REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY
AGREEMENT
This Agreement is effective as of
February 9, 2005 between:
France Télécom S.A., a
French société anonyme established and acting
according to the law of France with its seat at 6, place
d’Alleray 75505 Paris Cedex 15, registered in the Commercial
Register maintained by the Paris commercial Registry under no. B
380 129 866, hereinafter referred to as the “ Lender
”
and:
Equant N.V., a Dutch Naamloze
Vennootschap established and acting according to the law of the
Netherlands, with its seat at Heathrowstraat 10 1043, CH Amsterdam,
The Netherlands registered with the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce
number 33267383, hereinafter referred to as the “
Borrower ”
(together the “
Parties ”)
WHEREAS
The Borrower, a subsidiary of the
Lender, listed on the New-York and Paris Stock Exchanges, is acting
in the frame of the France Telecom Group Treasury practices and
needs a financing in cash for the 12 months period as from the
signing date hereof to cover its finding needs and potential cash
risks as presented to the Meeting of the Borrower’s Audit
Committee on January 21, 2005.
The Parties, in the course of
their business relationship, wish to conclude a Revolving Credit
Facility Agreement, upon and subject to the terms and conditions
hereof.
IT IS
AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
DEFINITIONS
In this Agreement, except to the
extent that the context requires otherwise:
“ Availability Period
for Drawdowns ” means the period beginning upon
fulfilment of the Conditions Precedents, and including, the
Drawdown Date and ending on June 30, 2008. This Availability
Period for Drawdowns could be subject to amendment between the
Parties.
“ Borrowed Moneys
Indebtedness ” means for the Borrower any indebtedness in
respect of: (i) moneys borrowed; (ii) any indebtedness
(actual or contingent) under any direct or indirect guarantee,
security or other commitment designed to ensure any creditor
against loss in respect of any Borrowed Moneys Indebtedness or
obligations of any third party; and (iii) any indebtedness
evidenced by bonds, notes, debentures or other similar instruments
or under any acceptance credit opened on behalf of the
Borrower.
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“ Business Day
” means a day (other than a Saturday or a Sunday) on which
banks and foreign exchange markets are open for general business in
Paris, Amsterdam, London and/or New York”
“ Conditions
Precedents ” means the conditions precedent to the
availability of the Facility as stated in
Article 2.
Credit Facility Commencement
Date ” means the
date on which this Revolving Credit Facility is signed.
“ Credit Facility
Maximum Amount ” means USD 250,000,000.00 (or its
equivalent in any other Currency), subject to partial cancellation
as stated in Article 1, or the amount outstanding at the time
Borrower terminates the Facility, if the Facility is terminated
before the Credit Facility Termination Date.
“ Credit Facility
Termination Date ” means June 30, 2008, or any
earlier date at the option of the Borrower subject to a two
(2) weeks prior written notice, and is the date on which the
Credit Facility must be reimbursed in full by the
Borrower.
“ Currency ”
means any currency included under Optional Currency
“ Dollar ” or
“ U.S.$ ” or “ USD ” means
the lawful currency for the time being of the United States of
America.
“ Drawdown ”
means an advance under the Facility made by the Lender to the
Borrower for an amount equivalent to the Drawdown Amount in any of
the Optional Currencies, as quoted on the Notice of Drawdown,
before the end of the Availability Period for Drawdowns.
“ Drawdown Amount
” means, for any Drawdown, the nominal amount in the Currency
made available to the Borrower upon its request by the Lender
according to the Notice of Drawdown, being precised that the
aggregate total Drawdown Amounts shall not exceed the Credit
Facility Maximum Amount.
“ Drawdown Date
” means, for any Drawdown, the day (value date) on which the
Lender makes the Drawdown Amount available to the Borrower, in
accordance with the Notice of Drawdown.
“ EURIBOR ”
means the rate per annum which appears on Telerate Page 248 (or any
replacement of that page) or at about 11.00 am for the offering of
deposits in Euros on two Business Days preceding any new Interest
Period for a period comparable to this Interest Period.
“ Euro ” or
“ €
” or “ EUR
” means the single currency of member states of the European
Union participating in Economic and Monetary Union as contemplated
by the Treaty of Rome of 25 th March, 1957 establishing the European Community,
as amended by the Maastricht Treaty on European Union (signed on
7 th
February, 1992), as amended from
time to time.
“ Event of Default
” has the meaning assigned to it in Article 11 of this
Agreement.
“ IBOR ” means
in relation to any Advance (other than an Advance in Euro) the
British Bankers Association Interest Settlement Rate for the
relevant currency and period, displayed on the appropriate page of
the Telerate screen as of 11 a.m. London time, on the first day of
that period if the currency is GBP or two (2) Business Days
(which for these purposes only shall mean a Business Day in London)
before the first day of that period for any other
currency.
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“ Interest Period
” means the period beginning on, and including, the Drawdown
Date and ending on (but excluding) the first Payment Date and each
successive period beginning on (and including) a Payment date and
ending on (but excluding) the succeeding Payment Date.
“ Material Adverse
Effect ” means a material adverse change in the business,
assets, financial condition of the Borrower or in a manner which
might threaten to enjoin or restrain its execution or performance
of this Agreement
“ Notice of Drawdown
” means, every written drawing request in substantially the
same form as provided in Schedule B), sent either by e-mail,
facsimile or courier, and received by the Lender at least four
(4) Business Days prior to the Drawdown Date, by any duly
authorised representative of the Borrower, referring to this
Agreement and its terms & conditions, i.e. at least the
Drawdown Amount requested (provided that the total aggregate
Drawdown Amounts shall not exceed the Credit Facility Maximum
Amount), the currency requested (i.e. the Currency) and the bank
accounts details (if different from the bank accounts details
quoted in Schedule A).
“ Optional Currency
” means:
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a)
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Euro (EUR)
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b)
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US
Dollars (USD)
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c)
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Japanese Yen (JPY)
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d)
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Sterling (GBP)
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e)
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Any
other currency (other than U.S. Dollars) which is freely
transferable or freely convertible into U.S. Dollars and dealt on
the London Interbank Market.
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“ Payment Date
” means, in respect of any Drawdown and Interest Period, the
30th of June and 31st of December of each year and means, in the
case of the first Payment Date, 30th of June 2005 and in the
case of the last Payment Date, the Credit Facility Termination
Date. If any Payment Date would fall on a day which is not a
Business Day, that date will be the first succeeding day that is a
Business Day unless that day falls in the next calendar month, in
which that date will be the first preceding day that is a Business
Day.
“ Rate per annum
” means 3 months IBOR (or EURIBOR in the case of
drawdowns in EUR) plus a 220 basis point per annum
margin.
“ Tax Treaty ”
means the “convention” (treaty) between France and
another state in order to avoid double taxation.
THE FACILITY
The Lender grants to the
Borrower, upon and subject to the terms hereof, a Facility (the
“ Facility ”) amounting to the Credit Facility
Maximum Amount, subject to Drawdowns, as specified in the above
Definitions, within the limits defined as the Credit Facility
Maximum Amount ; the difference between the Credit Facility Maximum
Amount and all the Drawdown Amounts being the “ Available
Amount ”.
Article 1 —
Facility amount
The Lender agrees to grant the
Borrower loans up to an aggregate amount of USD 250,000,000.00 (two
hundred and fifty millions dollars) or the equivalent amount in any
other Optional Currency.
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The Borrower may, by giving not
less than seven Business Days’ Prior notice to the Lender,
cancel the Credit Facility Maximum Amount in whole or in part, in a
minimum amount of USD10,000,000.00 and integral multiples thereof.
Any cancellation will be irrevocable and may not be
re-borrowed.
Article 2 — Purpose
and use of the Facility
The Borrower shall use the
Facility and any Drawdown Amounts for general corporate
purposes.
Every Drawdown during the
Availability Period for Drawdowns or any capitalisation of accrued
interest payable pursuant to Article 4 hereunder will be
subject to the following conditions (the “ Conditions
Precedent ”):
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The
Borrower is not defaulted in the due performance and observance of
any other material provision contained in this Agreement and the
Borrower has not failed to cure within any applicable grace
period;
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No
Event of Default is outstanding or might result from the making of
the Drawdown;
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The
aggregate Drawdown Amounts do not exceed the Credit Facility
Maximum Amount;
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The
Borrower has provided to the Lender in due time a Notice of
Drawdown.
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Article 3 —
Fees
The Borrower will pay the Lender
an up-front fee of 0.20% of the Credit Facility Maximum Amount,
payable within thirty (30) Business Days following the Credit
Facility Commencement Date.
In addition, the Borrower shall
pay the Lender a commitment fee of 0.75% per annum on the undrawn
and uncancelled amount of the Facility at each anniversary date
hereof during the period from the Credit Facility Commencement Date
up to and including the Credit Facility Termination
Date.
For the avoidance of doubt, any
such commitment fee payable shall, on its payment date, be
incorporated as a Drawdown into the Facility, the amount of which
will be increased accordingly, provided it shall not, at any time,
exceed the Credit Facility Maximum Amount.
Article 4 —
Interest
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(a)
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Each Drawdown shall bear interest
from the Drawdown Date to the date of its repayment or prepayment
in full in accordance with Articles 4 and 5.
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The
rate of interest applicable to each Interest Period of the Facility
shall be the Rate per annum.
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(b)
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All
interest payable under this Article shall accrue from day to day
and be computed on the basis of actual days elapsed during the
Interest Period and a year of 360 days (or in the case of a
Drawdown denominated in GBP, 365 days) (the “Accrued
Interest”). Accrued Interest in relation to each Interest
Period of the Facility shall be paid in arrears on the Payment Date
of each interest Period but it is agreed they will be deemed paid
by compensation, through incorporation as a Drawdown into the
Facility, the amount of which will be increased consequently, and
bear interest as provided in
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clause
(a) above provided that the amount of the Facility
outstanding shall not exceed the Credit Facility Maximum Amount.
All other terms and conditions, including the Termination Date, as
set forth in the present Agreement, shall apply to such Accrued
Interest.
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(c)
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Except as provided in (b) here
above, if the Borrower fails to pay any amount payable by it
hereunder when due, the Borrower shall forthwith pay interest
(“ Default Interest ”) on the overdue amount
from the due date up to the date of actual payment at a rate per
annum which is the aggregate of two per cent and the rate which
would have been applied if the unpaid amount were to constitute
part of the Facility hereunder for successive Interest Periods
until payment; the claim and the payment of Default Interests may
not be considered as a renunciation by the Lender to its right to
an early repayment nor to the granting of a grace
period.
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Default Interest owed by the
Borrower shall automatically accrue as of right and without need of
notification ( mise en demeure ) to the Borrower and will be
compounded annually in accordance with Article 1154 of the
French Civil Code (Code Civil).
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(d)
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In
order to comply with the law and notably with the provisions of
Articles L. 313-1 and L. 313-2 of the French Consumers Code (
Code de la consommation ) regarding the Effective Global
Rate of the Facility, the Parties to this Agreement expressly
acknowledge for information purposes only that there does not exist
any additional cost which could increase the Rate per annum
applicable to the Facility, and thus the Effective Global Rate due
on a nominal amount of USD 250,000,000 bearing interest at the Rate
per annum based on a year of 360 days would be 2.38 per cent.
Such rate cannot exceed the maximum legal rate of interest (
taux d’usure ) 2.39413 per cent defined at
Article L. 313-3 of the French Consumers Code ( Code de la
consommation ).
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Article 5 —
Payment
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(a)
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The
Lender shall make available to the Borrower the Credit Facility
Maximum Amount on the Credit Facility Commencement Date. The Lender
will make each Drawdown Amount available to the Borrower on the
Drawdown Date.
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(b)
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All
payments hereunder shall be made in the Currency by transfer, after
having received, as the case may be, the corresponding Notice of
Drawdown four (4) Business Days prior to the date of such
payments. Any payment shall be made, if to the Borrower, to the
Borrower’s a
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