Teleology Holdings, the new owners of 9mobile, have decided to withdraw from further participation in the 9mobile project, expressing its dissatisfaction with the situation and business relationship with local partner, claimed Adrian Woods, founder of Teleology Holdings, who has resigned from 9mobile’s board.
“Fifteen Teleology experts have worked since June 2017 on detailed 9mobile turnaround planning, development strategies and financial restructuring. This included lining up more than $500 million fresh direct foreign investment from international institutions,” he said.
“9mobile is an exciting opportunity to build a revolutionary mobile network that could be the pride of Nigeria, unfortunately it appears that we will not be able to participate,” he added.
From another standpoint, some reports state that the management of 9mobile wanted to cast aside Woods and his company following allegations of double dealing with competitors and a preference for hiring Europeans over Nigerians.
Either way, this action will put the $50 million initial deposit paid for the acquisition of 9mobile by Teleology Holdings, in jeopardy.
Moreover, the NCC has made a recent decision to allow infrastructure services provider HIS to disconnect 9mobile’s network. In case this came true, its 15 million active subscribers will be unable to use its services.
All this messy situation started back to when major shareholders Etisalat and UAE-based investment fund Mubadala pulled out of the country in June 2017 after failing to renegotiate the terms of a $1.2 billion loan.