RIYADH, 16 April 2008 — Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) has successfully arranged a SR1.5 billion Islamic financing to finalize the acquisition of data communication infrastructure company Bayanat Al-Oula.
The financing is based on a Murabaha acquisition financing facility, arranged by three major Saudi banks — Samba Financial Group, National Commercial Bank and Saudi British Bank. The structure of the facility is subordinated acquisition debt for one year, which can be extended on maturity for another 6 months on the same terms and conditions. Samba Financial Group has been retained as Financial Advisers to Mobily to structure this financing. With the acquisition of Bayanat, Mobily’s stake in a 12,000 kilometer national fiberoptic network has increased from 33.3 percent to 66.6 percent. The move is a strategic step forward for Mobily to transform itself from a mobile operator into a fully integrated telecom service provider.
“Mobily would like to take this opportunity to extend its sincere thanks to the management of Samba, NCB and SABB for their continued trust in Mobily and its management” said Thamer Alhosani, Mobily’s chief financial officer.
“Once again, the banking community swiftly responded to company’s request for arranging the SR1.5bn acquisition financing, to achieve its strategic objective of becoming a fully integrated telecom company.”
Khaled Al-Kaf, Mobily’s CEO, said that the continued support from the banking community has allowed the company to expand quickly and to continue to meet and exceed the customers’ expectations and their future needs.
