Teleology, which emerged the preferred bidder for the 9mobile transaction on February 21, has beaten the deadline stipulated under the bid process for the acquisition of 9mobile by paying a $50 million non-refundable deposit for Nigeria’s fourth largest network operator.
If they had failed to meet up with the deadline, Barclays Africa, the transaction adviser, would have invited the reserve bidder, SmileTelecoms Holdings, to takeover 9mobile.
However, Teleology Holding is expected to pay the balance of its $500 million bid for 9mobile in the next 90 days, in order to take full possession of the telecoms firm.
According to what this day reported, all contractual documents for the 9mobile transaction had been executed by all the parties.
“We have 12 executives coming in and they comprise five of my former colleagues at MTN such as the ex-CTO and ex-CFO. Others include executives from Orange, Vodafone, Celtel and others.”
“9mobile is transiting into a new phase that will be defined by optimal value delivery: value to our employees, value to our customers, value to local communities and indeed to all stakeholders.”
Another distinguishing feature is that Teleology has formed an alliance with Safaricom, the biggest mobile operator in East Africa.
What we don’t know yet is if 9mobile will be undergoing another rebranding or Adrian Wood and his team will maintain the name 9mobile. Smile Telecom Holding will be like… “is this for real?”.
