Tobu Railway Co., the owner of Tokyo Skytree, cut the cost of refinancing to less than a third of what it paid five years ago on expectations that admission tickets and souvenir sales at the world's tallest tower will boost profit.
The company borrowed ¥20 billion in a syndicated loan comprised of five- and seven-year tranches and led by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd., according to Tsutomu Yamamoto, a manager in the Tokyo-based railway's finance and accounting department.
Tobu paid 17.5 basis points more than the six-month Tokyo interbank offered rate on a five-year loan in 2007, Yamamoto said, declining to elaborate on the current loan's pricing except that it's about 66 percent less.