Airtel Money Targets Up to $9 Billion Valuation in London IPO

Airtel Money is heading to the London Stock Exchange, with existing shareholders targeting at least $800 million from an IPO that could value the African payments business at up to $9 billion.

Airtel Africa confirmed the plan on Wednesday, announcing that Airtel Money intends to float on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. The listing would separate the payments business from Airtel Africa's wider telecoms operations and give Airtel Money its own publicly traded shares.

The numbers have come down from the company's earlier ambitions. Airtel Money was previously reported to be considering a raise of up to $1.5 billion, alongside a valuation of around $10 billion. The latest target is at least $800 million, with the business seeking a valuation of between $8 billion and $9 billion, according to Reuters.

The IPO will be a secondary offering, so Airtel Money itself will not receive the proceeds. Existing shareholders will sell part of their holdings to public investors, with Airtel Africa currently holding 77.85% of the business and minority investors including Mastercard, TPG and Qatar Investment Authority holding the remainder.

Airtel Africa is expected to sell some of its shares but remain the majority owner after the listing.

Airtel Money's scale

The business had 54.1 million active customers at the end of March 2026 and generated $1.35 billion in revenue during the financial year. Across the same period, it processed more than $195 billion in transactions.

That volume has continued to rise. In the 12 months to June, Airtel Money processed about $213 billion in transactions and generated $676 million in EBITDA.

Its product range has also expanded beyond the mobile wallet that helped establish the service. Customers can use Airtel Money for transfers, merchant payments, savings, credit, insurance and other financial services across Airtel Africa's markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

The network behind those services includes about 2.4 million mobile money agents, according to Airtel Africa's March figures.

Why London?

London was not Airtel Money's only option.

The company had considered a listing in the Middle East before geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions disrupted those plans. Its IPO was subsequently pushed from the first half of 2026 into the second half of the year.

The final choice also puts Airtel Money on the same exchange where Airtel Africa listed in 2019.

CEO Ian Ferrao said the listing would support the company's expansion of financial services across Africa, pointing to the demographic and digital growth across its markets.

Airtel Money's proposed valuation would make it one of the larger new listings on the London market in recent years, at a time when the exchange has been working to attract more international companies.

The listing timeline

Airtel Money expects to publish its prospectus in early October, setting out the indicative price range and further details of the offer. Final pricing is expected later that month following the book-building process.

The company expects at least 10% of its shares to be held by public investors after the IPO. The International Finance Corporation has also agreed to invest up to £67.2 million, about $90 million, as a cornerstone investor, subject to the final offer price and other conditions.

Once listed, Airtel Money will trade as a separate public company while Airtel Africa remains its majority shareholder.