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The refinancing deal was struck with a group of high profile banks, including Bank of America and Barclays
Indian telco Bharti Airtel has agreed a deal with a group of high profile banks to refinance over €1 billion of debt.
The debt was initially raised by Airtel’s Netherland’s based subsidiary which oversees the company’s operations across Africa, using a series of bonds that were due to mature in December 2018.
"The company has secured and signed full and final commitments from top-tier global banks including from Bank of America N.A., Barclays Bank Ltd Plc, BNP Paribas, Citibank N.A., DBS Bank Ltd., JP Morgan Chase Bank, amongst others, totalling to amounts in excess of that required for paying the said maturities in December, 2018," Airtel said in a statement to the press.
The refinancing package will help Airtel to restructure its finances and will give the Indian based telco a little more wiggle room as it looks to navigate the perilous conditions in India’s domestic market. India remains one of the toughest markets for telcos to turn a profit, thanks in part to a protracted price war initiated by the country’s disruptive operator, Reliance Jio.
Bharti Airtel is India’s second biggest telco by subscribers, boasting 377 million subscribers across the sub-continent. The company has a further 50 million subscribers in Africa, where it has a major presence in 19 separate markets.
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