Etisalat, The fourth largest telecommunication company in Nigeria, has been taken over by a consortium of banks, led by Access Bank PLC, due to its inability to repay a debt, in tune of N541.8 billion.
Access Bank PLC was joined by nine other Nigerian banks, which include Zenith Bank, GT Bank, First Bank, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Union Bank in the acquisition.
The telecoms giant made this announcement on Tuesday in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in the United Arab Emirate.
This event followed the collapse of the effort by Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services, EMTS, led by Hakeem Bello-Osagie, to reach an agreement with the banks on a debt restructuring plan for its about N541.8 billion debt.
However, EMTS Holding BV, established in the Netherlands, has up to June 23 to complete the transfer of 100 percent of the company’s shares in Etisalat to the United Capital Trustees Limited, the legal representative of the banks.
The company, in a statement, had previously denied losing its major shareholder and had reiterated that efforts were been made to ensure the debt will be paid. The Central bank of Nigerian and the Nigerian Communications Commission had also been making efforts to prevent the takeover but all to no avail.
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