According to the Nigerian court of law, 5% of Airtel’s subsidiary in Nigeria belongs to Econet wireless, and Econet is out to get its pound of flesh. Econet Wireless Nigeria (EWN) has appealed before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, seeking compensation for damages from Airtel, which run to the tune of $3 billion.
Airtel, on the other hand, isn’t quite pleased with the court ruling, and has said as much: “Bharti Airtel, a 79.06 percent shareholder in Airtel Nigeria is not satisfied with the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, delivered on Feb 14 and will lodge an appeal against that decision at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.”
The Indian telecoms company has stated that the shares currently in dispute are locked in an escrow account and that the judgment right now has no impact on Bharti Airtel’s stake, or on Airtel Nigeria’s shareholders for that matter. A few years ago, it will be recalled that Bharti Airtel purchased the Nigerian telecoms company from Zain for about $10.7 billion.
Airtel’s statement against the ruling reads thus: “Airtel Nigeria has already launched an appeal before the Supreme Court of Nigeria against the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Kaduna in the matter relating to Econet’s claim for 5 percent shares in Airtel Nigeria…We would like to unequivocally state that neither of these orders of the Courts of Appeals in Lagos and in Kaduna deal with the quantum of damages and no such quantum has been determined.”
This controversy is as old as time itself – well, not really, it actually dates back to 2003 – when Econet Wireless mentioned that some ‘improper decisions’ were taken by the Nigerian members of Airtel, which resulted in the cancellation of Econet Wireless Ltd’s (EWL’s) shares in EWN, the removal of its name from the register of shareholders and the change of its name to V-Mobile Networks.
The Federal High Court of Nigeria ruled against Airtel in 2012, stating that EWL’s shares be reinstated and that the name of the company – currently Bharti Airtel Nigeria – be reverted to Econet Wireless Network and that all decisions carried out in which EWL was entitled to participate in within its rights as shareholder but was prevented from doing so, were null and void.
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