Unicom denies bid for Nigeria Nitel telco
By Sui-Lee Wee and Doug Young |
February 23, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA Unicom, the nation's No. 2 mobile carrier, yesterday denied it was bidding for Nigeria's former state telecoms monopoly.
"The company has not participated in any direct discussions or negotiations with any relevant parties involved in the proposed privatization," Unicom said in a statement.
"The company will continue to observe the development of the proposed privatization, and will make announcements as and when appropriate."
Unicom also said it was very concerned about recent media reports it was participating in the proposed privatization and said it had not authorized any person to comment on the deal.
Unicom's remarks are the latest twist in Nigeria's ongoing effort to sell its former telecoms monopoly, Nitel.
Nigeria's National Council on Privatization, responsible for privatizing Nitel, said on February 16 that a consortium, including Unicom, had bid US$2.5 billion for Nitel.
Unicom refuted this two days later by denying involvement in the project by its Hong Kong-listed firm, its state-run parent or any of their units.
The managing director of GiCell, the small Nigerian operator fronting the bid, responded by saying: "We didn't pull all this out of the air."
GiCell also provided copies of a letter that allegedly came from Unicom's European unit saying the company was willing to be a technical partner to the consortium and would consider equity participation of 20 percent or more.
The confusion over Nitel's sale showed the unpredictability of cross-border African telecoms deals at a time India's Bharti Airtel Ltd is bidding US$9 billion for the African assets of Kuwait's Zain.
Reports of Unicom's part in the Nitel bid surprised many, as the company has little experience in overseas mergers and acquisitions.
Nigeria tried to sell Nitel in 2001, but preferred bidders failed to pay US$1.3 billion.
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