Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ROC) today announced that it has completed
a major amendment to its senior secured credit facility, including
changing the definition of the leverage covenant.
The company said that the leverage covenant test will be modified from
the current ratio of net debt over adjusted EBITDA of 4.25 to a new
ratio of net senior secured debt over adjusted EBITDA of 4.40. The new
limit will decline to 4.00 at the end of 2010.
The amendment also extends the maturity of $1.22 billion of its
outstanding terms loans from 2012 until 2014. The company has agreed to
a modification of rates in-line with current market conditions for both
the extended and non-extended portion of the term loans.
Further details are available in the company’s 8-K to be filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Commenting on the changes, Seifi Ghasemi, chairman and chief executive
officer, said, “This amendment will strengthen our balance sheet and
extend the maturity of most of our senior secured debt. This will also
allow us to continue to pursue our stated long-term strategy for
Rockwood as we move forward.”
The information set forth in this press release contains certain
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning the business,
operations and financial condition of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. and its
subsidiaries and affiliates ("Rockwood"). Words such as "anticipates,"
"believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "predicts" and
variations of such words or expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Although Rockwood believes the expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable
assumptions, there can be no assurance that its expectations will be
realized. "Forward-looking statements" consist of all non-historical
information, including any statements referring to the prospects and
future performance of Rockwood. Actual results could differ materially
from those projected in Rockwood's forward-looking statements due to
numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, among
other things, the "Risk Factors" described in Rockwood's 2008 Form 10-K
on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rockwood does not
undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which any
such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events.
Rockwood Holdings, Inc. is a leading global specialty chemicals and
advanced materials company. Rockwood has a worldwide employee base of
approximately 10,000 people and annual net sales of approximately $3
billion. The company focuses on global niche segments of the specialty
chemicals, pigments and additives and advanced materials markets. For
more information on Rockwood, please visit www.rocksp.com.
For Rockwood Holdings, Inc.
Timothy McKenna, 609-734-6430
tmckenna@rocksp.com
