Petr Kellner’s PPF investment group has asked subsidiary O2 Czech Republic for a loan of up to Kc24.8bn (US$1.14bn) to help repay the bank debt it took on to acquire its majority stake in the telco.
O2, the Czech Republic’s largest integrated telco…
Petr Kellner’s PPF investment group has asked subsidiary O2 Czech Republic for a loan of up to Kc24.8bn (US$1.14bn) to help repay the bank debt it took on to acquire its majority stake in the telco.
O2, the Czech Republic’s largest integrated telco and second-largest mobile operator, announced today that PPF has requested a seven-year loan repaid with interest on the maturity date.
“Since O2 Czech Republic does not have available sufficient resources to provide the financial assistance, it is assumed that the provision of the financial assistance will be subject to obtaining the resources from external sources,” the Prague-based company said in a regulatory filing.
O2’s board has decided to conduct an analysis of the requested financial assistance and carry out the steps necessary to approve it.
Netherlands-based PPF closed its Kc63.6bn (US$3.32bn) acquisition of a 65.9% stake in O2 from Spain’s Telefonica in January.
The investment firm financed the purchase with a Kc35.5bn (US$1.85bn) equity tranche and a €2.89bn syndicated loan facility led by Societe Generale.
In July, PPF bought an additional 7.2% stake via a mandatory tender offer, boosting its stake to 73.1%.
O2 confirmed in August that it was evaluating options to separate its fixed-line infrastructure into a new entity to supply wholesale services.
