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Telco transfers 45% stake to Nigerian Banks
Etisalat Nigeria had recently been in talks with a consortium of commercial banks and services provider -IHS Towers, to restructure it's $1.2 billion loans after missing the repayments.
L-R CMO of Etisalat Nigeria, Angelone Francesco, MD/CEO of GTBank, Mr Segun Agbaje and an official of Etisalat Nigeria during the launch of Easysavers.
This information was released earlier today by Reuters after news of the failed debts structuring talk was announced.
Etisalat Nigeria commenced business in 2009 after acquiring the unified access licenses - a mobile license and spectrum in the GSM 1800 and 900 MHZ bands, from the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) in 2007.
In 2015, the Teleco approached a consortium of Nigerian commercial banks which include Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank Plc, for a loan of $1.2 billion to expand its operations and coverage in the company. The company also had a Tower Rental Financing agreement with the IHS Towers.
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Etisalat Nigeria had sold all its telecommunication towers to IHS Towers, and thereafter entered a rental agreement with the telecom infrastructure company.
In a move towards stopping the commercial banks from taking over the company, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the NCC had implored the creditors to consider other options to placing the company under a receivership.
Also, the largest shareholder in the company, the Mubadala Development Company sent a delegation to meet the regulators and creditors towards achieving a better debts restructuring outcomes. All efforts seem unproductive.
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Last week, the Mubadala Development Company was hinted to have exit its investments in Etisalat Nigeria but awaiting the result of the debt talks before announcing it. The Mubadala controls 70 percent in the company.
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