9mobile says that the telco will run without Adrian Wood and Teleology Holdings Limited which it says is a minority stakeholder and has been edged out after failing to meet its initial obligations.
Teleology Nigeria Limited is a consortium including several local and foreign investors.
“While every partner in the consortium was delivering and meeting their obligations to the partnership in terms of financial resources, physical availability for crucial meetings and extensive network to help build the business, Adrian Wood’s Teleology Holdings Limited, which only owned a minority stake in Teleology Nigeria Limited, failed severally and wholly to meet theirs,” 9 mobile said in a statement responding to BusinessDay’s news on the the resignation of Adrian Wood from the board of 9mobile.
The statement signed by Oluseyi Osunsedo, Director, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs for 9mobile said that;
“Wood was not personally present for all the critical presentations made by the consortium during the bid process and failed abjectly with his financing arrangements with Swiss-based UBS Bank. In all these failings, other partners in the consortium filled the gap and pushed ahead until the sale was completed.”
Adrian wood on Monday announced his resignation from the board and his company’s seizure to participate in the 9mobile project, saying he that he was uncomfortable with actions taken outside the agreed business plan.
“Fifteen Teleology experts have worked since June 2017 on detailed 9mobile turnaround planning, development strategies and financial restructuring. This included lining up more than US$500 million fresh direct foreign investment from international institutions. 9mobile is an exciting opportunity to build a revolutionary mobile network that could be the pride of Nigeria, unfortunately it appears that we will not be able to participate. We now must stand down from further work on the 9mobile project,” Wood said.
Teleology Nigeria seems to have moved on with operations edging out the holding company, and is very likely to have gotten technical expertise elsewhere as it says that since taking over the company, and without any assistance from Wood or Teleology Holdings, the Board has revived and enhanced relationships with key vendors and core business accounts; improved business relationships with suppliers; enhanced its core network capabilities to deliver network efficiency competitively with other operators.
“With the assistance of leading global consultants, the company is also undertaking a complete review of its operational, regulatory, financial and technical architecture. On these basis, 9mobile has emerged from a period of uncertainty over the past two years to attain an active subscriber base of 16 million, representing a net increase of over 1 million subscribers in the last 6 weeks alone.”
In the aftermath of the protracted mismanagement of an otherwise healthy telecommunications company, and eventual default on its loans by the previous owners, Etisalat, now 9mobile was acquired by Teleology Nigeria Limited, following a competitive bidding process led by Barclays Africa, with participation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and thirteen Nigerian banks including GT Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and others.
This process, was concluded with the initial deposit of $50 million and a further payment of $251 million as settlement to the banks who took over the company.
These payments as well as further due diligence and technical evaluations led to the clearance of the sale by the NCC, and handover of 9mobile to the new owners, who announced a Board on 12 November 2018 with Nasiru Ado Bayero as the new Chairman.
9mobile says assures its customers, suppliers, partners, regulators, and stakeholders that the Board is committed to continuing the upward mobility of the telco.
“Having invested so heavily in buying the company, and assembling a reliable team to pursue our goals, we want to categorically state that no distractions can stop us from this mission,” the company said.
The Nigerian shareholders have expressed regret on the recent development and took a jab at Adrian Wood saying; “It is regrettable that Wood has allowed the same avarice, rascality, impatience and knavery that characterized his turbulent association with, and inglorious exits from several other companies to manifest again so early in 9mobile.”
Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson
