FRIDAY, 12.30PM:
TELECOMS parastatal Telkom on Thursday launched its ambitious borrowing programme with a $150-million syndicated loan — its first foreign loan without a government guarantee.
The loan, signed in Amsterdam on Thursday, is lead managed by ABN Amro, Dresdner Bank and Socit Gnrale.
The loan consists of the three-year tranche of $100-million at 45 basis points above the London interbank offered rate (Libor) spread, and a five-year tranche of $50-million at a 55 basis points spread. As the offer was negotiated before South Africa’s currency crisis, the pricing is aggressively tight. International rating agency Moody’s gave the issue a solid Baa3 rating with a negative outlook.
It said the rating should be higher, but a company rating cannot be higher than its country’s.