Airtel Money began conditional trading in London on Thursday at a £5.3 billion valuation, the largest listing on the exchange since Wise in 2021, though shares slipped below their £1.96 offer price within the first hour. The African mobile-payments business, spun off from FTSE 100 telecoms group Airtel Africa, rose as much as 2p above the offer before easing to £1.94, a move that coincided with the start of conditional dealing restricted to investors allocated shares in the offering.
The spin-off and the stake
Airtel Africa, part of Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises, retained its majority holding and participated only in the over-allotment option, saying it plans to remain a long-term strategic shareholder. Existing shareholders sold 270 million shares for roughly £529 million, with an additional 27 million shares available through the over-allotment facility bringing the total raised to £582 million. International Finance Corp agreed to purchase up to £67.2 million of stock from those sellers at the offer price as a cornerstone investor.
The numbers behind the offer
The business serves roughly 53 million users across 14 African countries, operating digital wallets that store and transfer money and provide access to loans and savings accounts through a network of branches and kiosks. Revenue reached about $1.4 billion in the last financial year. Bharti founder Sunil Bharti Mittal framed the listing as a vote of confidence in the UK’s stable business and policy environment, citing the group’s other British bets including a strategic stake in BT announced in 2024, a shareholding in Eutelsat alongside the UK government, and ownership of the Gleneagles resort in Scotland.
What the market is watching
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at the Wealth Club, noted the valuation came in below earlier expectations but called the flotation a much-needed win for a London market starved of new listings. Unconditional trading begins on October 14, when the broader investor base can participate and the real test of demand for an African fintech story on a UK exchange will begin.