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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Monday, June 14, 2004.
Intrigue, as Daily Times, ALSCON go for sale
By Tony Eluemunor
Abuja Bureau Chief and
Sanya Adejokun
Senior
Correspondent,
Abuja
A
core buyer of Daily Times is pretty likely to emerge today even as
the sale of the ailing Nigeria’s oldest newspaper, established 78 years
ago, seems to throw up more problems than expected. It is the star prize
in the privatisation of the Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) group of businesses.
Its auctioneers,
the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), plans to open bids from four core
investors this morning at the NICON Hilton hotel, Abuja along with those
for the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON).
Some of the
bidders have since last week been involved in media campaigns to dent the
credibility of competitors and cart the trophy away at all costs.
Word had filtered
out that two of four may have withdrawn, having failed to submit the
mandatory N100 million bid bond.
Their names were not given.
However, BPE
Assistant Director and Head of Information and Marketing, Charles
Odenigbo, said in an interview that none of the groups has withdrawn from
today’s bid opening.
“We are not aware
that anybody is withdrawing. There is nothing like that. Some of them
that are not serious are trying to create confusion and frustrate the
privatisation process”, he said.
Yet, even he did not name those involved or the nature of the
confusion they have been causing. He confirmed that all the bidders paid
the mandatory $10,000 non-refundable fee to conduct due diligence and all
have submitted the mandatory N100 million bid bond.
A source said DTN
management may have deceived BPE over the sale of some property to offset
the arrears of salary and final entitlements of workers.
Rather than an
outright sale, as reported to the agency, the management was accused of
leasing out one of its properties in Lagos for five years commencing from
May 21, for N30 million.
But in swift
reaction, a source close to the management explained that the property -
at 15 Cooper Road, Ikoyi - has for long been the official residence of
the managing director.
He said DTN
leased the building to raise money to pay workers because BPE could not
provide the funds.
His words: “In
what way does that affect anybody’s bid? In fact, a certain group has
been saying that it was leased for eight hears for N30 million, though it
was valued at N600 million. That building is dilapidated; what makes it
valuable is just its location. But that piece of land is worth nowhere
near N600 million”.
The source
charged that the ploy is to paint the management in bad light as some of
the bidders may have sensed that it is doing its bidding professionally,
“and this time, we seem to be well-funded”.
In his view, such
a charge would be difficult to sustain as the management “made every
detail in its books open to all the bidders. Unlike the African Petroleum
case, nothing was hidden or held back so as to provide a level playing
field. In fact, the management had to engage the services of financial
experts before making its own bid”.
There have been
allegations that BPE had directed the management to revoke the contract,
which it described as fraudulent; however, the source could neither
confirm nor deny this, claiming not to be aware of such a directive. The
lease was yet to be revoked as of last Friday.
BPE Director
General BPE Julius Bala said at a briefing last week in Abuja that two of
the six assets (real estates) located in Lagos, Onitsha and Kaduna had
been sold while low response from the public had delayed the sale of
other assets.
He was silent on
the assets sold, their location, value and buyers. Those pre-qualified
for the bid are DTN management, Mindsprings Communications Limited, Folio
Communications and Johnnic/Patike Communications Consortium. They seek
100 percent shares of the company which the government is divesting.
The government,
it was learnt, had endorsed the sale of all DTN assets, except the one
housing the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos.
Mindsprings and
Foloi are formidable in this bid; both awash with cash as well as
personnel. MindSprings has
the backing of Theophilus Danjuma and two governors. It had approached
former DTN man Babatunde Jose to partake in a management buyout, an offer
he declined on account of old age. Nonetheless, Jose gave his blessing to
the team which includes Segun Babatope, Yemi Ogunbiyi and Haroun Adamu.
Folio has in its
ranks the Anosike brothers; Emma (a Senator) and Fidelis (a big player in
the Abuja property market), House of Representatives member Nze Chidi
Duru, former Daily Times Managing Director Innocent Okparadike and former
Post Express head Chidi Amuta, who once sat on Daily Times editorial
board.
Afe Babalola
leads the Mayoral bid.
Johnic/Patike started as two distinct groups but later teamed up.
Behind it is the South African parent company of MTN, the cellular phone
giant. Their Nigerian champions are Pascal Edozie of MTN and Diamond Bank
and Pat Utomi of Pan African University, Lagos.
Edozie and Utomi already have a flourishing partnership in
Business Day newspaper.
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