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Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications today said it has drawn a second tranche of Rs 1,780 crore ($400 million) from the Rs 8,700-crore ($1.93 billion) loan facility it secured from China Development Bank.
“Reliance Communications has drawn down second tranche of Rs 1,780 crore ($400 million) toward refinancing of 3G spectrum fees out of the Rs 8,700 crore ($1.93 billion) facility signed with China Development Bank (CDB) on March 9, 2011,” RCom said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The facility includes Rs 6,000 crore ($1.33 billion) for refinancing 3G spectrum fee payments by RCom and Rs 2,700 crore ($600 million) for equipment imports from Chinese vendors.
“The drawn down amount will be used to refinance RCom’s short-term rupee borrowings, resulting in substantial savings in its interest cost, apart from extending RCom’s debt maturity profile,” it said.
The loan facility, which is fully underwritten by CDB, is being funded by a syndicate of Chinese banks or financial institutions, including CDB.
This represents the first and largest ever syndicated loan for refinancing spectrum fees by any telecom company, it added.
The first tranche of Rs 3,000 crore ($665 million) was drawn down on March 17, 2011. With this drawal, RCom has already drawn Rs 4,780 crore ($1.06 billion) toward refinancing of 3G spectrum fees and the last tranche is expected to be drawn very shortly.
Shares of the company were trading at Rs 92.70, up 1.26 per cent from the previous close on BSE.
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