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Dubai’s du repays $817 mln syndicated loan | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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DUBAI, (Reuters) – Dubai’s du has fully repaid a 3 billion dirhams ($816.8 million) syndicated loan facility, the telecoms carrier said in a statement on Sunday.

Du, which ended rival Etisalat’s domestic monopoly in 2007, used a “combination of existing financing facilities and cash” to repay the syndicate of 16 banks, it said in a bourse statement. The three-year facility was set up in 2008 and matured on June 30.

On June 7, du said it had closed a $220 million three-year refinancing facility and this would in part be used to pay off the maturing facility.

At March-end, du had 4.6 million mobile subscribers, it said, while the UAE total was 11.07 million, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) website, giving du a 42 percent market share.

Mobile penetration in the UAE was 197 percent as of the end of March, the TRA website says.

Du shares rose 1 percent on the Dubai stock exchange.