Nigeria turns to second bidder for Nitel deal

Nigeria: Nigeria has cancelled a deal to sell national operator Nitel after the bidder defaulted on a USD 750 million down payment. The New Generation Telecommunications Consortium won a USD 2.5 billion bid last October to purchase Nitel. It was supposed to pay USD 750 million by 5 November, but more than three months later it has still not paid up, despite several government extensions. Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises, which is brokering the sale, said they are not considering the consortium anymore as an acquirer, Reuters reports. The consortium includes a subsidiary of China Unicom, Dubai’s Minerva and local company GiCell. The BPE recommended that the government consider the second highest bidder, Omen International, which offered USD 956.9 million.