This
site is designed for Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator versions
4 and above and a screen resolution of at least 800x600
|
|
|
Loita Bank joins MTL shares race
By
Ephraim Munthali - 24-03-2003 |
|
|
Loita Investment Bank (Malawi) have joined a consortium of Trojan Communications, Africa Venture Partners and the Development Bank of Southern Africa to vie for Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) shares.
Speaking at a news conference in Blantyre on Friday, Privatisation Commission (PC) executive director Maziko Sauti-Phiri also announced the withdrawal from the race of Mauritius Telecom, one of the first foreign investors to eye MTL.
“Mauritius Telecom have indicated that they are no longer interested [in MTL]. They say they want to concentrate on other investment opportunities elsewhere, so they are out,” said Sauti-Phiri.
This is the second investor to lose interest in the local ground phone operator after Econet Wireless of South Africa pulled out of a consortium that was selected to buy 30 percent government stakes, last year.
PC senior privatisation advisor Nelson Edwards said at a recent press briefing that a due diligence investigation conducted on Econet revealed that the investor had overstretched itself creating doubts that it would carry out the transaction.
Other interested consortia buyers are: Telecom Consultants India Limited, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and National Insurance Limited; and local conglomerate Press Corporation Limited (PCL), CDC Capital Partners and Detecon International.
Sauti-Phiri said the fact that investors are losing interest in MTL does not necessarily mean that the ground operator is a dead stock.
He said due diligence visits for the remaining three interested buyers will start early this week while the first set of negotiations on the deal will start on Friday.
|
|
|
|
|
|
