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A consortium of some foreign and Nigerian banks, including Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank, are set to take over telecom firm, Etisalat Nigeria.
The consortium have been having a running battle with the mobile telephone operator over a loan facility totaling $1.72 billion (about N541.8 billion) obtained in 2015.
The loan, which involved a foreign-backed guaranty bond, was for Etisalat to finance a major network rehabilitation and expansion of its operational base in Nigeria.
However, following the failure of the company to meet its debt servicing schedule agreed since 2016, the three Nigerian banks, prodded by their foreign partners, reported Etisalat to banking sector regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and its communications sector counterpart, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).
The NCC’s efforts to broker a peaceful resolution of the crisis did not yeild any result, according to reports.
Etisalat blamed its inability to fulfil its obligation to the banks on the current economic recession in the country but the banks said their attempt to recover the loan by all means was fuelled by the pressure from the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), demanding immediate cut down on the rate of their non-performing loans.
Premium Times quotes a senior official of one of the banks as saying late on Tuesday that one of the options they have proposed to Etisalat management as a middle way out of the crisis was for it to request for a bankruptcy status.
The official, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the consortium, said the bankruptcy option would require having receivership management appointed by the banks to oversee its operations.
But, the NCC appears not to be favourably disposed to the takeover proposal, the source said, as it believes Etisalat was not only a viable going concern, but also willing and able to negotiate its loan serve. However, atop source at the NCC said late Tuesday that the commission had approved the takeover, which is expected to occur today.