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Transcorp explains delay in Nitel take-over

Posted by By Festus Akanbi on 2006/10/04 | Views: 672 |

Transcorp explains delay in Nitel take-over


The management of Transnational Corporation said on Tuesday that its final take-over of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited would be effected 'in a matter of weeks."

The management of Transnational Corporation said on Tuesday that its final take-over of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited would be effected 'in a matter of weeks."

The company's Vice-President, Communications, Mr. Adedayo Ojo, who gave the assurance at a press conference in Lagos, explained that the earlier timetable for the take-over of the telecommunications firm was set aside to enable Transcorp position Nitel property.

As part of the preparations for the takeover, Transcorp has held meetings with the staff and management of Nitel and Mtel - its mobile subsidiary, a development which Ojo described as an indication of its readiness to commence business.

According to him, Transcorp has commenced an updated valuation of the assets of Nitel and Mtel, adding that the focus of the mega institution is to improve the quality of services of the two companies.

For instance, he said that the initial concern of the management of Transcorp was to ensure an improvement in the quality of the performance of Mtel, which he agreed, was not competitive enough in its current format.

'We have resolved to invest in high and up-to-date technology for Nitel," he stated, adding that Transcorp would bring the credibility of its owners to bear in the running of the two firms.

He said that already, two technical partners, including one American and one Chinese company, had been contracted to run Nitel and Mtel, although he was not specific on the identities of the two foreign firms.

Ojo said that Transcorp would be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange before the end of the fourth quarter of 2006, pointing out that the company was also looking at the possibility of an equity partnership. He said that the company would, however, be open to all Nigerians.

He said that the N63bn loan secured from the Nigerian banks for the initial payment of its interest in NITEL had since been refunded.

He, however, said that the dream of the company's management to make Transcorp a wholly Nigerian company did not prevent any foreign investors from buying into the company. However, such foreign investors would be allowed to own majority holdings in the company.

Transcorp, according to its spokesman, 'will position Nigeria to benefit from some of its military assistance programmes to such places like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Sao Tome and South Africa."

On the dual role of the company's chairman, Dr. Ndi Okereke-Onyuike, who is also the director-general of the NSE, Ojo said the controversy over the matter would not affect the corporation in any way. He insisted that her positions in the two entities had the backing of the World Federation of Stock Exchanges.

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