Qtel loan to rise to $2 billion

Qatar Telecommunications Co's $1.5 billion loan will be increased to $2bn after raising over $3bn in syndication, banking sources close to the deal said.

Syndication is scheduled to close on Friday, the bankers told Reuters Loan Pricing Corp.

Qtel was not available for comment.

Qtel announced in March it had signed the $1.5bn forward start agreement on a revolving credit facility maturing in November, extending the credit by two years.

Bankers said at the time the borrower would like $2bn and general syndication would be used to raise the remaining amount, adding that the loan pays a margin of 250 basis points (bps) over LIBOR.

As reported by Reuters Loan Pricing Corp in July, lenders were invited to commit either $50 million or $25m to the deal, paying upfront fees of 110 basis points (bps) and 90 bps, respectively.

Under a forward start agreement lenders typically agree to extend existing loans at final maturity in return for a hefty increase in pricing on the existing credit.

Syndication followed the borrower's successful $1.5bn debut bond sale in June, which was more than eight times oversubscribed.

On the loan, initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners are Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, DBS and Royal Bank of Scotland, while Qatar National Bank is acting as initial mandated lead arranger and financial adviser.

Banking sources close to the deal said in March each of the banks committed $200 million for a fee of 200 bps.

International Bank of Qatar, JP Morgan Chase, Arab Bank, Doha Bank and Housing Bank for Trade and Finance also joined the deal with smaller tickets to take the total to $1.5bn, the sources said.

The original three-year $2bn revolving credit facility was arranged by mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland in November 2006 and paid a margin of 22.5 bps over LIBOR.