Indonesian telecoms and satellite operator Indosat is reportedly close to securing a US$450m revolver to help refinance the roughly Rp2trn (US$171.23m) of debt it has maturing this year.
The facility will have a tenure of less than five years and could…
Indonesian telecoms and satellite operator Indosat is reportedly close to securing a US$450m revolver to help refinance the roughly Rp2trn (US$171.23m) of debt it has maturing this year.
The facility will have a tenure of less than five years and could be secured by the third quarter, reported local daily Kontan.
Indonesia’s third-largest mobile operator, which plans to spend up to Rp9trn to upgrade its infrastructure, could not be reached before the press deadline.
However, it has previously indicated that a new loan would be secured from a European and an Asian bank. A spokesperson earlier this year said it could also issue a rupiah-denominated bond in 2014 to refinance US$650m of notes due 2020.
In June it borrowed Rp700bn (US$59m) from Bank Negara Indonesia to help refinance debt.
There are eight mobile operators in Indonesia’s crowded market and Indosat is considering offloading 7,500 towers to help cut costs.
The space side of its business took a hit earlier this year when it lost the operating rights to the 150.5E orbital slot to state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI).
It had been planning to launch a satellite called Palapa-E there to replace its aging Palapa-C2 bird. The group still operates Palapa-D at 113E.
