Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), the telecom JV between Russian operator Sistema and Indian conglomerate Shyam Group, has raised a three-year loan amounting to US$200m.
ICIC Bank provided US$100m while the remaining US$100m were raised from Barclays…
Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), the telecom JV between Russian operator Sistema and Indian conglomerate Shyam Group, has raised a three-year loan amounting to US$200m.
ICIC Bank provided US$100m while the remaining US$100m were raised from Barclays Bank. SSTL said in a statement that the facility has been proportionally secured by Russia’s Gazprombank through a standby letter of credit and bank guarantee.
Sergey Savchenko, SSTL CFO, stated: “Given the testing times being faced for financing of the telecom industry in India, raising of [a] US$200m loan by SSTL is a significant achievement. The money raised is a reaffirmation of the confidence reposed by leading banks in our business strategy. We plan to utilise the raised money to further scale up our telecom operations in the country.”
This comes as SSTL, which operates under the MTS brand, is still waiting to launch its IPO, which it had decided to delay because of the 2G scam in the country.
SSTL CEO Vsevolod Rozanov had been quoted previously saying that he was waiting for the outcome of the ongoing investigations as well as the proposed new telecom policy before proceeding with the listing of the JV.
