Inco gets $421m loan

Inco gets $421m loan

JAKARTA (JP): PT International Nickel Indonesia (Inco)
announced yesterday that it has completed arrangements with a
group of international lenders for a US$421.25 million loan to
finance its expansion program and the repayment of its existing
debt.

The lenders will provide up to $340 million in financing,
which may be drawn down over a 3.5 year period. They will also
give an additional $81.25 million, which has been drawn down to
refinance existing debt, the company said in a statement.

The company previously announced that it needed an investment
of $580 million to increase its annual production capacity by 50
percent from 100 million pounds of nickel-in-matte to 150 million
pounds.

There was no mention of when the expansion will begin or when
it will start operating the new production facility.

It said that it will get the remainder ($240 million) of the
program cost from existing cash balances and internally generated
funds.

The $340 million loan consists of $200 million from the Export
Development Corporation of Canada and $140 million from the
Export-Import Bank of Japan. (13)