Astro Malaysia Holdings’ Berhad wholly-owned subsidiary, Measat Broadcast Network System Sdn Bhd said it has accepted a Term Loan Facility of up to RM400 million from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Malaysia Berhad. The facility was granted on a clean basis.
The first drawdown of the Facility will be made within 3 months from the date of the Facility Agreement and is available for multiple drawdowns thereafter.
The agreement will require MBNS to fully repay on or before the expiry of 4 years from the date of the first drawdown with a 1-year option to extend. This is a principal amortisation Facility with the first instalment payable by MBNS 24 months from the first drawdown date.
Astro said the loan is to fund costs relating to the production, purchase, and licensing of content, programme, or channels; and its purchase of set-top boxes, including the settlement of vendor financing; operating expenditure and its capital expenditure, including asset acquisition for broadcast and transmission and acquisition of software and platforms; as well as to refinance the existing term loan facility of RM380 million from SMBC obtained on 9 August 2018.
The Board of Directors said after having considered all aspects of the Facility, is of the opinion that the Facility will facilitate Astro’s borrowings to be managed more efficiently due to its competitive pricing and tenure.
