Dubai's du gets $255 mln credit facility

Dubai’s du gets $255 mln credit facility

Credit to repay existing short-term $85 mln facility.

October 6, 2010 2:32 by Reuters

UAE telecoms operator du said on Wednesday it secured an additional $255 million credit facility from The Export-Import Bank of China to fund expansion of its 3G network.

The financing deal was backed by the Chinese export credit agency Sinosure, the company said in a statement on the bourse website.

Part of the credit facility will be used to repay an existing $85 million short-term facility and the remainder will go to purchase equipment for expansion of the 3G network.

The agreement will help du turn its three-year short term borrowing into a seven-year facility, based on a two-year drawdown and five-year repayment plan.

Last month, it signed a $207 million export credit facility with KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH, part of German lender KfW Bankengruppe, to fund the expansion and upgrade of its network.

The telecoms firm, partly owned by the ruler of Dubai’s investment company Dubai Holding and Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadala Development Co, more than doubled its second-quarter net profit on the back of growth in both mobile and fixed-line subscribers.

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by David Holmes)