Nigeria - Govt has told buyers of NITEL to pay the first installment and to settle within the deadline

[bloomberg] Nigeria’s government gave the buyers of a 75 percent stake in Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd., or Nitel, two more days to pay the first installment of $750 million.

New Generation Telecom Ltd., which includes China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., was given 10 calendar days from Oct. 25 to pay the money, the Abuja-based Bureau of Public Enterprises said in an e-mailed statement today. The balance of $1.75 billion should be paid within 60 days of the receipt of an offer letter, which will be issued when the first payment is made, the bureau’s spokesman, Chukwuma Nwokoh, said in the statement.

“We’re making efforts to meet the deadline despite the short notice,” Usman Gumi, chief executive officer of Abuja- based Gicell Wireless Ltd. and spokesman for the bidding group, said in a telephone interview today.

President Goodluck Jonathan suspended the sale of Nitel on March 12, a month after New Generation made the highest bid in an auction for the stake, and told a committee to conduct further due diligence on the bidders. The sale was finally approved on Oct. 12. The group includes China Unicom, Minerva Group of Dubai and Nigeria’s GiCell Wireless.

Jonathan ordered the review after China Unicom, China’s second-biggest mobile-phone carrier, denied any involvement in the winning group. The Chinese operator later said one of its units was interested in “providing technical and managerial support.”

Omen International, which also includes China Unicom, came second in February’s auction for Nitel with an offer of $956.9 million, according to the Bureau of Public Enterprises.

A previous attempt in 2006 to sell Nitel and MTel, its mobile unit, to Transnational Corp. Plc was canceled after the Lagos-based investment company failed to comply with sale conditions. Nitel has lost market share to rivals including MTN Nigeria Ltd., a unit of MTN Group Ltd., Africa’s biggest mobile- phone company.

Nigeria Gives Nitel Bidder Two Days to Pay $750 Million First Installment