Mastercard will invest $100 million in a telecommunications company in Africa.

Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments’ industry, announced that it will invest $100 million in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV, a company that is part of the Airtel Africa Group, and is fully owned by it.

What does Airtel Africa do?

Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications services and mobile commerce, which is present in fourteen African countries. Most of the branches are located in East, West and Central Africa.

The company offers users a range of telecommunications solutions: mobile voice communication, data transmission, and the possibility of electronic payments and transfers at the international level.

The headquarters of Airtel Africa are located in London, and a controlling stake belongs to the subsidiary of the telecommunications company Bharti Airtel, which is based in India, and provides services in Asia and Africa.

The subsidiary of Airtel Mobile Commerce BV is a holding company that deals with Airtel Africa mobile commerce. It used to own and manage the mobile money business in all fourteen countries where the company operates.

Airtel Money is a mobile commerce service, and one of the most profitable areas of the Airtel Africa group of companies. According to the latest reports, the company’s revenue in the mobile money sector alone increased by 34.2%.

In addition to Mastercard, Airtel Africa cooperates with Samsung, Asante, Standard Chartered Bank, MoneyGram, Mukuru and WorldRemit.

Learn more about the transaction.

MasterCard invests 100 million US dollars in Airtel Africa, or to be more precise, buys shares of its subsidiary AMC BV from Airtel Africa. The transaction will be carried out in two stages. First, MasterCard will invest $75 million, and after completing all the necessary operations and signing contracts, it will transfer the second part — $25 million.

What does Mastercard get from the transaction?

After the transaction is completed, MasterCard will own a stake in AMC BV, but the main stake will remain owned by Airtel Africa.

What does Airtel Africa get from the deal?

Airtel Africa plans to use the received investments to reduce the debts of its companies group, as well as to invest some money in sales development, and to increase the area of its regional presence.

Earlier, Airtel Africa had already received a large investment of $200 million in AMC BV from the TPG The Rise Fund.

Airtel Africa is going to continue monetizing the mobile money business with an investment of up to 25% of the issued share capital of AMC BV.

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