Zain Telecom has agreed to pay Bharti Airtel $129 million to settle its various claims and disputes in Nigeria.
Bharti Airtel acquired Zain’s African business, including Nigeria, for $10.7 billion six years ago
According to Airtel,
“Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV and Zain Telecom have reached an agreement, pursuant to which Zain is to pay to Airtel approximately $129 million for the settlement of all Airtel’s claims on account of the Nigeria litigation, certain tax matters and associated legal costs.”
Under the terms of the 2010 share sale and purchase agreement, Zain had provided Airtel certain indemnities covering the Nigeria litigation and certain tax claims.
After the acquisition of Zain’s telecom business in Nigeria, Airtel ran into dispute with Econet Wireless — a minority stakeholder in Zain Telecom. Bharti Airtel lost a court case in Nigeria and potentially faced $3 billion in payout over a 5% stake claimed by Econet Wireless in its Nigerian unit.
“A separate settlement has been reached between Airtel and Econet Wireless Ltd settling all claims, disputes whatsoever, between the two including in Nigeria and Netherlands. With these settlements, Airtel has closed several ongoing major litigations in Nigeria, UK and Netherlands,” said Airtel
Bharti Airtel has operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.
