The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has relied on the Cross Border Secondary Listing (CBSL) of 3,758,151,504 ordinary shares of Airtel Africa Plc on Tuesday, to announce Airtel’s shares listing at an offer price of N363 per ordinary share on the Main Board of NSE and at 80 pence per ordinary share on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, the primary listing exchange.
Industry pundits say the completion of the listing process has catapulted the telecom group to become the third most valued stock after Dangote and MTN Nigeria Plc.
This is coming less than one week after the initial hiccups over omission of a veiled step in the process of listing on the NSE which happened last week. Recall that Airtel was originally billed to be listed late last week on the Exchange.
Accordingly, the listing of the company’s shares has added N1.36Tn to the market capitalization of The Exchange, further deepening the Nigerian capital market. It will also increase the visibility of Airtel Africa to investors on the continent and across the globe.
Business Hilights gathered that Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, is the holding company of Airtel Networks Limited (Airtel Nigeria) and thirteen (13) other subsidiaries in Africa.
They include Airtel Congo S.A., Airtel Gabon S.A., Celtel Niger S.A., Airtel Congo RDC S.A. (DRC). Airtel Tanzania Plc, Airtel Networks Zambia Plc, Airtel Networks Kenya Limited, Airtel Tchad S.A., Airtel Madagascar S.A, Airtel Malawi Limited, Airtel Rwanda Limited, Airtel Uganda Limited and Airtel (Seychelles) Limited.
Reacting to the consummated deal, Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, commended Airtel Africa Plc for taking the bold step to list on the Exchange.
In his submission, “Listing on the Exchange reaffirms Airtel Africa’s long-term commitment to expanding opportunities and providing everyday services to Africans and Nigerians in particular. It also indicates the firm’s belief that our platform, which has a total market capitalization of N25.20Tn across various asset classes, remains a veritable avenue for raising capital and enabling sustainable national growth. This listing serves to deepen the telecoms and technology sector for investors and provides an opportunity for a wider group of Nigerians to be part of the African telecoms growth story”.
Onyema averred further that “Today’s listing is a promising development in Africa with Airtel Africa being the second company to have its ordinary shares listed on both the London Stock Exchange and The Nigerian Stock Exchange. This gives credence to the successful partnership between the two exchanges. I encourage similar situated companies to explore the different opportunities for raising capital on the Exchange’s platform.”
In his address, the Managing Director/CEO, Airtel Nigeria Plc, Segun Ogunsanya, said Airtel Nigeria is pound to be listed both on London Exchange and the NSE so as to encourage Africans to become part owners of the leading telecom giant.
