17th Jul 2007 07:01
Lancashire Holdings Limited17 July 2007 17 July 2007 LANCASHIRE ANNOUNCES US$200 MILLION CREDIT FACILITY Lancashire Holdings Limited today announced that it and its wholly ownedsubsidiary Lancashire Insurance Company Limited have entered into a $200 millionsecured five year letter of credit facility (the "Facility"). The Facility will be used to support obligations of Lancashire Insurance CompanyLimited under reinsurance contracts. The Facility also has a $75 millionsub-limit for revolving loans, which can be used for working capital and othercorporate purposes. The Facility replaces the existing $350 million three yearletter of credit facility. Neil McConachie, Chief Financial Officer, commented: "With favourable conditionsin the credit markets, we considered this an opportune time to refinance theFacility at very attractive terms and at a size which is appropriate for theexpected letter of credit needs of our predominantly direct portfolio over themedium term. We are very pleased to have a group of leading financialinstitutions continuing to show their strong support for the Lancashire group.This facility maintains the long-term financial flexibility and strength we havecommitted to our clients." The Facility was arranged by Banc of America Securities LLC and HSBC Securities(USA) Inc. as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Book Managers. Bank of America,N.A. is Administrative Agent, Fronting Bank and L/C Administrator. HSBC BankUSA, National Association is the Syndication Agent. ING Bank N.V., LondonBranch, The Bank of New York, Lloyds TSB, Barclays Bank PLC and JPMorgan ChaseBank, N.A. are also lenders under the Facility. Neil McConachie added "We believe our business plan, as a diversified directspecialty insurance writer, lends itself to strong performance through hard andsoft cycles. We underwrite a diverse worldwide portfolio of short-tail propertyrisks. Programs are mostly written on a direct basis, and the majority of the2007 book is not expected to be significantly exposed to natural catastrophes.We believe this strategy will generate above average returns for shareholdersover time." For further information, please contact: Lancashire HoldingsNeil McConachie +1 441 278 8950Greg Lunn +1 441 278 8953 Financial DynamicsRobert Bailhache +44 20 7269 7200Nick Henderson +44 20 7269 7114 www.lancashiregroup.com About Lancashire Lancashire, through its UK and Bermuda-based insurance subsidiaries, is a globalprovider of specialty insurance products. Its insurance subsidiaries carry theLancashire group rating of A minus (Excellent) from A.M. Best with a stableoutlook. Lancashire has capital in excess of US$1 billion and its common sharestrade on AIM under the ticker symbol LRE. Lancashire is headquartered atMintflower Place, 8 Par-La-Ville Road, Hamilton HM 08, Bermuda. The mailingaddress is Lancashire Holdings Limited, P.O. Box HM 2358, Hamilton HM HX,Bermuda. For more information on Lancashire, visit the Company's website atwww.lancashiregroup.com. NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS CERTAIN STATEMENTS MADE IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT THAT ARE NOT BASED ON CURRENT ORHISTORICAL FACTS ARE FORWARD-LOOKING IN NATURE INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION,STATEMENTS CONTAINING WORDS 'BELIEVES', 'ANTICIPATES', 'PLANS', 'PROJECTS', 'INTENDS', 'EXPECTS', 'ESTIMATES', 'PREDICTS', 'MAY','WILL', 'SEEKS', 'SHOULD'OR, IN EACH CASE, THEIR NEGATIVE OR COMPARABLE TERMINOLOGY. ALL STATEMENTSOTHER THAN STATEMENTS OF HISTORICAL FACTS INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE REGARDING THE GROUP'S FINANCIAL POSITION, RESULTS OF OPERATIONS, LIQUIDITY,PROSPECTS, GROWTH, BUSINESS STRATEGY, PLANS AND OBJECTIVES OF MANAGEMENT FORFUTURE OPERATIONS (INCLUDING DEVELOPMENT PLANS AND OBJECTIVES RELATING TO THEGROUP'S INSURANCE BUSINESS) ARE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS INVOLVE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN RISKS, UNCERTAINTIES AND OTHERIMPORTANT FACTORS THAT COULD CAUSE THE ACTUAL RESULTS, PERFORMANCE ORACHIEVEMENTS OF THE GROUP TO BE MATERIALLY DIFFERENT FROM FUTURE RESULTS,PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED BY SUCH FORWARD-LOOKINGSTATEMENTS. THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS SPEAK ONLY AS AT THE DATE OF THISANNOUNCEMENT OR OTHER INFORMATION CONCERNED. LANCASHIRE HOLDINGS LIMITEDEXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY OBLIGATION OR UNDERTAKING (SAVE AS REQUIRED TO COMPLYWITH ANY LEGAL OR REGULATORY OBLIGATIONS (INCLUDING THE AIM RULES)) TODISSEMINATE ANY UPDATES OR REVISIONS TO ANY FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSCONTAINED HEREIN TO REFLECT ANY CHANGES IN THE GROUP'S EXPECTATIONS WITH REGARD THERETO OR ANY CHANGE IN EVENTS, CONDITIONS OR CIRCUMSTANCES ON WHICH ANY SUCHSTATEMENT IS BASED. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange ENRelated Shares:
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