MANAMA, 9 January 2005 — Investcorp, the global investment group, announced the signing of a new $474 million five-year financing facility.
The facility, a fully funded five-year bullet maturity, was primarily self-arranged by Investcorp and is the firm’s largest ever balance sheet financing.
The facility was launched at $200 million, but strong interest from new and existing lenders raised commitments of more than two times the initial target.
“Strong contributions from new lenders and an excellent overall response to the facility allowed us to more than double the figure which was initially targeted,” said Investcorp’s president and chief executive officer, Nemir Kirdar.
“Investcorp continues to diversify its funding sources and strengthen its balance sheet, and this facility, funded by leading global financial institutions, is our largest fully-funded facility so far.”
“Together, these recent financings add significant liquidity and flexibility to our business model and underscore the strength of our balance sheet and depth of our financial relationships.”
A total of 34 banks participated in the financing, with strong support from existing relationship banks supplemented by the addition of seven first-time lenders to Investcorp.
Participation was diversified from a regional and geographic perspective, with 72 percent of the financing raised from UK and European lenders, 17 percent from Middle East/North Africa (MENA) lenders, and 11 percent from Asian lenders.
A portion of the proceeds from the new facility has been used to early refinance existing debt that was maturing in mid-2005.
The balance will be utilized for general corporate purposes and to further augment Investcorp’s significantly large pool of available liquidity, now representing over 50 percent of the asset base.
Investcorp continues to manage its total level of outstanding debt at conservative levels, with a modest leverage target of two to three times.
