Issue of Debt

RNS Number : 2902V

Ashtead Group PLC

11 December 2013

 



ASHTEAD GROUP PLC

SECOND PRIORITY SENIOR SECURED NOTES OFFERING

Ashtead Group plc ("Ashtead" or the "Company") today announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Ashtead Capital, Inc., is conducting a private add-on offering, subject to market and other conditions, of $300 million aggregate principal amount of its 6.50% second priority senior secured notes due 2022 (the "New Notes"). The exact terms and timing of the offering, and the final aggregate principal amount of the New Notes offered, will depend upon market conditions and other factors.

Ashtead intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to repay a portion of the outstanding amounts borrowed under its first priority senior secured credit facility and to pay related fees and expenses as the next step in its long term balance sheet management. The transaction will enable the Company to fix the cost of a further tranche of its debt at attractive long-term rates and extend its average debt maturity profile.

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1.   The New Notes will be offered in the United States only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to the exemption from registration under Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and outside the United States only to non-U.S. investors pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The New Notes and the related guarantees have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws and may not be offered, sold or delivered in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act is available.

2.   The New Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior secured basis by Ashtead and substantially all of Ashtead's material direct and indirect subsidiaries.

3.   This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase the securities described herein or any other securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

4.   Ashtead is a public limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales and its stock is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: AHT).  Ashtead is one of the largest equipment rental groups in the world, conducting its equipment rental operations in the United Kingdom principally under the name "A-Plant" and in the United States under the name "Sunbelt Rentals."

5.   This communication is directed only to persons who (i) are persons falling within Article 19(5) ("Investment professional") of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the "Financial Promotion Order"), (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("High net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.") of the Financial Promotion Order, (iii) are outside the United Kingdom, (iv) are persons falling within Article 43(2) of the Financial Promotion Order ("Members and creditors of certain bodies corporate"), or (v) are persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) in connection with the issue or sale of any Securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons").  This communication is directed only at relevant persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons.  Any investment or investment activity to which this communication relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons.

6.    FCA/Stabilisation

 

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