BPE begins transfer of ALSCON, issues offer letter to BFIG

By The Citizen

The Bureau of Public Enterprises has transmitted an offer letter and the Share Purchase Agreement for the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, Ikot-Abasi to the BFI Group.

A statement issued by the BPE spokesman, Mr. Chukwuma Nwokoh, in Abuja on Wednesday, said the offer followed the directive of the National Council on Privatisation, which met at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on January 22, 2013.

The Supreme Court had in a judgment of July 6, 2012, ruled that BPE should return ALSCON to BFIG, an American company.

The Technical Committee of NCP had disqualified RUSAL during the financial bid opening for ALSCON on June 14, 2004 over its conditional bid.

The Russian company had been earlier disqualified by the BPE from the financial bid process after it submitted a conditional bid in contravention of the bidding guidelines.

It offered $250m for the plant, from which it planned to pay $130m to the Federal Government and use the balance for the dredging of the Imo River and provision of other facilities.

Despite the disqualification of the Russian firm, the Federal Government under former President Olusegun Obasanjo decided to give ALSCON to RUSAL, thereby setting the stage for the preferred bidder, BFIG, to drag BPE to court.

BFIG, the plaintiff in the suit at the Supreme Court, is expected to execute the Share Purchase Agreement and pay the agreed 10 per cent of the offer price of $410m within 15 days of the execution of the SPA.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court mandated BPE to provide the mutually agreed SPA for execution by the parties to enable BFIG pay the agreed 10 per cent of the accepted bid price of $410m within 15 working days from the date of the execution of the SPA.