Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services across Africa, confirms that its subsidiary, Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V, has repaid the 5.35% Guaranteed Senior Notes maturing on May 20, 2024. This bond repayment of US$550m has been made exclusively out of cash reserves at the holding company (HoldCo). It is a continuation of its strategy to reduce external foreign currency debt.
At the time of the IPO in June 2019, the Group had US$2.719m of external debt at HoldCo, which resulted in significant exposure to currency fluctuations and the reliance on upstreaming funds to cover both interest costs and the principal repayment. Through consistent execution of its strategy, which supported strong free cash flow generation and continued upstreaming success, the Group has reduced Holdco debt over the past few years. It has now reached the significant milestone of a zero-debt position at HoldCo.
The current leverage and capital structure reflect the Group’s successful capital allocation strategy, which has been in place since the IPO. The group will aim to continue reducing foreign currency debt obligations across its OpCos.
