BARING any last minute change, the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) will Tuesday February 16, open the financial bids for the privatization of Nigerian Telecommunication Plc (Nitel). But sources close to the NCP said the probability of selling the ailing telecom firm is just 30 per cent.
The source said the NCP is not very hopeful of selling Nitel because of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banking reforms which will make it very difficult for the successful bidder to raise money to pay for the telecom firm.
The source said with the prevailing credit crunch in the system arising from the unwillingness of banks to give loans for especially risky ventures, any successful bidder for the firm is not likely to get the required money to pay for as much as 75 per
But the battle for the soul of Nitel will be a straight fight between six consortia that met the deadline for the submission of the technical and financial proposals. The six consortia are Brymedia (WA) Ltd; AF21/ Spectrum Consortium; MTN Nigeria Communication Ltd; Globacom Nigeria Ltd; Omen International Ltd (BVI); and New Generation Telecommunications Ltd (formerly Telefonica Consortium).
NCP is offering 75 per cent equity in the troubled pioneer national telecom carrier. This would be the fourth time government is making an attempt to offload the once vibrant firm that bestrode the nation’s telecom landscape like a colossus.
NCP through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is offering prospective investors the entire Nitel conglomerate a stake in one or several of its components, namely, SAT-3; domestic fixed line telephony; national fibre-optic transmission backbone; CDMA network; and Mtel (GSM).
BPE sources said preference would be given to bidders who desire to acquire Nitel fixed lines, transmission backbone, Mtel and SAT-3 components together while those bidding separately for Mtel must be ready to make necessary investments to detach Mtel from the Nitel networks.
A total of 14 consortia initially indicated interest in the acquisition of majority shareholding in Nitel.
They consortia paid a non-refundable fee of $25,000 (about N3.75 million) for access to the data room and bidding documents and executed the confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement. A total of $350,000 (about N52.5 million) was realized from the 14 initial prospective investors.