Sources close to Teleology Holdings say accusations from local shareholders claiming the Adrian Wood-led parent company failed to meet financial and physical obligations are false and may leave them with no choice but to divulge the inside details of the acquisition of Nigeria’s fourth largest wireless carrier, 9mobile.
Focus has since shifted to the identity of the local shareholders who remain largely unknown.
“9-mobile’s statement will only push Adrian Wood to the wall to expose the unfair dealings of Teleology Nigeria,” a source familiar with the matter said.
“All this is already sending the wrong signal to the foreign community,” the source added.
The local shareholders of 9-mobile swiped back at Wood in a statement Wednesday where they said the former MTN CEO and his company, Teleology Holdings, failed to meet some financial and physical obligations earlier agreed upon.
The statement came on the heels of Wood’s claim to BusinessDay that he was displeased with certain actions taken by the local shareholders that were contrary to the initial arrangement.
Wood’s displeasure led to his exit from the Board, and the local shareholders have responded by insisting that the project would continue without any impute from Teleology Holdings, which they say is only a minority stakeholder in 9mobile.
There were initial fears among industry players that the loss of a technical partner in Teleology Holdings, could scuttle the deal and force a sale reversal, given that the proposal made by Wood’s Teleology was a key consideration for regulatory approval by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Adrian Wood is said to have proved to the telecoms regulator that he had prior knowledge of the Telecommunications industry and was capable of using his expertise to successfully revive the ailing 9mobile.
A source at the NCC, however, told BusinessDay Thursday that the sale remains intact and that the onus is on Teleology Nigeria to select another technical partner.
“Although this is unprecedented waters for NCC, it is not for the regulator to reverse the sale as a deal has already been sealed and ownership transferred to Teleology Nigeria,” the source said.
What began with an outburst of optimism for the 9-mobile project has soon turned sour after some infighting between the parent company led by former MTN CEO, Wood, and the Nigerian unit, over the business strategy of 9mobile, with the parent pulling out.
The Nigerian unit responded to the parent company’s exit with some harsh words.
“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,” said Oluseyi Osunsedo, director, regulatory and corporate affairs for 9-mobile.
According to Olusola Teniola, President, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Teleology is one entity with different roles and responsibilities and Adrian Wood was not to handle the financial responsibility, although the Nigerian stakeholders may have thought otherwise.
“Adrian Wood knew what he wanted to do with 9mobile and planned to transform the company using his strong technical capabilities. If you cast your mind back to about 7 months ago when Teleology revealed its 10 point agenda, he said he was bringing in a team of experts to further grow 9mobile’s data capacity, Internet of Things (IoT), bring mobile money opportunities and improve technical services. What is transpiring right now between Teleology Holdings Limited and Teleology Nigeria is that there is a disagreement on how the business is being run and not a matter of whether or not Wood contributed financially because he never promised that,” Teniola told BusinessDay.
Industry watchers also wonder why Teleology Nigeria allowed Wood to detail an agenda for the revival of the telco and went ahead to appoint him as a member of the Board of 9mobile if he had initially failed to meet his obligations as agreed.
It should be recalled that Adrian Wood in his detailed 10 point plan for 9mobile, stated that the telco will be engineering led with particular focus on broadband internet and partnership with Kenya’s Safaricom for mobile money opportunities in Nigeria.
Wood was however not allowed to select his team of experts to achieve the agenda to move 9mobile forward.
“Instructively, Teleology Holdings has been blocked from concluding a management services contract with the local joint venture, Teleology Nigeria Limited. The management services contract would have enabled Teleology Holdings and its team of experts oversee the implementation of the organisation’s elaborate business plans including funding proposals,” Adrian Wood said.
JUMOKE AKIYODE-LAWANSON & LOLADE AKINMURELE
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