Bharti Airtel will tap medium-term US dollar debt to fund its US$9bn acquisition of Zain’s Africa assets, according to reports.
The Indian giant is in communion with lenders about the possibility of securing a seven-year dollar loan paying an interest…
Bharti Airtel will tap medium-term US dollar debt to fund its US$9bn acquisition of Zain’s Africa assets, according to reports.
The Indian giant is in communion with lenders about the possibility of securing a seven-year dollar loan paying an interest rate of around 300bp over Libor.
The agreements that would have funded the failed MTN bid are already in place, so Bharti could move quickly to secure the cash.
Standard Chartered and Barclays Capital are advising Bharti on the acquisition and the financing.
Bharti is in exclusive talks until March 25 to buy the assets (excluding operations in Morocco and Sudan).
Standard & Poor’s has placed Bharti on negative credit watch after the bid was announced.
S&P credit analyst Yasmin Wirjawan had said in a statement: “The CreditWatch reflects our expectation of a significant deterioration in Bharti’s cash flow protection measures and a weakening of the company’s business risk profile.”
