Cofco, HKT mull bilaterals

摘要

Grains trader Cofco corp and telco hkt, owned by billionaire Richard Li, are considering bilateral loans for their respective acquisitions, dashing loan bankers' hopes for syndicated deals. Cofco is talking to relationship banks on multiple bilateral loans to support its US$lbn acquisition of Noble Group's agribusiness arm. Cofco has asked relationship banks for proposals and some are proposing a club loan, which the borrower is also considering. Meanwhile, HKT is considering a bilateral facility to refinance the US$2.5bn 19-month bridge loan it obtained last December for the purchase of CSL New World Mobility. The US$2.5bn bridge from Standard Chartered was secured against a charge over the shares of CSLNW, a Bermuda-incorporated investment holding company with interests in mobile telecom services in Hong Kong.