Mastercard To Acquire Minority Stake In Airtel Africa's Mobile Money Operations For $100M: CNBC

Mastercard Inc MA will acquire a 3.75% stake in Airtel Africa subsidiary, Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (AMC BV), for $100 million (Rs 733 crore) at a $2.65 billion valuation, CNBC reports.
AMC BV is the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations. It owns and operates mobile money businesses across all of Airtel Africa’s 14 operating countries.
Mastercard and Airtel Africa have inked agreements to consolidate partnerships across multiple geographies and zones, including card issuance, payment gateway, payment processing, merchant acceptance, and remittance solutions.
Airtel Africa will use the acquisition proceeds for debt repayment and investment in network and sales infrastructure.
Mastercard held cash and cash equivalents of $10.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2020.
Price action: MA shares traded lower by 0.5% at $356.05 in the premarket session on the last check Thursday.