By Ifeanyi Onuba, Abuja

There are indications that UnityKapital Assurance Plc and the Bureau of Public Enterprises may be heading for a collision course over the decision of the latter to divest 24 per cent of the Federal Government’s equity in Transcorp Hilton Hotel.

The outgoing Managing Director, UnityKapital, Alhaji Mohammed Kari, who confirmed the development in an interview with our correspondent on Monday in Abuja, pointed out that the issue had been taken to an arbitration panel.

The BPE had last week said that it would, through an Initial Public Offer, dispose of 24 per cent of the Federal Government’s 49 per cent holdings in the hotel.

But Kari, who insisted that the decision was illegal, urged the bureau to stop the proposed sale, pending the resolution of the issue.

He claimed that UnityKapital Assurance had, through its subsidiary, Capital Leisure and Hospitality, won the first financial bid opening for the privatisation of the then NICON Hilton Hotel, after which it acquired 51 per cent shareholding in the organisation.

He explained that prior to the bid opening, Transnational Corporation Plc had been incorporated into the consortium as a partner through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by both parties.

He pointed out that the MoU, which allowed Transcorp to provide the fund for the acquisition on behalf of the consortium, was discarded by the promoters of the deal after the completion of the acquisition.

He said, “We won the bid and about that time, we approached the company called Transcorp to be a partner in the bidding and they offered that they had the financial wherewithal to support the bid.

We drew up a MoU, which basically said we had agreed to take up Transcorp as a partner in this transaction. On winning the bid, Transcorp will provide the funding to take over the 51 per cent offered by the government.”

Source: Punch