LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Vimpelcom, Russia's second-largest mobile phone
operator, will appoint eight banks to arrange a $1 billion, three-year
syndicated loan, banking sources close to the deal said.
Barclays, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, BNP Paribas, Calyon, Commerzbank,
SMBC, Standard Bank and WestLB are expected to be appointed next week as
mandated lead arrangers on the loan, subject to each bank gaining credit
approval, the sources added.
The loan, which will be used for general corporate purposes, will launch to
syndication later in September.
Vimpelcom's last loan was a $3.5 billion facility that signed in April. That
deal backed the firm's $4.3 billion acquisition of fixed-line operator Golden
Telecom.
The loan was split between a $2 billion, three-year syndicated loan that
carried a margin of 150 basis points (bps) over LIBOR, and a $1.5 billion,
one-year bridge loan that was provided by the mandated lead arrangers and was
not syndicated.
Private equity group Alfa and Norway's Telenor own strategic stakes in New
York-listed Vimpelcom.
(Reporting by Christopher Mangham; editing by Rory Channing) Keywords:
VIMPELCOM/LOANS
tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com
ak
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content,
including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Thomson Financial News.
|