LONDON—Airtel Africa said Mastercard will invest $100 million in its wholly owned subsidiary Airtel Mobile Commerce (AMC) BV.
On completion of the deal, Mastercard will hold a minority stake of 3.75% in AMC BV, while Airtel Africa will continue to be the majority stake owner.
The transaction values Airtel Africa’s mobile money business at $2.65 billion on a cash and debt free basis, the company said.
AMC BV is currently the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations and is intended to own and operate the mobile money businesses across all of Airtel Africa’s fourteen operating countries, The Hindu reported.
“Alongside the investment, the Group and Mastercard have extended commercial agreements and signed a new commercial framework which will deepen their partnerships across numerous geographies and areas including card issuance, payment gateway, payment processing, merchant acceptance and remittance solutions, amongst others,” Airtel Africa said.
The proceeds from the transaction will be used to reduce group debt and invest in network and sales infrastructure in the respective operating countries, Airtel Africa said.