China Unicom Raises More Debt

China Unicom has signed an agreement today with 13 financial institutions for a US$700 million term loan. The Facility is split into 3 tranches of US$200 million 3-year, US$300 million 5-year and US$200 million 7-year loan and carries an interest margin of 0.28%, 0.35% and 0.44% p.a. over US dollar LIBOR for each tranche respectively. The proceeds from the Facility will be used for financing the general working capital requirements of the company.

The Facility received broad support from the financial market. Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, China Construction Bank, Hong Kong Branch, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited, Hang Seng Bank Limited and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Coordinating Arrangers.

Mr. Shi Cuiming, Executive Director and Executive Vice President of China Unicom said, "The signing of this term loan signifies that China Unicom has successfully capitalized on the current favorable interest rate environment prevalent in the international financial market and succeeded in minimizing finance costs as well as increasing profitability."

Tai Fung Bank was the lead arranger of the loan."

Posted to the site on 30th September 2003