Airtel is said to have pulled out of the race to acquire the properties of defunct Etisalat now known as 9Mobile, StraightNews has gathered.
Initially, industry experts saw airtel’s effort to acquire a new telecom service provider as a boon that would have launched it from the third to the first telecom service provider in the country.
It was believed that if aritel had successfully purchased the infrastructure owned by 9Mobile, it would have become the number one biggest telecom provider, an effort that would have skyrocketed airtel’s customer base to 85.5 million subscribers both on voice and internet packages.
However, Airtel is said to have developed cold feet at this stage of the deal because, according to an insider, the brand felt ‘many things are not too plain with the entire process.
The source reported that Airtel believes that too many things are hidden about the health of 9Mobile, and that it is too risky for anyone to buy the company.
Things become compounded with the court case by Spectrum Wireless.
In any case, such startling finding would scare a company from making the purchase. Risk management and the bearing of shareholders were key factors in this decision.
Luckily, Teleology Holdings Limited and Smile Telecoms Holdings respectively have bidded for $500 million and about $300 million for sale of quotes.
Though the two companies submitted bids for their quotes, Globacom and Helios Investment Partners failed to submit bids for quotes before the closure of the window.
