Milan-based Wind has chosen three banks to lead its 5.5 billion credit facility, and those lenders are interviewing other firms for the remaining spots on the syndicate. A banker familiar with the deal said the Italian operator--the closest competitor to incumbent Telecom Italia--selected J.P. Morgan, Citibank and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to lead arrange the deal. The trio is looking to add to the list of banks participating in the syndicate. ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas and Intesa Bci are at present in the syndicate. A spokeswoman at Wind declined to comment on the deal, which is composed of two tranches--a 4.4 billion term loan and a 1.1 billion revolver.
The banker said the facility will fund Wind's business plan for nine and a half years, which is the maturity of the structure. The facility will go toward future investment, such as the completion of a fiber optic network, content development and buying third-generation licenses. Wind recently merged with Infostrada.