The National Council of Privatisation (NCP) has announced Transcorp Group as the preferred bidder of the Abuja electricity distribution company (AEDC).
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, gave this hint on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while commissioning the Afam 3-Fast Power Plant.
The Vice President, who is also the Chairman of the NCP, described the approval of Transcorp Group to acquire a majority stake in AEDC shareholding structure as a major breakthrough of the privatisation process, which started in 2005-2006 but lacked adequate private investments and real cash injections.
He said: “From the time we started, indigenous firms such as Transcorp Power and Heirs Holding have been making significant investments such as this 100 percent acquisition of installed capacity Afam Power Plc and Afam Three Fast Power Limited, jointly referred to as Afam GenCo. The acquisition cost, I am sure you have heard already, is N105.3 trillion.
“Only yesterday, the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) formally de-listed Transcorp Power Plc, formerly known as Ughelli Power Plc, from routine monitoring and evaluation by the BPE, indicating yet another successful power investment.
“I can say the last few days belong to Transcorp Power because at the meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), the council approved Transcorp Power Consortium as the preferred bidder of the acquisition of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company”, Osinbajo added.
It would be recalled that in December 2021, United Bank of Africa (UBA) took over AEDC over the inability of its major stakeholder, Kann Consortium, to service the $122 million debt owed the bank, which it secured in 2013 to acquire a 60% stake in the DisCo.
Last month, the lender announced its plans to sell AEDC to recover the $122 million debt.
