Airtel Money began conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange on Friday 9 October at 1.96 pounds per share, a transaction that values the African digital financial services platform at 5.3 billion pounds, or about 7 billion dollars.
The offer covers 270 million existing shares sold by minority shareholders. Mastercard Asia Pacific can add up to 27 million under the over-allotment option. If this option is exercised in full, the placement will reach 582 million pounds and represent about 11% of Airtel Money's share capital at the time of its admission.
Airtel Money announced on 14 October the admission of its 2.7 billion shares to the Official List of the FCA and to unconditional trading on the London main market, under the symbol AMC, from 8 o'clock that day, London time. This step follows the conditional trading that opened on 9 October.
The transaction does not amount to a conventional capital increase. The shares sold are already held by existing investors, so the proceeds of the offer go to the sellers rather than directly to Airtel Money. Issued capital comprises 2.7 billion shares, each carrying one vote, according to the regulatory announcement of 14 October.
The International Finance Corporation received 34,285,714 shares, for an investment of 67.2 million pounds. This allocation covers the full commitment made by the subsidiary of the World Bank Group as an anchor investor.
Eight million of the 270 million shares sold were allocated to UK retail investors. Strong demand did not prevent the stock from falling below its offer price on Friday 9 October, trading at 1.93 pounds at the time of Reuters' market snapshot, after reaching 2 pounds early in the session.
The company, the selling shareholders and the directors will be subject to lock-up periods after the listing. They are set at 180 days for the company and the sellers, and 365 days for directors, subject to exceptions provided for in the transaction documents.