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On 12 September 2019, sub-Saharan independent tower company Helios Towers (Helios), its potential intention to undertake an initial public offering in London.  It also an FCA approved registration document which is one of the first registration documents to be published under the new prospectus regime introduced by the EU Prospectus Regulation. It is intended that the company’s shares be admitted to the premium listing segment of the Official List and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and it is expected that Helios will be eligible for inclusion in FTSE UK indices.

This is Helios’ second attempt at a listing on the UK market. The company previously an intention to float on the LSE on 2 March 2018 but within two weeks had postponed the IPO. The renewed interest in listing may be in some part attributable to successful listings in the past year from Africa focused media and telecoms company and EMEA payment solutions specialist . In its registration document, the company noted that ‘The mobile telecommunications sector in Sub-Saharan Africa is large, growing and benefits from a number of favourable macroeconomic, structural and regulatory conditions. In 2018, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for nearly a tenth of the global mobile subscriber base; however, it remains substantially underpenetrated compared to other global markets and is expected to grow faster than any other region of the world between 2018 and 2025 based on unique subscribers.’

Helios expects to raise gross proceeds of around £100 million from the issue of new shares and existing shareholders are also expected to sell shares in the offer. Market Tracker will continue to monitor developments in relation to the transaction.