Aircel secures a loan of Rs 80 billion (India)

Aircel has secured a loan of Rs 80 billion from IDFC and Credit Suisse. While IDFC will provide a credit of Rs 45 billion, Credit Suisse will provide the remaining funds. The operator will utilise the funds for repaying part of its debt, which reportedly stands at Rs 240 billion. Further, Aircel is likely to approach its existing lenders for additional funds to refinance debt. The operator recently received approval from the Corporate Debt Restructuring Cell with regard to its proposal for restructuring its debt.

 Bharti Airtel to sell its Sri Lankan business

Bharti Airtel is reportedly planning to sell its Sri Lankan operations to Abu Dhabi-based operator Etisalat. Airtel has appointed Standard Chartered Bank for advising it on the transaction. The deal is estimated to be valued at $110 million-$130 million. Bharti Airtel offers 2G, 3G and 3.5G services in Sri Lanka across all 25 districts. Etisalat is currently the third largest operator in Sri Lanka, with a subscriber base of 4.5 million. Following the completion of the deal, Etisalat will become the second largest service provider in the country.

 SingTel raises stake in Airtel

SingTel’s subsidiary SingTel International Investments Private Limited has entered into a conditional share purchase agreement with MacRitchie Investments Pte Limited to acquire the latter’s 3.62 per cent stake in Bharti Telecom. SingTel will buy a total of 788,538 shares of Bharti Telecom at Rs 23,578.45 per share. As Bharti Telecom owns 43.57 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel, SingTel’s share in Airtel would increase from the current 30.76 per cent to 32.34 per cent following the acquisition.

Protelindo secures loan of $50 million (Indonesia)

Indonesian tower infrastructure company Protelindo has secured a $50 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The company plans to utilise the loan proceeds for expanding and improving network coverage across the country. It intends to install additional mobile towers on the islands of Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan, among others. With the agreement with IFC, the company has now secured loans of $2.7 billion with maturities of up to 2027. The firm is a unit of public-listed Sarana Menara Nusantara, a telecom tower company controlled by the Djarum Group.

 Grameenphone arranges debt financing of $345 million (Bangladesh)

Bangladesh-based telecom operator Grameenphone has secured a loan of $345 million from a consortium of development banks and a commercial bank. The consortium comprises IFC, Proparco, DEG, FMO, CDC, OFID and Standard Chartered Bank. IFC’s contribution stood at $150 million, making it one of the largest private sector investments by the development bank in the country. The funds will be used to support network expansion in rural areas while ensuring energy efficiency and sustainable development.

 Huawei secures a loan of $1.5 billion (China)

Huawei’s subsidiary Huawei International Pte has secured dual-currency syndicate funds of $1.5 billion. The financing comprises a five-year term loan of $750 million and a $750 million revolving credit facility, which can be availed of in US dollars and euros (with a limit of Euro 300 million). The funds will be used to finance working capital requirements or to refinance existing debt. The lead arrangers and bookrunners for the credit facility included Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Citigroup Global Markets Asia Limited, DBS Bank Limited, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited and the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

 Microsoft to acquire Nokia’s handset business (Finland)

Microsoft has signed an agreement with Nokia to acquire the latter’s devices and services business for a total of Euro 5.44 billion. The acquisition will be completed by March 2014, subject to approval from Nokia’s shareholders and the regulatory authority. As part of the deal, Microsoft has also acquired the licence for using the handset manufacturer’s 30,000 patents worth Euro 1.65 billion for a period of 10 years. In addition, 32,000 employees of Nokia will be shifted to Microsoft.

 Verizon Communications to buy Vodafone’s stake in JV (USA)

US-based telecom operator Verizon Communications has agreed to pay $130 billion to Vodafone for acquiring the latter’s 45 per cent stake in their joint venture (JV), Verizon Wireless. Under the terms of the agreement, Vodafone will receive $58.9 billion in cash, $60.2 billion worth of Verizon stock, and $11 billion from smaller transactions in a deal that is due for closure by March 2014. Guggenheim Securities, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Paul J. Taubman were the financial advisers to Verizon while Vodafone’s board was advised by Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.