OT - a little, but important to BGI.
ASL now has the cash to do the work at Mampon too and this should speed up the process in BGI getting the advance payments following the feasibility study.
Brian
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Tuesday February 22, 11:12 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Ashanti Signs Agreements That Secure Its Future
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2000-- Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited (''Ashanti'' or the ''Company'') is pleased to announce that
today the final signatures have been obtained on agreements which it believes will secure its future. The principal agreements are:
a US$100 million debt facility to complete its Geita Project and for general working capital purposes
the renewal, under new terms, of its existing US$270 million Revolving Credit Facility (''RCF'')
the consolidation of its existing bilateral facilities in a new tranche of the RCF
an amendment to the agreement with its hedge counterparties under which the conditions to continue to permit margin-free trading for three years have been satisfied or waived;
as a part of that agreement the Company has repriced the five year equity warrants, issued to its hedge counterparties on 30 October 1999 (''Warrants''), to facilitate the
re-allocation of a proportion of them to the Company's lending banks as part of the overall arrangements
Debt Facilities
The new US$100 million term loan facility (''New Facility'') is to enable Ashanti to complete its Geita Project in Tanzania and to provide funds for general working capital purposes. The
New Facility was arranged by Barclays Capital and was syndicated amongst existing lenders under the existing RCF.
The New Facility is repayable on the earlier of 30 September 2000 and the date of the completion of a sale of assets to raise a net amount of at least US$200 million or the completion of
an equity issue to raise a net amount of at least US$150 million.
The New Facility will carry a margin over US LIBOR of:
250 basis points from the date of the agreement to 31 March 2000 as an initial margin;
350 basis points from 1 April 2000 to 30 June 2000; and - 450 basis points from 1 July 2000 to 30 September 2000
Ashanti has also agreed to certain amendments to the RCF. The principal amendments are as follows:
margin over US LIBOR for each tranche of the facility has been increased to the following levels: (i) Facility A - 200 basis points; (ii) Facility B - 250 basis points; and (iii) Facility
C - 250 basis points
a new Tranche D has been added which consolidates the various bilateral facilities which Ashanti had with certain of its existing lenders and counterparties
Facilities A and D (totalling US$151 million) fall due for repayment on 31 December 2000 while Facilities B and C (totalling US$175 million) fall due for repayment on 15 January
2003
Drawdown under the New Facility is expected to occur by the end of this week.
Commenting on the signings, Sam Jonah, Chief Executive Officer, said ''...the signing of the New Facility will allow Ashanti to pursue its objective of getting its exciting Geita Project into
production in the shortest time possible, to the benefit of all stakeholders. Furthermore, the agreement reached with the hedge counterparties will enable the company to go forward and
retain the benefits of hedge protection without the spectre of potential cash calls for a three year period. The negotiation of this facility has been extraordinarily complex, requiring
agreement from each of Ashanti's 22 lending banks and 14 hedge counterparties. I would like to thank all parties for their hard work in completing the New Facility. In particular, I would
like to thank Mark Keatley, our Chief Financial Officer, who, with his team and our advisers, has devoted himself tirelessly to achieving this successful outcome.''
Gerard Holden, Global Head of Mining & Metals at Barclays Capital, the arranger of the New Facility, stated ''The signing of these agreements provides a solid platform for Ashanti's
business going forward. Ashanti's lending and hedge counterparties have provided an integrated package to assist the Company during a time of need. It is a testimony to the maturity
and hard work of these institutions and Ashanti's management that the negotiations of the last four months have resulted in this positive outcome for the Company and its stakeholders.''
Warrants Agreement
On 30 October 1999 Ashanti entered into an agreement with its hedge counterparties whereby it agreed to issue Warrants over approximately 15 per cent. of the Company's fully diluted
issued ordinary share capital in return, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, for the right to trade margin-free for the next three years. After the initial three year period, margin
limits will be re-imposed at higher levels than existed before the crisis for the two years thereafter, finally returning to the limits that existed before the hedge crisis arose.
As part of this overall agreement with its banks, Ashanti has agreed to reduce the subscription price of the Warrants from $4.75 to $3.00 on the understanding that a proportion of the
Warrants will be re-allocated by the hedge counterparties to certain of the lending banks.
Ashanti has invited certain individuals to join the Board as non-executive directors in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding entered into between Ashanti, the Government
of Ghana, Lonmin Plc and Adryx Mining & Metals Limited on 16 February 2000. An announcement of the new appointees will be made in due course.
Ashanti is being advised by CIBC World Markets.
Certain of the statements made in this announcement are forward-looking in nature. By their nature, the forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to
events and depend upon circumstances that will occur in the future. These factors include, but are not limited to, statements made elsewhere in this announcement. In addition, risk
factors relating to Ashanti can be found in its public SEC filings. Ashanti undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Any statement should be evaluated in the light of these factors. |
