IPO Radar: Airtel Money, Smarter Web Company, Roundhouse AI
London has an unusually interesting few days ahead, with a £5.3 billion mobile-payments business, a high-yielding Bitcoin-linked preferred share and an AI infrastructure company all heading towards the...
London has an unusually interesting few days ahead, with a £5.3 billion mobile-payments business, a high-yielding Bitcoin-linked preferred share and an AI infrastructure company all heading towards the market. The three deals could hardly be more different, which is precisely why they are worth watching.
Airtel Money Airtel Money is about to give London’s moribund IPO market its biggest test in five years. The mobile-payments arm of Airtel Africa LON:AAF has priced its shares at £1.96, valuing the company at about £5.3 billion ($7 billion). Existing shareholders are selling 270 million shares, with a further 27 million available under an over-allotment option; Airtel Africa itself will remain the majority shareholder.
The timing is now firmly established. The UK retail offer closes at 5pm today, 8 October, with results expected tomorrow. Conditional trading is expected to start on October 9, followed by full, unconditional dealings at 8am on 14 October 14.
UK investors can apply through participating RetailBook brokers and platforms, with a £250 minimum. The attraction is easy to see. Airtel Money has 53 million monthly active customers across 13 African countries, while revenue reached $1.3 billion and adjusted earnings of $676 million in the year to March.
This isn’t a loss-making fintech hopeful: it is an established payments business benefiting from Africa’s shift from cash towards mobile money. There is also a symbolic element. London has struggled badly to attract large new listings, so a successful £5.3 billion flotation would be a useful vote of confidence in the exchange .
Can Rockhopper turn Sea Lion into a funded development? Sarasin & Partners teams ups with AIM house on IHT products Christie Group: Turning a tough UK pub market into growth The Smarter Web Company The Smarter Web Company’s MORE offer is one of the more unusual new issues to hit London.
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Rather than ordinary shares, the company is issuing a new class of non-voting preferred shares, targeting £15 million to £25 million at an issue price of £90 per share. The FCA approved the prospectus on 29 September 29 and the IPO is now live. The headline designed to grab investors is the dividend: MORE carries an initial 12% annual preferential dividend, payable weekly, although the rate is variable and the board can suspend payments.
The shares also have a liquidation preference ahead of ordinary shareholders but no voting rights. The retail offer closes at 4.30pm on 9 October, with results expected around 12 October and admission scheduled for 8am on 14 October. The minimum retail subscription is £500, through the Winterflood Retail Access Platform’s participating intermediaries.
The Smarter Web Company operates digital-services businesses but has also developed a Bitcoin treasury strategy. The new capital is intended to strengthen the balance sheet, support acquisitions and provide additional funding alongside that Bitcoin strategy. Roundhouse AI Roundhouse AI is a very different beast.
It is already quoted on the AQSE Growth Market, but is preparing to move to AIM, with admission scheduled for 13 October under the expected ticker RHAI. Crucially, this isn’t simply a change of address: the company plans to raise about £1.5 million alongside the admission, at a placing price of 5p a share, implying a market capitalisation of roughly £14 million.
Roundhouse is positioning itself in one of the more intriguing corners of the AI market: infrastructure for autonomous AI agents. Its proposition is effectively a trust and reputation layer for software agents that can act , pay and transact with one another . Its dashboard records and verifies transactions between AI agents and merchants, with the company planning products based on identity, reputation and commercial scoring.
The move to AIM will give Roundhouse access to a wider investor base and greater visibility than AQSE. The company has already said the next stage will focus on partnerships, distribution and proving adoption through the end of 2026. If you would like to receive more articles like this every week, sign up to our free newsletter – or see more options to suit you.
Stuart Fieldhouse Stuart Fieldhouse has spent 25 years in journalism and marketing, including as a wealth management editor for the Financial Times group, covering capital markets and international private banking, and as an investment banking correspondent for Euromoney in Hong Kong.
He was the founder editor of The Hedge Fund Journal. Stuart has worked at CMC Markets, supporting the re-launch of its global financial spread betting and CFD trading platforms. He is also the author of two books on trading, published by Financial Times Pearson.
Based in The Armchair Trader’s London office, Stuart continues to advise fund managers, private banks, family offices and other financial institutions. This article does not constitute investment advice. Please do your own research or consult a professional advisor.
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