Tire firm gets $117m loan

JAKARTA (JP): PT Gadjah Tunggal, a tire manufacturer listed on the domestic stock exchanges, has secured a US$117 million revolving credit "club" facility from a consortium of 13 international banks.

Chairman of the Gadjah Tunggal Group Sjamsul Nursalim said over the weekend that the credit, whose agreement was signed in Singapore on Friday, was arranged by Bank Dagang Nasional, Indonesia's Capital Market Group.

Gadjah Tunggal, currently undertaking a major expansion program for its radial tire production, will use the funds to refinance existing credit facilities and strengthen its working capital, he said.

He said the initial target for the credit facility was actually set at $100 million but because it was oversubscribed, the target was increased to $117 million to accommodate the strong demand and each participating bank was allocated a portion of $9 million.

The banks participating in the credit facility are Barclays Bank, Citibank N.A., Credit Suisse, Development Bank of Singapore, Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank, Dresdner Bank, Fuji Bank, Mitsubishi Bank, Nippon Credit Bank, Sakura Bank, Sanwa Bank, Sumitomo Bank and Sumitomo Trust. Citibank acted as the facility and security agent.(riz)