26th Jul 2007 07:01
X5 Retail Group N.V.26 July 2007 X5 RETAIL GROUP ANNOUNCES NEW PARTICIPANTS IN SYNDICATED LOAN Amsterdam, 25 July 2007 - X5 Retail Group N.V. (LSE ticker: "FIVE"), Russia'slargest retailer in terms of sales, today announces that the syndication of itslatest loan facility has been successfully closed with a further six financialinstitutions joining the transaction as Mandated Lead Arrangers. The facility,which was announced on June 27, is for $1 billion with a final maturity of oneyear. The initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners of the facility areGoldman Sachs International and Citigroup Global Markets Limited, eachparticipating in the facility post syndication. The facility was oversubscribed in senior syndication and the generalsyndication was cancelled. The loan will pay a margin of 0.75% over LIBOR,significantly lower than previous facilities. The new loan will be used entirelyto refinance existing debt. The new participants in the facility are: ABN Amro N.V.BNP ParibasCommerzbank AktiengesellschaftINGRaiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AGWestLB AG Vitaliy Podolskiy, X5 Retail Group CFO commented: "We are delighted that we haveattracted the support of another six major institutions for our loan facility.This participation reflects the strong relationships of X5 with theinternational financial community and sets a new benchmark for the Russianretailing sector" - End - Enquiries to:X5 Retail Group N.V.Gennady FrolovHead of Corporate CommunicationsOffice +7 495 950 5577 ext. 10130Mobile +7 495 998 3335Email [email protected] Note to Editors: X5 Retail Group N.V. is Russia's largest food retailer in terms of sales. As of30 June 2007, the Group had 539 company-managed "Pyaterochka" soft discountstores located in the Moscow (241), St. Petersburg (223) and other Russian areas(75), and 170 company managed "Perekrestok" supermarkets across Central Russiaand Ukraine, including 98 stores in Moscow. As of 30 June 2007, franchisees operated 591 Pyaterochka branded stores acrossRussia and Kazakhstan. Perekrestok had 10 stores operated by franchisees in theMoscow area. Pyaterochka and Perekrestok have merged their operations as of 18 May 2006 tocreate the clear leader in the Russian food retail market. The Group's audited pro-forma net sales for the FY 2006 were US $3,551 million,up +50% vs. 2005. Pyaterochka chain provided US $1,973 million of net sales, thePerekrestok chain contributed US $1,496 million of net sales, and Merkado chaincontributed US $ 82 million. Forward looking statements: This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identifiedby the fact that they do not only relate to historical or current events.Forward-looking statements often use words such as" anticipate", "target", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "expected", "plan", "goal" believe", or otherwords of similar meaning. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty becausethey relate to future events and circumstances, a number of which are beyond X5Retail Group N.V.'s control. As a result, actual future results may differmaterially from the plans, goals and expectations set out in theseforward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of X5 Retail Group N.V.speak only as at the date of this announcement. Save as required by anyapplicable laws or regulations, X5 Retail Group N.V. undertakes no obligationpublicly to release the results of any revisions to any forward-lookingstatements in this document that may occur due to any change in its expectationsor to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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