Airtel Africa, a unit of Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd, said it had appointed eight banks for an intended initial public offering (IPO) on an international stock exchange.

The company has appointed JP Morgan, Citigroup Inc, BofA Merrill Lynch, Absa Group Limited, Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs International and Standard Bank Group Ltd.

Airtel Africa raises $1.25 bln

Earlier, Airtel Africa Ltd said it raised $1.25 billion from six global investors including SoftBank Group Corp, Warburg Pincus LLC and Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd.

It also said it was looking to go public on an international stock exchange.

The fundraising, through a primary equity issuance, now values the company at $4.4 billion and will be used to reduce existing debt of about $5 billion and grow its Africa operations, Airtel Africa said.

The subsequent market debut will also be used to reduce debt further, it said.