Nigeria’s government approved the sale of the state telecommunications company to Dubai’s Minerva Group and its partners, eight months after they bid $2.5 billion for the company at an auction.
The group will pay an initial $750 million, followed by the remaining $1.75 billion within 60 days, the Abuja-based Bureau of Public Enterprises said in an e-mailed statement today. The government will sell a bond to pay outstanding wages owed to Nitel’s workers, the bureau said.
New Generation Telecom Ltd., consisting of China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., Minerva Group of Dubai and Nigeria’s GiCell Wireless Ltd., won the bidding for 75 percent of Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd., or Nitel, on Feb. 16. President Goodluck Jonathan suspended the transaction on March 12 and told a committee including senior ministers to conduct further due diligence on the bidders.
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