Singapore, 17 May 1999 -- StarHub announces today that it has appointed ABN AMRO Bank N.V. as the lead arranger and underwriter for its S$825 million project finance facility. This facility will be based on a 10-year tenure at a debt-equity ratio of 60:40. This loan will finance StarHub’s project costs incurred in the design, procurement, installation, commissioning and operation of StarHub’s fixed and mobile telecommunication services as specified in its licenses awarded by the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore (TAS).
Mr Henry Lim, Chief Financial Officer of StarHub said, "ABN AMRO Bank has shown its commitment to StarHub and Singapore by their willingness to fully underwrite the debt financing for this project. StarHub is happy to have ABN AMRO as its strategic partner and is confident of ABN AMRO’s ability to see through successful syndication and closure of the financing."
ABN AMRO Bank will be shortly launching a limited syndication targeted at a small group of banks. Due diligence work for the project finance facility will commence immediately.
Commented Mr Michiel Kerbert, Head of Structured Finance Asia, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., "We are delighted with this opportunity to bring to the fore our bank’s project finance capabilities and experience in arranging this landmark transaction as Singapore further liberalizes its telecommunication services market."
StarHub plans to spend S$2.6 billion to build its state-of-the-art fixed and mobile converged network and telecoms infrastructure in Singapore. To date, StarHub has already committed itself to more than S$400 million worth of contracts. Warburg Dillion Read is the financial adviser to StarHub on the project finance facility.
Jointly issued by StarHub Pte Ltd and ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
