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4G/5G

9Mobile Ownership Decision Still in Balance

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The wait to discover the identity of 9Mobile's new owner looks set to run beyond mid-January as a series of regulatory checks and processes will need to take place in the coming days and possibly even weeks, according to a statement issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

A bidding process, managed by Barclays Africa, to become the new majority owner of Nigeria's fourth-largest mobile operator 9Mobile has been underway for several months and the identity of the new owner was expected to be announced on January 16. (See 5 in Line to Acquire Nigeria's 9Mobile.)

But following broad speculation about the process and even local reports that Nigerian operator Globacom is the preferred bidder -- a claim refuted by the operator -- the NCC has moved to clarify the situation in a statement shared with The Cable.

The extended January 16 deadline is for bids to be submitted, after which Barclays will review the bids and make a recommendation to the 9Mobile board. The recommended winning bidder will then be subject to a number of regulatory checks and clearances by the NCC, so the confirmed identity of 9Mobile's new owner may not be revealed for weeks yet. However, it would be very surprising if the identity of that recommended bidder did not leak to the market during the next few days.

It's also possible that this process could be delayed or obstructed by a reported court ruling that calls into question the authority of the current board.

That expected delay in confirmed ownership is bad news for 9Mobile, as the longer the uncertainty over its ownership continues, the longer it will be before it can announce and start to execute a new strategy, refocus its staff, calm the nerves of suppliers/partners and attempt to win back market share, which has been declining since Etisalat withdrew as the lead investor last summer. At that time the operator, then called Etisalat Nigeria, had almost 20 million customers and a market share of more than 13%, but its customer base has now dwindled to a reported 17 million and its market share is now around 12%. (See Etisalat Nigeria to Become 9Mobile.)

Globacom is believed to be battling with Bharti Airtel, Helios Investment Partners, Smile Telecoms and Teleology Holdings to become 9Mobile's new owner.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Group Editor, Light Reading for Connecting Africa.

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