Airtel Africa is exploring taking its mobile money unit public, with a most likely valuation surpassing $4 billion, in step with a brand contemporary Bloomberg file. Talks of the IPO are in preliminary phases and the firm could maybe maybe well also judge towards going public.
Airtel Money is Airtel Africa’s fastest-rising arm. Whereas Airtel’s 2023 income plunged by almost Ninety nine%—recording $2 million in income when compared with the $523 million it made in 2022—due to forex devaluation, Airtel mobile money recorded a 31.8% earnings growth.
In 2021, Airtel hinted at a that you will more than most likely be in a location to evaluate public offering for its fintech arm within just a few years, after receiving investments from TPG—$200 million—and Mastercard—$100 million—valuing the unit at $2.65 billion.
The telco presently affords its mobile money services and products in 14 African worldwide locations. In Nigeria, it competes with MTN Momo, while it’s dwarfed by competition from Kenya’s mobile money extensive, M-Pesa. Final year, it obtained approval to permit customers to transact up to KES 500,000 ($3,400) up from KES 300,000 ($2,085) which it used to be beforehand allowed to manufacture.
Airtel’s planned mobile money IPO follows a construction of funding in African mobile mobile money suppliers. Two years after its $100 million funding in Airtel Money, Mastercard received a minor stake in MTN’s mobile money arm.