Globe firms up ECA backed loan

A Citibank arranged US$200 million syndicated loan for Phillipine's largest digital phone provider, Globe Telecom will incorporate an export credit agency (ECA) backed tranche from Finland's Finnvera and Sweden's Exportkreditnamnden (EKN).. The second tranche of the five and seven year deal will be placed into general syndication locally. Proceeds will be used to fund the expansion of the company's GSM network.

Company officials say that pricing will be difficult to compare with Globe's most recent deal last September when US$280 million was raised from a six-and-a-half year. This included a $145 million Finnvera tranche, a $38 million Efic tranche, a $41 million EKN tranche and a $15 million Nordic Investment Bank tranche. The Finnvera tranche paid 75bp over Libor, while the EKN tranche paid 55bp over Libor.