China Development Bank provides $360 million Capex loan to Cell C (Linked to Project ID#58626)

On June 29, 2011, the China Development Bank (CDB) and Cell C Limited (or “Cell C”) — a South African telecommunications company — signed a $360 million term facility (capex loan) agreement. The loan agreement was amended on September 27, 2011 and December 31, 2012. Capex loans are used by a company to acquire, upgrade, and maintain physical assets such as property, buildings, an industrial plant, technology, or equipment. The loan carried an interest rate of three-month Libor + a 2.5% margin, accrued monthly and settled quarterly. A percentage of the capital outstanding was repayable annually based on a sliding scale. The loan was set to expire on June 29, 2019 and it was partially guaranteed by Oger Telecom Limited. According to majority owner Blue Label Telecom's 2016 and 2017 circulars to shareholders, Cell C had fully drawn down the facility as of 2016. This loan was followed by a second CDB loan in 2014 (captured via Project ID#58626).

Additional details

1. AidData has estimated the all-in interest rate by adding a 2.5% margin to the 3-month average LIBOR rate in June 2011 (0.248%). 2. AidData has coded the loan as collateralized because an official source indicates that the ICBC loan ‘shared in the First Ranking Security Interests in the Collateral, on an equal and rateable basis with the Holders and the other Senior Lenders, on the terms set out in the Intercreditor Agreement.’ The same source identifies the property and assets of Cell C Limited as the underlying source of collateral.

Number of official sources

5

Number of total sources

5