Indosat seeking to raise $260m<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
State-owned international call operator PT Indosat said it was
\nmulling several options to raise around US$260 million to
\nstrengthen its capital and refinance its debts to Bank Mandiri.<\/p>\n
Indosat president director Widya Purnama was quoted by the
\nmedia on Tuesday as saying that it needed to find the new source
\nof funds no later than this year.<\/p>\n
The publicly listed company owes Rp 1.5 trillion to Bank
\nMandiri. The debts mature in December.<\/p>\n
Widya added that of all the options, the company would be
\nfocusing on loans and bonds issuance.<\/p>\n
\"It could be either loans or bonds (issuance), but it could
\nalso be a combination of both. The cheaper the better,\" Widya
\ntold reporters.<\/p>\n
Indosat had to borrow the money from Mandiri last June to help
\nfinance the acquisition of Deutsche Telekom's 25 percent stake in
\nPT Satelindo, an Indosat's subsidiary, for $325 million.<\/p>\n
The buyout increased Indosat's ownership in the country's
\nsecond largest mobile company to 100 percent.<\/p>\n
The government has said that the move was necessary to make
\nIndosat more attractive for investors under the privatization
\nprogram.<\/p>\n
Indosat is among 25 state-owned companies that has been listed
\nfor sale in this year's privatization program which is aiming to
\nraise a total of Rp 6.5 trillion to help plug the state budget
\ndeficit, projected at 2.5 percent of gross domestic product.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Widya also disclosed that the company had injected
\n$75 million into Satelindo, as agreed during a previous
\nshareholders meeting.<\/p>\n
The money came from a bridging loan facility from Bank Central
\nAsia (BCA), to be repaid within a six-month period with an
\ninterest rate of around 8.5 percent per year.<\/p>\n
\"The payment will be made every three months,\" Widya said.<\/p>\n
Widya said the injection means the current agreement with
\nSatelindo's creditors, which limits the company's business
\nexpansion to a maximum of $50 million, would no longer be
\neffective.<\/p>\n
Creditors previously limited Satelindo's expansion for fear it
\nwould disrupt the company's cash flows.<\/p>\n
This means that in the near future, Satelindo would be able to
\nexpand its business to its maximum capacity. The company has said
\nit would need at least $150 million for an expansion program if
\nit is to gain a greater share of the local cellular market.<\/p>\n
The country's cellular market is dominated by PT Telkomsel,
\nwhich controls almost 50 percent of the total number of mobile
\nsubscribers, expected to reach 9 million by the end of the year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indosat-seeking-to-raise-260m-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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