Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On September 24, 2017, the Dubai (DIFC) Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Citibank, N.A., Goldman Sachs Bank USA, and the Nassau Branch of Itaú Unibanco S.A. entered into a $750 million syndicated loan agreement with Cablevisión Holding S.A. (CVH) -- a Argentinian cable TV provider -- to support its acquisition of an additional 13.51% equity stake in Telecom Argentina S.A. for $634,275,282. The loan's maturity date was 18 months after the date of disbursement. It accrued interest on the outstanding balances and until its effective cancellation, at a rate equivalent to LIBOR plus an applicable margin; of: (a) 3.5% per annum during the first six months as from the date of the first disbursement; or (b) 4% per annum during the period that began on the day immediately following the sixth month after the date of the first disbursement and ended 12 months after such date; or (c) 4.5% per annum during the period that began on the day immediately following the first anniversary of the first disbursement date and ended on the loan's maturity date. The disbursement of the funds under the loan agreement took place and September 28, 2017 and CVH utilized such funds to support its acquisition efforts. As a source of collateral, CVH granted a first priority pledge under Argentine law over 30,123 ordinary shares of Cablevisión S.A. representing 25.10% of the capital stock and votes of Cablevisión S.A., which on January 1, 2018 were exchanged for 297,346,243 Class D Shares of Telecom Argentina S.A. The borrower (Cablevisión Holding S.A.) made three mandatory prepayments under the under the $750,000,000 loan agreement during the first quarter of 2018: a $148,304,356 prepayment in January 2018, a $251,804,569 prepayment in February 2018, and a $132,586,260 prepayment in March 2018. The loan's principal amount outstanding was $349,891,073.33 as of February 21, 2018 and $ 217,304,812.89 as of March 31, 2018. Then, on May 13, August 22 and October 23, 2019, the borrower made partial prepayments of principal in the amount of $29.2 million, $46.2 million and $116.4 million, plus interest, respectively. In addition, on October 28, 2019, the borrower made a prepayment of the outstanding principal under the loan for $25.4 million plus interest. At that point, the loan was fully repaid. Cablevisión Holding S.A. sought to acquire a 13.51% stake in Telecom Argentina S.A. Cablevisión Holding S.A. and thereby increase its shareholding in the newly merged entity to 39% from 33%. Fintech Advisory Inc., which at the time controlled Telecom Argentina S.A. Cablevisión Holding S.A., also expected to reduce its stake in the new company from 41.73% to 35%. The merger/acquisition was completed on December 27, 2017.
Staff comments
1. The individual contribution of the four lenders to this $750,000,000 USD syndicated loan is unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of ICBC by assuming that each lender contributed an equal amount ($187,500,000 USD) to the syndicated loan. 2. The loan carried an interest rate of 6-month LIBOR plus a 3.5% to 4.5% margin. For the time being, AidData relies on the midpoint of this range (4%).