New Zealand’s Chorus has signed a NZ$250m (US$197m) loan. The telecoms infrastructure company said that the proceeds will be used to repay drawings under its existing facility.
The existing facility comprises two tranches of NZ$675m (US$532m) each,…
New Zealand’s Chorus has signed a NZ$250m (US$197m) loan. The telecoms infrastructure company said that the proceeds will be used to repay drawings under its existing facility.
The existing facility comprises two tranches of NZ$675m (US$532m) each, which will mature in November 2015 and November 2017 respectively. In early May this year, Chorus had extended the tenure of both tranches by a year.
Chorus had signed the NZ$1.35bn (US$1.06) facility to build a fibre network a few months after it was carved out of incumbent Telecom New Zealand in mid-2011.
The new NZ$250m loan will extend Chorus’ debt maturity profile to 2019, the company said in a notice to the New Zealand Exchange.
Commenting on the funding, Chorus CFO Andrew Carroll said: “We appreciate the support of the small group of banking partners who put the facility in place despite the ongoing uncertainty we are experiencing in the current regulatory environment.
“As well as enabling us to extend our debt maturity profile, the new facility will provide additional financial flexibility as Chorus continues to invest heavily in New Zealand’s fibre future through the UFB rollout.”
In May 2011, Telecom NZ said that it would carry out structural separation from Chorus after officially winning the bid to build the country’s US$2.8bn ultra-fast broadband project (UFB).
