Etisalat plans $500m bond by end of the year

Dubai: Etisalat, one of the region's largest telecom operators, will issue a bond to cover the expense of its growing international operations, its chief financial officer told Reuters.

Salem Al Sharhan said the firm was looking to finalise a medium-term note programme targeting international markets by next month.

"So far, the plan is to issue $500 million by the end of the year… early next year," he said, adding exact values had yet to be decided. "It will be for international expansion," Reuters reported him as saying.

Although the operator said last November that it had $3 billion in cash to fund the various acquisitions in recent months and those pending, it has had to make several significant payments.

With its recent acquisitions and contracts, the operator has built up a flurry of payment schedules. Last year in India it acquired Swan Telecom to form Etisalat DB Telecom for $900 million, jumping into a market of 1.1 billion people.

During summer, it paid $2.2 billion (Dh8 billion) to Reliance Communications, for an infrastructure share agreement. T

he 10-year contract will give a boost to etisalat DB to roll out telecom services across 15 circles in the country.

Later, in September, it gave a Dh1.5 billion information technology deal to Tech Mahindra for outsourcing applications and software. Additionally, it might have to pay $1 billion for a 3G contract in the country.

"As the markets where etisalat has footprints are quite saturated, the company is looking for more opportunities to expand," said Nasreddine Mana, Research Analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media.