Bharti Airtel Secures Full Commitment From Banks To Refinance 1 Bn Euro Notes

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel said it has secured a full commitment from leading global banks like Bank of America, Barclays Bank and Citibank to refinance the payment of 1 billion euro notes maturing in December this year.

The debt was raised by its Netherlands-based subsidiary Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V., which handles Africa operations, in 2013 through 4 per cent Euro 1,000 notes maturing in December this year.

In a note to creditors, Airtel offered the option of early repayment to subscribers of the debt instrument and said that it has received assurance from global banks for the redemption of the notes on maturity.

“The company has secured and signed full and final commitments from top-tier global banks including from Bank of America N.A., Barclays Bank Ltd Plc, BNP Paribas, Citibank N.A., DBS Bank Ltd., JP Morgan Chase Bank, amongst others, totalling to amounts in excess of that required for paying the said maturities in December 2018,” Airtel said.

The offer commenced from September 28.

The company had issued the notes at principal amount of 1 billion euro.

“The Tender Offer and Repayment Notice Memorandum serves to provide Noteholders with a choice of either –receiving repayment on the scheduled maturity date or…at any of the two scheduled settlement dates (as applicable)” Airtel said.

The company has a fixed date of October 5 and October 26 for the expiry of the early repayment option.

“The early pay-in offer to tender is a voluntary option to early redeem ‘Any and All’ of the Notes held by Noteholders,” the note said.

Any noteholder who chooses not to exercise the option of early repayment will have the option to settle it on the scheduled maturity date of December 10, 2018, as per the offer. – Devdis Course