UAE telecoms operator du has signed a $207 million export credit facility with KfW IPEX-Bank, part of the German KfW Bankengruppe, to fund the expansion and upgrade of its network.

The financing deal was arranged by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), the company said in a statement on the bourse website.   

The agreement is largely backed by Euler Hermes, an export credit agency based in Germany, and will enable du to pay for NSN solutions and services to expand and upgrade its 2G and 3G network in the United Arab Emirates.

The telecoms firm, partly owned by the ruler of Dubai's investment company Dubai Holding and Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadala Development Co, more than doubled its second-quarter net profit on the back of growth in both mobile and fixed-line subscribers.

In April, NSN also enabled 200 million euros of vendor financing to du through Nordea Bank. Du competes with market leader Etisalat and has been focusing on expanding and upgrading its infrastructure. By end of the second quarter du had approximately 3.92 million mobile customers. - Reuters