VIVUS Initiates Pay Down of Secured Debt and Announces Management Changes
October 03 2019 - 7:30AM
VIVUS, Inc. (Nasdaq:VVUS) (the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical
company, announced today that it has paid down $48.6 million of its
Senior Secured Notes due 2024. This debt reduction will
result in savings of $10.5 million due to a reduction in interest
payments over the remaining term of the loan.
“As we are executing the ten-quarter
turnaround plan of VIVUS, an essential component of such
plan is to address our total debt,” said John Amos, Chief Executive
Officer at VIVUS. “Accordingly, we intend to actively manage
our capital structure, including retiring our outstanding debt to
appropriate levels in a series of steps consistent with our
ten-quarter turnaround plan. The $48.6 million repayment
announced today is the first of these steps and will result in a
net savings of interest of $10.5 million over the remaining term of
the loan. This action is consistent with our
longstanding goal of lowering our cost of capital and cash
usage related to the interest on our debt. Based on
the improvement of our operations and the underlying
collateral, the expense of this debt is no longer warranted.
We are pleased to have taken this important step toward
improving our long-term financial health, and we intend to address
our remaining debt obligations in ordinary course.”
The Company also announced the departure of Ken
Suh, President, and Scott Oehrlein, Chief Operations Officer,
effective October 31, 2019.
“I would like to thank both Ken and Scott for
the important contributions they have made to VIVUS, each
having improved the Company through the acquisition and transition
of Pancreaze. We wish them well in their future endeavors,” said
Mr. Amos. As of this time, the Company does not intend on
hiring replacements for the positions of President and Chief
Operations Officer.
About VIVUS
VIVUS is a biopharmaceutical company
committed to the development and commercialization of innovative
therapies that focus on advancing treatments for patients with
serious unmet medical needs. For more information about the
Company, please visit www.vivus.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are
forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to risks,
uncertainties and other factors, including risks and uncertainties
related to our ability to execute on our business strategy to
enhance long-term stockholder value; risks and uncertainties
related to our ability to address our outstanding balance of the
convertible notes due in May 2020; risks and uncertainties
related to our expected future revenues, operations and
expenditures; risks and uncertainties related to our liquidity and
capital resources; and risks and uncertainties related to the
impact, if any, of changes to our Board of Directors and senior
management team. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these
forward-looking statements. Investors should read the risk
factors set forth in VIVUS’ Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2018 as filed on February 26, 2019, and
periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
VIVUS does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements.
VIVUS,
Inc. |
Investor Relations: Lazar FINN Partners |
Mark Oki |
David Carey |
Chief Financial Officer |
Senior Partner |
oki@vivus.com |
david.carey@finnpartners.com |
650-934-5200 |
212-867-1768 |
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