Six shortlisted for Nitel stake

LAGOS – Nigeria has pre-qualified six prospective investors interested in a majority stake in its national phone carrier Nitel, the privatisation agency said yesterday.

The Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) said it has shortlisted Chinese equipment vendor Huawei Technologies, Egypt’s Orascom Telecom and South African fixed line operator Telkom with its cellphone business, Vodacom. The agency said in a statement that Celtel, which was acquired in May by Kuwaiti telecoms operator MTC, a company called Newtel and Africa’s number one mobile phone operator Johannesburg-based MTN Group, also made the shortlist.The sale of Nitel is eagerly awaited by international investors because Nigeria is among the world’s fastest-growing telecoms markets, with a subscriber base growing from around 500 000 to over 12 million in four years on investments of US$8 billion.(N$ 53,6 billion) The six suitors were picked from a list of 22 international telecoms firms that had expressed interest in acquiring a 51 per cent equity stake in Nitel by a July 8 deadline.The agency, which expects to conclude the sale of debt-laden Nitel and its cell phone subsidiary M-Tel by September, said the suitors will be allowed access to a data room containing detailed operating information upon payment of a US$35 000 fee.The privatisation of the Nigerian national phone carrier has suffered many hiccups since the first attempt failed in 2002.Then, a US$1,3 billion deal collapsed after the chosen winner, little-known UK-registered company International Investors (London) Ltd, failed to come up with the bid price within the stipulated 90 days.It would have been the largest privatisation deal in Africa, had it gone through.- Nampa-ReutersThe agency said in a statement that Celtel, which was acquired in May by Kuwaiti telecoms operator MTC, a company called Newtel and Africa’s number one mobile phone operator Johannesburg-based MTN Group, also made the shortlist.The sale of Nitel is eagerly awaited by international investors because Nigeria is among the world’s fastest-growing telecoms markets, with a subscriber base growing from around 500 000 to over 12 million in four years on investments of US$8 billion.(N$ 53,6 billion) The six suitors were picked from a list of 22 international telecoms firms that had expressed interest in acquiring a 51 per cent equity stake in Nitel by a July 8 deadline.The agency, which expects to conclude the sale of debt-laden Nitel and its cell phone subsidiary M-Tel by September, said the suitors will be allowed access to a data room containing detailed operating information upon payment of a US$35 000 fee.The privatisation of the Nigerian national phone carrier has suffered many hiccups since the first attempt failed in 2002.Then, a US$1,3 billion deal collapsed after the chosen winner, little-known UK-registered company International Investors (London) Ltd, failed to come up with the bid price within the stipulated 90 days.It would have been the largest privatisation deal in Africa, had it gone through.- Nampa-Reuters

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