www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Unitech Wireless, the new entrant in the Indian telecoms market, has reportedly secured a loan of $50 billion loan from State Bank of India to fund its mobile phone network rollout.
Unitech Wireless intends to launch mobile operators by December-end quarter.
On 08.18.09, In Mobile, By Editor
On 08.17.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: MTN South Africa is in conversation for a USD 4.5 billion syndicated loan to back the proposed merger with Indian mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, source revealed. According to the firms, working on a complex USD 23 billion cash and share swap for over two months, the exclusive talks would be extended until late August and that the terms of the potential deal may be adjusted. As per the earlier media reports, MTN was likely in talks for a loan worth up to USD 3.5 billion. As per the terms, MTN and its shareholders would take a 36% interest in Bharti and the Indian firm would end up with 49% of MTN.
On 07.28.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Zain Saudi Arabia, the new entrant in the country, is about to close a deal for $2.5 billion loan, a spokesman for its parent company Zain reportedly unveiled. “This is a two-year murabaha (Islamic financing),” the spokesman said. Al-Rajhi Bank 1120.SE and Banque Saudi Fransi are leading the refinancing facility, Zain said.
The facility has been oversubscribed since its launch in April and priced at 425 basis points over LIBOR, Zain said. This will receive a 6 months of extension at the behest of the borrower and will be used to fund the expansion of Zain Saudi Arabia’s network.
The murabaha will replace a previous one worth 9.4 billion riyals ($2.51 billion) which is to mature on Aug. 12, he said.
Zain SA has stated that it has agreed with the banks to postpone from July 27 to Aug. 12 the maturity of the previous murabaha.
On 07.15.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The World Bank’s private sector lender, International Financial Corp. (IFC), reportedly unveiled that it has raised a $90 million loan and raised another $70 million commercially to help the Middle East and African mobile operator, Zain for its network expansion in Ghana.
IFC said the syndicated portion of the loan was oversubscribed by 30 percent and the remainder provided by Cordiant Capital, the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund Limited, FirstRand Bank, and the Netherlands Development Finance Company.
“Our subscriber base in Ghana already exceeded one million and this investment will enable us to scale up our operations and provide affordable and reliable communications services to a much larger part of the population,” said Philip Sowah, Zain’s country manager in Ghana.
On 06.25.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Nokia Siemens Networks has signed a EUR 2 bn multi-currency revolving credit facility with a syndicate of 21 international banks, following a process that was over-subscribed.
The 3-year Facility will be used for general corporate purposes including the refinancing of other bilateral facilities. The syndicated loan will provide a more efficient capital structure for Nokia Siemens Networks. The facility was oversubscribed from its initial launch amount of EUR 1.5 billion and subsequently increased to EUR 2 billion.
“Given the current environment in the credit markets, Nokia Siemens Networks is delighted to have secured the strong support of an excellent group of banks from across the world. The fact that the offer was over-subscribed emphasizes the level of confidence the financial community has in our position as a long-term winner and industry leader,” said Luca Maestri, Chief Financial Officer.
On 06.23.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is giving a USD 65 million loan and USD 10 million in equity to MTN Afghanistan to support the expansion of the company’s mobile network. The expansion is targeted particularly at low-income populations. The IFC said it hopes that its investment will encourage other investors to support the telecommunications sector, and more broadly, economic development and growth in Afghanistan.
On 06.11.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Sierratel in order to replace its obsolete copper transmission networks with fiber optics in Sierra Leone has inked a loan agreement of US$29.45 million with India. According to Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development Momodu Kargbo, the loan will help the operator for infrastructural expansion and network modernisation.
The loan agreement, signed May 7, has a maturity period of 23 years and a grace period of eight years with a per-annum interest rate of 2.7%.
On 06.01.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The Indian mobile operator, Bharti Airtel has secured a bridge loan of USD 4 billion for 1 year duration from Standard Chartered Bank to finance the acquisition of the stake in MTN South Africa. Standard Chartered has agreed to fully underwrite Bharti’s net acquisition cost.
In the end, Bharti Airtel will be making a net cash payment of around USD 4 billion to acquire a 49% stake in MTN which will, in turn, call for a 36% economic interest in the Indian operator.
The bankers said that it was possible that Airtel might also use some cash from internal accruals, taking the bridge come down. A Bharti Airtel spokesperson said that the company has not decided on the specifics of funding for this proposed transaction.
On 05.04.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Globe Telecom, the Filipino telco, has signed a $50 million loan facility with Export Development Canada. The loan will be utilised ‘to fund capital expenditure purchases from Nokia Siemens Networks,’ Globe said in a statement.
Globe had last month finished off a $103.7 million five-year loan facility with state-owned Land Bank (also known as Landbank) to help fund its capital expenditure in 2009.
The operator had earlier revealed its plans of investing nearly $350 million and $400 million in its networks and services, of which USD130 million will be used to fund its core 2G network expansion, while consumer broadband including 3G will get USD150 million.
A further $25 million will be utilised for corporate wireline data services, USD20 million will be for support CAPEX and USD25 million for international cable facilities.
On 04.27.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobinil, Egyptian mobile operator has announced that the firm has inked a deal for a loan worth EGP 610 million. The loan can be increased to EGP 1 billion depending upon the need. The company reportedly said to the stock exchange that the loan came from a consortium of banks lead by Misr Bank.