Telefonica bags USD1bn credit facility for Ericsson equipment

Spanish telecom giant Telefonica has secured a USD1 billion export credit facility to acquire infrastructure from Swedish hardware vendor Ericsson, Reuters reports. The deal is understood to be backed by two Swedish export authorities, the Swedish National Export Guarantee Board (EKN) and the Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK). Telefonica is expected to acquire network equipment and commissioning services for a number of its subsidiaries across the globe as part of the deal. ‘Telefonica continues to drive the use of diverse financing instruments, apart from bonds and loans, and to increase its financing deals with export credit agencies for financing equipment’, the company said of the development.