ICBC contributes to $1 billion syndicated loan for Telecom Argentina S.A. to finance capital expenditures, working capital and other general corporate purposes

On February 2, 2018, Telecom Argentina S.A. signed a $1 billion syndicated loan agreement with 7 banks. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance capital expenditures, working capital and other general corporate purposes. The loan carried a 1-year maturity. It bore interest at an annual rate equivalent to LIBOR plus the following margins: 1.25 percentage points during the first four months, 1.50 percentage points, during the following two months, 1.75 percentage points during the following three months and 2.25 percentage points during the last three months prior to the maturity date. Interest was payable quarterly or semiannually, at the borrower’s option. Participants in the lending syndicate included Citibank N.A., HSBC México S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., and Banco Santander S.A. On February 9, 2018, and March 9, 2018, Telecom Argentina S.A. made $650 million and $350 million drawdowns, respectively, under the loan agreement. The loan was repaid in full in February 2019 (the final maturity date).

Additional details

1. Telecom Argentina SA is a private company that provides telecommunications services, including local, long-distance and international service in Argentina. The company is led by Carlos Alberto Moltini, Gabriel Pablo Blasi and Gonzalo Hita. 2. The monetary value of ICBC’s contribution to the lending syndicate is unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes equal contributions ($142,857,142) across the 7 members of the lending syndicate. 3. The all-in interest rate is estimated by adding 1.5% to the average 6-month LIBOR rate in February 2018 (2.089%).

Number of official sources

4

Number of total sources

7