South African mobile operator Cell C says it will ask bondholders for permission to extend the maturity of 77.4 million euros worth (R1.1 billion) of its senior debt by three years.<\/p>\n
The company also said it would offer to purchase for cash the outstanding principal amount on all of the outstanding notes from bondholders.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for Cell C declined to comment.<\/p>\n
In May, Cell C CEO, Jose Dos Santos, said that the group\u2019s total revenue increased 14% year on year, with subscribers up 35% YoY to the end of December, 2013.<\/p>\n
To support this continued growth, Cell C has budgeted R2.3 billion for capex spend in 2014.<\/p>\n
In 2013, the group received\u00a0an injection of R5.7 billion from\u00a0Oger Telecom<\/a>, the Lebanese-controlled firm with an indirect 75% holding in the SA operator, and other stakeholders.<\/p>\n Oger invested $350-million (around R3.5 billion) and key lenders \u201cincluding\u00a0Nedbank<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Development Bank of South Africa<\/a>\u201d provided R2.2 billion.<\/p>\n Former CEO Alan Knott-Craig<\/a> warned at the time, though, that the group\u2019s coffers may stop investing under the current\u00a0regulatory framework.<\/p>\n \u201cEssentially it goes around MTRs (mobile termination rates)\u2026and the second thing is symmetry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nReporting with Reuters<\/h3>\n
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