18th Jun 2007 07:17
X5 Retail Group N.V.18 June 2007 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN X5 RETAIL GROUP N.V. ANNOUNCES ABOUT 9 BILLION ROUBLE BONDS ISSUE AND RESTRUCTURING OF CORPORATE BORROWING Amsterdam, 18 June 2007 - X5 Retail Group N.V. (LSE ticker: "FIVE"), Russia'slargest retailer in terms of sales, decided to issue its first tranche of roublebonds in the first half of July 2007. The rouble bonds issue with a total nominal value of 9 billion roubles has a 7year maturity and will offer semi-annual coupon payments. The issue of roublebonds is accompanied by issue of 3-year period offer for earlier redemption ofthe rouble bonds at 100% of the nominal value. The organizers of the rouble bonds issue are OAO "Bank VTB" and ZAO "Raiffeisenbank Austria". Simultaneously, as part of the integration of treasury operations at Pyaterochkaand Perekrestok chains, the management of X5 Retail Group N.V. has decided tooptimize the existing borrowings of the companies comprising X5 Retail GroupN.V. As a result, the proceeds from rouble bonds issue will be used for: • Repurchase and early redemption of the first and second tranches of rouble bonds of OOO "Pyaterochka Finance" (reg. #4-01-36081-R, #4-02-36081-R) with a total nominal value of 4.5 billion roubles with subsequent liquidation of the legal entity OOO "Pyaterochka Finance"; • Early redemption of the first tranche of ZAO "Trade House "Perekrestok" rouble bonds (reg. #4-01-09698-H) with a total nominal value of 1.5 billion roubles; and also • Expansion of X5 Retail Group N.V. retail chain. The repurchase of the first and second tranches of rouble bonds of OOO "Pyaterochka Finance" will take place on 9th July 2007 in accordance with theconditions specified in the public irrevocable offer, which will be published inthe near future. The agent for the repurchase will be ZAO "RaiffeisenbankAustria". The repurchase price for the first tranche of OOO "Pyaterochka Finance" rouble bonds will be 109.30% of nominal value plus accumulated coupon income,for the second tranche of OOO "Pyaterochka Finance" rouble bonds - 104.55% ofnominal value plus accumulated coupon income. Early redemption of ZAO "Trade House "Perekrestok" rouble bonds will be done at12th July 2007 through repurchasing under offer and price will be 100% ofnominal value. Dmitry Milshtein, X5 Retail Group Treasurer: "During last twelve months X5Retail Group N.V. has focused on integrating the business processes of combinedCompany. As part of this, the Company has restructured its borrowings portfolioand has refinanced all borrowings of the Pyaterochka chain. The final step inthe restructuring will be the repurchase and early redemption of Pyaterochka andPerekrestok rouble bonds. Simultaneously, new rouble bonds of X5 Retail Group,with higher quality than previous, will be offered to the market." Vitaliy Podolskiy, X5 Retail Group CFO: "As part of its financial strategy for2007, X5 Retail Group issues the first tranche of new rouble bonds that willenable us to simplify our borrowings structure, decrease costs of debtservicing, increase brand loyalty among professional investors, as well asprovide the Company with additional resources to fund further growth. At thesame time, to further strengthen its reputation in long-term relationships withinvestors, X5 is offering to repurchase all its old rouble bonds on attractiveterms." - End - Note to Editors: X5 Retail Group N.V. is Russia's largest food retailer in terms of sales. As of31 March 2007, the Group had 512 company-managed "Pyaterochka" soft discountstores located in the Moscow (232), St. Petersburg (215) and other Russian areas(65), and 169 company-managed "Perekrestok" supermarkets across Central Russiaand Ukraine, including 99 stores in Moscow. As of 31 March 2007, franchisees operated 533 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. Enquiries to: X5 Retail Group N.V. Gennady Frolov Head of Corporate Communications Office +7 495 950 5577 ext. 10130 Mobile +7 495 998 3335 Email [email protected] This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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