Vivo Energy launched on the London Stock Exchange on Friday with a valuation of nearly £2-billion ($2.7-billion), the largest London IPO of the year.
The initial offer price for the just under 30 percent of the company floated was set at 165p a share and the shares advanced to 169.50p in conditional trading.
The company is the downstream fuels joint venture of energy trading house Vitol and Helios Investment Partners. It sells Shell-branded fuels and lubricants at nearly 2 000 filling stations in 15 African countries.
"It's a success," said Vivo CE Christian Chammas. "The offer was seriously oversubscribed."
The IPO is the most significant Africa-focused listing in London since Seplat raised $500-million in a 2014 IPO with a market capitalisation of $1.9-billion.
Chammas said the listing would allow the company to join the benchmark FTSE 250 index.