Orange Telecom and Vodafone are seeking to purchase 65 percent of Etisalat Nigeria following the departure of the UAE-based Etisalat Group from its Nigerian business, reports Brandish citing unnamed sources. The daily says following the debt crises that nearly caused the takeover of the brand by a consortium of thirteen Nigerian Banks led by Access Bank, no fewer than five companies have indicated interest to take buy over the shares of the company. But sources close to the company suggested that only Orange and Vodafone have shown what was described as “concrete interests” in the takeover of the troubled company.
Souces say discussion with the two companies are at advanced stages with only the restructuring of the over NGN 370 billion debt as the major snag. Negotiators for Etisalat, which it was learnt, include the chairman of the company, Akeem Bello Osagie, Representatives of the thirteen creditor banks and representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission, are working hard to expedite discussions to mitigate any collateral damage and brand erosion that may compromise the business of the future owners. It was also learnt that the banks are ensuring a workable repayment plan is extracted from the would-be new owners.
What is not clear is whether the two companies are coming from the banks or from Mudaballa Holdings. However, it was learnt that providing maximum comfort for the banks with an agreeable repayment plan is top of the discussions. The discussion, it was also understood, is factoring the huge costs for rebranding that may take a huge chunk of capital in the first one year after the takeover.
Of the two companies, Orange seems to have had some issues in its in African operations and the issues it had in Kenya where it sold its assets in Orange Kenya to Helios Investment may be strong consideration against it. Vodafone on its part has had significant experience in Africa. It is already in Nigeria where it has been providing technology services to companies.
