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Hutchison 3G UK Says It Has Extended Bank Facility for a Year
March 20, 2003
3 UK today announced it had entered into agreements with its lenders
to extend and amend the term of its loan facilities to support the
next-stage rollout of the UK's first commercial 3G mobile video,
multimedia and communications service.
Under the terms of the agreements, 3 UK has secured its non-recourse
financing through to March 2005, extending the current terms by
one year. The agreements, which follow discussions initiated by
3 UK, were given the full support of its lenders. These changes
provide the basis for 3 UK aggressively to lead the market into
the next generation of mobile communications.
The facilities are provided by a consortium of 16 international
banks, including ABN Amro, HSBC, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, the Royal
Bank of Scotland, Citigroup and West LB together with leading equipment
suppliers, NEC, Nokia and Siemens and 3 UK's majority shareholder
Hutchison Whampoa. Details of the facilities were not disclosed.
3 UK Finance Director Tim Pennington said: "We are delighted that
our lenders have demonstrated their full support for our business
strategy, enabling us to focus exclusively on the delivery of our
pioneering services to UK consumers. In a difficult financial market
the package of measures we put together, combined with the recognition
of 3 UK's full compliance with all existing banking covenants and
the support of our shareholders and suppliers, meant the proposals
were extremely well received."
Hutchison Whampoa Group Finance Director Frank Sixt said: "As shareholders
we are fully supportive of these revised arrangements. 3 UK has
made significant inroads in reducing project cost to date as well
as overall anticpated project funding requirements going forward."
Continued Mr Sixt: "The support of the company's lenders, particularly
in the current tight credit markets, is a solid vote of confidence
both in the prospects for the 3G mobile multimedia business that
the Hutchison Whampoa has worked so hard to bring to market and
in the 3 UK management team's ability to make the business a success."
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