Mubadala pulls out of Etisalat Nigeria

abuja/lagos — Abu Dhabi state investment fund Mubadala has pulled out of Etisalat Nigeria after the telecom firm failed to renegotiate a $1.2 billion loan taken out four years ago with 13 Nigerian banks, the central bank said on Friday.

It gave no details on what it meant by “pulled out” but said it had intervened in the loan renegotiation talks to prevent job losses and asset stripping.

Etisalat Nigeria had repaid $500 million of the loan before it defaulted in February due to a currency devaluation and its only remaining investors are its Nigerian partners, led by company chairman Hakeem Belo-Osagie.

On Tuesday, parent company UAE’s etisalat, said it was carrying its 45 per cent stake at nil value, and that the Nigerian lenders had ordered it to transfer its shares to a loan trustee by June 23 after the renegotiation failed.

“Given the inability of Etisalat [Nigeria] to come to an acceptable agreement with the banks, the largest shareholder in the company, Mubadala Development Company has now pulled out of the company as well as the ongoing negotiations,” the central bank said.

“It was based on the attempt of the banks to take over the company that the financial and telecommunication regulators have moved in to intervene and forestall down-sizing and asset stripping,” it said. — Reuters