Everything Everywhere To Refinance

UK mobile operator Everything Everywhere is reportedly planning to pay back £875m of loans to its parent companies.

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom each own half of Everything Everywhere, which was formed in May 2010. The networks were merged to become the UK’s largest mobile network by subscribers and operates under its T-Mobile and Orange brands.

Freedom

The company has approached seven banks to provide the financing in what could be one of the largest new borrowing facilities in the UK this year, according to reports in the Financial Times. The banks will also help the operator generate £800m in the bond market for future investment.

This has led to rumours about a potential exit by the two parent companies through either an initial public offering of shares or sale.

“Everything Everywhere is considering external financing options, including a mix of bank financing and, at a later stage, bond financing,” a company spokesman told Reuters, “This is part of normal business and financial management undertaken by any company. Discussions with potential lenders are progressing according to plan and further information will be shared in due course.”

Everything Everywhere was formed in July 2010 following the merger of UK networks T-Mobile and Orange. The merger was first announced in November 2009 before gaining the approval from the European commission in February 2010.

This gave Everything Everywhere a 37 percent market share and a customer base of 30 million people, over half the UK population.

Both the Orange and T-Mobile brands have remained autonomous, but as part of the EU approval, the company agreed to sell part of its combined 1800 MHz spectrum. The money raised from this sale will be used to improve Everything Everywhere’s UK network rather than be distributed to shareholders.