Monday, Jul 10, 2006
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Emirates Telecommunications Corp.'s (ETISALAT.AD) $3 billion syndicated loan facility is already oversubscribed, the lead bookrunner said Monday.
Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat in June mandated Barclays (BARC.LN), Citigroup (C), Deutsche Bank (DB), and HSBC (HBC) to arrange the loan, which is aimed at helping Etisalat's expansion plans.
"It's comfortably oversubscribed," Barclays Capital Vice Chairman Cyrus Ardalan told Dow Jones Newswires.
A signing ceremony is scheduled for Thursday in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital. The government of the oil-rich emirates of Abu Dhabi owns 60% of the firm.
Ardalan says the deal, priced at 22 basis points above London Interbank Rate, rising to 30 points with fees, was placed with more than twenty banks, most of them international institutions.
Etisalat, a cash-rich firm, doesn't need the money, but wants to raise its profile on international credit markets, said Ardalan of BarCap, which coordinated the deal.
The telecoms monopoly is on an overseas expansion drive as it faces domestic competition by the end of this year from rival firm DU (DU.AI).
Last week, the UAE telecoms monopoly paid $2.9 billion for the third mobile license in Egypt, as well as partnering in the acquisition of Nigeria's Nitel.
Etisalat also secured a license to operate Afghanistan's fourth mobile network in May.
Monday, Etisalat reported first-half 2006 net profits of $762 million, 33% higher than the first half of 2005,
- By Simeon Kerr, Dow Jones Newswires, +97142285225, simeon.kerr@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 10, 2006 09:17 ET (13:17 GMT)
Copyright Dow Jones Newswires 2006
