September 26, 2001
HK$4,400 million credit facility
Hutchison Global Crossing Limited ("HGCL") is pleased to announce the signing on September 26, 2001 of a HK$4,400 million syndicated term loan (the "Facility"). The Facility is arranged by Facility Co-ordinators ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Citibank / Salomon Smith Barney and Commerz (East Asia) Limited. The proceeds will be used to finance the company's capital and operating expenditures.
The Facility consists of two tranches of HK$2,200 million each. Tranche A is for a term of 5 years and is to be repaid in eight quarterly instalments (after a grace period of 3 years), with an interest margin of 1.45% p.a. over HIBOR. Tranche B is for a term of 7 years and is to be repaid in eight quarterly instalments (after a grace period of 5 years), with an interest margin of 1.80% p.a. over HIBOR. Facility lenders will be provided with a security package customary for financing of this nature.
The syndication was well received at the sub-underwriting stage with an over-subscription. A total of 11 banks have joined the Facility Co-ordinators as arrangers. A limited general syndication was thereafter launched to target a selected group of banks and a final syndicate of 17 international banks from nine countries was formed.
"We are excited to achieve such success for this landmark financing. This will further boost the company's development in network infrastructure and enable us to broaden our customer reach," said Peter Wong, Chief Executive Officer, HGCL.
HGCL is one of the five licenced wireline based Fixed Telecommunications Network Services ("FTNS") operators in Hong Kong. It combines the strengths of its two shareholders, Hutchison Whampoa and Asia Global Crossing ("AGC") that are 50-50 partners in the venture.
HGCL currently owns and operates a terrestrial network laid in over 2,000 kilometres of duct routes, the largest all-fibre-optic building-to-building network in Hong Kong. HGCL's backbone and last-mile network supports the market's high-speed broadband access, data transmission, local and international voice services, as well as integrated business solutions. These networks cover all major business and residential districts in Hong Kong. As of August 2001, HGCL obtained access to approximately 3,000 buildings and direct connections to almost 2,000 buildings in Hong Kong.
HGCL benefits from the support of AGC's wholly-owned sub-sea cable system, East Asia Crossing, connecting a number of Asian countries. It is also the first new FTNS operator in Hong Kong to link up with China Telecom's Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) ring. All these put HGCL in a strong position to provide world-class services to both local and international markets.
Complete list of participating institutions is as follows:-
Facility Co-ordinators
ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney
Commerz (East Asia) Limited
Coordinating Arrangers
ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney
Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Hong Kong Branch
Abbey National Treasury Services plc
China Construction Bank, Hong Kong Branch
ING Barings
CIBC World Markets
BNP Paribas
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Crdit Agricole Indosuez
Crdit Lyonnais
Arrangers
Rabobank Hong Kong Branch
KBC BANK N.V.
Natexis Banques Populaires
Senior Manager
Mizuho Financial Group (The Fuji Bank, Limited)
Managers
Liu Chong Hing Bank Limited
Wing Hang Bank, Limited
Facility Agent
Commerz (East Asia) Limited
Security Trustee
Citicorp International Limited
Media inquiries
Hutchison Global Crossing | ABN AMRO Bank N.V. |
Sally Tsang | Choo Hak Lee |
Tel: 2128 6708 | Tel: 2700 3805 |
Fax: 2187 2055 | Fax: 2297 0665 |
E-mail: pr@hgc.com.hk | E-mail: choo.hak.lee@hk.abnamro.com |
a HK$4,400 million credit facility with 17 international banks.
The proceeds will be used to finance the company's
capital and operating expenditures.
is signing the related document of the credit facility.