RCS&RDS borrows 368m dollars

RCS&RDS, the telecom operator controlled by Oradea businessman Zoltan Teszari, managed to obtain two loans worth a cumulated 368 million dollars (206 million dollars and 125 million euros respectively) from a group of banks, to refinance part of its debts and to have money for investments.

RCS, the most aggressive player on the telecom market, with over 700 million dollars in annual turnover, was in great need of taking out these loans in order to go ahead. A group of banks including ING, UniCredit, Raiffeisen, RBS, BRD-SocGen and Fortis contributed to RCS's syndicated loans.

The company, which now has around nine million customers who pay for cable and satellite TV, Internet, fixed and mobile telephony, is heavily indebted and in constant need of bank funding. Teszari first started in the business world with an ice cream stand over 15 years ago and went on to control a telecom group with operations in Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Italy, Spain, worth over one billion dollars.

For years and years RCS has constantly bought its rivals - from neighbourhood networks to cable companies that operated in big cities, and is currently about to conclude its biggest transaction, the acquisition of its main rival UPC. In order to do that, the company needs more than 300 million dollars, a loan that is being discussed with the bankers. If he manages to buy UPC, Teszari will create a "monster" on the telecom market, with over 10 million subscriptions that will bring it nearly one billion dollars in revenues per year.