Shinawatra Sattelite raises US$39 mln in Asian syndicated loan market

Bangkok--July 16--Bank of America A signing ceremony was held at the Nonthaburi earth station of Shinawatra Satellite Public Co., Ltd ("SSA") on July 15, 1997. This 3 year US$39MM loan for SSA was co-ordinated by Bank America Singapore Ltd. (an affiliate of Bank of America NT&SA). Joining Bank of America as Arrangers in the transaction are Banque Paribas, Singapore Branch, Royal Bank of Canada (Asia) Ltd., Societe Generale BIBF and the Sumitomo Bank Ltd. BIBF. Repayment of the loan, which is pegged to LIBOR, will commence one year after the first drawdown and consists of five semi-annual equal instalments. The proceeds of the loan will be utilised to refinance exisiting more expensive debts. This transaction is one of the few deals to be syndicated during the turbulent period that the Thai economy is presently passing through with events liek the suspension of the 16 finance companies operationand the new "Managed Float" FX policy having been announced. The success of the transaction despite these events and the tight pricing is reflective of the continued good reception that the Shinawatra Group have enjoyed in the Asian syndicated loan market since theri inception. The Thai telecommunications industry remains a major priority in Thailand's infrastructure development and the Shinawatra Group is at the forefront of this industry. The success of this transaction and the list of top tier banks who have joined together to provide this facility is testimony that there is still strong demand in the Asian syndication market for prime blue chip Thai borrowers engaged in priority sectors in Thailand. SSA is 60% owned by Shinawatra Computer and Communications PCL (SC&C), the flagship of the group founded in 1983 by Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra. SSA was founded in September 1991 to carry out the THAICOM project. Thailand's first national satellite project as a result of the vision of Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra for Thailand to take a lead in this industry in this region. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications ("MCOT") has granted SSA the satellite concession for 30 years from 1991 to 2021, with as 8 years exclusivity period upto 1999. SSA launched its first commercial satellite Thaicom I in December 1993 and the second one Thaicom II in October 1994. Both satellites are each equipped with 10 Cband and 2 KU band transponders and are presently fully leased out. Thaicom I is the first satellite in the region to offer KU band transmission. More recently in April 1997 SSA launched its thrid satellite Thaicom III to meet the continuing growth in demand for transponder usage. SSA leases its transponders to a variety of users like TV stations, telecommunications authorities, private Very Smalll Aperture Terminal ("VSAT") operators, cellular phone operators, etc. In addition to SSA, the Shinawatra group also has subsidiaries and associate companies that are involved in the following business areas: cellular operations, paging services, cable TV, telephone directories and Yellow pages, telemarketing and advertising. Shinawatra International PCL, in which SC&C has a 80% shareholding is the Group's overseaas investment arm, and maintains investments in telecom related ventures in Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and India. Despite the slowing of the syndication activities in Thailand, Bank of America continues to be very active having arranged 7 transactions totalling approxiamtely US$505 million during the first seven months of 1997. Bank of America is one of the top arrangers for loan syndication in Asia and was awarded the title "Asian Loan House of the Year" by International Financing Review in 1995. End.

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