By Kokumo Goodie, Lagos, Nigeria
Telecoms giant Globacom has distanced itself from media reports implying that it was the preferred bidder to acquire 9mobile.
The company said in a statement: “Globacom has not acquired 9Mobile as widely reported in the media. We are bound by the terms of the acquisition process as stipulated by the authorities handling it and we will not in any way sway or deviate from the rules”.
“We repose confidence in Barclays Africa, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which are handling the process that will lead to the emergence of a new owner for the company.”
Globacom urged all stakeholders and the Nigerian public to disregard the report.
Earlier this week, the regulator of the telecoms sector, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said no winner had emerged in the ongoing efforts to sell Nigeria’s fourth largest carrier. NCC’s Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, in a statement said the process to sell the carrier was ongoing, with Barclays Africa, advisor to the Interim Management of the telco, in charge of the process. According to Ojobo, an approval sought by Barclays Africa to extend the timeline for the submission of final binding bids for the telco to January 16 had earlier been granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC.
