MTN, Airtel, 13 other Firms Submits Expressions of Interest (EoI) to Acquire 9mobile

Reports indicate that the scramble for the acquisition of the beleaguered Telecommunications Service Provider, 9mobile (previously regarded as Etisalat Nigeria) has begun. Thisday reports that 16 firms have submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) to Barclays to bid for 9mobile.

Companies that have expressed interest in 9mobile include Africa’s biggest telecoms operator, MTN; India’s Bharti Airtel, operating as Airtel in Nigeria; and ntel, which in 2015 acquired the assets of the defunct NITEL and MTel through the federal government’s privatisation programme.

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Also in the race are Bua Group, the privately held conglomerate promoted by Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu; Morning Side Capital Partners, promoted by the former Managing Director of Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Alex Otti; and Africell, a subsidiary of the Lebanon-based Lintel Group of Companies, with cellular communications operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

Other firms that submitted EoIs are Obot Etiebet & Co, belonging to a former petroleum minister, Mr Don Etiebet; Blackstone Private Equity; Tel-ology Holdings Limited, a special purpose vehicle led by a former chief executive of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Adian Wood, and Ericsson; De-elim Services Limited; Veittel, a firm owned by the investment arm of the Vietnamese military which has telecoms assets in Africa; AB-Bro Limited, a Nigerian venture company; Hamilton and George International Limited; and two other firms.

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The report indicates that the 16 companies had complied with the deadline for the submission of EoIs at Barclays’ office in Ikoyi, Lagos and are preparing to access the data room to conduct their due diligence on 9mobile, preparatory for the bid submission stage.

Recall that Boye Olusanya, 9mobile CEO has said he is focused on getting the telecoms company back on track to make a profit, while working on the paperwork to eventually raise new capital, adding the company was open to new investors. This followed a decision by 13 banks to put a freeze on retrieving the $1.2 billion loan pending the arrival of new investors, in order to help the company survive.