Should Zain agree to sell its African assets to India's Bharti Airtel, the sale of the Nigerian division will have to be delayed pending a legal dispute over its ownership, reports Bloomberg News. There has been a long-running dispute with Econet Wireless Holdings who claimed a right of first refusal when a collection of shareholders sold their stakes to Zain in 2006.
In a telephone interview from Johannesburg, Masiyiwa said that "The undertaking is still in place" not to sell, transfer or dispose of any of the Nigerian unit's shares.
Zain spokesman Antoine Aboukhalil declined to comment because the matter is before an international arbitration Tribunal.
Econet still owns 5% of Vee Mobile (trading as Zain Nigeria) and has been fighting attempts to bypass its claimed rights to buy out shareholders since the sale of the network was first suggested back in 2003. Originally, South Africa's Vodacom tried to buy a controlling stake in the company in 2003, but retreated following pressure from Econet. Later, various shareholders, including the Delta State and First Bank sold their stakes to Celtel Wireless (now a Zain subsidiary) in September 2005.
That sale has been in dispute ever since.
When asked by Econet's lawyers to reaffirm a July 14, 2009, undertaking to the Arbitral Tribunal not to further encumber the Nigerian assets until the ownership dispute was settled, Zain's lawyer responded that Zain Nigeria is "well aware" of its undertaking, Masiyiwa said.
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