Airtel Africa Plc has announced the commencement of its share buy-back programme, further to its announcement on 1 February 2024 following the publication of its nine-month results ended 31 December 2023.
The share buy-back will commence today and will return up to $100 million to shareholders over a period of up to 12 months.
The share buy-back programme is expected to be phased over two tranches, with the first tranche commencing today and anticipated to end on or before 31 August 2024. The first tranche will amount to a maximum of $50 million. The Company has entered into an agreement with Citigroup Global Markets Limited (“Citi”) to conduct the first tranche of the buy-back and carry out on-market purchases of its ordinary shares with the Company subsequently purchasing its ordinary shares from Citi. Under this agreement, Citi will act as riskless principal and will make decisions independently of the Company.
The sole purpose of the buy-back programme is to reduce the capital of the Company. As such, all shares purchased under the buy-back programme will be cancelled.
This buy-back programme reflects the significant progress made in recent years to reduce leverage and strengthen the Company’s balance sheet. In light of the cash accretion at the holding company level, the current leverage and the consistent strong operating cash generation, the Company is well positioned to undertake this share buy-back to enhance shareholder returns which is consistent with its existing capital allocation policy.