Techfocus24 has learnt that the equity partner government has secured for AirtelTigo is possibly a UK-based blueblood investment company called Hannam and Partners.
Even though we are yet to confirm the veracity of that information, we know that a blueblood company is one that cannot guarantee any particular merit, competence, or expertise in the area it is venturing into.
Per the information on their website, which is now not opening, the company claims to be owned by more than ten partners who claim to have a combined 160 years of experience in natural resource, energy and financial services.
A closer look at each of their profiles however shows that an overwhelming majority of them have expertise in mining and natural resource sector, with just about two having experience in finance. None of them has any stated background in telecoms or technology.
There is nothing on their website to also show their footprints, as a company, in investments or anything of a sort. But they claim their team members have done some advisory work in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) over the last 30 years.
Given the backgrounds of the partners in mainly mining and natural resources, Techfocus24 dug further and learnt that the company may have a relationship with one of the topmost mining gurus in Ghana (name withheld), who is possibly behind their acquisition of majority stake in AirtelTigo.
We reached out to this man via WhatsApp and he completely denied knowledge of the deal saying “I am not a member of the consortium that has done the deal – I have had no role in it whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, there are hints of some young Ghanaian investor (name withheld) also involved in the whole deal.
Checks are still ongoing to confirm the involvement of Hannam and Partners in the AirtelTigo deal, and if so what their true intentions for the telco are. But our sources have told us that the ultimate plan is to flip over AirtelTigo and get it ready for an IPO (initial public offer) within the next few years. Then Hannam and Partners will just cash out and leave.
Earlier on, Techfocus24 reported that the equity partner for AirtelTigo plans to bring in a telecoms partner from the UK. It is still not clear which UK telecoms operator they are bringing in.
Possibly Lebara
But it is worthy of note that a few years back, UK-based MVNO (mobile virtual network operator), Lebara got a license in this country and secured capacity on Airtel, poached some Airtel staff, acquired an office at Dzorwulu, branded vehicles and were set to rollout.
However, Lebara Ghana Limited, in May 2019 got a deal to manage Ghana government’s fibre optics infrastructure and LTE network formerly under the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), so they shelved the Lebara MVNO rollout.
Today, when you visit the Lebara office at Dzorwulu, their blue and white painting has faded badly and the whole building is now cordoned off with a screen of aluminium sheets to shield it from the public’s eye.
So, it will not be a surprise to see AirtelTigo flipped over to Lebara, with Hannam and Partners being the main financiers.
Take note that weeks ago, the Hannam and Partners website was easily accessible. But as of today it is no longer accessible. Attempts to open it from various locations, here and abroad have all failed. This is similar to what happened with the Safaritech website.
We have however captured screenshots and we will be showing you those shots soon.
