African telecoms operator Helios Towers has rekindled plans to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
In March last year, the company ditched its bid to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in London which was expected to value the business at about £2 billion. No reasons were given for the decision.
In a statement, Helios Towers said it is looking to raise $125 million through the issuance of new shares, in addition to the sale of existing shares by shareholders including the International Finance Corporation and telecom firms Millicom and Bharti Airtel.
Helios Towers operates telecom masts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania.
Kash Pandya, CEO of Helios Towers said: “The sub-Saharan Africa telecommunications market is and will continue to be one of the most exciting and high growth in the world.
“The underlying demographic and macro-economic trends are compelling: a young, growing and increasingly urbanised population whose demand for high quality mobile voice and data services continues unabated, which is being further fuelled by expansion of 3G and 4G services and one day 5G services; and GDP growth that across our markets is expected to be 4.5 % per annum to 2024.”
For the year ended 31 December 2018 and the six months ended 30 June 2019, 86.7%. and 86.5% of the Helios’ group’s revenue, respectively, was attributable to MNO operating subsidiaries of five of the largest MNO holding companies in sub-Saharan Africa (Airtel, MTN, Orange, Tigo and Vodacom.