Sunil Mittal’s Airtel plans Uganda’s biggest IPO to raise $216 million

By Fred Ojambo and Helen Nyambura

Airtel Uganda Ltd. plans to raise as much as 800 billion shillings ($216 million) in an initial public offering, making it the nation’s biggest share sale.

 

The company priced its IPO at 100 shillings apiece valuing the nation’s second-biggest telecommunications carrier at 4 trillion shillings. The unit of billionaire Sunil Mittal’s Airtel Africa Plc is selling a 20 per cent stake, or 8 billion shares, on the Uganda Securities Exchange to fulfill a regulatory requirement.

The offer opens on Wednesday and closes on Oct. 13, according to a prospectus released in the capital, Kampala, on Tuesday. The company will start trading on the exchange on Oct. 31.

Uganda has asked telecommunications companies to sell at least 20 per cent on its bourse to increase local shareholding and deepen its capital markets. If Airtel Uganda reaches its IPO target, it will become Uganda’s biggest company by market value. 

MTN Uganda Ltd., which listed in 2021, is worth 3.8 trillion shillings. Its IPO was under-subscribed and it raised $150 million, about two-thirds of the target amount. Its share has lost 15 per cent from the 200 shilling offer price.

Absa Bank Uganda Ltd. is the lead transaction adviser to the IPO, while Crested Capital is the lead sponsoring broker.