Airtel Excludes Lucrative Airtel money from it’s public offer on the stock market

Airtel Uganda has listed 8 billion out of its total shares of 40 billion on the stock market, however, its prospectus which is available on their website states that the shares do not include Airtel Money which is considered the cash cow of the telecom company given its profitability.According to the prospectus, the Offer seeks to enhance the Company’s profile across the continent and establish a source of future capital to support its extensive growth strategy. “By living our value of customer-centricity, the Offer gives preference to Ugandan investors to own a share in the Company and participate in its future growth. The Offer and the Listing will also enable the Company to satisfy the provisions of the NTO Licence and contribute to the expansion of the Ugandan capital markets” the Prospectus states. Under Article 16 of the NTO Licence, the Company is obliged to comply with the sector policy, regulations and guidelines requiring the listing of part of its shares on the USE. However, section 5.5 of the prospectus reveals that on 18 June 2021, Airtel Uganda executed an Asset Transfer Agreement with Airtel Mobile Commerce Uganda Limited (“AMCUL” or “Airtel Mobile Commerce”) to separate the mobile commerce business (“Airtel Money Services”) from the core telecommunication business of Airtel Uganda. “The Airtel Money Services business is not included in the Airtel Uganda Initial Public Offer.

The transfer of the Airtel Money Services business to AMCUL was done in order to comply with a legal requirement under the National Payment Systems Act, 2020 (“National Payment Systems Act”) to segregate mobile commerce business from the core telecommunications business” The Prospectus adds.Airtel Mobile Commerce is a private limited liability company registered under the laws of Uganda. Its registration number is 80010003488648.

Airtel Mobile Commerce is duly licenced under the National Payment Systems Act to provide mobile commerce services in Uganda. AMCUL complies with Section 48 (1) of the National Payment Systems Act which requires a payment service provider other than an entity solely established to issue electronic money to establish a subsidiary legal entity or an entity for that purpose.The Company was duly incorporated in Uganda on 17 July 1992, with a share capital of UGX 5,000,000 divided into 50,000 shares with a par value of UGX 100 each. Since incorporation, the share capital of the Company has undergone various changes and below is a summary setting out the most material changes subsequent to 2008.From the revelations on the trnsactions with Airtel Mobile Commerce, its evident that Airtel offer only comprises voice and data, with the exclusion of the lucrative Airtel Money portfiolio.Based on the projected financial information contained in Section 13 (Reporting Accountants Report) of the Full Prospectus, the Company expects to pay a total dividend of approximately UGX 500 billion for the financial year ended 31 December 2023, comprised of quarterly payments.

The dividend paid in respect of the first quarter amounts to UGX 99,264 million UGX and 38,080 million in respect of the second quarter.