Court halts planned sale of 9Mobile

 

The Federal High Court, Abuja yesterday halted the planned sale of the distressed telecommunication firm, Etisalat (now 9Mobile), following a legal action by aggrieved shareholders of the company.
Consequently, the telecom shareholders have demanded that their $43.33 million invested fund be refunded to them.
In her ruling, however, Justice Binta Nyako, ordered all the parties involved to maintain status quo, pending hearing and determination of the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/288/2018.
The plaintiffs- Afdin Ventures Limited and Dirbia Nigeria Limited – who claimed to be major investors in Etisalat, told the court that they were left out in the firm’s decision making process, even as they demanded for a refund of their invested funds estimated at $43,330,950.
Cited as defendants in the suit, were Karlington Telecommunications Ltd, Premium Telecommunications Holdings NV and First Bank of Nigeria Plc. Others are Central Bank of Nigeria, Etisalat International Nigeria Ltd and Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).
Justice Nyako had after listening to an ex-parte motion the plaintiffs filed through their lawyer, Mr. Mahmud Magaji, SAN, forbinterim injunctions, held that the “defendants ought to be heard”.
The court therefore ordered the service of all the processes on the defendants, including the 3rd and 5th (First Bank and Etisalat), whose addresses are outside jurisdiction. The case was subsequently adjourned till May 14 for mention.
Basically, the plaintiffs are praying the court to among others reliefs, declare that the planned sale of Etisalat to Smile.Com and Glo Network, without paying them the money with which they bought their shares, is unlawful. They also urged the court to order the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th defendants to refund to them the total sum of $43,330,950 with which they bought their 4303395 shares at $10 per share.The plaintiffs equally prayed the court to award N1billion in general damages against the defendants and in their favour. in a statement of claim they filed before the court, the plaintiffs said they bought shares in Etisalat from the 1st and 2nd defendants (Karlington Ltd and Premium Holdings) through “a private placement memorandum in which the 3rd defendant (First Bank) served as a custodian of the plaintiffs’ share certificate.” They said while the 1st plaintiff (Afdin Ventures) “bought 1,300,391 Class A Shares at $13,003,910,” which it paid for on August 14, 2009, the 2nd plaintiff (Dirbia Ltd) acquired 3,300,004 Class A shares at $30,030,040, for which it made payment on September 3, 2009. The plaintiffs said they paid for the shares through the 1st and 2nd
defendants’ First Bank accounts. In their supporting affidavit that was deposed to by the General Manager of the 1st plaintiff and a director in the 2nd plaintiff, Sani Ibrahim, he told the court that the problem with Etisalat resulted from the mismanagement of its funds.

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