Airtel Africa consummated a buyback of minority shareholding of its Nigerian unit, the wireless and mobile money operator said Thursday.
The further purchase of 8.22 per cent stake in Airtel Nigeria has upped the telco’s total holding in its biggest African subsidiary to 99.96 per cent, according to a regulatory filing.
That compares with a target of 8.27 per cent announced by Airtel in early October, which it estimated to cost N61.24 billion at an exchange rate of N413.38.
The latest acquisition was priced N61 billion or $147 million at the rate of N415.07 to a US dollar, Airtel said.
Last month, Nigeria’s third most capitalised company got approvals-in-principle from the central bank to run a payment service bank and also operate as a super-agent in the country’s thriving agency banking space.
Airtel, whose mobile money business is valued at $2.65 billion on the continent, has a presence in fourteen African countries.
On Thursday, Reuters reported its parent company New Delhi-based Bharti Airtel is holding negotiation talks with broadcast satellite service provider Dish TV India Limited with a view to buying a majority interest in the latter.
