MTN has finalized the liquidation of Visafone, resulting in a loss of ₦30.3 billion ($18 million) from the 2016 acquisition of Nigeria’s last CDMA network.
In the H1 2024 financial statement, MTN noted that Visafone has been fully liquidated after being absorbed by MTN Nigeria. All remaining assets and liabilities of Visafone have been transferred as part of the liquidation process.
MTN Nigeria’s acquisition of Visafone aimed to enhance broadband internet quality by leveraging Visafone’s 800MHz spectrum licenses, which would have facilitated the delivery of 4G LTE Internet services to subscribers.
MTN Nigeria has not yet commented on the matter.
The spectrum license held by Visafone, which had 2.2 million registered subscribers, was of strategic importance. However, the transfer of the spectrum license faced challenges as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) initially hesitated to approve it, causing MTN to consider withdrawing from the acquisition.
Rivals like Airtel and 9mobile raised concerns that MTN Nigeria’s acquisition of the spectrum would increase its stake from 38% to 50% of the available spectrum. This acquisition was crucial for MTN to compete with Globacom, which launched 4G LTE services in October 2016.
Prior to this, MTN had acquired VGC Communications Limited (VGCCL) in 2006 for $70 million (N9.3 billion). VGCCL was licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to provide cabling and radio telephone services nationwide.
While the terms of the 2016 acquisition were not disclosed by Visafone, MTN’s investment amounted to ₦43 billion based on the filing.