SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Allied Waste Industries, Inc. today announced that it has completed the refinancing of the term loan portions of its senior secured credit facility. The Company's $1.275 billion Term Loan and $495 million Institutional Letter of Credit Facilities, which funded April 12, 2006, were re-priced at LIBOR plus 175 basis points; a reduction of 25 basis points. Additionally, pricing will step down to LIBOR plus 150 basis points when the Company's leverage ratio is equal to or less than 4.25x.
"The interest rate reduction on over $1.7 billion of term loan facilities will generate annual interest savings of more than $4 million," said Pete Hathaway, Executive Vice President and CFO of Allied Waste. "We continue to opportunistically manage our capital structure and we appreciate the support we've received from the financial institutions."
Allied Waste Industries, Inc., a leading waste services company, provides collection, recycling and disposal services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the United States. As of December 31, 2005, the Company operated a network of 310 collection companies, 166 transfer stations, 169 active landfills and 57 recycling facilities in 37 states and Puerto Rico.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "outlook," "estimates," "prospects" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding annual interest savings.
These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially including, without limitation: (1) weakness in the U.S. economy may cause a decline in the demand for the Company's services (particularly in the commercial and industrial sectors), a decline in the price of commodities sold by us, increased competitive pressure on pricing and generally make it more difficult for us to predict economic trends; (2) we may be impeded in the successful integration of acquired businesses and our market development efforts, which may cause significant increases in our waste disposal expenses; (3) we may be unsuccessful in achieving greater aggregate revenues because our objectives for price increases, including fuel recovery fees, or revenue growth may not be attained; (4) a change in interest rates or a reduction in the Company's cash flow could impair our ability to service and reduce our debt obligations; (5) price increases may not be adequate to offset the impact of inflation on our costs (6) volatility in interest rates may, among other things, affect earnings due to our variable interest rate debt, possible mark to market changes on certain interest rate hedges; (7) we may not realize all of the expected benefits from our market rationalization plan; (8) severe weather conditions could impair our operating results; (9) the covenants in our credit facilities and indentures may limit our ability to operate our business; (10) we could be unable to obtain required permits; (11) we may be unable to raise additional capital to meet our operational needs; (12) our ability to service and refinance our debt and operate our business because of our significant leverage; (13) increases in final capping, closure, post-closure, remediation and regulatory compliance costs could result in an increase in our operating costs; (14) we may be unable to obtain financial assurances, including if our bonds are downgraded; (15) government regulations may increase the cost of doing business; (16) potential liabilities, including the outcome of litigation brought by government agencies, liabilities associated with our acquisitions and hazardous substance and environmental liabilities could increase costs; (17) potential increases in commodity, insurance, oil and fuel prices may make it more expensive to operate our business; (18) potential increases in our operating costs or disruption to our operations as a result of union initiated work stoppages; (19) risks associated with undisclosed liabilities of acquired businesses; (20) the effect that trends toward requiring recycling, waste reduction at the source and prohibiting the disposal of certain types of wastes could have on volumes of waste going to landfills and waste-to-energy facilities; (21) we may not be able to realize some or all anticipated net benefits associated with the best practice programs; (22) potential volatility resulting from impairment of the Company's goodwill; (23) potential issues arising from changes in accounting estimates and judgments; and (24) the outcome of legal or tax proceedings.
Other factors which could materially affect such forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including risk factors detailed in Management's Discussion and Analysis in Allied's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein are only made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
