The leader of the group is the powerful Swiss bank Credit Suisse, financial market sources say. The talks have been going on for several months now and a deal should be struck in the next two weeks if the parties reach an agreement. The interest rate discussed is somewhere between 4% and 5% per annum for euros.
The banks that might lend the money along Credit Suisse, which is putting about EUR100 million on the table, include Erste, Raiffeisen and CEC Bank.
RCS&RDS officials had not commented on the information by the time the story was ready for posting.
RCS&RDS is a cable TV, Internet, landline and cellular telephony provider. Its annual revenue amounts to over EUR400 million in Romania alone. The group also has operations in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia, Italy and Spain. There is no data available about the size of RCS&RDS’ total business. The only information that can be found dates back to 2009, when the total revenue stood at over $710 million (EUR507 million), while earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) reached $274 million.
RCS&RDS, the most feared company on the telecom market, has developed by applying an aggressive expansion and pricing policy and by acquiring smaller cable operators. It took out loans as it grew so that its current debts currently amount to EUR600 or EUR700 million. ING was the initial lender but as loans grew higher, other banks joined in the play.
RCS&RDS discussed the possibility of acquiring its main rival on the cable TV market, UPC at the beginning of the year. Talks were halted during the summer, but sources say they have been resumed recently. No one knows whether they will be successful or not.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)