Airtel Money begins London trading at £5.3 billion valuation

Airtel Money began conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange on October 9. Its IPO price of £1.96 per share valued the mobile payments business at approximately £5.3 billion.

Minority shareholders offered 270 million existing shares, making the base offering worth £529.2 million at the agreed price. Selling investors include the Qatar Investment Authority and Mastercard. Proceeds from the sale of these shares go to existing owners.

The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group, received about 34 million shares for £67.2 million. UK retail investors were allocated eight million shares through Retail Book. Airtel Money shares trade under the ticker AMC.

The payments service has more than 50 million customers. Its parent, Airtel Africa, listed in London in July 2019 and is majority-owned by Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal's Bharti Enterprises.

Chief executive Ian Ferrao described the listing as a new stage for the business. The company plans to expand access to financial services for people and businesses across Africa. Airtel previously said its expected free float would make it eligible for FTSE index inclusion. The flotation itself does not automatically place the company in the FTSE 100.