Telecoms firm Airtel Africa Ltd is mulling an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange to raise money to cut net debt.
The group, which is Africa’s second largest mobile operator and is owned by Bharti Airtel of India, said it was considering a premium listing in London in which at least 25% of its shares would be freely floated.
Airtel could raise up to US$1bn in the float that could value the business at around $5bn, according to Reuters.
It is also looking at a potential listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
The company provides traditional mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money through its Airtel Money brand.
In October, the group raised US$1.25bn in an initial round of pre-IPO funding and a further US$200mln in January.
“With the recent equity investments into the business by globally recognised long-term investors, we believe that Airtel Africa is in a strong position to build its own capital market profile, allowing others to join us in a real business success story,” said Airtel Africa chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal.
In the year to the end of March 2019, the group generated revenue of about US$3bn and underlying earnings (EBITDA) of US$1.3bn.
Airtel operates in 14 countries in Africa, serving 98.9mln subscribers and 14.2mln mobile money customers as of March 31.
J.P. Morgan Securities would be the sole sponsor of the IPO. BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and JPMorgan have been engaged as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. Absa Group, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC and The Standard Bank of South Africa will act as joint bookrunners if the offer proceeds.