Pramindo seeks $350m loan

Pramindo seeks $350m loan

HONG KONG (Reuter): PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara, a consortium including Indonesia's Astra Group and France's Cable et Radio, will seek US$350 million in commercial financing for a telecommunications venture, arranger Chase Manhattan Bank Asia said.

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.

Winners of the tenders will operate, expand and upgrade the new lines for 15 years.

State-controlled PT Telkom, which was partially privatized last year via IPOs in New York, London and Jakarta, will install a further three million phone lines.

Pramindo Ikat Nusantara's US$350 million credit facility will be offered for general syndication in early 1996. The facility features an eight year maturity with tranches for direct loans and for guarantees related to the project.

The company has mandated Banque Nationale de Paris, Chase Manhattan Bank Asia, Fuji Bank and Societe Generale to arrange the facility.