Nigerians who thought the sale of Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) to the New Generation Consortium, the preferred bidders, was a done deal, were shocked yesterday when a Chinese company listed among the bidders denied any part in the consortium’s bid.
Sophia Tso, deputy general manager for corporate communications for China Unicom, the Chinese telecom company, said from Hong Kong that neither the Beijing-based company nor its parent company, participated in the bid.
More denials were to follow as Telecom New Zealand International, listed as technical partners for another bidder, Brymedia West Africa Limited, which emerged third with an offer of $551million also said they were never involved in the bidding process. “Telecom New Zealand isn’t part of the group bidding for NITEL,” Mark Watts, spokesperson of the Auckland-based telecom firm, said yesterday.
All these denials tend to give credence to the allegations in some quarters that due diligence and transparency did not receive the full attention of those in charge of the bid process.
Although the Bureau of Public Enterprise insists that the Chinese firm was originally involved, details of why the firm decided to get out of the bid were still sketchy late yesterday. However, agency reports quote industry analysts as suggesting that part of the reason may be because the $2.5billion offer for 75 per cent stake in NITEL is “relatively high”.
Mistaken identity
But Usman Gumi, a representative of New Generation Consortium, attributed Unicom’s reaction to a case of mistaken identity between China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited and China Unicom (Europe) Operations Limited, which he claimed was actually providing technical and managerial support for the consortium.
Asked why any arm of the Unicom establishment would choose to dissociate itself from New Generation’s bid if indeed there was any relationship, Mr. Gumi said the company is such a large conglomerate that sharing information among all its arms would often be difficult.
Mr. Gumi, who said New Generation Consortium Limited was the preferred bidder of the NITEL bid,
and not China Unicom Hong Kong, explained that as a consortium of several companies brought together for the purpose of the NITEL bid, it was natural to have financial and technical partners.
Jonathan enraged
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan was reportedly angry over the controversy that trailed the bid and has directed that an immediate investigation be carried out by the appropriate agencies who should report back to him, said a source in Abuja.
Based on the rules governing the bidding, the consortium has 10 calendar days from Tuesday to pay 30 per cent of the bid price and a further 50 days to pay the balance. The bid is also subject to the approval of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) and Mr. Jonathan.
Curiously also, the $2.5bn bid from New Generation was some $1.5bn more than the second-highest offer, which came from Omen International, a little-known company registered in the British Virgin Islands, according to information from the Bureau.
Joe Anichebe, the Bureau’s spokesperson, declined to comment on the issue, apart from saying that the bureau took time out to conduct due diligence on all participants in the bid, adding that its privatisation advisers, PNB Paribas, contacted China Unicom to ascertain its background, and had, prior to the final bid, submitted a memo confirming the authenticity of the transaction.
In an interesting twist, Mr. Anichebe later released a document purportedly from China Unicom (Europe) Operations Limited but not addressed to anybody in particular.
“We are pleased to inform you that we are willing to be technical partner to support New Generation Telecommunications Limited Consortium to bid for Nitel, and to provide technical and managerial support on terms to be agreed later, when the bid is finally won,” the document says.
Identifying Minerva Group of United Arab Emirate as the financial backbone of the consortium, Mr. Gumi said the company has the requisite capacity to turn around the fortunes of NITEL and give Nigerians good telecommunications services.
“The Minerva Group, not China Unicom, is the lead financier of the New Generation Consortium Limited. Other consortium members are GiCell Wireless Limited; a United Access Service Licensee, Sumatra Star GT Limited and BGL Private Equity Limited,” he said.
Though NITEL is not without problems, it has valuable property across Nigeria and a telecom infrastructure that could be lucrative if revived. Its privatisation has been mired in controversy for the past decade.