DITO signs $3.9B 15-year loan facility

New major telco DITO Telecommunity Corporation has secured a long-term financing from a group of multinational banks to fund its continuous network rollout and repay existing debt.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, DITO Tel parent DITO CME Holdings, the ICT holding arm of Dennis Uy’s Udenna Group, said the telco signed a $3.9-billion 15-year long-term project finance facility.

DITO CME said the loan facility will be “one of the largest long-term debt arranged and syndicated by a group of multinational banks for a Philippine corporation.”

The proceeds of the syndicated loan will be used to extinguish or pay off DITO Tel’s existing short-term bridge loan facilities amounting to $1.3 billion.

The balance of the latest loan arrangement, on the other hand, will be used to pay contractors and fund the continuing network rollout of DITO Tel.

This will further improve the quality of access and user experience as well as accelerating the take up of DITO Tel’s fixed wireless access 5G and mobile postpaid product offerings, according to DITO CME.

“This project finance facility represents strategic trust and confidence in the vision of the company to be a major enabler of digital services in the Philippines,” said DITO CME president Ernesto Alberto.

DITO CME said the signing of the long-term project finance facility is a key milestone, “one that helps ensure future funding activities, in both debt and equity.”

“In combination with the recent equity investments at the DITO CME level, this long-term debt provides DITO Tel with more confidence in achieving its business plan targets at the soonest possible time,” it said.

DITO Tel recently passed the fourth year of its government-mandated audit after it recorded a national population coverage of 80.65% and minimum average broadband speeds of 74.97 Mbps for 4G and 639.32 Mbps for 5G.

In 2020, the company committed to cover 84% of the Philippine population and offer a minimum average speed of at least 55 megabits per second by the end of five years.—AOL, GMA Integrated News