The Board of Directors of Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited, often known as 9mobile, has denied rumours that the business was ordered by a judge to reimburse Keystone Bank for a debt of N55 billion.
The telecom provider made it clear in a statement over the weekend that it was not involved in any court orders or lawsuits pertaining to the debt. Only Teleology Nigeria Limited, a minority shareholder, is involved in the legal battle.
According to 9mobile: “Our attention has been drawn to a wave of syndicated media publications dated Friday, July 19, 2024, with the same misleading headline: ‘Court orders 9mobile to pay N55bn debt to Keystone Bank.”
Furthering: “The Management of 9mobile wishes to inform the concerned public and critical stakeholders that, contrary to this misleading headline, Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited, trading as 9mobile, was neither a party to any suit nor affected by the order said to have been made against it as an entity.”
A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, reportedly ordered Teleology Nigeria Ltd. to pay the amount owed to Keystone Bank on Friday, according to local brand news.
Teleology was accused by Keystone’s attorney, Bode Olanipekun, SAN, of not repaying the loan that was utilised to fund the company’s purchase of 9mobile assets.
Teleology failed to meet the requirements, even though Keystone Bank offered to renegotiate the loan. PAC Ltd. proposed a debt conversion to equity with no immediate payback to the plaintiff in lieu of repayment.
9mobile underlined that the reports affected its company’s reputation and were untrue and defamatory.
It disclosed: “If the correspondents who filed the obviously syndicated news stories were anywhere near the courtroom during the proceedings leading to the issuance of the said order, they would have known that at no point was 9mobile a party to the suit in question. Rather, the action was appropriately classified and filed as ‘Keystone Bank v. Teleology Nigeria Limited.”
Reiterating that no verdict had been rendered against it, the company called the attempt to connect 9mobile’s transaction with its minority shareholder, Teleology Nigeria Limited, “false and maliciously misleading.”
In the current legal battle, 9mobile has made clear that it is under new ownership, with a 95.5 percent controlling stake in the company, and that it is not responsible for the activities of its minority shareholder.
Continuing, 9mobile revealed: “Our business transformation program has commenced, and we are poised to reclaim our place in the market.”
After a protracted bidding procedure, Teleology Holdings bought 9mobile, formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria, in November 2018. But two months later, Teleology declared that it was pulling out of the project because of problems with its local partner and operational issues.
However, this move put the original $50 million down payment for the deal in jeopardy and brought attention to 9mobile’s ongoing financial issues, which have resulted in a sharp drop in subscribers since the company’s financial problems started in 2017.
