Bloomberg says the listing may mark London’s biggest IPO in five years. Parent Airtel Africa (LON: AAF), the telecoms and mobile-money group operating in 14 African markets, is not selling.
Airtel Africa shares closed yesterday at 309.6p on 6.9m shares traded, so they have yet to react to the debut. That is about 13% below their close on the 17th of September, though inside a 291.6p to 318.4p range since the 30th of September. The 52-week range is 218.96p to 436.16p.
Conditional dealings are early trading before official admission, with trades unwinding if admission fails. The sale was by existing shareholders, including sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority and US private-equity firm TPG, according to Bloomberg. Airtel Africa set out its own position in a stock exchange statement.
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Airtel Africa is not selling existing Airtel Money shares in the Offer and is expected to remain a long-term strategic shareholder and to support Airtel Money’s next phase of development as an independently listed business.
Airtel Africa plc
Bloomberg reported that 270m shares were sold at £1.96, raising about £529m ($700m) and valuing Airtel Mobile Commerce N.V., the Airtel Money company, at about £5.3bn.
PA Media reported that Airtel Money had about 53m users and revenue of about $1.4bn (£1.1bn) in its last financial year. It said the International Finance Corp, the World Bank Group’s private-sector lender, agreed to buy up to £67.2m of shares as a cornerstone investor, meaning a large investor committed before the IPO. A further 27m shares could be sold under an over-allotment option, extra stock released if demand is strong.
Airtel Africa shares over the past 12 months to yesterday’s close; marker shows the 1st of October offer-price announcement.
PA described the debut as thought to be the biggest London flotation since Wise in 2021. This year has brought only a handful of IPOs after a spurt at the end of 2025, including Princes Group and Shawbrook.
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Admission to the Official List and unconditional dealings in Airtel Money are expected at 8.00am next Wednesday.
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