ECONOMIC NEWS HEADLINE

Access says Intercontinental shareholders to get 10%: Access Bank said on Thursday that shareholders in rescued rival Intercontinental Bank will own 10% of the entity once the two banks merge at the end of this month. Access Bank CEO, Aigboje Aig Imokhuede who disclosed this also said that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) would have a 15% stake. (Source:Reuters)

NERC mulls deregulation proposal: The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is consulting with stakeholders to decide whether or not to accept the proposal by state governments to participate in the distribution of electricity in the country. Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Lagos states are in the forefront of calls for the deregulation and decentralisation of the power sector to enable their participation in the distribution of the electricity they generate. (Source: Thisday)

Power - BPE issues bid documents to firms today: The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) will today issue Request for Proposals and Information Memorandum documents to bidders for 17 successor firms to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria. According to the BPE’s timeline, the deadline for the submission of bids for the generation companies is January 16, 2012, while that for the distribution companies is January 30, 2012. (Source: Punch)

Govt won’t block Egbin sale: The minister of power, Bart Nnaji, has said that the federal government will honour its agreement with the Korea Electric Power Corporation on the sale of 51% of the FG’s stake in the plant to the company. (Source: Punch)

Afren acquires assets in Asia, posts N3.9bn profit: Afren Plc, an independent oil and gas company in Nigeria, has announced its expansion into the oil-rich Middle East, with the acquisition of a number of assets in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. According to the CEO of the company, Osman Shahenshah, the acquisition is consistent with its strategy of acquiring low cost barrels, and increasing its recoverable reserves and resources base by over 700% at a cost of under US$1 per barrel. The company also announced a profit of N3.94bn (US$26.1m) for H1 2011. (Source: Vanguard)