The Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Airtel Africa is open. Airtel Africa Limited, a unit of India’s Bharti Airtel Limited intends to list its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at the same time as the London Stock Exchange (NSE).
Pursuant to the Global Offer and the Nigerian Offer, the Company is offering sufficient Offer Shares to raise a fixed amount of gross proceeds of approximately $750 million in the Offer including any proceeds from the Nigerian Offer, assuming the over-allotment option is exercised in full.
Any decision to invest in the securities should be based on consideration of the Prospectus as a whole by the investor.
The Offer Prospectus seen by BusinessDay shows the Offer price ranges (per Ordinary Share) is 80 pence to 100 pence which is equivalent of N363 to N454.
The ordinary shares to be issued are 3.081billion units; while the estimated net proceeds of the Offer receivable by the Company is $646.818million.
The official announcement of Offer Price, Offer Size, publication of the Pricing Statement and allocation of Ordinary Shares will be done on June 28, 2019.
The allotment of new Ordinary Shares to the shareholders will be done on June 29, 2019, while the crediting of Ordinary Shares to accounts will be on July 3, 2019.
The Nigerian Admission and start of unconditional dealings on The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will be on July 4, 2019.
The Offer Price will be stated in pounds sterling and Naira. On the last practicable date prior to publication of the Prospectus, the Offer was priced at £1 which is equivalent to $1.26.
For the purposes of the Nigerian Admission, the Offer Price shall be stated in its Naira equivalent.
The currency of issue of Offer Shares sold pursuant to the Nigerian Offer shall be Naira. The Offer Price for Offer Shares sold pursuant to the
Nigerian Offer shall be determined by reference to the £: US$ last practicable date prior to pricing and may therefore differ from the indicative range set out herein.
Barclays Securities Nigeria Limited and Quantum Zenith Capital & Investments Limited are the Nigerian Joint Issuing Houses while Greenwich Securities Limited and Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Limited are the Nigerian Receiving Agents.
J.P. Morgan Securities plc is the Sponsor, Joint Global Co-ordinator and Joint Bookrunner to the Offer; while Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Merrill Lynch International are the Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners.
Absa Bank Limited, Barclays Bank Plc, BNP PARIBAS, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC Bank plc, and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited are the Joint Bookrunners to the Airtel offer.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is the English and US legal advisers to the Company. AZB & Partners is the Indian legal advisers to the Company, while Abdullahi Ibrahim & Co is the Nigerian legal advisers to the Company.
Olaniwun Ajayi LP is the Nigerian legal advisers to the Managers; Zenith Bank Plc is the Receiving Bank, while the Registrars branch in Nigeria is United Securities Limited.
Nigerian Joint Stockbrokers are Barclays Stockbrokers Nigeria Limited, Quantum Zenith Securities & Investments Limited, and Chapel Hill Denham Securities Limited.
As at 31 December 2018, the Group was the second largest mobile operator in Africa by number of active subscribers, according to Ovum.
The Group’s footprint is well-diversified, serving an aggregate of 98.9 million subscribers and 14.2 million mobile money customers across its footprint as at 31 March 2019.
Nigeria represents the Group’s largest single country subscriber base, comprising 37.6percent of the Group’s total subscribers as at 31 March 2019, with 43.4percent of subscribers in East Africa and the remaining 19.1percent in the Group’s Rest of Africa segment.
In the year ended 31 March 2019, revenue in Nigeria was $1,106 million (representing 35.9percent of the Group’s revenue in the year) and Underlying EBITDA was $550 million.
In the year ended 31 March 2019, revenue in East Africa was $1.102billion (representing 35.8percent of the Group’s revenue in the year) and underlying Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $442 million. In the year ended 31 March 2019, revenue in rest of Africa was $888 million (representing 28.9percent of the Group’s revenue in the year) and Underlying EBITDA was $339 million.
