P R E S S R E L E A S E
April 2, 2000
HK$4,000,000,000 Senior Secured Credit Facility (the "Facility")
Hutchison Telephone Company Limited ("HTCL"), the mobile unit of Hutchison Telecom in Hong Kong, is pleased to announce the signing of a HK$4 billion syndicated term loan on March 31, 2000 in Hong Kong.
The Facility consists of two tranches of equal amount at HK$2 billion each. Tranche I carries a 5-year tenor and Tranche II a 7-year tenor. The proceeds of the facility will be used to a) refinance shareholder loans, b) finance future capital expenditures, and c) finance general working capital.
Although the Facility is its first commercial borrowing, HTCL has been able to break new ground in many respects with this. The Facility represents the first ever non-recourse syndicated financing for mobile operators in Hong Kong. It is also the first deal in Hong Kong and one of the very few in Asia to have a tenor for longer than 5 years since the Asian Crisis.
"We are excited to achieve such success for this landmark financing, which will further boost the company's development in new technology and services. With over 1.4 million subscriber base which is currently the largest market share in Hong Kong, we are well positioned for the next stage of growth," said Agnes Nardi, Managing Director, HTCL.
The Facility is structured upon HTCL's credit strength without carrying financial guarantee of its shareholders, namely, Hutchison Whampoa Limited, Motorola Inc., and NTT Mobile Communications Network, Inc. It is widely believed in the banking community that HTCL's strong shareholding background will ensure its business success and being a leader in the HK mobile telecommunications industry. "It is the goal of all the shareholders to maintain Hutchison Telephone's leading position in the market", said Frank Sixt, Group Finance Director, Hutchsion Whampoa Limited.
The syndication was very well received in the market with oversubscription. The success of this transaction has proven the strong credit profile of HTCL being a leading mobile operator in HK. As Antony Leung, Chairman of Chase Asia Pacific, said, "Hutchison Telephone is Hong Kong's leading mobile operator. The Company's proven ability and leadership in this field had ensured its success." The transaction was heavily oversubscribed with a total of 32 banks in the lending group, representing the major global institutions of North America, Europe, Japan, and Greater China.
The Facility was fully underwritten by the following group of Lead Arrangers on an equal basis:
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. ("ABN AMRO")
Banque Nationale de Paris Hong Kong Branch
Barclays Capital
Bank of China, Hong Kong Branch
Chase Manhattan Asia Limited ("CHASE")
Citicorp International Limited
Commerz (East Asia) Limited ("Commerz Bank")
SG
Standard Chartered Bank
The Sumitomo Bank, Limited
Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale ("West LB")
Roles for the Syndication are as follows:
Book-runner (Joint) | - | ABN AMRO and CHASE |
Signing and Publicity Agent | - | CHASE |
Facility Agent | - | ABN AMRO |
Documentation Agent | - | West LB |
Security Agent | - | Commerz Bank |
A complete list of participating institutions is provided in Appendix I attached herewith.
For further information, please contact:
Chase Manhattan Asia Limited
Charles Pelham | Tel: (852) 2901-4064 |
Raymond Wong | Tel: (852) 2843-1262 |
Lead Arrangers
ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Banque Nationale de Paris Hong Kong Branch
Barclays Capital
Bank of China, Hong Kong Branch
Chase Manhattan Asia Limited
Citicorp International Limited
Commerz (East Asia) Limited
SG
Standard Chartered Bank
The Sumitomo Bank, Limited
Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale
Arrangers
Banca Commerciale Italiana
Bank Austria Creditanstalt International AG, Hong Kong Branch
The Bank of East Asia, Limited
Bank of Nova Scotia
Bayerische Landesbank Girozentrale, Hong Kong Branch
Credit Agricole Indosuez
Crdit Lyonnais
The Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Limited, Hong Kong Branch
De Nationale Investeringsbank Asia Ltd
Den Danske Bank, Hong Kong Branch
The Fuji Bank, Limited
The Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation
Rabobank Hong Kong Branch
The Sakura Bank, Limited
The Sanwa Bank, Limited, Hong Kong Branch
Union Bank of Hong Kong Limited
Co-Arranger
KBC Bank N.V. Hong Kong Branch
Bank Brussels Lambert, Hong Kong Branch
Erste Bank
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro S.p.A., Hong Kong Branch
Lead Manager
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A., Singapore Branch