Ethiopian government bids to take over Arik Air

Ethiopian Airlines, owned 100 percent by the Ethiopian
government, says it has made a bid to the Nigerian
government to take over Arik Air, Nigeria’s biggest
airline.

In February, Arik Air was taken over by the federal
government via the Asset Management Corporation of
Nigeria (AMCON) due to the company’s huge debt
profile, which was over N300 billion.

The government immediately dissolved the airline’s
management team, and appointed a receiver-
manager.

“The airline will now be managed by Capt. Roy Ukpebo
Ilegbodu, under the receivership of Mr. Oluseye
Opasanya, SAN,” the government said in February.

Speaking at the World Bank/IMF meetings in April,
Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, said the
government was speaking with some investors on the
sale of the flagship airline.

She did not disclose the name of the investors, but
said “it was a preliminary discussion. They just
expressed interest in buying the airlines and we told
them that we would look into it”.

“Most of them are interested in investing in Nigeria and
they just want to be sure that the timing is right. Some
are looking at buying one of the airlines with AMCON
and just waiting to be sure that our policies are right.”

Esayas WoldeMariam, Ethiopian’s managing director
of international services, told CNN that the airline had
made an offer, and was just waiting for the response of
the government.

“We have outlined our terms and conditions to the
Nigerian government and we are waiting to see if they
agree. We are capable and desirous of handling the
airline,” she said.

WoldeMariam did not specify details of the offer, but
added that he expects to face competition for Arik from
international airlines.

Calls placed through to the spokespersons of Arik and
AMCON were not answered nor returned.

An insider however told TheCable that he was not
aware of any of such deal.

Ilegbodu said two weeks ago that the airline was now
gaining stability, and has retaken its place as the
biggest in western Africa.

“We can now boast of approximately 4,000
passengers daily in our various flight operations,’’ he
had said.

TheCable