Airtel Africa Plc has told its Nigerian shareholders that it intends to use an Initial Public Offering to offer local investors a 20% stake in its Ugandan subsidiary, Airtel Uganda Limited.
The telecommunications firm informed the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday that this would entail the sale of 8 billion common shares of the domestic entity.
Part of the disclosure stated, “The offer is expected to result in meaningful local ownership of Airtel Uganda Limited, with preference to be given to Ugandan investors, and to contribute to the development of the capital markets in Uganda.”
In addition to being a significant participant in the telecommunications sector, Airtel Africa also offers mobile money services and is present in 14 African nations, with Nigeria serving as its principal market.
Airtel Africa’s stock is traded in Nigeria as well as on the London Stock Exchange. In 2019, it debuted on the Nigerian stock exchange.
The company announced that it has the Capital Markets Authority of Uganda’s blessing and would soon publish the prospectus.
It did specify, nevertheless, that the public offering and the listing of the shares in Uganda should be completed before the year is out.
“The Uganda Communications Commission has set a deadline of December 16, 2023, for meeting this requirement to list [the stocks],” the announcement added.
According to the filing, Katende Ssempebwa and Company Advocates have been selected as the Lead Transaction Advisor, with Absa Bank Uganda Limited serving as the Lead Sponsoring Broker.
