Plaza Regulatory News (PLAZ)

5 Jul 2007 13:12

Plaza Centers N.V.05 July 2007 5 July, 2007 PLAZA CENTERS N.V. ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF A PRIVATE ISSUANCE OF DEBENTURES IN ISRAEL Plaza Centers N.V. ("Plaza" or the "Company"), a leading emerging marketsproperty developer, today announces that it has agreed with Israeliinstitutional investors to issue an aggregate principal amount of approximatelyNew Israeli Shekels ("NIS") 305 million (approximately €53.3 million) Par Valueof series one of unsecured non-convertible debentures to institutional investorsin Israel. The debentures are rated by Maalot - The Israel Securities RatingCompany Ltd., an affiliate of Standard & Poor's - at a local rating of A+/Positive. The debentures are payable in eight equal annual installments, on December 31 ofeach of the years 2010 to 2017, inclusive. The debentures bear an annualinterest rate of 4.5%, payable in semi-annual installments on December 31 andJuly 1 of each of the years 2007 to 2017 (the first installment to be effectedon December 31, 2007 and the last installment to be effected on December 31,2017). Both the principal and interest of the debentures are linked to changesin the Israeli Consumer Price Index. As described more fully below, the interestrate on the Debentures will be increased so long as the debentures are notregistered for trade on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (the "TASE"). As the Company's functional currency is the Euro, the Company will hedge thefuture expected payments in NIS (principal and interest) to correlate with theEuro. The debentures also provide that the debentures will be prepaid by the Company,inter alia, at the option of the trustee or the holders of the debentures if theCompany delays the publication of its financial reports for more than 60 daysfrom the dates provided by applicable law or if the debentures cease to be ratedfor a period of more than 60 days. The debentures will be listed for trade on the Institutional Retzef System,which is a trading system for institutional investors in Israel. The Company mayalso, in its sole discretion, register the debentures for trade on the TASE. Solong as the Debentures are not registered for trade on the TASE, the Company hasundertaken (i) to pay an additional interest at an annual rate of 0.5% (namely5%) until a prospectus is published for the registration of the debentures fortrade on the TASE; (ii) to pay an additional interest rate at an annual rate of0.25% in the event the rating of the debentures decreases to (BBB+) rating on alocal scale by Maalot - The Israel Securities rating Company Ltd. or anequivalent rating by another Rating Company and (iii) to prepay the debenturesat the option of the trustee or the holders of the debentures if made a specialresolution on their general meeting upon the occurrence of each of the followingevents: (A) Should the rating of the debentures in Israel decrease below theBBB+ investment level rating of Maalot - The Israel Securities Rating Co. Ltd.or other equivalent rating by another rating company; (B) if the Company isrequired to prepay another series of debentures issued by the Company; or (C) ifthe holdings of Elbit Medical Imaging Ltd., the indirect parent of the Company,fall below 25% of the Company's issued and outstanding share capital. Suchundertakings would be terminated upon the registration for trade of thedebentures on the TASE. Commenting on the approval, Ran Shtarkman, President and CEO, Plaza Centers N.V. said: "As we indicated to shareholders in our announcement on 30 May, our A+/Positiverating from Maalot has enabled us to issue corporate bonds in the IsraeliInstitutional Market to finance our growth. Maalot's rating is based on issuanceof up to US$400 million, and following the registration of our debentures on theTASE we can issue additional debentures at these favorable interest rates. Thiswill provide us with significant financial flexibility and firepower both todrive our ongoing development programme and to further diversify and enrich theCompany's portfolio through the development of high quality shopping andentertainment centers and other mixed used projects both in the Central andEastern European region and India." For further details please contact: Plaza Mordechay Zisser, Chairman +972 3 6086000 Ran Shtarkman, President and CEO +36 1 462 7221 Roy Linden, CFO +36 1 462 7105 Financial Dynamics Stephanie Highett/ Dido Laurimore +44 20 7831 3113 Notes to Editors • Plaza Centers N.V. (www.plazacenters.com) is a leading emerging markets developer of shopping and entertainment centres, focusing on constructing new centres and, where there is significant redevelopment potential, redeveloping existing centres, in both capital cities and important regional centres. The Company is an indirect subsidiary of Elbit Medical Imaging Ltd. ("EMIL"), an Israeli public company whose shares are traded on both the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Israel and the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States. • Plaza Centers is a member of the Europe Israel Group of companies which is controlled by its founder, Mr Mordechay Zisser. It has been active in real estate development in emerging markets for over 10 years This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange