Airtel Africa Plc is racing against time to list its mobile money subsidiary, Airtel Mobile Commerce BV, on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to prevent a potential liability of $515 million from the minority shareholders.

The liability relates to an agreement that the telco and the minority shareholders of its mobile money unit (AMC BV) created in 2021.

The agreement, known as a “put option,” gives the minority shareholders the right -- but not an obligation -- to sell their shares to Airtel Africa or its affiliates in the event that the mobile money business fails to list on the British bourse through an initial public offering (IPO) within four years after the initial purchase of the shares.

The group says as at March 31, the potential put option liability reduced by $27 million to $515 million from $542 as at March 31, last year as a result of dividend distributions made during the year to the holders of the put option.“Any dividend paid to these shareholders is offset against the put option liability based on the terms of the put option arrangements. The potential cash liability (in the event that the put option is triggered) remains unchanged,” the group says.

AMC BV is 77.89 percent controlled by Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, while minority shareholders own 22.1 percent, the stakes they bought from Airtel Africa in 2021. These minority shareholders are the Rise Fund (8.05 percent) Qatar Holding Llc (8.05 percent), Mastercard (4.02 percent) and Chimetech Holding Ltd (1.96 percent).

Under the terms of the transaction, two minority investors, The Rise Fund and Mastercard Asia, have the option to sell their shares to Airtel Africa or its affiliates in limited circumstances.

These include a case where there is no IPO in AMC BV within four years of first close, or if there are changes of control without prior approval by the minority shareholders.

Airtel Africa had written a put option in favour of these investors to buy back their stock on fair value (subject to cap) at the end of 48 months from first close date, in the event of no IPO.

This sale would be made to provide liquidity to the minority investors and would be at fair market value, determined by a mutually agreed merchant bank using an agreed internationally accepted valuation methodology.

The lock-in agreements were put in place after a series of investments in Airtel's mobile money arm starting in 2021.

The funding from the minority investors totalling $550 million was part of Airtel Africa's strategy to monetise its mobile money business and reduce debt. The investments valued AMC BV at $2.65 billion.

The initial agreements effectively locked the minority investors in the mobile money subsidiary from July 2021 to July 2025, within which Airtel Africa aimed to explore the potential listing of the subsidiary.

In August 2025, Airtel Africa announced that it had agreed with the minority shareholders to delay selling their shares by 12 more months to allow the group to finalise plans to list the subsidiary on the LSE in early 2026.

The extended period elapses on July 31, 2026, and it remains to be seen whether Airtel Africa will have executed the IPO by then.

The group says preparations for the IPO are progressing well.“Over the past year, we have made good progress towards this objective, and, subject to market conditions, we intend to undertake an IPO in the second half of 2026,” the company says in its latest annual report (2026). “During the year (2025/2026) the company oversaw Board and leadership readiness activities in preparation for the potential Airtel Money IPO – including reviews of Board composition, succession planning and governance arrangements – and was satisfied that appropriate structures and processes are being implemented to support a successful listing.”

“Our strategy for Airtel Money is to revolutionise the financial services landscape in Africa. To this end, the Board remains focused on strategy, capital allocation, governance, risk and regulatory oversight.”Airtel Money now connects more than 54 million active customers to an inclusive digital financial ecosystem that supports everyday payments and access to essential services.

Airtel Africa operates across 14 markets with a combined population of 679 million who are underserved in essential voice, data and mobile money services.

In the year ending March 31, 2026, the group grew its customer base by 10.5 percent to 183.5 million, with particularly strong growth in the mobile money customer base from 21.3 percent to 54.1 million.

Mobile money revenue grew by 28.4 percent to $1.35 billion during the period.

© Copyright 2026 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).