Vodafone Essar is reportedly raising an overseas debt of about $500 million. The company is at an advanced stage of negotiation with several banks including BNP Paribas, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Commerzbank, ING, Fortis and Muzuhu Corporate Bank for raising the funds.
Vodafone Essar is considering a five-year loan and is expected to close the financing by January 2008. This will be the first fund-raising exercise by the company after Vodafone’s acquisition of majority stake in Hutchison Essar. The funds raised are likely to be used for rolling out network infrastructure as well as for network expansion.
