Daily Independent Online.
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Monday,July 19, 2004.
NICON to get N2b from BPE for stripped assets
By Bethel Obioma
Insurance
Correspondent,
Lagos
NICON Insurance Corporation, the nation’s
largest insurer, is set to receive about N2 billion, being proceeds from the
sale of its assets, from the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE).
The government had directed the BPE to remit the
proceeds from the controversial sale of NICON’s assets prior to its
privatisation.
NICON Managing Director, Ms. Prisca Soares, said the
corporation and the BPE had been involved in ongoing useful deliberations that
would facilitate the payment of the said proceeds and the conclusion of the
corporation’s privatisation process.
“The decision has been taken and we have been
assured that the money would be given to us. We have not got the money yet, but
we should be getting something in the region of N2 billion,” she said.
The BPE had embarked on a strategy, involving the
“unbundling” of some of the corporation’s assets, including
NAL Bank and Assurance Bank, among others, maintaining that it would pave the
way for the emergent privatised NICON to focus more on the business of
insurance.
This pit the management of the company and the
insurance industry against the bureau, as the stakeholders argued that
stripping NICON of its assets would reduce the capacity of the company,
compromise its competitive edge and make it unattractive to investors.
NICON’s investments include substantial
shareholding in insurance companies, NICON Hilton Hotel, banks, manufacturing,
and real estate, among others.
The corporation’s privatisation process has
been ongoing since December 2000.
