BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Capital, Ltd. announced today that the company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, has renewed its secured credit facility, administered by Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC. In connection with the renewal, the size of the facility was amended to $500 million. The lenders in American Capital's secured credit facility are Variable Funding Capital Company LLC, Wachovia Bank, National Association, CHARTA, LLC, Citibank, N.A., Three Pillars Funding LLC and SunTrust Bank. The facility is secured by certain debt investments made by American Capital and is currently priced at LIBOR plus 250 basis points, an increase over the previous cost of LIBOR plus 112.5 basis points. In addition the unused facility fee increased from 12.5 basis points to 50 basis points.
At June 30, 2008, American Capital had $186 million outstanding under the facility. Today, there are no advances outstanding under the facility. Prior to the renewal, the total facility commitment was $1.3 billion.
"As we discussed during our shareholder call for the second quarter of 2008, we intended to reduce the size of this facility because we are operating in a steady state and recycling our capital," said Tom McHale, Senior Vice President, Finance. "As a result, borrowings under this facility have not been significant. By decreasing the facility size, we were able to reduce the amount of upfront commitment fees and unused facility fees that we would have incurred."
ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL
American Capital, with $20 billion in capital resources under management(1), is the only private equity fund and the largest alternative asset management company in the S&P 500. American Capital, both directly and through its global asset management business, originates, underwrites and manages investments in private equity, leveraged finance, real estate and structured products. American Capital and its affiliates invest from $5 million to $800 million per company in North America and "5 million to "500 million per company in Europe. American Capital was founded in 1986 and currently has 12 offices in the U.S. and Europe.
As of July 31, 2008, American Capital shareholders have enjoyed a total return of 266% since the Company's IPO -- an annualized return of 13%, assuming reinvestment of dividends. American Capital has paid a total of $2.5 billion in dividends and paid or declared $29.25 dividends per share since going public in August 1997 at $15 per share.
Companies interested in learning more about American Capital's flexible financing should contact Mark Opel, Senior Vice President, Business Development, at (800) 248-9340, or visit http://www.americancapital.com/ or http://www.europeancapital.com/.
Performance data quoted above represents past performance of American Capital. Past performance does not guarantee future results and the investment return and principal value of an investment in American Capital will likely fluctuate. Consequently, an investor's shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Additionally, American Capital's current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted above.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The statements regarding expected results of American Capital are subject to various factors and uncertainties, including the uncertainties associated with the timing of transaction closings, changes in interest rates, availability of transactions, changes in regional, national or international economic conditions, or changes in the conditions of the industries in which American Capital has made investments.
(1) Capital resources under management is internally and externally managed assets and available capital resources as of June 30, 2008.
