Oct. 19, 2009 (PR Newswire) --
MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE: SRZ) today announced that it has entered into a 13(th) Amendment to its credit agreement with its bank group extending the maturity date of its credit facility to December 2, 2010.
"This full-year extension of our line is an important step forward in our restructuring," said Mark Ordan, Sunrise's chief executive officer. "All of our stakeholders benefit from this and we are pleased by the cooperation and support from Bank of America and our other line banks."
In connection with the amendment, the requisite lenders under the credit facility consented to the previously disclosed sale of 21 wholly owned assisted living communities to BLC Acquisitions, an affiliate of Brookdale Senior Living Inc. On the closing date of such sale, Sunrise has agreed to make a $28.7 million principal repayment to the lenders, which may include the return of approximately $3.7 million in letters of credit, and to deposit $20 million of the proceeds from the sale into a collateral account held by and pledged to the bank group, which may be used by Sunrise for the purpose of settling claims of other creditors. If the closing of the sale does not occur prior to June 30, 2010, Sunrise will either make a payment equal to the BLC closing payment to the lenders; or make a $5 million principal repayment to the lenders, pay a $1 million extension fee and provide the lenders with certain additional collateral as security for its obligations under the credit agreement.
The amendment, among other matters, modifies the minimum liquidity covenant to require that $10 million of unrestricted cash be on hand on the last day of each month (subject to a 15-day cure period), and revises a covenant to permit Sunrise to dispose of certain assets as long as 50 percent of the net sales proceeds are allocated to the lenders. In connection with the execution of the amendment, Sunrise made a $6 million principal repayment to the lenders and will pay the lenders an amendment fee of $500,000.
As of October 19, 2009, after the $6 million repayment, Sunrise had outstanding borrowings of approximately $62.9 million under the Credit Agreement and outstanding letters of credit of approximately $23.1 million. Principal payments on the bank credit facility previously due on October 31, 2009 and November 30, 2009 are no longer due. Consistent with prior amendments, no additional borrowings under the credit facility are permitted.
About Sunrise Senior Living
Sunrise Senior Living, a McLean, Va.-based company, employs approximately 40,000 people. As of June 30, 2009, Sunrise operated 415 communities in the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, with a combined unit capacity of approximately 42,750 units.
