May 07, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1, 1429

LONDON, May 6: Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) has launched syndication of a $205 million loan that backs its acquisition of Pakistan’s Worldcall Telecom, a banking source close to the deal said on Tuesday.

The three-year amortising loan, which is the borrower’s first syndicated deal, pays a margin of 187.5 basis points (bps) over LIBOR, the source added.

Bank meetings will be held in Oman on Wednesday and in Dubai on Sunday.

Omantel said in March it had picked Mashreq Bank to arrange the loan.

The company said in February it would buy 60 per cent of Worldcall for $193 million and an additional 5 per cent through the Pakistani stock market.—Reuters