Indonesian towers company PT Tower Bersama has signed a US$2bn loan debt programme with coordinators United Overseas Bank Limited and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited. The transaction closed at the end of October, and the debt programme will…
Indonesian towers company PT Tower Bersama has signed a US$2bn loan debt programme with coordinators United Overseas Bank Limited and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited.
The transaction closed at the end of October, and the debt programme will be made available through separate series.
Law firm Norton Rose advised the two coordinators, while Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners advised them on Indonesian law.
Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Assegaf Hamzah & Partners advised Tower Bersama.
According to Yu-En Ong, banking partner at Norton Rose’s Singapore office, “This is one of the largest financings of its kind in Indonesia to date and, with the incumbent operators in Indonesia looking to step up their tower sales programme to raise capital, Tower Bersama’s timing is looking very astute. I have no doubt that we will see further rapid growth in the tower sector in Indonesia over the next few years.”
Tower Bersama and the law firms were not available for comment by press time.
Tower Bersama has been very active of late. Most recently, it raised US$350m in a dual-tranche financing, with commitments by nine banks: ??The Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (US$70m), Credit Agricole and DBS Bank (US$55m each), Bank UOB Buana and United Overseas Bank (US$37.5m each) and ANZ Panin Bank (US$35m), Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ (US$25m), Standard Bank (US$20m) and OCBC Indonesia (US$15m).?
The company was due to list in Jakarta at the end of October, raising as much as Rp1.8trn (US$202m) and valuing the company at between US$882m and US$1.12bn, in a transaction underwritten by UBS and Indo Premier Securities. An additional 7.14% of the company could also be sold as part of an over-allotment option, potentially raising another Rp713.5bn.
Tower Bersama posted a net profit of Rp97bn in Q4 2010, almost doubling the Rp52bn for the same period last year.
The company is reportedly one of the expected suitors for the 14,000 towers Indosat is reportedly considering selling. Citigroup is advising on that strategic review.
Tower Bersama is backed by private equity firm PT Saratoga Investama Sedaya.
