Airtel Africa completes pre-IPO placement with six investors, rakes in $1.25 billion

Bharti Airtel’s Africa unit has concluded the pre-initial public offering (IPO) placement of shares with six global investors, including Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel and SoftBank Group International, and has raised $1.25 billion (Rs 92 billion), which will be used to pare debt. After the pre-IPO primary share issue, Bharti Airtel’s stake in its Africa unit will come down to around 65 per cent. The company earlier held 92-93 per cent in Airtel Africa. The $1.25 billion placement is part of a two-stage fundraising exercise. The second stage will be an IPO of Airtel Africa through which the company is likely to raise a similar sum.