The winning bid for Nigeria's 9Mobile is now set to be announced on January 16, with five companies in the running to become the mobile operator's new owner.

The conclusion of the sale process, which is being managed by Barclays Africa, was due on December 31, but was delayed by the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria following a request by 9Mobile's board, according to The Cable.

The sales process has been underway for several months following the decision by Etisalat to abandon the Nigerian market, after which the operator changed its name from Etisalat Nigeria to 9Mobile and potential new investors formed a lengthy queue. (See Etisalat Nigeria to Become 9Mobile and Bidders Line Up for Nigeria's 9Mobile: Reports.)

Now that list of interested parties has been whittled down to five (in alphabetical order):

Bharti Airtel -- already the number three mobile player, operating as Airtel Nigeria
Helios Investment Partners -- private investment firm that previously owned Helios Towers Nigeria, a mobile network infrastructure company that was sold in 2016
Globacom Nigeria -- already the number two mobile operator in Nigeria
Smile Telecoms Holdings -- a telecom firm with operations in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda
Teleology Holdings Ltd. -- a business led by a former CEO of MTN Nigeria, Adrian Wood, who is working on the bid with Ericsson
With a market share of about 12%, 9Mobile is the number four player in Nigeria's mobile market, which boasts about 155 million users and generates annual aggregate revenues of about US$7 billion. Should either Airtel or Globacom win the bidding process they would be able to challenge MTN Nigeria, which commands a market share of about 37%, as the country's leading mobile service provider.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Group Editor, Light Reading, for Connecting Africa (2 January 2018)

http://www.connectingafrica.com/author.asp?doc_id=739309&itc=newsletter_connectingafricainsights&utm_source=newsletter_connectingafrica_connectingafricainsights&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01032018

Airtel pulls out of 9mobile bid as Glo, Helios fail to name price
January 19, 2018

https://www.thecable.ng/exclusive-airtel-pulls-9mobile-bid-glo-helios-fail-name-price

Airtel Nigeria did not submit a final bid for 9mobile despite being on the shortlist of five, TheCable can report.

Also, although Globacom and Helios Investment Partners LLP submitted bids, they did not make any financial offer for the troubled telco.

TheCable understands that Teleology Holdings Limited submitted a bid in excess of $500 million while Smile Telecoms Holdings quoted close to $300 million.

Effectively, only two companies made financial offers by the January 16 deadline.

Airtel’s U-turn came as a surprise to industry experts who had expected the company to push all the way through in order to become the largest operator in the country.

It would automatically have grown from being number three to number one by increasing its numbers to 52 million for voice and 33.5 million for internet if it emerged the preferred bidder.

‘HIDDEN THINGS’

TheCable learnt that Airtel decided to pull out because “many things are not too plain with the entire process”.

“Airtel believes too many things are hidden about the health of 9mobile, and that it is too risky for anyone to buy the company. Things became compounded with the court case by Spectrum Wireless. Remember the Strive Masiyiwa case over the ownership of Econet which hurt the company for a long time,” an insider in the deal told TheCable.

Spectrum Wireless, a shareholder of Emerging Markets Telecommunications Service (EMTS) — which owns the 9mobile licence — went to court against United Capital Trustees Limited — representatives of the debtors — in order to stop the constitution of an interim board for 9mobile after the take-over in July 2017.

Although it lost the case then, the federal high court later nullified the ex parte order, and United Securities has now gone on appeal.

Airtel, which started out as Econet Wireless in 2001, went through a litany of boardroom crises as a result of litigation by Masiyiwa.

DEBT OVERHANG

In July 2017, 9mobile, then known as Etisalat Nigeria, was taken over by banks following a N541 billion debt overhang.

Mubadala Group, the major investor from the United Arab Emirates, pulled out of Nigeria’s fourth largest mobile operator as a result of the debt owed to a consortium of 13 banks.

The telco was then put on sale, with Barclays Africa acting as transaction advisers.

The shortlisted companies are: Teleology Holdings Limited, promoted by Adrian Wood, the pioneer CEO of MTN Nigeria; Smile Telecoms Holdings, a telco operating in Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo DR and South Africa; and Helios Investment Partners LLP, an investment company.

Others are Bharti Airtel, an Indian telco that owns Airtel Nigeria, and Globacom, the Nigerian company owned by Mike Adenuga Jnr.

The telecom regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is expected to play a key role in the final decision of the interim board.

9Mobile Bids: And Then There Were Two
Connecting Africa, 1/22/2018

The battle to become the new majority shareholder in Nigerian mobile operator 9Mobile has been narrowed down to just two bidders now that the deadline for financial bids has passed, according to local reports.

Until last Monday, five interested parties were still believed to be in the running, but according to a report by The Cable, only service provider Smile Telecoms -- which already offers communications services in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda -- and Teleology Holdings, a business led by a former CEO of MTN Nigeria, Adrian Wood, who is working on the bid with Ericsson, submitted bids by the deadline. (See 9Mobile Ownership Decision Still in Balance.)

Airtel, already the country's third largest mobile operator, apparently withdrew from the process, citing uncertainty about some of the processes, while neither Globacom (the second largest mobile operator) nor Helios Investment Partners did not a derailed financial offer.

According to the report in The Cable, Teleology bid more than US$500 million, while Smile bid about $300 million. The bids are being considered by Barclays Africa, which will make a recommendation to the 9Mobile board. If that recommendation is accepted, the winning bidder then becomes the subject of a number of regulatory checks and clearances.

9Mobile, formerly Etisalat Nigeria, is currently the number four mobile operator in Nigeria with about 17 million customers and a market share of about 12%. (See Etisalat Nigeria to Become 9Mobile.)

— The staff, Connecting Africa

Teleology Holdings set to take over 9Mobile