ABN AMRO awarded sole mandate for Meditelecom USD 350 million bridge loan facility for the second gsm license in Morocco
ABN AMRO has been awarded a sole mandate to arrange a 364-day USD 350 million bridge loan facility for Medi Telecom. The facility will be used to finance part of the license fee in connection with the build-out and operation of the second GSM network in Morocco. It is expected to be refinanced by a long-term project financing within the course of the next 12 months.
The Medi Telecom transaction is the largest financing for any private Moroccan project since the closing of the Jorf Lasfar Power project in September 1997. Also the arrival of Medi Telecom is part of the Moroccan government’s plan to liberalise the telecommunications market, which is expected to grow rapidly over the coming years. This deal also provides further evidence of the confidence of the international financial markets in Morocco.
On 20 April the government of Morocco issued a tender for the second GSM license in Morocco in respect of which seven consortia submitted a bid on 22 June. On 5 July the project was awarded to Medi Telecom, who will pay MAD 10.8 billion including 20% VAT (approximately USD 1.1 billion) for the license. The shareholders in Medi Telecom are Telefonica Intercontinental of Spain, Portugal Telecom International and the private Moroccan groups BMCE and Afriquia.