Grameenphone has borrowed Tk 846 crore from 15 banks and financial institutions, the biggest syndicated term loan in Bangladesh.

The country's largest mobile phone operator with a 42 percent market share will use the fund for network expansion.

Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) as a lead manager has arranged the syndicated loan, the SCB said in a statement yesterday.

An agreement was signed among Grameenphone, SCB and the participating financial institutions on

October 7.

Grameenphone Chief Executive Officer Tore Johnson and Chief Financial Officer Fridtjof Rusten, and the top brass of the participating banks and financial institutions attended the signing ceremony.

The participants include Bank Asia, Bank Alfalah, Dhaka Bank, Eastern Bank, IFIC Bank, Infrastructure Development Company Limited, Mutual Trust Bank, NCC Bank, Premier Bank, Pubali Bank, Saudi-Bangladesh Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Southeast Bank, SCB and Trust Bank.

“Standard Chartered Bank is delighted to be the mandated lead arranger and agent for this landmark transaction,” said Jim McCabe, SCB's chief executive officer for Bangladesh.

“This is the first ever unsecured term loan in the country, and that too for the largest amount,” he said.

Standard Chartered is leading the debt capital market in Bangladesh. Since pioneering in 1997, the capital markets unit of SCB has put together over $2 billion equivalent local and foreign currency syndicated loan facilities in power, telecommunication, infrastructure, food and beverage, textiles, service and other key sectors.

Over last 10 years, the syndicated loan market has grown 50 percent on average year-on-year in line with the country's industrial growth. SCB has arranged around 60 percent of the total syndicated debt raised in the market in the last 15 years.

News: the Daily Star/Bangladesh/31-Oct-12