Sirs, when you invested in TRANSCORP, what did the co. you invested in tell you it was selling?

Transcorp NEVER defined its business to us. Nigerian investors didnt think about that, we just wanted to 'share' in the national cake with the poli[b]thief[/b]cians.


Well, Transorp may rise again, but I don't see any business of mine in a much-politicised investment.

I remember those days,if you dared question the business prospects of Transorps,you were met with a flurry of insults by Nairalanders.They were quick to reel out names of business heavyweights who had invested in Transcorps,asking if you knew better than them,never mind that those heavyweights made their money in the private offer.

Transcorps biggest 'assets' were its links to the then Govt,this made it vulnerable to the political climate of the country

hello NAIRALANDER,this is nigeria,what is the probability is still not going to be revoted one more time.

the frist thing to ask ourself was whether the sale of nitel followed due process. another thing is to ask whether transcorp followed what was contained in the contract agreement.

in 2002, nitel was about to be sold to a foreign company b4 the bomb blast in lagos for about $1.3b, but was now sold 4 years latter to transcorp at $750million. let us ask ourselves, is it expected that the price should go up or come down?

transcorp promised to pump over $1b into nitel to take it to a higher level, but did not.
Nitel staff has not been paid November 2007 salaries till date. let us ask transcorp what they are doing about all this,

the frist thing to ask ourself was whether the sale of nitel followed due process. another thing is to ask whether transcorp followed what was contained in the contract agreement.

in 2002, nitel was about to be sold to a foreign company b4 the bomb blast in lagos for about $1.3b, but was now sold 4 years latter to transcorp at $750million. let us ask ourselves, is it expected that the price should go up or come down?

transcorp promised to pump over $1b into nitel to take it to a higher level, but did not.
Nitel staff has not been paid November 2007 salaries till date. let us ask transcorp what they are doing about all this,
i hope there could be a nitel staff in this forum totell us more.

[b][/b][color=#990000][/color]It is no news to see a company whose main stay is government patronage to go under especially in the developing world. This is quite imminenent with a change of Governmemt.
Now to the issue of transcorp, if a Government that is an off shoot/extention of Obj's PDP administration is shaking the continued existence of the corporation to it's very roots, what would happen if there were to be a total change in governance, come to think of it , should someone like Atiku win the election, he may have taken a more drastic action than what we are seeing Umooooru do now.
To the investing public and my fellow nairalanders, let us take a lesson from this case, think twice before you invest your hard earned money in companies that are too much politicised.[sub][/sub]just my humble submission.

Transcorp was never a giant; since they took over NITEL or is it MTEL things went from bad to worse.

In the first place why should Transcorp sell shares,for you to sell shares you need to have been around for about three years,they came out in the morning and in the evening they stated selling IPOS,sorry for those who lost money there.

Fellow nairalanders,becouse most of you dont know what is happening in nitel that is why you were all shouting or trying to sympertise with transcorp. Before transcorp took over there were some conditions tobe fulfilled both from the part of Govt and transcorp. Govt was to settle all the liabilities of Nitel i.e staff pension liabilities,retrench 70 percent of the staff,cancel all the tax liabilities of nitel, pay all the debt owe nitel by ministries and parastatals-about 29 billion naira, govt did all these. Transcorp on it own part was to inject 1 billion euro upon taking over,bring in technical partners,no retrenchment on the first six month,add atleast 1 million lines to nitel network and 1.5 million lines to mtel. All the above conditions were not met. The technical partners BT consult left becouse there was no working capital and good corporate governance,transcorp started retrenching staff immidiately it resumed,one naira was not injected into the coy,instead the small amount that was coming in was used in paying the loan used by transcorp to buy hilton and other coys. Staff welfare was not a priority of transcorp.

Wether due process was observed befor the sale is not the problem,govt can sell its coy to anybody for 1 naira, the most important thing is the turn arround of the coy. nitel was better off before transcorp came in. Nitel salaries was always regular,mainatainance of equipment was always carried out. Do u know that we have not collected salary since November last year? salaries are being paid base on level. Uptil now assistant managers and above have not collected they November salaries,only level one to ten have collected they November salaries. Govt tolorated transcorp too much. I sympertise with all Nigerians that were deceived to buy the shares I pray your money will come out.

Iyke-D
Sorry to hear about your lost investment or soon to be lost investment. I could vividly remember arguing over these issues with you, but I guess that your emotional CNS overcame your most thoughtful side. I said that incoming govt might reverse this process.
Let the truth be told, this govt does not have the authority to reverse the sale of Transcorp even if it was done in bad faith. If the govt goes ahead with this ugly decision, shareholders must be compensated handsomely. Take the case between Chavez and Exxon Mobil. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0214edit1feb14,0,3801026.story.
This will also set a bad precedent for investment in Nigeria. Shell, AGIP, MOBIL, ENI and multi- nationals may lose their joint venture contracts with govt simply because the it was "cheated" during contract negotiations. How about a total review of all govt companies, shares, parastatals that were privatized during OBJ's regime. Most were undersold for peanuts, but members of the public CANNOT be held liable for ineptitude of their govt. I lost all my deposits at Savanah Bank due to politics. Not long ago it was an onerous to ask Nigerians to put their money in the banks let alone to buy shares; now Broad Street has won the confidence of Nigerians. This singular action of this illegal and visionless govt will erode that confidence.

Transcorp shareholders can only lose their investments if they do not have competent lawyers. This case could be litigated up to international arbitration for a fair compensation, but again this Transcorp where exuberance and dreams trump fundamentals and realities.

aisha2:

I was about to buy the transcorp Shares, until i watched a TV interview with the DG  or Ed SOmething sha,of Transcorp trying to promote their shares. The Guy was just saying absolute nonsense, he could not give any sensible information, he kept flaunting the fact that he went to a Foreign university and Transcorp was a world Class Company, Callers called with Genuine Cornerns but rather than answer he went back to those two statements. When BAyo, the Presenter asked him a question on how he measured development he said development is measured by the Number of women willing to go and shop in shop rite instead of Going under the sun to the market. Then it struck me that this guy had absolutely no idea what he was doing there. Transcorp had no structure, no real office address and no real employees ( When Bayo asked him he could not give a coherent answer).
That Interview saved me my chicken change

I did not watch the interview, but if I was to guess, I would guess the guy was Mr. Nicholas "Big Mouth" Okoye, Transcorp's former ED of Ops, Strategy & Biz Dev

what should one have expected from a company that wa using daddy showkey to push it shares?

Which is better for the share holders of transcorp? Is it for the coy [nitel]allow to die or govt revoke the sale and pay transcorp back its money. The share holders are supposed to blame mgt of transcorp for not putting nitel in good shape to be profitable so that it will pay returns. Transcorp mgt just went to market so as to reduce their holding in the coy. Blame transcorp not govt.

oyb:

what should one have expected from a company that wa using daddy showkey to push it shares?

I no fit shout, The dadman dey for your back ooo

was transcorp ever a giant?

Good Question!!!!!!!!

Indeed this is the fall of a gaint, but i rather call it "The short history, of a tall Gaint" As a matter of fact,it was inevitable, Transcorp was born to fail, why?

1. It was conceived by an individual, who thinks he knows all.

2. Heavily politicised

3. Those that constituted the Board of Directors, where strange bed fellows,with no stake in the company, rather they were just icing on the cake, to make transcorp attractive to the unsuspecting members of the public .

Well, it is rather sad that some investors were caught in this bad businees, but that is business for u, u don'[quote][/quote]Desire is the stranger you think you knowu.t win all the time.

While i agree the fundamentals were wrong in the setting-up of NITEL, i believe the government's move is the very best way to erode confidence in the economy. How does a 49% equity holder in a company (government) suddenly dismiss a 51% holder? How? And the reason for such a reversal is not even made public? It can't get any more ludicrous. Yaradua's honeymoon with the public is over. He is so redundant that his best moves are reversals. I have lost hope in this government. Let's keep waiting for the "messiah".

:oTalk about conflict of interest!!!!!!!! I just read the following excerpt  below from THISDAYONLINE:

"The Nigerian Stock Exchange placed the stock of Transcorp on full suspension, indicating that the company's share price cannot move until the issue of the revocation of the sale of NITEL becomes clearer. Announcing the development yesterday, the General Manager, Research, of The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Kene Okafor, informed stockbrokers at the trading floor that the stock of the company was now in full suspension given their stockbrokers mandate to sell the stocks of Transcorp before it losses its value completely. The company had approached the market to raise fresh funds recently at N7.50 per share, but it was under-subscribed due to perception problem associated with the ownership structure.

That doesnt sound proper or above board. I doubt if the DG of NSE (who is also the Chairman of Transcorp ) will do this if it were any other company that bought NITEL and had its sale reversed. The fact is dat such a deal should be driven by market forces the fact that it is a public asset purchased notwithstanding. And its an irony becuase transcorp priced its IPO on the back of NITEL as an asset so if they could gain from buying it isnt it funny that they are protecting themselves from losing over its reversal.

At any rate, this is the end of transcorp. Share price will drop as soon as suspension is lifted because the company has little left by way of assets vis-a-vis its lofty conglomerate visions. The company's vision crediblity is hurt and financiers will be wary about lending them any more money as thier credit worthiness drops. Clearly, what people predicted about the fall of transcorp after the OBJ administation is happening.

I for one NEVER had any confidence in a business built on passsing goodwill from the OBJ governemnt and some so called "credible, successful" Nigerians who were strange bed-fellows as directors and had other interests. Business model was all theory and marketing and not based on any real asset valuations.

@adconline

Iyke-D
Sorry to hear about your lost investment or soon to be lost investment. I could vividly remember arguing over these issues with you, but I guess that your emotional CNS overcame your most thoughtful side. I said that incoming govt might reverse this process.
Let the truth be told, this govt does not have the authority to reverse the sale of Transcorp even if it was done in bad faith. If the govt goes ahead with this ugly decision, shareholders must be compensated handsomely. Take the case between Chavez and Exxon Mobil. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0214edit1feb14,0,3801026.story.
This will also set a bad precedent for investment in Nigeria. Shell, AGIP, MOBIL, ENI and multi- nationals may lose their joint venture contracts with govt simply because the it was "cheated" during contract negotiations. How about a total review of all govt companies, shares, parastatals that were privatized during OBJ's regime. Most were undersold for peanuts, but members of the public CANNOT be held liable for ineptitude of their govt. I lost all my deposits at Savanah Bank due to politics. Not long ago it was an onerous to ask Nigerians to put their money in the banks let alone to buy shares; now Broad Street has won the confidence of Nigerians. This singular action of this illegal and visionless govt will erode that confidence.

Transcorp shareholders can only lose their investments if they do not have competent lawyers. This case could be litigated up to international arbitration for a fair compensation, but again this Transcorp where exuberance and dreams trump fundamentals and realities.

I appreciate your thoughts and you are right. One can't really say its a lost investment at this time, until the details
of what is to be refunded or retained by Transorp is made clear. But as you rightfully observed, ours is the dumbest
of government. If indeed the government's intent now was to let Transcorp keep 10%, then the difference between
the agreement reached by both parties in the resolution announced last week is 14%. Now ask yourself, is that 14%
worth the erosion of confidence and harm that this singular action will bring to the investment landscape in Nigeria?

If the presidency wasn't comfortable with Transcorp still retaining 24%, they couldn't negotiate a way out of this
behind closed doors before splashing this message across the world? How dumb can Yar Adua and his ministers
be? In an attempt to score cheap political victories, they are laying the foundation that will drive away investments
from the country. Is dissolving the board of NITEL and MTEL miraculously bring respite to NITEL until they find a
new core investor? Do they have any idea how long that will take? Finally, how can a minority shareholder with
49% stake overturn the interest of the majority stake holder? With their latest action, how confident do they
expect the new core investor to be about the safety of their investment in NITEL when "Mr Due Process" is gone?
Dumb dumb dumb!!!

Lastly, I got into Transcorp during the private placement when NITEL was yet to be bought, and did not based
my decision on the NITEL assets so my case is a bit difference. They had plans to target investments in various
sectors of the economy (foreign trade, agriculture, power generation, etc.) that could have impacted the country
positively. All that went out the window since the NITEL blunder set in, yes that NITEL that was so wonderfully
run by the government before Transcorp took over!

Now, do I feel let down by Transcorp less than stellar performance? YES. However, my biggest disappointment
is the this vision-less government because as you rightfully stated, Yar Adua might as well go back to undo every
single thing that was done by the previous administration since you and I know that due process was the last
thing on OBJ's mind. I can only hope that Transcorp is fairly compensated for this asset grab, that way they can
refocus their investment strategies. If that happens, then there is still hope for the company and they might just
be able to pull things off within my 5years investment time line that I had in mind originally.

One thing is for certain though: With leaders like this, Nigeria will forever remain in the back woods.

A message from: TRANSCORP

[center]

PUBLIC NOTICE

[/center]

REVERSAL OF SALE OF NITEL TO TRANSCORP

Transitional Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) is now in receipt of a letter

signed by the Honourable Minister of Information and Communications stating that

the Federal Government has reversed the sale of of NITEL and MTel.

Ironically, the purported reversal comes at a very crucial period in the actualization

of Transcorp's efforts at revitalizing both organizations.  among other intiatives,

Trancorp had indeed identified and reached final stages in negotiation with potential

technical partners.

The Board and Management of Trancorp is critically reviewing this development

especially as it relates to the interest of our over 250,000 shareholders.

It is pleasing to note that the present Federal Government prides itself significantly on

upholding Due Process and the Rule of Law both of which Transcorp also intends to

follow in this instance.

Bearing this in mind, our official position on the purpoted reversal will be

communicated to all stakeholders in the immediate future.

In the meantime. we crave for the patience and understanding of our shareholders,

financial and technical partners as we go through this rather stormy period of our

corporate existence.  We assure you that we are doing everything within our power

to protect your investment.

We are certain of an amicable settlement of this challenge in our favour.

Thanks you for your understanding.

Management


SOURCE:  VANGUARD, Monday 18th February 2008

Its not about saying I told you so, its about people putting their money in businesses that have no clearly defined missions or visions. When people try to warn them initially they resort to insults and name calling. This has happened several times on Nairaland, for example during all the HYIP Schemes.
I am not so smart when it comes to stocks and co but i always try to go beyound what everyone is saying and do a bit of research before i put my money in something. we should learn to look beyound what everyone is doing or saying espcially when it regards investment.
Lesson: Lets listen to some reason next time

@father ab,

Uncertainties looms but my earnest hope is that the giant gets back to its feet and DIVERSIFY instead of expecting favouritism from the FG.

Pls don't keep describing Transcorp as a GIANT. How much has the company declared so far in terms of Total Assets, Turnover and Profits? I only have a fair idea of their LIABILITIES

As we all get together to pen the online obituary of a giant that never really was, it will be worthwhile to save some thoughts for folks who were unfortunately conned into the Transcorp idea. I fell for it. But fortunately for me, I had no investible funds at the time.

If not for the regular interventions (technical suspension here, full suspension there) and manipulations of its share price, the current price of its share would have been no more than its nominal price of 50k. I understand that it is again in full suspension. For those who believe they can put out a raging fire by pouring (paper) money into it, they are free to go ahead and enjoy the bonfire.

My disappointment sadly is with Yaradua. Nigeria's first and only University graduate president on whom there was so much hope and goodwill. Every policy statement of his has been a tragedy. In the early days of his Government he used to reverse himself. But these days he has found that there is no need while the country gets from bad to worse. If this fellow has his way he will re-nationalize all major coys and take us back to the 70s.

Transcorp will bounce back, that is what my mind tells me.
Fellow investors please dont worry you will get your rewards

father ab:

@pennywise and all who blame Yar'adua,
This was a man who wanted to retire from Katsina Govt House to continue his lecturing job, he had no original blueprint for taking Nigeria from her "state of coma". But all of a sudden, he was wooed and rigged into Asorock.
The result is a to-and-from style of government.
However, for now he seems to be winning the hearts of majority of the citizenry by dancing to their tunes even after making public his own plans. Personally, I feel he is ordained to be there for now, that is why he is there. Simple!

Believe me, if this mallam was equipped to satisfactorily discharge a teaching responsibility in a University, then Nigerians will not question his leadership capability.

Yar'Adua is without doubt a major dissapointment, dull and ineffective. A visionary leader would first do a simple impact analysis - the most important by far being possible damage to investor confidence. Negotiation is a veritable, powerful tool that EVERY goverment employs  at times like this.

Now we know why nothing works in Nigeria, especially under this President. Reversal of policies is his only conduit to popularity and acceptability. Even the power sector emergency has been stepped down. Can't he be original for christ sake? His goverment is so reactionary, with his kitchen cabinet, mostly drawn from Katsina state, dealing with important decisions of state on a day-by-day, adhoc basis. Where is the vision? Where is the underlying, sustainable and forward looking strategy? Abeg, make tribunal save us from this pain please.

Back to Transcorp,  investors need not worry. I believe fortunes are to change imminently. Maybe this action was required to focus the minds of all parties to their responsibilities. For those with a HIGH RISK APPETITE and interest in short-term CICO (3 months), now may be a good time to take a position. I expect a lot of  mopping up of shares in the next week or so by those behind the scenes. When the suspension is lifted, you may not find to buy. 

As usual, CAVEAT EMPTOR.

I bought Transcorp shares at N7.50k. now it's about N3. am yet to receive my cert, talk much of selling d messed up shares. poor me.

I bought Transcorp shares at N7.50k. now it's about N3. am yet to receive my cert, talk
much of selling d messed up shares. poor me.

I am sure you have but you should continue to press for the whereabout of your
certificates. I believe there is a process to replace them if they are missing. Why
should you go to all that headache? Because the last is yet to be heard from
Transcorp and those worthless papers may be something one day.

Over a 132 million shares of Transcorp was traded today, meaning someone is
selling and someone else is buying them, obviously someone or an institution
with bigger than average liver and who may know a thing or two about the NSE

After all is said and done and depending on what Yar Adua "decides" to give back to
Transcorp either as a stake in NITEL or as refund, Transcorp could end up stronger
on the cash side of things. Hopefully, they will bite what they can swallow this time
and leave government's assets alone for foreigners to acquire!

I'm not regreting my investment in Transcorp at all.Afterall they have other investment other than NITEL.The truth is that the FGN needs to hands off private entities,in order to encourage Nigerians in Diaspora to invest in the volatile Nigerian market.

This is funny not-withstanding - David and Goliath!

TRANSCORP recalls N35m Jan salary of Mtel staff

20.02.2008

Transcorp has recalled a cheque for N35 million meant for the payment of January salaries of Mtel staff, an official of Mtel said on Tuesday in Abuja.

Addressing journalists, Mr Suleiman Awallo, the chairman, Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporation (SSATC), Mtel branch, Mr. Suleiman Awallo, said the cheque was posted on Thursday to a commercial bank in Abuja.

Awallo accused Transcorp of disregard for due process and labour laws, following the recall of the salary.

He said the security staff of Mtel were still being owed six months salary arrears and demanded that Transcorp must fulfill its obligations as a former core investor in the company.

However, Trans-corp's spokesman, Mr Adedayo Ojo, in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), declined comments on the issue.

“Given the recent announcement (the reversal of sale of NITEL/Mtel to Transcorp), Trans-corp is not allowed to make any comment on NITEL/Mtel,” he said.