Telstra closes $A450m equivalent syndicated bank loan
Telstra today announced that it has executed a $A450 million equivalent, multi-currency, senior unsecured syndicated term loan facility.
The facility, announced on 16 March 2009, was jointly arranged by Bank of China and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd, with participation from a range of Asian regional banks.
Telstra Chief Financial Officer John Stanhope said he was delighted with the outcome of the syndication, which was comfortably over-subscribed in challenging market conditions.
"The positive response to this facility reflects Telstra's strong financial position and credit ratings, which has allowed us to tap new sources of funding and extend our investor base in the increasingly important Asian capital markets," Mr Stanhope said.
The facility comprises a $A290 million equivalent three-year $US/$A tranche and a $A160 million five-year tranche. The $US tranche will be swapped at drawdown into Australian dollars through to maturity.
Mr Stanhope said the mandated lead arrangers had displayed great professionalism in introducing Telstra to new investors, while delivering a well-placed and competitive priced transaction, despite the ongoing global financial crisis.
"The bank loan market provides a valuable funding diversification for our borrowing program and the three and five-year tenures suit our target maturity profile," he said.
"The facility is part of Telstra's normal long-term borrowing program for 2008-09. The funds will be used for general corporate funding purposes."
Telstra is Australia's leading telecommunications service provider with long term ratings of "A (negative outlook)" by Standard & Poor's, "A2 (negative outlook)" by Moody's and "A (stable outlook)" by Fitch.