After a very lengthy sales process, the new owners of the 9Mobile brand – which was formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria – have been revealed. This is coming after a sales process overseen by both Barclays Africa and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In the time that the now-acquired company has been listed for sale, it had attracted interest from numerous bidders, seen brands pull out of the deal and also, been caught in other sale contractions.
Initially starting with a total of 10 bidders, the sales process saw this number reduce to merely five. Of the five bidders that made the final list, Airtel left the pool with claims that they could not trust an investment in something such as 9Mobile.
That is understandable, given that there is no determining the strength of the network since it failed under Barclays Africa and changed its name. After that, Glo and Helios failed to come forward with a bid, even as the deadline was drawing nearer.
That left the duo of Smile Telecoms Holdings and Teleology Holdings to make an offer, and that they did. According to figures showing up in the news, the latter company proposed $500 million to secure the rights to the network, while the latter offered a comparatively modest $300 million instead. With these numbers, it is not surprising why Teleology has now been announced as the new owners of 9Mobile.
While nothing has been confirmed from the parties involved in the sale as of yet, new reports are strongly indicative of this being the case. Should it pan out to be totally legit news, we believe the brand has fallen into good hands.
Currently, the CEO of Teleology Holdings Limited, Adrian Wood, was the first CEO of the MTN Nigeria group. Having gone on to man other projects since leaving the Y’ello brand, we believe he is capable of turning the network into something amazing.