The fourth largest telecommunication company in Nigeria Etisalat has been taken over by a consortium of banks, led by Access Bank PLC and other Nigerian banks including Zenith Bank, GT Bank, First Bank, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Union Bank.
The takeover followed the collapse of the effort by Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services, EMTS, led by Hakeem Bello-Osagie, to reach an agreement with the banks on a debt restructuring plan for its about N541.8 billion debt.
However, EMTS Holding BV, established in the Netherlands, has up to June 23 to complete the transfer of 100 percent of the company’s shares in Etisalat to the United Capital Trustees Limited, the legal representative of the banks.
Etisalat Group, the parent company of Etisalat Nigeria, announced the takeover on Tuesday in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in the United Arab Emirate.
