Daily Independent Online.
*
Tuesday, June 15, 2004.
Daily Times goes for N1.25bn
• ALSCON’s fate still in limbo, preferred
bidder yet to be named
By Sanya Adejokun,
Senior
Correspondent, Abuja
Like the proverbial abiku, which has come and gone these past
few seasons, the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) again showed
signs on Monday that its sale would still be prolonged.
Chairman of the
Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Akin
Kekere-Ekun, who presided over the bid opening for both the Daily Times of
Nigeria (DTN) and ALSCON in Abuja declined to pronounce BFIG Group the preferred
bidder despite being the sole contender.
It offered $410
million for 77.5 per cent of the company’s equity being divested by the
government.
But DTN was luckier.
Its bid was won by Folio Communications, which offered N1.25 billion for 96.05
per cent of its shares, beating DTN management buy out vehicle, Mindsprings
Communications Limited. Mindsprings offered N1.051 billion.
Kekere-Ekun acknowledged
BFIG as the highest for ALSCON, but clarified that he could not declare it the
preferred bidder because its $410 million offer is less than the reserved
price, which is the minimum expectation of the government, based on the worth
of the company.
He added: “All I
can say at this point is that BFIG has won this exercise. But I cannot declare the group the
preferred bidder because the amount they have offered to pay is less than the
reserved price”.
Second bidder Russian
Aluminum Group (RUSAL), which has pursued the goal of taking over ALSCON since
2002, was disqualified for submitting a conditional bid.
BFIG is a capital
resource, investment and infrastructure development outfit based in Los
Angeles, the United States; with Daewoo International (America) Corporation as
technical partners.
Daewoo, like RUSAL, is
one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of primary aluminum,
fabricated aluminum as well as alumina.
Kekere-Ekun did not
disclose the reserved price for the company, arguing that it could be
counter-productive as transaction has not been concluded.
He said there is the
possibility of NCP rejecting the offer and that future bidders could take
advantage of such a disclosure.
BFIG President Reuben
Jaja told newsmen that his group is on a mission to rescue the aluminum sector
of the economy, which he described as very crucial for industrialisation.
He expressed
satisfaction at the transparent manner in which the Bureau of Public
Enterprises (BPE) and NCP handled the exercise, adding that the manner in which
BPE handled the bid was exactly what foreign investors needed to assure them of
transparency and fair-play that would encourage them to invest in the Nigerian
economy.
Leader of a delegation
of the host community and former ALSCON Director, Obot Etukafia, said the
people of Ikot Abasi want investors to move into the company quickly because
“the expectation of people and indeed Nigeria is high”.
In his view, the
re-opening of ALSCON would produce a new lease of life in the community which has been adversely
affected by its closure since 1999, after only about a year of operation.
“We want immediate re-start and operation of the
ALSCON plant in keeping with the mandate given them by the government. We sincerely pray and hope that they
would live up to expectation”, he said.
