Uncertainty has enveloped the sale of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (Abuja Disco) following the failure of the reserve bidder, North South Power Limited, to meet the payment deadline.
Information made available to this paper says North South Power, the reserve bidder in the sale of the electricity distribution company was given 15 days to pay the purchase price deposit after the preferred bidder, Fini Standard International Limited was knocked out of the ownership race for similar reasons.
The reserve bidder, our investigations reveal, is promoted by Ibrahim Aliyu, who is the Chairman of Urban Shelter, a real estate investment company with interests also in hotels.
It was learnt that although Fini Standard raised the required sum of money a day after the expiration of the 15 days window, its bid was rejected because the money did not arrive within the agreed period. It is not clear how the transaction would be structured going forward, especially since the preferred, bidder has been unable to make the purchase price deposit, more than 48 hours after the expiration of the payment window on December 17.
Our investigations reveal that he core investor in Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, KANN Utility Company Limited, a 60 percent joint venture of the Copperbelt Energy Corporation plc (CEC), a leading Zambian energy company, pulling out of the Abuja Electric following boardroom squabbles chiefly instigated by its inability to repay the loans if took from a new generation bank to secure the distribution company.
It is not clear if there is going to be a fresh bid or the bank in question would take the cheaper option of re-inviting the preferred bidder to re-present the cheque that was rejected over 18 days ago.
KANN Utility Company Limited, the main investor in Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, is selling its 60 percent stake in the company amid rising financial obligations following pressure from its bankers to retire loans secured to purchase the company.
Since the privatisation of the power sector, Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) has struggled to repay loans used in financing their purchase. Discos account for 5 percent of non-performing loans in some of Nigeria’s top lenders.
DIPO OLADEHINDE
