European Capital Increases Capital Resources to Euro 2.8 Billion; Obtains Euro 270 Million Unsecured Credit Facility
St. Peter Port, Guernsey (ots/PRNewswire)
European Capital Limited (LSE: ECAS) ("European Capital")
announced today that European Capital S.A. SICAR, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of European Capital, has obtained a three year unsecured
subordinated revolving credit facility with an aggregate commitment
of US$400 million (euro 270 million) from European Capital's
affiliate American Capital Strategies, Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS). American
Capital is the lender under the facility. The addition of the US$400
million (euro 270 million) unsecured credit facility increases
European Capital's capital resources to euro 2.8 billion.European Capital has the following committed debt facilities:
EUROPEAN CAPITAL COMMITTED DEBT FACILITIES
Total Commitment
Multicurrency Secured RLOC euro 900,000,000
Secured Term Notes euro 267,000,000
Multicurrency Unsecured RLOC euro 150,000,000
Unsecured RLOC US$400,000,000
Unsecured Private Placements
March 2007 US$37,500,000
January 2007 US$37,500,000
December 2006 euro 52,000,000
TOTAL COMMITTED DEBT FACILITIES(i) euro 1,691,000,000
(i) US Dollar facilities converted to Euros at 31 January 2008 exchange
rate.The average interest spread of the committed debt facilities, when they are fully utilized, will be 2.2% over the relative index.
"American Capital is pleased to continue to invest in European Capital," said John Erickson, Chief Financial Officer American Capital and Director, European Capital Financial Services (Guernsey) Limited. "We know the quality of European Capital's assets and the outstanding opportunities they have to invest this additional capital at potentially very attractive returns. Access to capital is a tremendous advantage for a financial institution in this environment. With the additional resources of the AAA rated securitization that European Capital announced yesterday and the unsecured credit facility that American Capital is providing, European Capital is well positioned to take advantage of opportunities created by the credit crunch."
"The unsecured credit facility provides us with cost effective capital that many financial institutions cannot access in today's market environment," said Juan Carlos Morales, Director of Finance, European Capital Financial Services Limited. "The unsecured facility and the AAA term securitization provide the capital we need to fund our 2008 business plan. That is a great position to be in today when many financial institutions are lacking capital."
European Capital has invested approximately euro 2.9 billion in 79 companies since its formation in August of 2005 and approximately euro 1.6 billion in 49 companies in 2007. For more information about European Capital's portfolio, go to http://www.ECAS.com/our_portfolio/portfolio.html.
ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL
European Capital is a publicly traded investment company for
pan-European equity, mezzanine and senior debt investments with
capital resources of approximately euro 2.8 billion (US$4.1 billion).
It is managed by European Capital Financial Services (Guernsey)
Limited ("ECFSG" or "the Investment Manager"), a wholly-owned
affiliate of American Capital Strategies, Ltd ("American Capital").European Capital invests in and sponsors management and employee buyouts, invests in private equity buyouts and provides capital directly to private and public companies headquartered predominantly in Europe. European Capital generally invests between euro 5 million and euro 500 million per transaction in equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt to fund growth, acquisitions and recapitalisations.
The investment objective of European Capital is to provide investors with dividend income and the potential for share value appreciation by investing in debt and equity investments in private and public companies headquartered primarily in Europe. European Capital seeks to achieve this through pursuing the following types of investments:
European Capital One Stop Buyouts(TM)
Through our One Stop Buyouts(TM), European Capital provides equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt as the lead investor in the buyout of private and public companies.
Mezzanine Direct with Sponsors
European Capital provides debt and equity financing for buyouts sponsored by private equity firms where European Capital is either the sole or lead mezzanine debt investor.
Syndicated Mezzanine and Senior Debt
European Capital provides mezzanine and senior financing for buyouts sponsored by private equity firms where European Capital is neither the sole nor lead mezzanine or senior debt investor.
Direct Investments
European Capital provides debt and equity financing directly to private and public companies, which is used for growth, acquisitions or recapitalisations, and investing in structured finance vehicles.
Companies interested in learning more about European Capital's flexible financing should contact Simon Henderson or Nathalie Faure Beaulieu at +44-(0)20-7539-7000 in London, Jean Eichenlaub at +33-(0)1-40-68-06-66 in Paris, Robert von Finckenstein at +49-(0)-69-71-71-297-0 in Frankfurt, or Luis Felipe Castellanos at +34-91-423-27-60 in Madrid, or visit the website at http://www.EuropeanCapital.com.
ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL
American Capital Strategies, Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS), with US$19 billion in capital resources under management, is an affiliate of European Capital and a member of the S&P 500. It is the largest U.S. publicly traded private equity firm and one of the largest publicly traded alternative asset managers. American Capital, both directly and through its global asset management business, is an investor in management and employee buyouts, private equity buyouts, and early stage and mature private and public companies. American Capital provides senior debt, mezzanine debt and equity to fund growth, acquisitions, recapitalisations and securitisations. American Capital and its affiliates invest from US$5 million to US$800 million per company in North America and euro 5 million to euro 500 million per company in Europe.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The statements regarding expected results of European Capital and/or American Capital are subject to various factors and uncertainties, including the uncertainties associated with the timing of transaction closings, changes in interest rates, availability of transactions, changes in regional, national or international economic conditions, or changes in the conditions of the industries in which European Capital and/or American Capital has made investments.
Web site: http://www.europeancapital.com http://www.americancapital.com
Contact:
Tom McHale, Director, +1-301-951-6122, or Juan Carlos Morales Cortes,
Finance Director, +44(0)207-539-7000, both of European Capital
Financial Services; or John Hooker, Vice President, Debt Capital
Markets, or Justin Cressall, Vice President, Equity Capital Markets,
both of American Capital, +1-301-951-6122