Privatisation
Six Investors Show Interest in NITEL
Kaduna, Katsina States to buy PAN
From Cletus Akwaya in Abuja
Six companies have indicated interest in acquiring 51 per cent equity in the Nigeria Telecommunica-tions Limited (NITEL) as the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has commenced fresh moves to privatize the national carrier after the 2002 botched attempt.
Alongside the process to appoint a core investor, 20 per cent of NITEL shares will also be taken to the capital market next month in an initial public offer (IPO). The IPO had been postponed several times since 2002. The shares will be sold according to the provisions of the privatisation guidelines and regulations on the basis of equality of the federal constituencies.
Also, Kaduna and Katsina states, will by the end of this month acquire Federal Government's interest in the Kaduna- based Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited (PAN) as the BPE has concluded arrangements to divest government's equity in the car assembly plant.
Director General of BPE, Dr. Julius Bala, who yesterday briefed newsmen on the progress made on various transactions in the privatisation process said six foreign companies have told BPE of their interest in being core investors in NITEL.
Although Bala did not name the six companies, sources told THISDAY last night that some of these companies and individuals include British Telecom, Virgin Atlantic's Richard Branson, a Singaporean telecom firm and some individuals who have Vodafone in their consortium.
THISDAY also gathered that the BPE may have even signed a memorandum of understanding with the Singaporean firm which had indicated interest in committing over $1 billion to the transaction.
But according to Bala, BPE has already made a request to the Federal Government for approval to recommence the NITEL privatization process.
"Many foreign companies have indicated interest. To our pleasant surprise, in the last two or three months we have received quite a number of proposals from investors who want to acquire NITEL. I can count at least six of them, we are seeking approval from government to start the core investor sale," Bala told newsmen at the crowded briefing.
Government's bid to privatize NITEL was botched in December 2002 as the selected core investor, Investment International (London) Limited (IILL) failed to pay the bid price of $1.119 billion at the expiration of the 90 working days stipulated under the sale purchase agreement.
Following the botched process, a Dutch firm, Pentascope was appointed management contractors for the company for an initial period of three years with effect from March 2003.
With government's fresh plans to privatize the national carrier, the management contract might be terminated before the three year period. In that case, the Federal Government might pay off the contractors according to the terms of the agreement.
On PAN, the Director General disclosed that Kaduna and Katsina states through their investment companies, have entered into negotiations with the BPE to exercise their pre-emption rights to acquire Federal Government's 35 per cent stake in PAN. The move by the state governments had prompted the BPE to revalue the company's shares.
Bala did not disclose the worth of the shares but said the two states are expected to make payments on or before August 30 for the 35 per cent stake.
Should the transaction sail through, the two states will not only become the first of the 36 states to buy Federal Government's equity in any of the public enterprises, they would combine to have a major say in the assembly plant which has had the French auto maker, Peugeot, as major partner to the Federal Government since 1973 when the company was established.
On the privatization of the Ports, the Director General disclosed that out of the 110 expressions of interest (EOIs) received in respect of the ports concession, 96 companies have been pre-qualified to go into technical and financial bids.
He said 24 concessionaires would be appointed to operate the country's four ports in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri. He also disclosed that the four ports will become autonomous companies with one organization exercising the right of a landlord over the facilities.
He also disclosed that the concessionaires to be appointed to operate various aspects of the ports would be engaged for various periods of between 10 and 25 years depending on the nature of service they would be contracted to offer before the functions would be reverted to government.
To drive the reforms in the ports, he said, President Olusegun Obasanjo has appointed an inter-ministerial presidential committee to implement the reforms. He added that a reputable Canadian company with international experience in ports and railways concessions in Africa, Latin America and Asia, CPCS Consulting has been appointed Concession Advisers to assist the BPE in the transaction.
Bala assured that the privatization of the nation's refineries was still on course. He said the delay was to enable BPE woo the oil majors operating in the country to also indicate interest in the four refineries. Two of the companies have already indicated interest to take over the refineries.
"We have been able to get two of the oil majors. We will soon invite the 34 companies that expressed interest and the two to restart the process of privatization of the refineries.
"We are doing this with full knowledge of government. We don't want to sell the refineries to a financial speculator who will take over these refineries but not be able to manage them very well, that will be compounding the problem," he added.
On the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), the Director General said BFIGroup, which was appointed the core investor has lost the status upon failure to pay 10 per cent of the bid price on July 8. As a result, he disclosed that negotiations had been re-opened with other investors.
Bala reviewed his first year in office and said he was satisfied with the performance of the BPE particularly in ensuring that a lot of background work was done before the enterprises were taken to the market.
He said in the last six months alone, 11 enterprises have either been sold or were at advanced stages of being sold. He assured that more enterprises would be sold before the end of the year since the bureau had concluded most of the pre-privatisation work required on them.
|
