Airtel Money confirmed the final terms of its London IPO on Friday, paving the way for one of the City's largest listings in recent years.

The African mobile payments group is set to debut with a market value of about £5.3bn, with the offering expected to raise up to £582m and becoming London's biggest IPO since Wise listed in 2021 and one of its biggest in decades.

According to AJ Bell, the London listing has attracted strong demand from retail investors, making it one of the UK’s biggest IPOs in the past 30 years and raising hopes of renewed interest in the domestic stock market.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: “Airtel Money is the fifth biggest company by market value to float on the London Stock Exchange, excluding those on the International Main Market. Its £5.3bn valuation is big enough to grab a place in the FTSE 100 index.

“The long line of retail investors who applied to buy shares in the offer sends a positive signal that the UK stock market is not slowly fading away. If anything, Airtel Money’s IPO suggests the UK could now be waking up from its slumber.

Conditional trading began this morning, with full admission expected on 14 October.

Airtel Africa, which owns 77.85% of the business, is not selling existing shares in the IPO and intends to remain a long-term strategic shareholder, the company said when it first announced plans to float on the LSE. The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group, has agreed to buy up to £67.2m of shares at the final offer price, subject to customary conditions.

Airtel Money operates across African markets, offering digital wallets, payments, money transfers, savings, insurance and lending. It had around 53 million monthly active users at the end of June 2026, with transaction values reaching $213bn in the 12 months to June. The business generated $1.346bn in revenue in the year to March 2026.

Among potential future listings, there is the possibility of Superdrug parent AS Watson pursuing a dual London and Hong Kong listing, while book retailer Waterstones has also been linked with a potential IPO. Spanish miner Abenojar Tungsten is preparing to join the UK market by the end of the year, with production targeted for 2029.

---