Airtel Malawi IPO closes tomorrow
The investing public has until the close of business tomorrow to buy 2.2 billion shares of Airtel Malawi, to enable them have stake in the telecommunications firm.
The firm is offering the shares at K12.69 each. The shares will then be listed on 14-counter Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) on February 24 this year.
Market watchers say the offer represents Malawi’s largest initial public offering (IPO)—the first time a company publicly sales shares of its stock on the open market—in the history of MSE listing.
Airtel Malawi is offering 20 percent shareholding in the telecommunications business through an offer to sell 1.6 billion shares or 15 percent, and an over-allotment option of 550 million shares, representing five percent.
In a recent interview, Airtel Malawi managing director Charles Kamoto stressed that the telecommunications firm is a profitable entity with a 54 percent market share.
“The underlying business is strong, delivering good profitability over time,” he said.
Kamoto said the net liability position is not a concern as Airtel has in place undrawn committed facilities totalling K22 billion, free cash flows and funds from the sale of the 90 towers at K5.9 billion.
In an interview during pre-listing cocktail in Blantyre two weeks ago, Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Governor Dalitso Kabambe said the listing will bring a number of advantages to the company as well as the country’s capital market. Standard Bank of Malawi plc, lead advisers of the transaction, said the listing of Airtel Malawi presents a unique asset to the local shares market that will broaden the assets that investors can buy into.
