NII Holdings Announces Completion Of Loan Amendments And Release Of Performance Bonds

January 08, 2018 06:00

RESTON, Va., Jan. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: NIHD) today announced that it obtained final approval from China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) for the amended credit facilities that Nextel Brazil executed with China Development Bank (CDB) in October 2017 and that the amended CDB credit facilities and amended credit facilities with Banco do Brasil S.A. (BdB) and Caixa Econômica Federal (together, the Amendments) are effective.

The Amendments provide significantly better financing terms to Nextel Brazil, including the following:

  • the deferral of $386 million of principal payments for the first 48 months from the date of effectiveness, freeing up cash that can be used to fund Nextel Brazil's operations;
  • an extension of the loan maturity dates to 98 months from the date of effectiveness; and
  • a holiday for certain financial covenant compliance, including the net debt financial covenant, until June 30, 2020.

In connection with the Amendments, Nextel Brazil granted additional security interests to each of CDB, BdB and Caixa in the form of preferential rights to amounts held in certain of its bank accounts and has pledged certain of its equipment and property to these lenders. In addition, Nextel Brazil will be subject to monthly minimum cash and monthly minimum receivable requirements. As a condition to the Amendments, certain of NII's subsidiaries have agreed to make equity contributions of existing cash on hand to Nextel Brazil over the next 48 months.

"The amendments to our three loans with CDB, BdB and Caixa provide us with a viable long-term capital structure, while reducing the pressure on our liquidity," said Dan Freiman, NII's Chief Financial Officer. "With about $420 million of liquidity as of September 30, 2017, we are in a much better position to invest in growing our 3G/4G business in Brazil while continuing our efforts to reduce costs and improve operating metrics. Our 3G/4G churn in the fourth quarter dropped to 3.47%, giving us good momentum as we start off 2018."

Additionally, on December 28, 2017, Nextel Brazil was informed by the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency, or ANATEL, that it released certain performance bonds securing Nextel Brazil's geographic network coverage obligations. As a result, Nextel Brazil will recover 156 million Brazilian reais, or approximately $47 million based on current foreign currency exchange rates, of cash collateral securing these performance bonds.

About NII Holdings, Inc.

NII Holdings, Inc., a publicly held company based in Reston, Virginia, is a provider of differentiated mobile communication services for businesses and high value consumers in Brazil. NII Holdings, operating under the Nextel brand, offers fully integrated wireless communication tools with digital cellular voice services, data services and wireless Internet access. Visit the Company's website at www.nii.com.

Nextel, the Nextel logo and Nextel Direct Connect are trademarks and/or service marks of Nextel Communications, Inc.

Visit NII Holdings' news room for news and to access our markets' news centers: nii.com/newsroom.

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SOURCE NII Holdings, Inc.

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