MTN Nigeria, the country’s leading telecommunications company, has officially liquidated Visafone, a move detailed in its H1 2024 financial statement.
According to TechCabal on Monday the financial statement revealed that MTN Nigeria recognised a loss of ₦30.3 billion ($18 million) on its 2016 acquisition of Visafone, which was the last-standing CDMA network in Nigeria at the time.
“Following the absorption by MTN Nigeria, Visafone is now fully liquidated,” the company noted in its financial statement. “The liquidation process was completed during the period, and all remaining assets and liabilities of Visafone have been transferred.”
MTN Nigeria initially acquired Visafone, owned by Jim Ovia, to enhanceet services by utilising Visafone’s 800MHz spectrum licences to deliver 4G LTE services.
However, the acquisition faced challenges, particularly in securing approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the transfer of the spectrum licence.
The spectrum licence was crucial to MTN’s strategy, as Visafone had 2.2 million registered subscribers, making it a key asset. The acquisition, however, sparked concerns among competitors, with Airtel and 9mobile arguing that it would increase MTN’s spectrum share from 38 per cent to 50 per cent.
Despite these challenges, MTN pursued the acquisition to better compete with Globacom, which had launched 4G LTE services in October 2016.
This was not the first time MTN had acquired a spectrum licence holder; in 2006, it purchased VGC Communications Limited (VGCCL) for $70 million (₦9.3 billion). VGCCL was licensed by the NCC to provide cabling and radiotelephone services nationwide.
While the terms of the Visafone acquisition were not disclosed at the time, the recent filing indicates that MTN invested ₦43 billion in the acquisition.
