News
Digital financial services firm contests Millicom claim that it failed to pay for the mobile operator.
Wari Group has threatened legal action after Millicom backed out of a deal to sell its Senegalise operation to it.
Millicom cancelled its $129 million (€109.01 million) agreement to offload Tigo to digital financial services provider Wari on Monday, striking a deal with a consortium that includes Xavier Niel’s NJJ Holding instead.
In a Reuters report on Tuesday, Millicom claimed that Wari had not provided the financing required for the deal, and that the NJJ consortium had approached it with an alternative offer.
Wari contested Millicom’s allegation, insisting that it had paid an initial deposit, and was abiding by the agreed timeline for subsequent payments. According to the newswire, the next payment was due on 30 September.
Millicom’s actions "will be the subject of legal proceedings if Millicom persists in its unilateral decision," Wari said, in the report.
Luxembourg-based Millicom is in the midst of exiting or merging various operating units to focus on its strongest markets.
In March, it agreed to merge Tigo Ghana with Bharti Airtel’s Ghanaian business, creating the country’s second-largest player.
In April 2016, it closed the sale of its Democratic Republic of Congo operation to Orange.
