Pramindo loan closes

Pramindo loan closes

HONG KONG (Reuter): Syndication for PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara's US$350 million loan has closed, said arranger Chase Manhattan Bank Asia.

The facility was oversubscribed to US$485 million but will not be increased.

Pramindo is a consortium including Indonesia's Astra Group and France's Cable et Radio. Proceeds of the loan will be used to finance the group's telecommunications venture in Indonesia.

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.

The loan facility features an eight year maturity with tranches for direct loans and for guarantees related to the project.

Arrangers are Banque Nationale de Paris, Chase Manhattan Bank Asia, Fuji Bank and Societe Generale.

Co-arrangers are Paribas Asia, Hypobank, Keppel Bank, Credit Lyonnais, LTCB Merchant Bank Singapore, Mitsubishi Bank, Toronto Dominion Southeast Asia and WestLb.

Eighteen other banks also joined in the syndication.