NT prepares to select consultant

KATHMANDU:

Nepal Telecom (NT) has said it would soon select a consultant, which will help to rope in a strategic partner. The state-owned company completed the evaluation of proposals and is all set to start negotiations with the lowest bidding firm.

As per the plan, the company will complete negotiations and sign the agreement within the next two weeks, according to Buddhi Acharya, managing director of NT. However, he did not disclose the name of the lowest bidding consultant citing the procedure was confidential.

All six shortlisted international firms — KPMG Advisory Services (India), Ernst and Young LLP (India), Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India (India), Analysys Mason India (India), Detecon International GmbH (Germany) and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants of Singapore — had submitted their technical and financial proposals.

In the evaluation, NT had provided weightage of 80 per cent to technical and 20 per cent to financial proposals. “If negotiations fail with the lowest bidder securing highest mark in evaluation, we will approach the second lowest bidder,” Acharya said.

NT, in June last year, had issued the request for proposals to the six shortlisted potential international consultants out of eight firms that had applied. Selection of a consultant is considered an important process to bring in a partner for NT. The consultant will prepare due diligence audit (DDA) report of NT, bid documents and conditions of contract to be signed with the strategic partner.

Consultant selection is the first phase in the process of finding a strategic partner. In the second phase, based on the bidding documents and the DDA, expression of interest will be sought and finally, one competent partner will be selected after evaluating technical and financial proposals.

“Once we have the bid document ready, we will speed up tender procedure targeting to sign strategic partnership agreement in six months,” Acharya informed. It is expected that the consultant will require a maximum of one year to prepare the required documents and complete DDA.

Owing to increased market competition, the company has been planning to bring in a partner for over five years. Currently, the government holds 92 per cent share ownership in NT. And it has been planning to divest 30 per cent of its stake to the partner, which will have to invest Rs 30 to Rs 40 billion to acquire shares of NT, as per a study carried out by Ministry of Finance in 2012.

Source: THT