The race to acquire 9mobile, Nigeria’s fourth largest telecoms network operator, is taking a new dimension, as Dangote Group and Helios Towers are already emerging as the top two contenders among the 16 local and international companies bidding to acquire it.
A source from Barclays, which is the official institution assigned to receive and evaluate bids from companies that have expressed their interest to acquire and invest in 9mobile, disclosed that contrary to the expectations of industry stakeholders, that the big multinationals may likely win the bid process, there is a new dimension, which clearly shows that Dangote and Helios Towers are taking the early lead in the ongoing bid exercise, which is expected to be concluded by early next week, and result announced.
According to THISDAY, the two top contenders are not new to telecoms business, as they both have vested interests in promoting telecoms business in Nigeria.
Dangote Group that is bidding with the brand name, Blackstone, had in the past, acquired a 3G licence, through its subsidiary, Alheri Engineering Company Limited, but later sold it out at a time it did have need for it. Alheri Engineering alongside MTN, Globacom and Celtel, which has since transformed to Airtel, won the 3G licence, among the 17 firms that expressed interest in the bid.
Helios Towers, one of the bidders, owned and operated the largest telecoms towers in Nigeria and in other countries, before it sold its Nigerian infrastructure to IHS. Aside selling its Nigerian towers infrastructure to IHS, Helios has business in the telecoms, banking, and other sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Analysts who are happy that a Nigerian company like Dangote Group is among the two top bidders, said its interest to invest in 9mobile would further strengthen the brand perspective, should Dangote eventually emerge winner.
According to analysts views, Dangote is coming from a portfolio of strength, using the vehicle of one of the strongest private equity company in the world, the Blackstone Group, which has investment valued at $378 billion and has a Nigerian subsidiary called the Black Rhino Group that has significant investment in fibre optic cable, which is a critical infrastructure in the Nigerian telecoms space. “Dangote has strong international and financial muscle to play in the telecoms space and compete with big operators to give 9mobile an edge over other operators, since it will be operating as the second fully indigenous telecoms company in the country, after Globacom, if it eventually emerged the winner,” the telecoms analysts said.
Although they were of the view that 9mobile already had the advantage of brand appeal among the youths, especially in the area of data bundle services, they however said that the presence of Dangote would further increase the brand visibility of 9mobile.
__________
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2017 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
