Telkom faces R4bn Multi-Links damages claim
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22 November 2011
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African Prepaid Services Nigeria (APSN), a now-mostly-dormant company in which JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms has an effective 37 percent stake, is claiming USUSD481m, or about R4bn at the prevailing exchange rate, in damages from Multi-Links, Telkoms former Nigerian subsidiary, after Multi-Links walked away from a lucrative, 10-year contract with the company.
Multi-Links has filed a counterclaim of USD123,9m.
Though Telkom has sold the Multi-Links business - the sale to Hip Oils Topco became effective in October - part of the agreement of sale stipulates that the JSE-listed telecommunications group must accept liability for "certain litigation claims" against Multi-Links if these claims exceed USD10m.
However, Telkom said this week it was "not considered probable" that the claims would exceed USD10m and also that it had filed a counterclaim against APSN. Telkom had not responded to a query from TechCentral by the time of publication seek...
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