Canada’s Wind Mobile has secured C$425m (US$311m) in financing to help fund its LTE rollout using Nokia equipment and services and to refinance existing debt. The two have also inked a five-year deal for Nokia to act as Wind’s sole network infrastructure provider for the the planned LTE deployment.
Canada’s Wind Mobile has secured C$425m (US$311m) in financing to help fund its LTE rollout using Nokia (HEL:NOKIA) equipment and services. The senior secured debt facility will also help refinance existing debt.
The new facility consists of multiple, delayed-draw tranches to fund both operational and network expansion, the Toronto-based cellco said in a statement.
Finnerva, the export credit agency of Finland, where Nokia is based, provided additional support for network purchases. TD Securities, BMO Capital Markets and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce acted as co-arrangers for the financing. Toronto-Dominion Bank also served as the lead arranger for the export credit-backed facility.
Q Advisors acted as Wind’s financial adviser, while McMillan provided legal counsel.
Wind CFO noted that Q Advisors considered a variety of debt financing solutions before devising the now completed transaction.
Nokia Networks partnership
Wind, Canada’s fourth-largest mobile network operator, has also extended its partnership with Nokia Networks, inking a five-year deal which will see it serve as its sole network infrastructure provider and “innovation partner” for its planned LTE rollout.
Nokia’s ‘end-to-end’ solution will include network planning, implementation, optimisation and care. It will also provide cloud-based services such as systems integration for VoLTE and packet core deployment.
The two companies have worked together since Wind’s inception in 2009, and Nokia Networks executive VP of North America described their exclusive network infrastructure partnership as unique in the industry.
Wind CEO Alek Krstajic commented: “The combination of new financing, new spectrum acquired earlier this year and approved by the federal government, and with Nokia as a world-class technology partner, Wind fulfils the requirements to move to the next stage in its growth and network functionality.”
Wind secured LTE spectrum in Canada’s public auction earlier this year and, over the summer, acquired airwaves in a swap following larger rival Rogers’ takeover of Mobilicity and unused airwaves from Shaw Communications.
The telco, which operates in urban parts of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, plans to launch LTE by the end of 2016.
Barclays analyst Phillip Huang said Wind is unlikely to challenge the Big Three – Bell Canada, Rogers and Telus – in the near future.
“Wind’s focus is on improving network reliability rather than on coverage expansion,” he said. “While the launch of LTE by the end of 2016 should improve speeds, without any low-band spectrum, we do not expect Wind’s network will be strong enough to compete with/challenge the Big Three in the foreseeable future.”
A consortium of financial investors bought Wind from Russia-focused VimpelCom for C$135m (US$98.8m) in September 2014. The acquirers also assumed Wind’s debt obligations, which reportedly brought the deal value to about C$300m (US$219.5m).
