In spite of the huge debts hanging on its neck and it’s sudden change of brand name from Etisalat Nigeria to 9M0bile, the number of investors jostling to invest in the company show the telecoms sector and indeed the Nigerian business climate is still one of the biggest attraction for investors in Africa.
Companies fro Nigeria, South Africa and the United Kingdom have all shown interest in investing in 9M0bile. The companies are BUA Group, Nigeria; Virgin Mobile, United Kingdom and Vodacom, South Africa.
The number one issue to be negotiated with investors is the offset its $1.2 billion bank loan. BUA, Virgin and Vodacom are set to submit their memoranda of interest and technical presentations.
The banks have appointed advisers, which include Standard Bank of South Africa and Citibank of New York, to receive and evaluate bids.
Every bid will then be reviewed before they are tendered to the board of new directors.
The banks involved in the loan deal are: Zenith Bank, GTBank, FirstBank, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Union Bank.
Zenith Bank has the highest exposure to Etisalat now 9M0bile amounting to $262 million and N80 billion, GTBank has the second highest exposure of $138 million and N42 billion, Access Bank follows with $131 million and N40 billion.
Etisalat Nigeria also owes UBA $125 million and N38 billion; FirstBank – $79 million and N24 billion; Fidelity Bank – $56 million and N17 billion; Stanbic IBTC – $25 million and N7.5 billion; FCMB – $15 million and N4.5 billion; and Ecobank – $10 million and N3.1 billion.
