denotes premium content | Jan 6 2009 
Feature
posted 23 Feb 2005 in Volume 8 Issue 4
Cable & Wireless, Jamaica: Looking to the long-term
Sole lead arranger: Citigroup
Borrower: Cable & Wireless Jamaica
Deal size: $96m; a $26.3m seven-year term loan facility provided by Citigroup and 95% comprehensively guaranteed by Coface; a $20m seven-year term loan facility provided directly by EDC; $50m term loan facility comprised of two tranches: (i) a $20m five-year facility provided by Citigroup and (ii) a $30m seven-year facility provided by Citigroup with a partial guarantee from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
Closing: August 2004
Structured with full recourse to Cable & Wireless, this transaction is the first long-term telecom financing in Jamaica structured as a corporate deal – Citigroup was able to offer the longer-term seven-year financing by accessing official agency investors. It is a complex transaction involving three different official agencies.
To close the funding gap left by the exit of another investor, Citi was able to structure a partial guarantee from OPIC on a $30m facility. This quick reaction and Citi’s relationship with OPIC helped to keep the closing on target.
Despite the complex sourcing of goods in the transaction, the bank was able to successfully align all of the different ECA interests to obtain financing for the full amount needed by the borrower.
Cable & Wireless Jamaica (CWJ) will use the proceeds to not only build-out and expand its GSM network, but also to fund some of the necessary capex for its operations.
CWJ purchased most of its GSM equipment from Nortel Networks, the Canadian telecom equipment manufacturer.
