Bharti Airtel to raise $7b in loan (India)

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In order to finance the purchase of some of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co. assets, Indian telco Bharti Airtel is looking to raise $7 billion via a six-year U.S. dollar loan with an average maturity of 4.75 years.

Another $2 billion to $3 billion will also be raised India’s largest mobile phone operator by subscribers via a rupee loan. The planned $7 billion loan is aimed to be priced at 225 basis points by Bharti Airtel above the London interbank offered rate.

According to the people familiar with the matter, Bharti Airtel is gunning for a very tight rate and it is still not sure where it will settle but the pricing will be far tighter than initial discussions. It was earlier revealed that initial discussions for funding began at around 300 basis points above Libor for a seven-year dollar loan.

The comments are pouring as Bharti Airtel in its bid to enter a fast-growing overseas market will commence its exclusive talks until March 25 to buy the African assets of Zain.