M&G's Fund provides £100m to

RNS Number : 8287M

Stobart Group Limited

01 June 2010

 



Stobart Group Limited

("Stobart" or the "Group")

M&G's UK Companies Financing Fund provides £100m term loan to Stobart Group Limited

1 June 2010

M&G Investments ("M&G") has arranged for the UK Companies Financing Fund ("UKCFF") to provide a £100million, 10 year term loan to Stobart Group. The loan will be used to repay existing bank debt and to provide additional funds which can be used to invest in a range of projects across the Group.

The loan will be used in part to finance the further development of Southend Airport, which Stobart Group acquired in 2008 and whose application for a runway extension received ministerial consent in March of this year. In addition there is headroom to invest in further capital projects.

The loan will have a final maturity date of May 2020 and is structured very flexibly to permit the Group to maximise the development of its businesses and asset base, and to create additional value to shareholders, while providing UKCFF with an attractive and secure term lending opportunity.

This loan is the first disbursement for UKCFF.

Panmure Gordon & Co. introduced M&G/UKCFF to Stobart and acted as financial advisor to M&G/UKCFF.

BDO LLP acted as financial advisor to Stobart.

Ben Whawell, Chief Financial Officer of Stobart Group, said:

"We are delighted to partner with M&G and see them as providing the core part of our term borrowing needs and as a reliable partner for the future development of the Group. We are particularly pleased that we have access to long term debt with maturities well beyond what is usually available in the bank market. In addition, the facility gives us the flexibility to fulfil the strategic development of our business and assets."

Mark Hutchinson, Head of Alternative Credit at M&G, said:

"We are pleased to be making this investment for UKCFF and working with Stobart in future. This fund was set up to lend long-term debt monies to UK companies and we are actively in discussion with a number of companies to make further investments."

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Contacts:

Stobart Group Limited	01925 605 400
Andrew Tinkler
Ben Whawell
M&G
Richard Miles	020 7548 3653 / 07833 481 923
David Butcher	07920 823 701
Panmure Gordon & Co.	020 7459 3600
Richard Gray
Mark Gomar BDO Stoy Hayward LLP	020 7486 5888
Neil McDaid

Notes to editors:

About Stobart Group

Stobart Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange in the FTSE250 (LSE:STOB), and is the UK leader in multimodal transport and logistics solutions.  It is one of the most recognised and strongest brands in Britain, best known for its iconic Eddie Stobart trucks.  Today, Eddie Stobart is the name behind a road haulage fleet totaling 1,850 trucks and some seven million square feet of cutting-edge warehousing facilities.  By size, Eddie Stobart has the best vehicle utilisation in the industry, helping to maximise efficiency and environmental benefits. 

The Group has pioneered several environmental initiatives in the industry such as modal shift from road to rail with the Stobart Rail low-carbon service that brings fresh produce into the UK from southern Europe via the Channel Tunnel. Stobart is also innovating with the creation of Stobart Biomass Products Limited, a new venture with A. W. Jenkinson - the UK Leader in biomass fuels.  This positions the Group at the heart of the fast growing and transport intensive market for renewable energy. 

Stobart Group employs over 5,000 people in 40 different locations, offering multimodal logistics solutions to customers across Europe through the Stobart Rail, Stobart Ports, Stobart Air and Eddie Stobart Divisions. The Group is fast developing these divisions into industry leaders, and by developing assets such as London Southend Airport, Carlisle Lake District Airport and Mersey Multimodal Gateway in Widnes is creating new business for the Group's core transport and logistics operations. 

www.stobartgroup.com

About M&G Investments

M&G, part of the Prudential plc group of companies, is one of the largest and most experienced fixed income and credit investors in Europe with nearly £100bn of fixed income assets under management, as at 31 December 2009. M&G is active across a range of debt products and has been investing in private corporate debt for almost 20 years.

About M&G's UK Companies Financing Fund

UKCFF was launched in July 2009 by M&G as a response to the contraction in lending that arose from the consequences of the banking crisis and is looking to become an active sole lender to mid-market UK companies. The fund has raised over £1.6bn in commitments from institutional investors, principally UK pension funds, and is targeting strong, growth companies in the UK. As the fund makes investments these commitments are drawn down on a pro rata basis.

 

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