Having exhausted its 90-day period, Teleology Holdings Limited, the preferred bidder for the acquisition of telecommunication company, 9mobile (formerly known as Etisalat), has reportedly requested for a 20-day extension to complete the process of taking over the telco company.
Teleology Holdings gets 20 day extension to close 9Mobile acquisition deal #9mobile #TeleologyHoldingsLimited https://t.co/uZEvbTmPg4
— WorldStage (@Worldstagegroup) June 30, 2018
Having sensed that it would not be able to meet up with the deadline, Teleology Holdings had earlier communicated its commitment to the payment of the final bid price to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), requesting for a 20-day extension to enable it conclude the sale which, according to NAN, was in the agreement and only triggered by the company.
The request was granted, but as a result of this, Teleology would have to pay an additional $50 million as requested by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a sign of its continued commitment to the deal’s completion.
Related Post: 9Mobile Sales Bid: NCC Says Teleology Must Show Adequate Technical Competence
The process for the acquisition of 9mobile commenced in October 2017, with Teleology – private equity firm run by a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria, Mr Adrian Wood, being announced earlier this year by Barclays Africa as the preferred bidder for the sale of the debt-ridden telecommunications firm, 9mobile, with Smile Communications emerging the reserved bidder.
“The process for the complete acquisition of 9Mobile is still ongoing.
As you already know, the company that emerged the preferred bidder for the takeover of the company is Teleology Holdings Limited.”
>>> https://t.co/1u7SfdNWdj pic.twitter.com/kPArZ4AvsP
— brad. (@BounceNewsNg) July 1, 2018
To facilitate the completion of the sale, Teleology was requested to pay its bid of $301 million, with an initial payment of $50 million non-refundable deposit as a demonstration of its commitment to acquire 9mobile and was given a 90-day timeline (which elapsed on Saturday, June 30 2018) to pay the balance of $251 million.
Related Post: Smile Telecoms Still Wants to Acquire 9Mobile: Would it get a Chance?
This extension is the latest in the twist and turns associated with the sale of the firm, after the process has been embattled with several problems of which the most recent is a court order, halting the sale due to opposition from two of 9mobile’s legacy shareholders.
With the extension in place, we would have to wait for another 20-days to fully ascertain what becomes of the whole process.
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