Equus Sells 1.5 Million Orco Property Group Shares for Net Cash Proceeds of EUR 3,770,489
October 15 2012 - 9:00AM
Marketwired
Equus Total Return, Inc. (NYSE: EQS) ("Equus" or the "Fund")
announced it has sold 1,500,000 of its 1,573,666 shares of Orco
Property Group S.A. ("OPG") and received net cash proceeds of EUR
3.8 million, which based on the settlement date's EUR-USD intra-day
exchange rate of 1.293 are worth $4.9 million.
The net cash, to be received from the sale of the OPG shares,
exceeds the $2.6 million cost of investment of those shares (as
disclosed in the Fund's most recent report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended June 30, 2012), resulting in a realized gain of $2.3
million.
The OPG shares and the OPG notes were received as a result of
the conversion of the Fund's original investment of 8,890 4% bonds
due May 2012 ("Bonds") of Orco Germany S.A. ("OG"), a controlled
subsidiary of OPG. On May 7, 2012, OG bondholders approved the
terms of conversion for the Bonds and, as a result, Equus received
1,102,455 shares of OPG on May 9, 2012 and a further 471,211 OPG
shares on October 8, 2012. OPG filed a prospectus with respect to
both tranches of shares on July 27, 2012 which cleared the same for
trading.
On October 8, 2012, pursuant to the terms of the conversion for
the original bonds, the Fund also received 6-Year OPG notes in the
principal amount of EUR 1.2 million, which based on the settlement
date's EUR-USD intra-day exchange rate of 1.293, are worth $1.6
million. The OPG notes, due February 2018, bear interest of 5% cash
and 5% PIK per annum, which interest percentages may be reduced
over time upon timely repayments of principal tranches during a
four-year period commencing in 2015. The Fund continues to hold
73,666 OPG shares.
Based on cash and cash equivalents of $27.0 million held by
Equus at June 30, 2012, combined with the proceeds from the sale of
the OPG shares, the Fund's cash increases to $32.0 million or $3.03
of cash per share.
About Equus The Fund is a business
development company that trades as a closed-end fund on the New
York Stock Exchange, under the symbol "EQS". Additional information
on the Fund may be obtained from the Fund's website at
www.equuscap.com.
This press release may contain certain forward-looking
statements regarding future circumstances. These forward-looking
statements are based upon the Fund's current expectations and
assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contemplated in such forward-looking statements including, in
particular, the risks and uncertainties described in the Fund's
filings with the SEC. Actual results, events, and performance may
differ. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as to the date hereof.
Except as required by law, the Fund undertakes no obligation to
release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements
that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. The
inclusion of any statement in this release does not constitute an
admission by the Fund or any other person that the events or
circumstances described in such statements are material.
Contact: Patricia Baronowski Pristine Advisers, LLC (631)
756-2486
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