Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), a Saudi Arabia-based mobile operator, has inked a SR750m (US$200m) long-term vendor financing agreement with Export Development Canada (EDC).
The company will use the shariah-compliant financing to buy equipment from…
Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), a Saudi Arabia-based mobile operator, has inked a SR750m (US$200m) long-term vendor financing agreement with Export Development Canada (EDC).
The company will use the shariah-compliant financing to buy equipment from Alcatel-Lucent to upgrade its network, it said in a stock exchange notice.
The facility, which has been priced at a fixed annual rate of 2.52% with a 3% upfront premium, matures in 10.5 years. It will be utilised over a two-year period.
Mandated lead arrangers for the deal were Credit Agricole, Societe Generale and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
Over the past year, Mobily has signed two other vendor financings worth a combined US$1.21bn. A company source told TelecomFinance earlier this year that ECA financing “puts less pressure on cashflow than other forms of financing so money can be spent on expansion projects instead”.
Mobily recently ended talks to acquire a stake in local fixed-line operator Etihad Atheeb Telecom (Go). The companies did not disclose why the deal failed.
