Banks invited to join $350m Pramindo loan

Banks invited to join $350m Pramindo loan

HONG KONG (Reuter): Banks have been invited to join a US$350
million loan facility for PT Pramindo Ikak Nusantara, arranger
Chase Manhattan Bank Asia said yesterday.

The company is a consortium including Indonesia's Astra
Group and France's Cable et Radio. Pramindo last year won a
tender to install some 460,000 phone lines in Indonesia's
Sumatra. It is one of several companies that won tenders to
install two million telephone lines in Indonesia.

Arrangers of the facility are Banque Nationale de Paris, Chase
Manhattan Asia, Fuji Bank, Societe Generale Asia and World Bank
affiliate International Finance Corp.

The facility is completely underwritten by BNP, Chase, Fuji
and Societe Generale.

The facility comprises two tranches. The first is a standby
letter of credit facility up to the rupiah equivalent of US$150
million.

The second tranche is an IFC B loan up to US$300 million, to
be funded by commercial banks through a participation agreement
with the IFC, which is the lender of record.

Each tranche can be drawn to its maximum, but the total drawn
amount cannot exceed US$350 million, Chase said.

Both tranches have a final maturity of eight years.

Further details, including pricing, will not be available
until later this month, Chase said. A presentation to banks will
be made on Feb. 9 in Singapore.

The IFC also will provide a US$50 million bilateral loan to
the consortium, Chase said.