Nigeria Invites Omen International to Bid for NITEL

Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has invited Omen International Consortium, the reserve bidder for state-run incumbent telco Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL), to reregister its interest in buying the operator, after preferred buyer New Generation Telecommunications repeatedly failed to meet the payment deadlines. 


The British Virgin Islands-registered Omen consortium, which includes China Unicom and Fiber Home Technologies Limited, submitted a bid of USD956.9 million for a 75% stake in NITEL and it mobile arm M-Tel during the latest attempt to privatise the company, held in February 2010. The government began seeking a buyer for a minimum 75% of NITEL and 100% of M-Tel in July 2009 after previous majority shareholder Transcorp divested its stake earlier in the year.


Reuters reports that the BPE has now written to Omen asking if it would be interested in revalidating its reserve bidder status. ‘If your bid is revalidated, it would give the Federal Government the right to invite your consortium or enter into negotiations to take up the offer,’ the letter said, according to a BPE statement.

New Generation’s bid of USD2.5 billion was approved in October 2010, after an investigation into the bidding process led to an eight-month delay. The New Generation consortium – which comprises Minerva Group of Dubai, Nigeria’s GiCell Wireless and technical partner China Unicom – was asked to pay a bid security of USD750 million within ten days from 25 October and was given 60 days to pay the remaining USD1.75 billion. On 5 November the bid security deadline was extended by 20 working days and subsequently to 23 December 2010, after the consortium failed to come up with the funds in time.


However, New Generation failed to meet its extended payment deadline, and in January 2011 the BPE revoked the sale to New Generation and recommended Omen be invited to acquire NITEL, following approval from the National Council of Privatisation (NCP).

Nigeria Approves Sale of NITEL To New Generation

The Nigerian government has approved the sale of ailing state-run incumbent telco Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL) to New Generation Telecommunications, eight months after a panel was set up to review the sale process following confusion over the consortium’s ownership, Bloomberg reports.

New Generation – consisting of China Unicom, Minerva Group of Dubai and Nigeria’s GiCell Wireless – was revealed as the preferred buyer for the 75% stake in NITEL and its wireless unit M-Tel in February 2010, after beating four other hopefuls with a bid of USD2.5 billion.

However, initial confusion about China Unicom’s involvement in the consortium led to criticism that the process had been marred by irregularities and a lack of transparency.

Rather than approving the bid, the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) opted to inaugurate a committee to undertake further due diligence on the bidders of NITEL. In June 2010 the panel recommended that the deal be approved.

In a statement released yesterday the country’s privatisation body, the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), announced that President Goodluck Jonathan has now approved the sale of NITEL to New Generation. The consortium has been asked to pay a bid security of USD750 million within ten days and will have 60 days to pay the remaining USD1.75 billion.

Nigeria Urged to Approve NITEL Sale

The chairman of Nigeria’s Senate Committee on Privatisation, Ayo Arise, has said the government should approve the sale of ailing incumbent fixed line operator Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) to New Generation Telecommunications, the consortium which emerged as the preferred buyer for the telco after bidding USD2.5 billion. ‘I do not see why we cannot go ahead [with the sale],’ Arise told Bloomberg in a telephone interview, adding: ‘The bidding process appeared to be quite transparent.’

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) announced New Generation as the preferred buyer for NITEL in February 2010, stating that the company was backed by Dubai-based Minerva, local firm GiCell and China Unicom. However, the Chinese firm quickly denied the BPE’s claims and insisted that its involvement only extended to an interest in offering technical and managerial support.

China Unicom’s denial cast a shadow of doubt on the integrity of the process, prompting President Goodluck Jonathon to form a seven-member panel in March to conduct due diligence on the bidders and investigate allegations of financial impropriety surrounding the sale process. Originally mandated with investigating the sale of NITEL within one week, the panel’s report took three months to compile after the new president reshuffled his cabinet in March.

Last month, local press reported that the panel had made two recommendations; firstly that New Generation be allowed to pay USD750 million as a deposit within ten days, and secondly that the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) negotiate with the second and third preferred bidders – British Virgin Islands-registered Omen International (which bid USD956 million) and Brymedia (USD550 million), respectively – to reach a preferred price for NITEL. However, no further decisions on the fate of NITEL have since been made public.

Minerva Group Backs Nitel Consortium

News agency Reuters reports that Dubai’s Minerva Group is the main financial backer of New Generation Technology, a consortium selected last week as the preferred buyer for ailing incumbent telco Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) with a bid of USD2.5 billion. After revealing the results of the bidding process, Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) announced that New Generation was a consortium involving China Unicom, Minerva and local firm GiCell, but the Chinese company was quick to deny any involvement in the bid. GiCell’s managing director, Usman Gumi, told Reuters that China Unicom’s involvement only extended to an interest in offering technical and managerial support. ‘We have a firm commitment from our investors and partners, the Minerva Group, that we are working with. We did not pull all this out of the air,’ Gumi said in a telephone interview, adding, ‘We believe NITEL is worth the amount because of the infrastructure and potential that it has.’

The Nigerian government began seeking a buyer for a minimum 75% of NITEL and 100% of its mobile unit M-Tel in July 2009 after previous majority shareholder Transcorp divested its stake earlier in the year. Prospective investors were invited to acquire either at least 75% equity in the entire NITEL conglomerate or a stake in one or several of its components, including M-Tel, submarine fibre-optic cable division SAT-3, the company’s domestic fixed line infrastructure, its national fibre-optic transmission backbone, and its CDMA network. Financial bids opened on 16 February 2010, but only six of the 14 pre-qualified consortia met the 5 February deadline for the submission of technical and financial proposals: Brymedia; AF21/Spectrum consortium; MTN Nigeria; Globacom Nigeria; Omen International; and New Generation Telecommunications.

Unicom Denies It's Involved In NITEL Bid

China Unicom has denied that it or its state-run parent Unicom Group has any involvement in a USD2.5 billion bid for struggling incumbent telco Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL), Reuters reports. ‘There is no involvement of this project from the parent company, the listed company or any subsidiary of the company,’ Unicom spokeswoman Sophia Tso said in a statement.

Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) announced on 16 February that New Generation Telecommunications, a consortium involving China Unicom, had become the preferred buyer for a minimum 75% stake in NITEL after beating four other firms with a bid of USD2.5 billion. Other companies with an interest in New Generation were named by the BPE as Dubai-based Minerva Group and local company GiCell Wireless. The reserve bidder was announced as Omen International (BVI), which offered USD956 million.

China Unicom Consortium Wins Nitel Bid

Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has announced that New Generation Telecommunications, a consortium involving China Unicom, has become the preferred buyer for indebted incumbent fixed line operator Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL), after beating four other firms with a bid of USD2.5 billion. Other companies with an interest in New Generation have been named by the BPE as Dubai-based Minerva Group and local company GiCell Wireless.

After the bid is approved by the privatisation council, the group will have ten days to pay 30% of the purchase price and a further 50 days to pay the remaining sum. The reserve bidder has been announced as Omen International (BVI), which offered USD956 million.

Financial bids for the privatisation of NITEL opened on 16 February 2010, but only six of the 14 pre-qualified consortia met the 5 February deadline for the submission of technical and financial proposals: Brymedia; AF21/Spectrum consortium; MTN Nigeria; Globacom Nigeria; Omen International; and New Generation Telecommunications.

The federal government began seeking a buyer for a minimum 75% of NITEL and 100% of its mobile unit M-Tel in July 2009 after previous majority shareholder Transcorp divested its stake earlier in the year. Prospective investors were invited to acquire either at least 75% equity in the entire NITEL conglomerate or a stake in one or several of its components, including M-Tel, submarine fibre-optic cable division SAT-3, the company’s domestic fixed line infrastructure, its national fibre-optic transmission backbone, and its CDMA network.

South Africa's MTN was among the bidders, but only for a stake in the SAT-3 underwater cable, for which it offered USD25 million. According to local daily Leadership, Globacom was disqualified from the process as it already holds a licence as Nigeria’s second national carrier.