Indosat gets fresh loans from 5 banks

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.