Phone
The Bureau of Public Enterprises has a letter from China Unicom (Europe) Operations Ltd. confirming its part of a group that bid for Nitel, Joseph Anichebe, a spokesman for the bureau, said in a phone interview yesterday from Abuja, Nigerias capital. China Unicom (Europe) is a subsidiary of China Unicom, according to the Beijing-based companys Web site.
“We are standing by our announcement,” Anichebe said.
The Nigerian government said on Feb. 16 it selected New Generation Telecom Ltd., consisting of Unicom, Minerva Group of Dubai and Nigerias GiCell Wireless Ltd., as the preferred bidder after the group offered $2.5 billion for Nitel. Unicom, Chinas second-biggest mobile carrier, didnt participate in the bid, Sophia Tso, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for the company, said by phone yesterday.
Unicom “told us that they are part of the consortium that bid for Nitel,” Anichebe said. “If they now say they are no longer part of the team, its a different story,” he said, adding that the BPE hadnt been officially notified by Unicom that it wasnt involved in the bid.
Telecom Corp. of New Zealand and Telkom South Africa Ltd., which the Nigerian government said were part of other groups that submitted offers for Nitel, yesterday also denied participating in the bid. Calls to the London offices of China Unicom (Europe) outside normal business hours werent answered.
Relatively High
The $2.5 billion offer for a 75 percent stake in Nitel was “relatively high” compared with the valuation in Bharti Airtel Ltd.s proposed $9 billion purchase of the African wireless assets of Kuwaits Zain, Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst Danny Chu wrote in a Feb. 17 report. Nitels annual ebitda, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, was estimated at about $13 million, according to Chu.
Bharti Airtels bid for the Zain assets was valued at about 7.4 times ebitda, while paying $2.5 billion for the Nitel stake would be equivalent to more than 100 times ebitda, according to Nomuras Chu.
Telecom Corp. slipped 0.4 percent to NZ$2.33 as of 12:32 p.m. on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. China Unicom fell 1.3 percent to HK$8.87 in Hong Kong trading yesterday compared with a 0.5 percent decline by the benchmark Hang Seng Index. Telkom South Africa rose 1.2 percent to 34 rand.
Financial Backbone
Usman Gumi, the chief executive officer of GiCell, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that Minerva Group of the United Arab Emirates was the “financial backbone” of the New Generation group. He didnt provide further details about Minerva.
Until Minerva has made its “reaction public, were not going to speculate,” Anichebe said.
Gumi said that China Unicom (Europe) would “consider a minimum of 20 percent equity participation on terms to be agreed.” He didnt specify which entity the China Unicom stake would be held in.
Telkom Not Involved
Telkom, Africas largest fixed-line phone operator, denied the Nigerian governments Feb. 16 statement that the company was part of a group of investors known as AFZI/Spectrum Consortium that submitted a bid for Nitel.
“I can confirm that we did not participate,” Naas Fourie, chief of strategy at Telkom, said in a phone interview yesterday from Pretoria. “We did not bid for Nitel or for any part of Nitel. It is completely devoid of truth.”
The Nigerian government said Telecom New Zealand International was the “technical partner” of a separate bidding group led by a special-purpose vehicle called Brymedia West Africa Ltd.
Telecom New Zealand International is part of Telecom Corp. and isnt involved in the Nigeria bid, Mark Watts, spokesman for the Auckland-based company, said by phone yesterday. Adrian Wood, chief executive officer of Brymedia, didnt immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.