New ?820 million revolving credit facilities

RNS Number : 5037L

Wolseley PLC

02 August 2011

 



WOLSELEY PLC

2 August 2011

New £820 million revolving credit facilities

Wolseley has concluded the successful syndication of two 5¼ year revolving credit facilities totalling £820 million. The facilities will be used for general corporate purposes and will replace existing committed bank facilities of approximately £1,600 million which were due to mature on or before August 2013.

The new facilities have been structured to enable Wolseley's relationship banks to participate and consist of a European facility of €750 million and a US facility of US$270 million.  The facilities are on essentially the same commercial terms. 

The move to current market pricing will save Wolseley approximately £12 million per year.  Unamortised arrangement fees of £7 million will be written off this year as consequence of cancelling the surplus facilities.

Following the syndication the total committed facilities available to the Group amount to approximately £1,600 million. As at 30 April 2011 the Group's adjusted net debt was £824 million.

The European Facility was co-ordinated by Barclays, Danske and Crédit Agricole and the US facility was jointly lead by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and PNC.

Commenting on the refinancing, John Martin, Chief Financial Officer of Wolseley plc, said:

"The innovative approach of completing loan agreements simultaneously in two jurisdictions enabled  Wolseley's relationship banks to participate and allowed Wolseley to take advantage of attractive pricing.  We are delighted with the strong support demonstrated by all our relationship banks. These facilities will support the Group's growth plans for the foreseeable future. The high level of demand for the new facility is indicative of the quality of Wolseley's credit." 

For further information please contact

Wolseley plc

John Martin, Chief Financial Officer	Tel:       [phone]
Mike Verrier, Group Treasurer	Tel:       [phone]
Mark Fearon, Director of Communications and IR	Mobile: +44  (0) 7711 875070
	[e-mail]

Brunswick (Media Enquiries) Michael Harrison, Nina Coad

Tel:       [phone]

Notes to editors

Wolseley plc is the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building materials in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. Group revenue for the year ended 31 July 2010 was £13.2 billion and trading profit was £450 million. At 31 July 2010 Wolseley had approximately 47,000 employees operating in 25 countries. Wolseley is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: WOS) and is in the FTSE 100 index of listed companies. The Group will issue its full year results on Tuesday 4 October 2011.

European €750 million facility	North American US$270 million facility
Coordinator, Mandated Lead Arranger & Bookrunner	Coordinator, Mandated Lead Arranger & Bookrunner
Barclays Crédit Agricole CIB Danske Bank	Bank of America Merrill Lynch PNC
Mandated Lead Arranger & Bookrunner	Lead Arranger
BNP Paribas CIC ING Lloyds Banking Group Nordea RBS	Suntrust
Arranger	Arranger
Credit Suisse Deutsche Bank Handelsbanken Société Générale SMBC UniCredit Intesa Sanpaolo	Royal Bank of Canada Fifth Third Bank

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Certain information included in this announcement is forward-looking and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements cover all matters which are not historical facts and include, without limitation, projections relating to results of operations and financial conditions and the Company's plans and objectives for future operations, including, without limitation, discussions of expected future revenues, financing plans, expected expenditures and divestments, risks associated with changes in economic conditions, the strength of the plumbing and heating and building materials market in North America and Europe, fluctuations in product prices and changes in exchange and interest rates. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including terms such as "believes", "estimates", "anticipates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends", "plans", "projects", "goal", "target", "aim", "may", "will", "would", "could" or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology.  Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.  All forward-looking statements in this announcement are based upon information known to the Company on the date of this announcement.  Accordingly, no assurance can be given that any particular expectation will be met and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only at their respective dates. Additionally, forward-looking statements regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future.  Other than in accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations (including under the UK Listing Rules and the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Services Authority), the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nothing in this announcement shall exclude any liability under applicable laws that cannot be excluded in accordance with such laws

 

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