Airtel Money Lands Biggest London IPO in Five Years as Paytech Debuts at £5.3 Billion

LONDON — Airtel Money kicked off conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange on Friday in the biggest initial public offering on the market in five years, a landmark test for the embattled City exchange amid a prolonged drought of new listings.

The mobile payments business, formally named Airtel Mobile Commerce NV, priced at £1.96 per share and was valued at approximately £5.3 billion, or around $7 billion. Existing shareholders including the Qatar Investment Authority and TPG Inc. sold 270 million shares, raising roughly £529 million ($700 million). The shares trade under the ticker symbol "AMC."

Shares rose as much as 2.1% above the offer price in early conditional dealings, according to NDTV Profit, with RTE and The Independent reporting the stock touched £2 before easing to £1.94 within the first hour — a muted start to what the group's chief executive called "a landmark moment."

"Today is a landmark moment for Airtel Money," CEO Ian Ferrao said in a statement. "Our listing in London marks an important new chapter for our business and reflects what we have built across Africa and the significant opportunity ahead."

The offering marks the largest on the London market since the flotation of fintech Wise in 2021, and is thought to make Airtel Money the first large African fintech to list on a global stock exchange. The company has been spun off from separately listed FTSE 100 firm Airtel Africa, a leading telecoms provider that is part of Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises.

**Over-subscribed offering**

Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder of Airtel and founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, described the listing as "a vote of confidence in the UK as an attractive global destination for investment," citing a "stable business and policy environment attractive for long-term investors." He pointed to the over-subscription of the offering as evidence of appetite in the UK market "for high-quality investable assets."

The IPO adds to Bharti's existing UK interests, including a strategic stake in BT announced in 2024, a shareholding in Eutelsat alongside the UK government, and the Gleneagles resort in Scotland. Airtel Africa listed in London in 2019, with Mittal noting the same conditions made London "the obvious choice for this new listing in 2026."

Airtel Africa is not selling existing Airtel Money shares in the offering and expects to remain a long-term strategic shareholder, supporting the paytech's next phase as an independently listed business. The majority shareholder participated only in the sale of up to 27 million extra shares under an over-allotment option, which could bring the total raised to £582 million. Business Standard reported that Mastercard Inc. may also sell additional shares through the same over-allotment option.

International Finance Corp has agreed to buy up to £67.2 million of shares from existing shareholders at the offer price as part of a cornerstone investment agreement.

**Market backdrop**

According to Business Standard, Airtel Money twice lowered its valuation expectations and marketed shares at a fixed price rather than the customary range, opting to proceed at a volatile time for new listings with several candidates in Europe and the US postponing offerings. Bloomberg-compiled data cited by the outlet confirms it as London's largest first-time offering since 2021.

London has experienced a prolonged shortage of first-time share sales — a drought set to enter its sixth year, per Business Standard — which has extended across Europe. While the city entered the year with a strong pipeline of prospective IPOs, many plans were delayed by choppy markets or preparation time. The LSE has created a new segment for secondary listings from international firms, and FTSE Russell has made it easier for foreign companies to access UK benchmarks.

**The business**

Airtel Money is used by around 53 million people across Africa to make payments, pay bills, withdraw cash and access other money services. Its biggest business is digital wallets, which enable users to store and transfer money and access loans and savings accounts. Operating through a network of branches and kiosks across 14 African nations, it generated revenues of around $1.4 billion (£1.1 billion) in the last financial year. Business Standard reported the company processed $213 billion in the 12 months through June.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at the Wealth Club, called the IPO a "much-needed win for the London market," noting that while the £5.3 billion valuation was lower than first mooted, it shows "London can still provide a launchpad for ambitious start-ups and spin-offs to take the leap into public markets."

"The real test now will be next week when we'll see whether more investors are prepared to back its growth story," Streeter added.

Conditional dealings began Friday with only investors allocated shares in the offering able to participate; unconditional dealings and full admission to trading are scheduled to commence on October 14.