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SBI Offers Bharti $1 Bln Loan For MTN

By Reuters

  • 03 Jul 2009

State Bank of India has offered a loan of up to $1 billion to Bharti Airtel to partly fund the Indian telecoms firm's planned stake buy in South Africa's MTN, two sources said.

The government-run bank, which along with its associates controls a quarter of Indian bank loans and deposits, will join a clutch of foreign lenders interested in funding the deal that aims to create the world's third-biggest wireless group with more than 200 million subscribers and combined revenue of $20 billion.

"Bharti is our customer. We looked at the transaction and thought we could be part of it too," one source, who has direct knowledge of the transaction, said.

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State Bank has offered the loan for between 3 and 5 years, said the two sources, who cannot be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

"We have no further comment to offer at the moment," said a spokesman for Bharti, referring to its statement in May announcing the leading Indian mobile operator had revived exclusive talks with MTN for a merger.

State Bank officials declined comment.

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Under a complex deal structure announced in May, Bharti would end up with 49 percent in MTN and the South African firm and its shareholders would own a total 36 percent of Bharti. The exclusive merger talks could run till the end of July.

Brokerages have estimated a net cash outflow of about $4 billion from Bharti in the deal.

Bharti is yet to talk about how it will fund the deal, but has said the funding requirements would not be "onerous".

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Sources have said Standard Chartered, advisor to Bharti in the transaction, has agreed to underwrite $1 billion and help in raising the balance $3 billion required.

Debt funding is seen as the best option for Bharti, which has recently become cash-flow positive, and dividends from MTN could help it service the loan, analysts said.

Also just $629 million in net debt at the end of March, representing a net debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of 0.25, makes it easier for the firm to take on more debt, they said.

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U.S. banks, which have funded most of India's overseas acquisitions, are wearily treading around Bharti deal as more than a tenth of MTN's revenues come from Iran, Sudan and Syria -- states where the United States sets tough restrictions on U.S. firms from dealing.

State Bank had earlier partly funded overseas acquisitions of Indian companies, including the $13 billion buy of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus by Tata Steel.

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