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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Daily Times sale: Today is D-dayABDULWAHAB ISA, Abuja TWENTY-EIGHT years after its acquisition by the Federal Govern-ment, the ownership of The Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) PLC will today return to private investors as the final financial bids for its sale opens in Abuja. In contention for the acquisition of the 78-year-old newpaper conglomerate are Mindsprings Communications Limited (Management Buy-out), Folio Communication Ltd. (Nigeria), Mayoral Forum Ltd, Johnnic Communication of South Africa and Patike Communication Nigeria Limited. Director-General of BPE, Dr. Julius Bala, will lead other members of the bureau to moderate the bidding process that will produce the new owners of the nation�s oldest surviving newspaper. Today�s event holding at Abuja NICON Hilton Hotel will be televised live to ensure transparency and openness. At a monthly news briefing of the bureau at the weekend, Bala had hinted of the development to Finance Correspondents, saying that every arrangement had been concluded to handover Daily Times to a core investor. In the list of core investors struggling for Daily Times acquisition are, Mindsprings Communications Ltd (Management Buy-out), Folio Communication Ltd (Nigeria), Mayoral Forum Ltd, Johnnic Communication Ltd of South Africa and Patike Communication Nigeria Limited. As a pre-condition for pre-qualification, all the prospective buyers had paid the mandatory non-refundable fee of $10,000 in addition to the submission of financial and technical bids that ended on June 4. It would be recalled that the attempt is coming after the failure of the sale of Federal Government investment through Initial Public Offer (IPO) which recorded a low subscription on the floor of Stock Exchange. On the recommendation of the National Council on Privatisation, (NCP). President Olusegun Obasanjo in May, 2003, approved the strategy of core investor sale after which BPE got six expressions of interest. Before the commencement of due diligence, Johnnic Communications Limited and Patike Communication sought and obtained BPE consent to merge to become Johnnic Communication Patike Consortium. As expected in the life of individual or corporate organisation, today�s event marks a watershed in the transformation of the 78-year- old conglomerate as its continued existence in the last few years depended on the dedication of management and staff who ensured that the paper was on the newsstand in the face of daunting challenges. There is a firm belief that with privatisation, the organisation would still reclaim its towering position with a core investor taking over. Founded in 1925 by four friends, Sir Adeyemo Alakija, Mr. V. R. Osborne, Mr. L. A. Archer and Mr. R. Barrow, the Daily Times as a publishing house became a household name and a symbol for measuring the ideal newspaper. Starting with a print run of 2000 copies when it was first published on June 1, 1926, it multiplied to 350,000copies in the seventies while Sunday Times printed over 500,000copies. Journalism veterans like Alhaji Babatunde Jose, Chief Olu-segun Osoba, Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, Tunji Oseni, Innocent Oparadike, Peter Enahoro, Dr. Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo and the incumbent Mr. Edwin Baiye had at various times presided over the affairs of the company. The military acquisition of the paper in 1976 was widely criticised as a wrong decision that began the slide of the group, but the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election and the role played by those directing the editorial affairs of the organisation then contributed significantly to the downturn in the fortunes of the Daily Times.
Monday, June 14, 2004 |
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