Posted by From Kunle Aderinokun in Abuja on
O-Secul Nigeria Limited, an engineering and oil service company, yesterday emerged the preferred bidders for the National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON) with an offer of $152 million (N20.216 billion).
O-Secul Nigeria Limited, an engineering and oil service company, yesterday emerged the preferred bidders for the National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON) with an offer of $152 million (N20.216 billion).
The company was directed to pay half of the bid price within two weeks and the balance two weeks thereafter.
Maestro Oil and Gas Services Limited, which offered $120m in the second and final bids was declared the reserved bidder.
Two other companies Fertilizer and Chemicals with with a bid offer of $84.3 million and Indorama International Finance with a conditional bid of $55.1 million, however, lost out.
The company liquidator, Otunba Olusola Adekanola, who presided over the bid opening at NICON Hilton Hotel, Abuja, said the two-week deadline for part payment of the bid price would not be extended. He said after paying half the bid offer the winner would offset the remaining amount within two weeks.
Adekanola said he had negotiated the initial debt claims on NAFCON from N9 billion to N5 billion.
He said that the nation's fertilizer company had been mortgaged to Trade Bank Plc and Oceanic International Bank Plc for a meagre N300 million debenture, noting that until his intervention, there was no arrangement for creditors to recover their monies.
He also said that NAFCON would not be handed over to O-Secul until a thorough investigation into its claims of technical partnership with ENGRO Chemicals Ltd. of Pakistan and prove of financial capability.
He said transactions on NAFCON must end by September, as the company would be handed over by the first day of that month.
According to him, O-Secul's offer has already met the reserved price as he was looking for at least N21 billion being the total indebtedness of NAFCON to all its creditors, including salaries and allowances owed workers.
In her address, Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mrs. Irene Chigbue, said the four companies that participated in yesterday's financial bidding were among the five that had earlier paid $2 million each to conduct data room exercise (due diligence) on NAFCON between July 11 and August 11,2005.
She recalled that 10 of the 11 prospective investors had visited the data room and conducted due diligence on the company but only five paid a non-refundable deposit of $2million at the closing date of August 11.
She said it was those five that were qualified to submit their financial and technical proposals.