Societe Generale is leading the consortium of banks providing the €2.29bn (US$3.09bn) syndicated loan to help finance PPF’s purchase of a 65.9% stake in Telefonica Czech Republic.
The French bank is coordinating the transaction, while fellow MLAs,…
Societe Generale is leading the consortium of banks providing the €2.29bn (US$3.09bn) syndicated loan to help finance PPF’s purchase of a 65.9% stake in Telefonica Czech Republic.
The French bank is coordinating the transaction, while fellow MLAs, underwriters and bookrunners are Citi, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, ING, KBC Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Unicredit.
The facility will likely be launched in the next week. Syndication is expected to generate strong appetite given the demand for quality loan assets in Central Europe as a result of its liquid banking market and limited number of large-scale opportunities.
PPF, founded by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner, announced today that it would acquire Spanish incumbent Telefonica’s majority stake in Telefonica CR for Kc63.6bn (US$3.32bn).
The investment group said it would fund the purchase, which also includes Telefonica Slovakia, with the syndicated loan and an equity cheque of Kc35.5bn (US$1.85bn).
When the deal closes, PPF plans to launch a mandatory takeover offer for the remaining shares in Telefonica CR. However, Telefonica will retain a 4.9% stake.
Telefonica CR – the Czech Republic’s largest telco – posted revenues of Kc50.53 (US$2.63bn) for 2012 and EBITDA of Kc19.78bn (US$1.03bn).
