Sunil Mittal plans IPO for Airtel Africa

The Indian entrepreneur and founder of Bharti Airtel, has announced plans for an initial public offering (IPO) of the telecommunication firm’s Africa operations.

Mittal is considering a US$8bn float for Airtel Africa, the Sunday Telegraph reported, and has selected eight global banks to work on the listing.

The businessman is working with the Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise for the lusting later this year.

Mittal is also seeking a communications company to manage the float of the company which currently operates in 15 markets across the continent.

SEE ALSO:

• Helios Towers aims to list on London Stock Exchange

• Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa considers IPO

• Airtel selects UBS, JP Morgan, and Citi to manage IPO of its Africa business

• Read the latest issue of Business Chief, Africa edition, here

The IPO would be the largest on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) since 2017, when Allied Irish Bank listed for £12bn.

LSE, one of the oldest stock exchanges in the world, has had its slowest start to the year since the financial crisis, linked to Brexit.

Airtel Africa received $1.25bn in October last year from a six-member consortium, which included Japan’s Softbank. Last week, Qatar Investment Authority injected $200mn into the business.