Telecom Argentina: Financiamiento para Inversiones Fijas y Teléfonos Moviles

in implementation

The Project aims to achieve better connectivity and greater access to data services, and consists of two types of funding: (i) a syndicated loan led by IDB Invest of up to US$300 million to fund Telecom Argentina’s fixed investments during 2019 (the "Loan"); and (ii) an uncommitted facility of up to US$100 million to purchase the credits resulting from mobile phone sales (the "Facility").The loan consists of the US$75 million funded by the IDB Group and the rest from mobilizing other funds, with a term of up to 7 years and a grace period of up to 2 years. The funds will be used to finance capital investments comprising (a) the expansion of geographic coverage and the capacity of mobile networks to respond to growing data traffic consumption; and (b) the deployment of fiber optic networks to offer better fixed broadband connectivity.The Facility will be available for a period of up to 4 years. Under the Facility, IDB Invest will purchase, at its sole discretion, credits for the sale of mobile phones.Telecom Argentina (hereinafter Telecom) is an existing client of the IDB Group and has been since 2017. It is a comprehensive telecommunications company providing mobile telephony, fixed telephony, fixed Internet, and cable television services in Argentina. Telecom has subsidiaries that provide mobile telephony and Internet services in Paraguay and Uruguay, and telecommunications services in the United States. Following its merger with Cablevisión S.A., Telecom has a client base of 29.7 million subscribers in Argentina as in December 2018.