A group of investors led by Transcorp Power Limited has acquired a 60% stake in Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) as part of their investment drives to increase their franchise in the nation’s power sector
Information on the deal indicated that the current MD/CEO of Transcorp Power Limited, Christopher Ezeafulukwe, would immediately take over as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of the electricity distribution company.
The new majority shareholding investors are optimistic that the coming in of Ezeafulukwe as the new CEO’s will help in revitalizing AEDC, which has its power distribution franchise coverage in the Federal Capital Territory – Abuja.
The statement reads: “Prior to his appointment as the MD/CEO of AEDC, Ezeafulukwe was the MD/CEO of Transcorp Power Ltd, Ughelli, a 972-MW thermal plant.
“Under his leadership, Transcorp Power Ltd has consistently led the Nigerian power sector, being the first successor power company from the 2013 power privatization program, to be discharged from post-privatization monitoring by the National Council on Privatization, having surpassed the expectations of the Council.
“The Ughelli Power plant, which Transcorp Group acquired during the privatization of the power sector in 2013, demonstrates the Group’s transformative prowess.
“The plant’s available capacity, which stood at 160MW on acquisition, increased by 227% to 680.83MW in 4 years, surpassing the Bureau of Public Enterprise’s (BPE) five-year target of 670MW”, it added.
It would be recalled that the United Bank of Africa (UBA) in December 2021 took over AEDC following the inability of its major stakeholder, Kann Consortium, to service the $122 million debt owed by the DisCo to the bank.
In 2013, Kann Consortium had secured a loan from UBA to acquire AEDC to raise its stake in the company to 60%. However, in April this year the bank said it would sell AEDC to recover the $122 million debt.
Consequently, the National Council on Privatization in May this year approved the Transcorp-led consortium as the preferred bidder for AEDC.
