1 Jul 2014 07:00
To: RNS
Date: 1 July 2014
From: F&C Private Equity Trust plc
New Loan Facility
The Board had previously announced that, in advance of the redemption of the Company's Zero Dividend Preference Shares ('ZDPs') on 15 December 2014, it was considering a range of options for funding their redemption and had concluded that the most cost effective and flexible means of redeeming the ZDPs and putting in place medium term borrowings was through increasing the size of the Company's current loan facility and extending it over a longer period.
The Board is now pleased to announce that, on 30 June 2014, the Company entered into a new five year unsecured committed facility agreement of approximately £70 million with The Royal Bank of Scotland plc ('RBS'). This comprises a €30 million term loan which will be available from 30 September 2014, and a £45 million multi-currency revolving credit facility which is available with immediate effect. The interest rate payable on the new loan arrangements will be significantly lower than the original GRY on the maturing ZDPs, and the margin payable is less than the margin on the previous RBS £50 million facility which was due to mature in February 2016 and which has been cancelled. The new facility contains similar covenants to the Company's previous facility.
The Board is pleased to have secured a facility which will fund the redemption of the ZDPs and believes that the new facility will allow the Company to maintain a moderately but flexibly geared structure with the ability to draw its borrowings in multiple currencies and to maintain a fully invested portfolio.
For more information, please contact:
Hamish Mair (Investment Manager) | 0131 718 1184 hamish.mair@fandc.com
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Gordon Hay Smith (Company Secretary) | 0131 718 1018 gordon.haysmith@fandc.com
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