SAN FRANCISCO, January 30, (THEWILL) - On the 24th January 2012, in the Federal High Court of Nigeria, the Honorable Justice Shuaib, handed down judgment in the matter between Econet Wireless Ltd ('EWL') vs. Bharti Airtel Nigeria Limited, suit No FHC/KD/39/2008 (Formerly FHC/L/172/2004).

The summary of the judgment is as follows:

-- Econet Wireless Ltd, an international company, domiciled in the United Kingdom, is a shareholder of Bharti Airtel Nigeria Limited and holds 5% of the issued shares of the company. The Court ordered Airtel to reinstate the shareholding of EWL.

-- The Court ordered that all actions, and resolutions taken by the company, since October 2003, at which EWL was entitled to be notified, and to participate in, as a shareholder, but was prohibited, are null and void. This includes decisions to sell shares, issue shares, and also transfer shares to third parties.

-- The Court also ordered that the name change from Econet Wireless Nigeria Limited, effected in 2003, was irregular, and must be reversed forthwith.

-- The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has been ordered to cancel any certificate previously issued for the change of the name of the company and restore the name of the company to Econet Wireless Nigeria Limited.

As a result of the judgment by the Honorable Justice Shuaib, Econet Wireless Limited through its lawyers has now written to the company, with the following requests:

-- Immediately reissue shares in the company to Econet to reinstate its 5% interest.

-- Provide Econet full access to information relating particularly to board decisions and shareholder resolutions in accordance with the Companies Act, the shareholders agreement between the parties and in pursuance of the orders of the Federal High Court of Nigeria.

Econet Wireless intends to review the decisions taken by the board and other shareholders to ascertain which actions are in violation of the order of the High Court.

Commenting on the decision, Econet Wireless Group Chairman - Mr Strive Masiyiwa said:
"It is universally accepted throughout the world, that when shares in a company are allotted and share certificates issued, as confirmation of ownership, this is sacrosanct.

"In October 2003, Econet Wireless Ltd received a letter from the chairman of the company - Mr Oba Otudeko, in which he advised that at a board meeting directors had decided that Econet Wireless was no longer a shareholder, Econet's share certificate had been cancelled, and Econet's name removed from the shareholder register. The motive for this unprecedented action was the circumvention of Econet Wireless' rights as a shareholder in order to facilitate the sale of shares, first to Celtel International, and later to Bharti Airtel.

"As a result of these actions, Econet Wireless was left with no option but to seek redress through the courts. An application was filed in the Nigerian Federal High Court in October 2003, more than eight years ago. Since then, every legal avenue to delay the process was pursued by the defendants through their lawyers, in order to frustrate Econet Wireless.

"I am very disappointed that whilst it was clear to Celtel, Zain and Bharti-Airtel that Econet Wireless was a shareholder, they still chose to pursue a path, in which the end justified the means. It is clear even to those with the most basic understanding of company law that the board of a company has no power in any jurisdiction to simply cancel the shares of a shareholder but their desire to own the company was so great that they were prepared to overlook the facts and ignore our rights

"The substance of this ruling, which was known by Celtel and then Bharti, was a matter of record in the legal documents of the company. It is also common cause to even the casual reader that the order given has far-reaching consequences on the current ownership status of the company.

We have made it clear to the company, that as a shareholder, we would like to ensure that all actions that must be taken to comply with the Court order are undertaken in such a way that there is minimal disruption to the ongoing operations of the company.

"The board of Econet Wireless and I remain willing to sit down with Bharti-Airtel, to review the best way forward for all parties. In the meantime, we have a fiduciary responsibility to take all of the necessary steps to vigorously protect the interests of our shareholders." Source: www.econetwireless.com.



Meanwhile, Airtel mid Monday in an emailed statement to THEWILL after our earlier publication said it would appeal the judgement.

“In the light of the judgment by the Federal High Court of Nigeria regarding Econet Wireless Limited’s (EWL) claim to the ownership of 5% equity in Airtel Networks Limited (Airtel Nigeria), an appeal against the said judgment has been filed by Airtel Nigeria. The Company abides by and has full confidence in the law of the land, and believes the Appeal Court will determine the appeal on its merits.

“In addition, the judgment will have no impact on the equity holding of other shareholders in Airtel Nigeria.

“We wish to assure our customers, employees and business partners that the ruling will in no way affect operations or the company’s ability to fulfill obligations to its stakeholders."

http://thewillnigeria.com/business/12162-Update-Panic-Airtel-Court-Orders-Company-Reverse-Name-Econet-Wireless.html

very docile and unstable compang

I see

Airecozain Nigeria.Case settled.We're tired of this name change over the years.

Thank God , tired fo changing names everyday

Who Cares.

Confused set of moda4kas

Me self go still buy that company.

and so what?

what difference will this change of name make?

Na today! Dos dt change anyfin, Abegi

let dem keep changin , at least advert and PR executives will have some jobs to do

Service delivery is most important issue here not name changing and reversing.

Does'nt change anythin

Lol AirecoVMozainCel Nigeria.

What a "chameleon" company!

Of course Airtel will appeal this judgement. The unstability of Airtel as a company discourages reasonable investment from potential investors. Did I miss something? 5% shares enough to reverse Airtel to Econet? What happens to the 95% shares of other shareholders? This is ludicrous. Is it not expedient for the court to ask Airtel to Pay Econet the 5% shares (with a percentage interest)? To me this judgement can not stand. It is quite obvious Airtel shall win the the appeal

Na wa o! Back to square one. Well I think they should go back to V Mobile, that's their most successful era

e concern me, i hate this network self

Koolking:

Of course Airtel will appeal this judgement. The unstability of Airtel as a company discourages reasonable investment from potential investors. Did I miss something? 5% shares enough to reverse Airtel to Econet? What happens to the 95% shares of other shareholders? This is ludicrous. Is it not expedient for the court to ask Airtel to Pay Econet the 5% shares (with a percentage interest)? To me this judgement can not stand. It is quite obvious Airtel shall win the the appeal

the percentile figure doesn't count . . its d highest percentage that counts . . .it could even be 3% . . so long as the remaining 97% is split among several share-holders and none of them comes close to 3%, then the holder of the 3% has more rights to the company when it comes to decision-making, u get ma drift?

This was one of the reasons why Vodacom SA(the most credible of all bidders for Vmobile) pulled back from acquiring the company.

Koolking:

Of course Airtel will appeal this judgement. The unstability of Airtel as a company discourages reasonable investment from potential investors. Did I miss something? 5% shares enough to reverse Airtel to Econet? What happens to the 95% shares of other shareholders? This is ludicrous. Is it not expedient for the court o ask Airtel to Pay Econet the 5% shares (with a percentage interest)? To me this judgement can not stand. It is quite obvious Airtel shall win the the appeal

The 5% is a factor, if not the court wouldn't have ruled in their favour. Combined shares will surely giv you 95%,individual  shares could be less than 5%. And that will make econet the highest shareholder. This is from another point of view.

From Econet to Vodacom to Vmobile to Celtel to Zain to Airtel. This company has a serious case of the 'Puff Daddy' syndrome.

aieromon:

Airecozain Nigeria.Case settled.We're tired of this name change over the years.

Aieromon suggesting Airecozain, lol.
Boy, Not only is Airecozain fit for purpose, its also almost starting like your name.

Hehehehe

mxxpunkxx:

the percentile figure doesn't count . . its d highest percentage that counts . . .it could even be 3% . . so long as the remaining 97% is split among several share-holders and none of them comes close to 3%, then the holder of the 3% has more rights to the company when it comes to decision-making, u get ma drift?

Lolamida:

The 5% is a factor, if not the court wouldn't have ruled in their favour. Combined shares will surely giv you 95%,individual  shares could be less than 5%. And that will make econet the highest shareholder. This is from another point of view.

@mxxpunkxx and Lola,

Thanks folks for the insight, I got your drift. The scenario of 5% shares of Econet as the highest shareholder is not factual. Until this is laid on the table for all to see, the court has not remedied the situation by ruling on outright reversal to econet. To me that decision is incongrous.

Econet for what?

You can not reap where u did not CAREFULLY sow? Your yeye agreement with Otudeko is hunting you.

when our so called leaders hijacked the company from the original onwers were you all there? No

Today the company is useless abi?

jephiano:

From Econet to Vodacom to Vmobile to Celtel to Zain to Airtel. This company has a serious case of the 'Puff Daddy' syndrome.

mikeapollo:

This was one of the reasons why Vodacom SA(the most credible of all bidders for Vmobile) pulled back from acquiring the company.

Because they were aware of the rot that left it profitless through the man who owned it then, a south African owned Econet

Acidosis:

very docile and unstable compang

slyopez:

Confused set of moda4kas

I bet you're rather confused!

Very soon i will buy the company,i will name it "BAAWAA WIRELESS NIGERIA"