Globacom in Fresh Deal to Buy Ivorian Telecoms Company for $600m
Emma Okonji There are indications that Globacom may acquire Ivorian mobile telecoms operator, Comium Cote d’Ivoire, in a deal worth $600 million.
It was gathered that the Chairman of Globacom, Mr. Mike Adenuga, had made a fresh bid to buy the telecoms company.
According to Forbes, which quoted Telegeography, Globacom, a Nigerian mobile telecoms operator owned by Adenuga, is lodging a $600 million takeover bid for Comium Cote d’Ivoire, a company that has been grappling with debt and cash flow problems in the recent times.
It is believed that if the deal goes through, Globacom would have succeeded in extending its brand presence in West Africa.
Globacom, which launched its services in Nigeria in 2003, with a current subscriber base of 28.9 million, also has its operational footprints in Ghana and Benin Republic.
Globacom, which already owns an international carrier services licence in Cote d’Ivoire, reportedly plans to invest over $1 billion in upgrading Comium-CI’s network over three years.
Comium CI more than 900,000 mobile subscribers, according to L’Autorite de Regulation des Telecommunications.
It is a subsidiary of Comium
has Group, a Lebanon-based telecommunications company, owned by Lebanese businessman Nizar Dalloul.
The group operates as a multiservice provider on four continents, specialising in Wireless Data Networks, GSM communications, Internet service provision and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).
Comium CI is heavily enmeshed in debt to the tune of more than $25 million and has been given until 15 May to pay off its debts or risk being placed into receivership.
Globacom, which is the second largest telecoms operator in Nigeria with a market share of 21 per cent, launched with per second billing system from the very beginning of its service rollout.
Globacom came second, according to the February industry data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), while MTN Nigeria leads the market with 61 million subscriptions, making about 43 per cent of the telecoms market.
Globacom was listed as one of the top 100 firms in Nigeria for the 2014 fiscal year, based on international benchmark set by the International Integrated Reporting Council.