Economy
Milost Terminates $1b Deal with Unity Bank, Plans $500m Lawsuit
**Explains How Deal Started
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
American equity firm, Milost Global Inc, has terminated its deal with Unity Bank Plc after a media report in Nigeria claimed the transaction was fraudulent.
The New York-based private equity firm lamented that its effort to help grow the Nigerian economy through genuine investment were rubbished by those who were bent on tarnishing its image in the Africa’s largest economy.
However, the firm, in a statement issued on Monday afternoon, said despite this, it would continue to do business in Nigeria.
Kim Freeman, Managing Partner & CEO of Milost, stated that, “Milost will continue to do business in Nigeria despite any negative publicity and this will ultimately benefit Nigeria and Africa.”
Also, Senior Partner & CIO of Milost, Solly Asibey, stated that, “We will not be deterred by media attacks that are baseless and unfounded. Our funding objectives for the Nigerian market remains solid and unwavering.”
Explaining how its transactions with Unity Bank started, the firm said in the statement that, “On August 7, 2017 Milost Global Inc received a request for a call with the CEO and CFO of Unity Bank PLC.
“On the call, Unity Bank expressed its interest in working with Milost Global Inc as its funding partner for its growth plans in Nigeria.
“Following the call, a desk top due diligence was conducted by Milost to its satisfaction. On September 4, 2017 a $1 billion financing term sheet was fully executed by both Milost and Unity Bank.
“The facility, a combo of equity and debt, was provided on the exciting understanding that Unity Bank would delist on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and move its listing to the USA. The signed term sheet was approved by the board of Unity Bank.
“On Monday, October 23, 2017 at 11:05 EST, Milost Global Inc was visited by Mrs Oluwatomi Somefun, the CEO of Unity Bank PLC, at its New York Offices. The meeting was scheduled for 11:00am EST and it went ahead as planned. The meeting was attended by Milost Global Inc analysts and the Chairman, Mr Egerton Forster.
“At the meeting, she explained the need for capital funding at the bank and also their expansion plans. It was then agreed that Milost Global Inc would start further due diligence on Unity Bank PLC.
“Further due diligence process started on the same week on the instruction of the Chairman of Milost Global Inc, Egerton Forster. Further due diligence was satisfactory and Milost issued a binding commitment agreement to Unity Bank which was approved by the board of Unity Bank and executed by both parties on November 14, 2017.
“It is normal practice for all the publicly quoted companies which we fund to notify the market regulator on signature of the commitment letter since it has material effect to the stock; however, Unity Bank did not. Milost assumed that this did not happen because Unity had agreed to move its listing to the USA.
“To the surprise of Milost, a story broke on Bloomberg about the transaction and all the contents contained therein were true in their entirety. Bloomberg tried to reach us by email but we didn’t respond as we don’t usually entertain journalists.
“The Bloomberg article was very factual except for that Milost was to acquire 30% of the bank, whereas in reality Milost was to take a controlling 60% of the bank at closing, in a transaction that would retain the same board members and the same management for continuity of operations.
“Soon after the story broke, Milost started receiving threatening emails from a gentleman who says he is politically connected to the powers that could shut Milost out of Nigeria if Milost didn’t terminate the Unity Bank transaction.
“The said individual was very well informed about our dealings with Unity Bank such that he knew the audit group Milost had hired to carry out the final due diligence.
“He told Milost to tell the board of Unity Bank that the audit firm had instructed Milost that Unity Bank was a bad investment, failing which he would unleash the media on Milost using among other things accusations that would cause the government to send Milost packing.
“These threatening emails were shared with the CEO of Unity Bank and the then CFO Ebenezer Kawole.
“Following these emails, negative articles by Business Day Nigeria started appearing accusing Milost of operating a pump and dump operation. At that point, Milost realized that the original threats had begun to materialize, because after that first Business Day article on its alleged pump and dump, another email was received confirming that it’s the work of the blackmailer.
“Last week, Unity Bank issued a false statement which denied signing a binding commitment agreement, disputing a factual and founded Bloomberg article that initially reported on the transaction.
“Today, we woke up to yet another article that claims Milost Global Inc was involved in a case with Securities and Exchange Commission because of a failed transaction and a filed law suit against Milost Advisors which sold a company to Alex MacGregor.
“Milost Global Inc wishes to clarify this due to the repeated unprofessional conduct of Business Day Nigeria and its incompetent journalists who are failing to verify facts and communicate with all sides before print and this has led Milost to take legal action against Business Day Nigeria and their journalists Iheanyi Nwachukwu and Lolade Akinmurele. Milost Global Inc will be filing a $500 million lawsuit against the three before the end of the week.
“For the record, Milost did not violate any of the SEC regulations in the US, instead, Milost was sued by Alex MacGregor as he claimed he had paid, a Milost Global Inc former sister company, Milost Advisors LLC which was dissolved in 2016.
“Mr MacGregor filed a claim stating that he paid to acquire a shell company from Milost Advisors LLC but he did not receive the shares. Whereas the truth is that Mr MacGregor did receive the stock certificate and the transaction was filed with the SEC on May 11, 2017: see the link http://pdf.secdatabase.com/436/0001617819-17-000007.pdf and this proves that Business Day and its journalists are being used by the Unity Bank shareholder that has been threatening to tarnish Milost’s image if the Unity Bank transaction went through.
“Alex MacGregor filed his lawsuit on September 1, 2017, five months after the stock had been issued to him as the stock was issued to him on May 11, 2017.
“Milost Global Inc has analysed all its facts on the table and decided to terminate the Unity Bank transaction and the termination letter was sent to the bank this morning.
“Milost Global Inc wishes to reaffirm its interest in the Nigerian market and to also state that it will soon be releasing the first and second drawdowns to Japaul Oil & Maritime Services PLC to the total of $21 million in a combo of equity and debt.
“Another first and second draw down proceeds of $10 will be released to Resort Savings & Loans PLC; the funds will be released to both company within the month of April.
“Milost Global Inc also states on the record that it has hired one of Nigeria’s finest law firms to represent it in the lawsuit against Business day and its two journalists.
“Business Day has failed to report facts and instead focused on fake news. All the articles written by Business Day about Milost Global Inc have been negative and vindictive which shows that Milost is under attack in Nigeria.
“Milost wishes to state that it will fight tooth and nail to ensure that this kind of behaviour doesn’t affect other investors that wish to help grow the Nigerian and West African economies at large. This nonsensical behaviour by Business Day, being used by forces that seek to suck the life blood out of progress in Nigeria, ends here. Milost Global Inc will be the last investor to be treated like this in Nigeria.”
By Dipo Olowookere
About 0.04 per cent was recovered on Friday from the loss recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) the previous due to profit-taking.
Yesterday, investors were in the market with renewed vigour, mopping up stocks trading at relatively cheaper prices.
According to data, the insurance counter gained 0.41 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 0.38 per cent, and the consumer goods index grew by 0.14 per cent.
The gains achieved by these three sectors were enough to lift Customs Street at the close of business despite the 0.26 per cent decline printed by the industrial goods segment and the 0.14 per cent loss suffered by the energy industry. The commodity counter was flat during the session.
A total of 43 equities gained weight on the last trading day of this week, while 26 equities shed weight, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Red Star Express increased its share price by 10.00 per cent to N13.20, NCR Nigeria grew by 9.97 per cent to N128.55, SCOA Nigeria inflated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, Omatek appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, and Deap Capital expanded by 9.85 per cent to N4.46.
On the flip side, McNichols decreased by 8.81 per cent to N6.00, Legend Internet crumbled by 7.56 per cent to N5.50, Cornerstone Insurance crashed by 6.48 per cent to N6.35, C&I Leasing contracted by 6.29 per cent to N8.20, and Austin Laz slipped by 5.78 per cent to N3.75.
Yesterday, 539.9 million shares valued at N16.7 billion were transacted in 48,023 deals versus the 1.0 billion shares worth N31.6 billion executed in 51,227 deals in the preceding day, implying a shrink in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 46.01 per cent, 47.15 per cent, and 6.26 per cent apiece.
Zenith Bank was the most active for the day with 54.6 million stocks sold for N3.8 billion, Jaiz Bank traded 41.5 million units worth N359.4 million, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 37.7 million units valued at N39.2 million, Access Holdings exchanged 30.5 million units for N699.2 million, and Lasaco Assurance transacted 27.2 million units worth N68.3 million.
When the market closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 72.21 points to 166,129.50 points from 166,057.29 points and the market capitalisation gained N31 billion to N106.354 trillion from N106.323 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was a positive ending for the Naira this week after it further appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, January 16 by N1.33 or 0.09 per cent to sell for N1,417.95/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,419.28/$1.
The domestic currency also gained N2.41 against the Euro in the official market to close at N1,647.51/€1 versus the preceding session’s closing price of N1,649.92/€1, however, it suffered a N7.97 loss against the Pound Sterling in the same market window to trade at N1,901.32/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,893.35/£1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira depleted against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to quote at N1,427/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,425/$1, but strengthened against the greenback at the black market yesterday by N5 to settle at N1,485/$1 versus the N1,490/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
Improved supply conditions helped keep the market within range as exporters’ and importers’ inflows in addition to non-bank corporate supply enhanced liquidity as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made no visible intervention.
Stronger external inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and improving current account dynamics, continue to align with structural support in the wider economy.
Nigeria has seen projections of a stronger economic or gross domestic product (GDP) growth and lower inflation in 2026, with these forecasts citing improved macroeconomic fundamentals and reform impacts.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was mixed following selloff in precious metals and lower US stocks appeared to be denting crypto sentiment.
Gold and silver, both of which also enjoyed big rallies earlier this week, tumbled 1.2 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively while key US stock indexes — the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average — all reversed from early gains to modest losses in Friday trade.
Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 2.2 per cent to $0.1370, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 0.8 per cent to $2.05, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.7 per cent to $3,228.56, and Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 0.6 per cent to $95,086.80.
Conversely, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 3.2 per cent to $74.48, Solana (SOL) rose by 0.4 per cent to $143.70, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 0.2 per cent to $0.3942, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.1 per cent to $935.88, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled higher amid lingering worries about a possible US military strike against Iran, a decision that may still occur over the weekend.
Brent crude settled at $64.13 a barrel after going up by 37 cents or 0.58 per cent and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $59.44 a barrel after it gained 25 cents or 0.42 per cent.
The US Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was expected to arrive in the Persian Gulf next week after operating in the South China Sea.
Market analysts noted that it doesn’t seem likely anything will happen soon. However, the weekends have become the perfect time for actions so as not offset the markets.
The market had risen after protests flared up in Iran and US President Donald Trump signalled the potential for military strikes, but lost over 4 per cent on Thursday as the American president said Iran’s crackdown on the protesters was easing, allaying concerns of possible military action that could disrupt oil supplies.
Iran produces approximately 3.2 million barrels per day, accounting for roughly 4 per cent of global crude production, so it was not a coincidence that markets rallied sharply through Tuesday and Wednesday as President Trump canceled meetings with Iranian officials and posted that “help is on its way” to Iranian protesters, raising fears of potential US military strikes that sent prices surging toward multi-month highs.
Weighing against those fears are potential supply increases from Venezuela.
The Trump administration is exploring plans to swap heavy Venezuelan crude for US medium sour barrels that can actually go straight into Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) caverns, since not all all oil belongs in the reserve.
According to Reuters, the Department of Energy is considering moving Venezuelan heavy crude into commercial storage at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, while US producers deliver medium sour crude into the SPR in exchange.
Analysts expect higher supply this year, potentially creating a ceiling for the geopolitical risk premium on prices.
Some investors covered short positions ahead of the three-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend in the US.
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