Struggling telecommunications company, Ntel is preparing to bounce back with the appointment of a former MTN Nigeria CEO, Adrian Wood, to lead the company in its restructuring and rebranding bid.
To that effect, Wood, who has quietly assumed the position since January this year, has unveiled plans to raise $550 million from investors to rebuild the company.
The new Ntel CEO disclosed this in a letter to the company’s staff dated June 5, 2024, a copy of which was seen by Nairametrics.
Ntel, an offshoot of the government-owned NITEL acquired by NATCOM Development and Investment Limited (NatCom) launched in 2016. However, its fortune has declined over the years.
The comeback moves
Explaining the moves he has been making since he assumed the position of CEO in January this year, Wood in the letter to the company’s staff said:
“On 21 May I visited the EVC/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr Aminu Maida. We had a very productive session about the forward plan for NatCom, our role in industry building, as well as the prospects for raising equity and debt capital to fund a complete new 4G/5G network design and rollout nationwide.
“In the background, I have been engaging with potential institutional investors. When the new financial business plan and offering document are ready soon, there will be a roadshow to raise (estimated) US$500 million to US$550 million, to restructure, rebuild and develop NatCom.
“Already, together with CIO Anthony Adegbola, one New York investment fund visited some of our Lagos facilities. With the visitor, I also had a positive meeting with the African Capital Alliance, one of Nigeria’s (and Africa’s) premier private equity funds groups. ACA was an early-stage investor in MTN Nigeria. They told us it remains their investment with the best returns, ever.
“Next week I will be seeing three other potential institutional investors.”
He added the investors on target are Africa-focused, have investments in Nigeria in other segments, have offices in Nigeria, and are seeking digital infrastructure projects to support with funding.
He, however, noted that it would take months of negotiations to secure large capital commitments in several stages. Before the arrival of new investments, he said the company would leverage a facility from AMCON—55% NatCom shareholder to see it through the crucial project management office planning phase, new capital formation and network rollout, before relaunching the business.
New brand
While urging the staff to keep faith, Wood said the company would become a new brand at the end of the ongoing restructuring efforts.
“There will be a set of business strategies that are fresh, innovative, and new to the market. There will be products and services, and service combinations, which do not exist in Nigeria at present. All technical systems and platforms will be constructed and rolled out nationwide, from the ground up. It will be an enormous undertaking – but we will prevail. I am sure of it,” he assured the staff.
What you should know
NatCom Development & Investment Ltd (NatCom) acquired the core telecom assets previously owned by NiTel/MTel (Nigeria’s national fixed and mobile operators), in a guided liquidation process in 2014.
- The company made its first on-net test data call in Lagos on Monday, January 18, 2016, and this was followed by its first Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) call in Lagos on Thursday, February 25, 2016.
- In spite of the hurdles, the company, within its first 6 months of operation, attained full network coverage in Abuja, across large swathes of Lagos and then parts of Ogun, Nasarawa, and Niger states.
- It launched full VoLTE services, signed a landmark deal with Samsung, perfected its self-care recharge via its website, and transformed the broadband landscape with its superfast and unlimited data propositions.
- However, industry analysts believe NTEL launching 4G services in April 2016 was its albatross as not many subscribers had handsets for 4G at that time and NTEL was left in a lonely world where it had little connections with other operators.
