Globe inks USD40m loan for debt refinancing, investment

Globe Telecom of the Philippines has secured a three-year USD40 million term loan facility with Mizuho Bank of Japan, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports citing a filing to the domestic bourse. The firm’s CFO Alberto de Larrazabal says that the loan will be used partly to pre-pay and refinance some of Globe’s debt, and partly for capital expenditure related to its long-running IT and network modernisation programme. ‘The loan will help us generate savings,’ Larrazabal is quoted as saying, noting ‘the favourable environment in the debt market’. Globe had programmed a capital spending budget of USD550 million to USD650 million for 2013, of which USD210 million will be used for its network expansion and transformation plans.