Airtel Uganda closes IPO

Airtel Uganda is closing its initial public offering (IPO) today – October 27, 2023 – and earlier this week announced it was more than doubling the incentive shares that it is giving to prospective shareholders.

Airtel said in a statement that this was in order to encourage participation in the IPO and promote allocation to Ugandan investors.

"The company is keen to promote broad ownership of our shares and welcomes the participation of investors. We are excited about our growth trajectory and have, at minimum, doubled the incentive shares available for all categories of investors to further enhance the attractiveness of our IPO," Manoj Murali, the MD of Airtel Uganda, said in a statement.

Airtel is selling 20% of its equity with the aim of raising 800 billion Ugandan shillings (US$213 million).

"The Airtel Uganda IPO is a landmark event in the country's capital markets and we have left no stone unturned to ensure a successful outcome," Murali added.

Airtel Uganda is floating 20% of its equity on the Uganda Securities Exchange in an aim to raise around US$213 million. (Source: Image by www.slon.pics on Freepik)

Both retail and institutional investors can now get a considerable discount on the total shares obtained through the IPO.

All investors who have previously applied for shares will also receive the revised incentive shares and IPO investors will be eligible for the first post-IPO dividend to be declared by the telco in November 2023.

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Uganda approved the incentive share structure this week.

IPO and listing details

The IPO officially closes at 16:00 EAT on October 27, 2023, and an announcement of the share allocation will happen at 16:00 EAT on November 6, 2023.

Airtel Uganda will officially begin trading on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) at 9:30 EAT on November 7, 2023.

At the end of August 2023, Airtel said that it would offer 8 billion shares through the IPO, with one share costing 100 Ugandan shillings (US$0.027). The minimum number of shares per application was 2,500 and thereafter in multiples of 500.

Rival operator MTN also listed on the USE back in December 2021.

MTN is the biggest mobile operator in Uganda with about 52.4% market share at the end of September 2023, according to statistics from market research company Omdia, a sister company of Connecting Africa.

Follow Connecting Africa on our new X account @connect__africa to get the latest telecoms and tech news across Africa.

Airtel is in close second with almost 45.5% market share while smaller operators Uganda Telecom and Lycamobile have about 2% market share between them.

The country's fifth operator, Africell, shut its business in Uganda in September 2021.

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*Top image source: Image by Freepik.

— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa