HTT awarded 'Africa Loans Deal of the Year' by The Banker

Last year HTA sought a US dollar and Tanzanian shilling syndicated loan to fund the expansion and upgrade of its towers in Tanzania. In spite of challenging macro-economic conditions in Tanzania and wider East Africa at the time, the facility attracted strong interest. The syndicate closed, and the first tranche was funded, in December 2011 with Standard Bank of South Africa acting as sole bookrunner and lead arranger.

Institutions who participated in the syndicate included:

• Stanbic Bank Tanzania Limited as joint initial mandated lead arranger;
  
• Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund as mandated lead arranger;
  
• Investec Bank as mandated lead arranger;
  
• National Microfinance Bank Plc as mandated lead arranger;
  
• CRDB Bank Limited as senior lead arranger;
  
• Bank of Africa Tanzania Limited as lead arranger; and
  
• International Commercial Bank (Tanzania) Limited as lead arranger

Charles Green, CEO of Helios Towers Africa, said "HTA is delighted to receive this award. We were very happy to complete this financing in Tanzania, which demonstrated our commitment to developing successful independent tower companies across the African continent.

Despite the difficult market conditions the capital markets were very supportive of Helios Towers Africa and the financing attracted strong interest from a wide variety of African focused-lenders. The facility in Tanzania will help us to deploy further tower sharing solutions across the country, benefiting both the population and the environment."