The conglomerate Royal Group of Companies plans to issue corporate bonds for two of its information, communications and technology business portfolios Cellcard and EZECOM to borrow about $130 million from the public investors for the development of technical hard and soft infrastructure, according to a top official of the company
Hanna Mark, Group CFO of Royal Group, revealed the plans to Khmer Times on Friday last week on the sideline of CamTech Summit organised at the Royal Train Station in Phnom Penh after he attended among the panelists who discussed long-term financing in Cambodia’s sustainable development in the first session on “Financing Cambodia’s Future.” “We have started the process to issue the bonds next year … we will the fund raised from selling these bonds to buy more sites, towers, antennas, equipment and other things to expand our coverage around the country. We will raise more funds than the railway because telecommunication is so more expensive than railway, especially the communication equipment is very expensive,” said Hanna. Hanna went on to add that it would take about six months for Cellcard complete the procedure of bond issuance and thus the issuance is expected to happen in the first quarter of 2023. “We want to build so many sites. So, it would be a very big investment,” he said, adding that the plan to issue $60 million for EZECOM is to finance this subsidiary’s data centre.
“Bond issuance is a very good source of raising finance as the investors are not only in the country but also in the rest of the world who are interested in investing in Cambodia. The bond market for us offers more opportunities and tax incentives through the policies of the government which is a very big benefit of issuing bonds. The CSX last month announced the official listing of the $10 million bonds of Royal Railway Plc, a subsidiary of Royal Group. The bond listing ceremony, organised on a train, was attended by Hean Sahib, Secretary of State of MEF. Sahib, said The fund will be used to develop the railway infrastructure for providing transportation of goods in Cambodia.
Source: Khmer Times
