Escher Group Holdings Regulatory News (ESCH)

 5 January 2012

Escher Group Holdings plc ("Escher")

Escher agrees US$9.7 million term loan and revolving US$1.8million facility

Escher, a world-leading provider of outsourced, point-of-sale software to the postal industry, is pleased to announce that it has today put in place a US$9.7 million term loan facility and a revolving 12-month facility for US$1.8 million.

The term loan, which will mature in July 2015, has a margin over US$ LIBOR of 325 basis points; the 12-month revolver has a margin over US$ LIBOR of 300 basis points. The facilities have been put in place with Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking.

The new facilities will enable Escher to refinance its existing US$8.4 million term loan, which has been repaid in full and cancelled. Escher has also today repaid all of its remaining US$3.4 million debt to Bacchantes Limited.

Commenting on this refinancing, Liam Church, Escher's CEO said:

"This funding by Bank of Ireland demonstrates confidence in the Escher business model and we welcome this support and the opportunity to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with Bank of Ireland in the coming years. These arrangements will significantly reduce Escher's cost of funding and improve the maturity profile of its debt and assist the growth of the business." 

For further information please contact:

Escher www.eschergroupholdings.com +353 (0) 1 479 0555

Liam Church, Chief Executive Officer

Fionnuala Higgins, EVP Sales & Marketing

Trevor McIntyre, Finance Director

Panmure Gordon +44 (0) 20 7459 3600

Andrew Godber / Callum Stewart, Corporate Finance

Hannah Woodley, Corporate Broking

Powerscourt +44 (0)20 7250 1446

Paul Durman / Nick Dibden / Victoria Ward

About Escher

Escher is a world leading provider of outsourced, point of sale software to the postal industry. Escher's core software, Riposte, provides a solution for postal authorities who are seeking to counteract a decrease in traditional mail revenue by expanding revenue opportunities through new services, thereby reducing cost and increasing efficiency.

Postal authorities' software requirements have become more complex, leading to a growing trend towards outsourcing. Riposte is already in use in 30 countries and territories worldwide. It is licensed for over 150,000 workstations.

The Group is targeting continued growth through incremental sales to existing customers, new sales within the postal industry, penetration of new vertical markets and through the launch of its revolutionary new product, RiposteTrEx.