Airtel eyes 9mobile for consolidation

India’s Bharti Airtel is looking to merge its Nigerian arm with 9mobile, which has just rebranded from Etisalat Nigeria following takeover as a result of financial problems, a source close to the telecom company has said.

“The collapse of Etisalat Nigeria – and the withdrawal of Etisalat itself – is seen as a potential opportunity for consolidation (by Bharti),” the Economic Times of India claims in one of its reports.

Reports have said “no fewer than five” companies had expressed interest in Etisalat Nigeria, although only the two international telco giants – Orange and Vodafone – have shown “concrete interest”.

France’s Orange mobile and United Kingdom’s Vodafone had earlier emerged as potential bidders for the Nigerian fourth mobile network. The two companies were said to be in “strong running” to buy 65 per cent of the telco.

Recall that Vodafone lost the opportunity to operate in Nigeria during the early days of GSM as the company turned down request by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to buy the then ailing NITEL.

The Economic Times of India had reported that Bharti was looking to boost its assets in Nigeria, and this may explain its interest in 9mobile.

Presently, Nigeria is Bharti’s largest African market, where it generates around 30% of its revenues.

The Bharti Airtel chairman, Sunil Mittal, had previously spoken of the potential for mergers in some of its African assets as part of a rationalisation plan, according to reports.

Despite being a major market, Bharti’s unit has not broken into the top two operators in Nigeria since it bought Zain Group’s sub-Saharan Africa assets.

ALSO SEE: BUA group, others race to buy 9Mobile

Analysts said acquiring 9mobile could see Airtel Nigeria overtake Globacom, and give it the power to compete with market leader MTN.

Meanwhile, there was the rumour that Globacom Chairman and one of Nigeria’s billionaires, Dr. Mike Adenuga, is also making moves to acquire the communication firm.

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Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote was also mentioned as a potential buyer. Dangote holds a seat on the Etisalat board and Etisalat acquired its 3G license from one of the billionaires’ subsidiary companies, Alheri Mobile Services, back in 2010. There has also been all the talk and rumors of Dangote’s push into telecoms and technology investments.