AMCON Appoints New MD for Aero Contractors, Takes Controlling Stake

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has confirmed that it has appointed a new managing director and chairman for Aero Contractors and has also taken a controlling stake of 60 per cent in the company.

The Managing Director of AMCON, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi, confirmed this to THISDAY Sunday, where he disclosed that the agency had taken about 60 per cent stakes in the airline, while the original owners now have 40 per cent.

He said the newly appointed managing director of Aero was an experienced Scottish man and a British Airways veteran with experience working for many other international airlines.

Chike-Obi also said AMCON had appointed a new chairman for the company, who was a director in AMCON.

“There is nothing new about AMCON take-over of the management of Aero. That has been in the works since  six months ago. AMCON has 60 per cent control stake and the original owners have 40 per cent. We have appointed a new managing director, an experienced Scottish, a British Airways veteran and a new chairman who is a director in AMCON,” Chike-Obi said.

In December last year, AMCON had carried out the restructuring of Aero which forced the then Managing Director, Mr. Akin George, to resign his appointment and for some months now, AMCON had been involved in the running of Aero after it took over some of its debts running into billions of naira from banks.

A new Managing Director, Mr Obaro Ibru, who obviously represented the original owners of the company, was then appointed but with the latest change of batons, AMCON was poised to take the full control of the airline with the aim for rejuvenating it with the acquisition of more aircraft to make the airline, which hitherto dominated Nigeria’s domestic air travel, more competitive.

After the appointment of Ibru, AMCON had directed the airline to restructure its operations to become nimble, smarter and more profitable as Chike-Obi disclosed then that the agency had reached a restructuring agreement “which we believe will make the company better and for the good of all Nigerians.”

Since the airline’s financial problems started, it has lost its market share to other airlines, although technically it is still a strong airline to contend with.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/amcon-appoints-new-md-for-aero-contractors-takes-controlling-stake

Author:Chinedu Eze

Culled from Thisday