Indosat gets fresh loans from 5 banks

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

PT Indosat, the country's second largest state telecommunications firm, said over the weekend it had secured syndicated loans worth Rp 3.2 trillion (US$376 million) from five local banks.

The new loans will be used to refinance debts owed by the company and its subsidiaries, including Indosat Multi Media Mobile (IM3), the company said in a press statement.

The new loans are to come from Bank Central Asia (BCA), Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Danamon, Bank Mandiri and Bank Bukopin.

The arrangers for the deal are Andalan Artha Advisindo Sekuritas and ING Bank, while BCA, Mandiri and BNI are co- arrangers.

It remains unclear whether the loan approval will pave the way for the company's plans to merge its two cellular units, IM3 and Satelindo, which is aimed to consolidate the debts of the three companies and make it easier to refinance borrowing.

The company's consolidated debt currently totals $900 million.

As a part of its refinancing plans, Indosat plans also to issue Rp 1.75 trillion in rupiah-denominated bonds and up to $300 million in dollar-denominated bonds later this year.

Indosat, one of the nation's leaders in the information and telecommunications industry, provides cellular services, international calls, fixed-lines and MIDI (multimedia, information data and Internet) services, among others.

Elsewhere, the statement said as of the first half of the year, the cellular business contributed around 57 percent of the company's incomes, with international calls contributing around 25.4 percent.