Airtel Money targets up to $9 billion valuation in London IPO, FT reports

Sept 22 (Reuters) - Airtel Africa's Airtel Money is expected to file for a London initial public offering as early as Wednesday, targeting a valuation of $8 billion to $9 billion, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing two people briefed on the plans.

Airtel Africa did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours.

• The company is looking to raise at least $800 million from investors, FT said.

• Airtel Money's owners were considering scaling back the IPO from the previously targeted $1.5 billion to $2 billion range, Bloomberg News reported last week.

• Airtel Africa in July picked the London Stock Exchange for the listing of its mobile money business.

• In May, the Africa-focused telecoms group pushed back Airtel Money's planned IPO to the second half of the year amid cost-related pressures arising from the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran. Several other firms have also delayed their IPOs as the war drives market volatility.

• Airtel Africa had earlier planned to list Airtel Money in the first half of 2026. The unit is its third-largest revenue segment.

(Reporting by Sathvi G Bhat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Jonathan Ananda)