African subsidiary of Airtel appoints top banks for international IPO

Telecom major Bharti Airtel's subsidiary Airtel Africa has appointed multinational banks Absa Group, Barclays Bank, BofA Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Standard Bank for its intended IPO on an international stock exchange.

Earlier, six leading global investors including Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel, SoftBank Group International subscribed to the shares of Airtel Africa for US$1.25 billion, leading to a reconstitution of its board. This IPO is in-line with the company's monetization efforts to unlock value of its assets.

Airtel Africa Limited providers telecommunications services in 14 countries across Africa. The company is the second biggest telecom company in Africa. The company offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless voice and data services and mobile-based transaction through Airtel Money. Bharti Airtel holds majority stake in the company. On the financial front, for Q2FY18, Airtel Africa reported a YoY growth in revenue of 10.8 per cent in constant currency term. The increase in revenue was led by growth in data and Airtel Money transactions

Meanwhile, on Monday's morning trade, Bharti Airtel was quoting Rs. 332.90 per share, up by Rs. 4.95 or 1.51 per cent on BSE, when the BSE Sensex was at 35,019.28, up by 38.26 points or 0.11 per cent.