Zain Saudi inks SAR 2.25 bln commercial loan deal

Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain Saudi) signed on Monday a long-term commercial loan facility agreement for SAR 2.25 billion ($599.8 million) with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The new facility will replace an existing syndicated loan closed with a four-bank consortium that includes Arab National Bank (ANB), Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Gulf International Bank (GIB) and Samba Financial Group, the telco said in a statement to Tadawul.

The new facility will help cut current financing costs by about SAR 175 million over the next three years through a reduction of interest and a currency conversion to US dollar.

The loan, which extends from August 29, 2016 to August 15, 2018, can be renewed for one additional year.

An unconditional an irrevocable guarantee for the loan has been provided by Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain Group), which owns 37 percent of Zain Saudi.