Troubled telecom firm, Etisalat Nigeria has rebranded, taking a new name and identity.
The company at the the end of a crucial management meeting in Lagos dropped its former name and adopted 9Mobile as its new identity.
Last Monday, the chief executive of Etisalat International, Hatem Dowidar, said Etisalat Group would, in the next three weeks, phase out the brand name in Nigeria.
The decision followed the withdrawal of Emirates Telecommunications Group (Etisalat Group) from further involvement in the ownership of the Nigerian subsidiary.
Until June 15, the United Arab Emirates, UAE, group was a major shareholder in Etisalat Nigeria, along with United Arab Emirates Sovereign Wealth Fund through Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi.
The two affiliates controlled a combined 85 per cent equity in the telecom firm, with Myacinth holding 15 per cent stake through Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services, EMTS Holding BV, owned by former United Bank for Africa, UBA, Chairman, Hakeem Bello-Osagie.
EMTS parted ways with the company in the wake of the crisis over $1.2 billion (N377.4 billion) syndicated loan the telecom firm took in 2013 from a consortium of 13 Nigerian banks.
Etisalat Nigeria, Emirates Group disclosed in a filing with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange it had transferred 100 per cent of its shares with EMTS Holding BV, a special purpose vehicle established in Netherlands, to United Capital Trustees Limited, legal trustees of the banks.
