China Unicom bid $2.5 billion to buy Nigerian telco

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: $2.5 billion has been bid by China Unicom to take control of suffering Nigerian telco Nitel in partnership with Dubai-based telecom distributor Minerva and local CDMA player GiCell in a group called New Generations Telecommunications.

If the deal materializes, it would be one of China’s biggest investments in Africa, even though the bidding price is said to be too high for the under-performing business, which the Nigerian government has been trying to sell for ten years.

The consortium has 10 days to pay 30% of the price, and a further 50 days to pay the balance if it is to secure a 75% holding in Nitel.