9Mobile is currently on the verge of being acquired by new investors. India’s largest and Nigeria’s third telecom operator, Bharti Airtel has revealed that it opted out of the last bidding round for 9Mobile, formerly Etisalat Nigeria, due to the absence of key information.Airtel’s spokesman told Reuters that unavailability of needed information in the contract of such nature made Airtel to pull out of the process. This is despite it being one of the final five prospective buyers shortlisted by Barclay UK – the deal adviser.“In the absence of key information, key contracts and other requested data, all of which is ordinarily made available during bids of this kind, we have been unable to participate in this process,” the spokesman said.9Mobile, formerly Etisalat Nigeria, is seeking new investors after its main shareholders – Etisalat International, pulled out of the business in 2017 as a result of the $1.5 billion loans crisis.In 2015, Emerging Market Technology Services Limited (EMTS) took a $1.5 billion loan from a consortium of commercial banks in Nigeria. Due to the forex crisis in Nigeria and other operational challenges, Etisalat Nigeria was unable to repay this loan. As a result, the creditors threatened to take over the company after several failed talks on the loan.However, it took the intervention of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt the takeover. An interim board and management team were formed for the company.Changing the company’s name to 9Mobile and finding a new investor for the company are parts of the turn around strategies planned by the two regulators.
