The Nigerian Federal High Court will today begin the judicial review of the decision by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to approve Celtel's acquisition of a controlling stake in Nigeria's third-largest mobile cellular network, V-Mobile.
The application is one of several applications that have been made by 5% shareholder Econet Wireless to reverse Celtel's acquisition of a 65% stake in V-Mobile.
Econet started the company in 2001 and became embroiled in a shareholder dispute two years later, after previous attempts to sell the company to Vodacom SA. Econet claims the sale to Celtel was irregular because its Nigerian partners breached a clause that gives it pre-emptive rights.
A spokesman for Econet confirmed the hearing would take place in Abuja. "I can confirm the hearings are scheduled to begin today, but I cannot comment further because it is sub judice. I would strongly suggest you get the papers which are a public document, and you will no doubt find them quite interesting."
The spokesman says although the legal process has been slow, Econet is confident as ever the sale will be reversed. "If the court finds that the NCC acted improperly, then the sale must be reversed."
Econet has separately challenged the decision by the Nigerian shareholders to sell their shares and that matter is being heard in a separate hearing in the Lagos High court, which also began this month. Econet claims its right of pre-emption was incorrectly observed in the process.
Both hearings may take several months taking into account possible appeals by either party to the Supreme Court.
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