American Dairy, Inc. Restructures Outstanding 1% Guaranteed Senior Secured Notes
November 18 2008 - 9:22AM
PR Newswire (US)
Completes first tranche of repurchase and lowers overall cost of
capital BEIJING, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Dairy,
Inc. (NYSEArca: ADY), one of the leading producers and distributors
of premium infant formula, milk powder and soybean, rice and walnut
products in China, announced that it has completed a restructuring
of the terms of its 1% Guaranteed Senior Secured Convertible Notes
due 2012 (the "Senior Secured Notes"). The restructuring provided
holders of those notes with the option to elect to have their notes
repurchased by the Company at 115% of the principal amount, in a
series of installments payable by October 15, 2009, resulting in a
lower overall cost of capital for the Company and providing greater
flexibility for the Company in its capital structure. The holders
of all of the outstanding Senior Secured Notes exercised their
right to have the notes repurchased, and the Company paid $11
million to repurchase the initial installment of $9.56 million of
principal of Senior Secured Notes from the holders on a pro rata
basis. In connection with this restructuring, the holders also
agreed to waive certain covenants and other requirements with which
the Company is obligated to comply under the terms of the Senior
Secured Notes. The Company issued $80 million in aggregate
principal amount of Senior Secured Notes in June 2007. The original
terms of the Senior Secured Notes provided that, among other
things, the notes (i) bear interest at 1% per annum, subject to
increases if certain conditions under the terms of the notes were
not met; (ii) are convertible into shares of the Company's common
stock, at a current adjusted conversion rate of $12.00 per share;
and (iii) mature on June 1, 2012, at which time the Company would
be required to redeem the notes at a redemption price calculated to
effect a gross yield on the principal of 18% per annum on a
compounded basis, or $228,775.78 for every $100,000 of notes then
outstanding. Under the modified terms of the Senior Secured Notes,
holders of the notes who exercised their right to demand that the
Company repurchase their notes will receive 115% of the principal
amount thereof, or $115,000 for every $100,000 of notes. In
addition, interest ceased to accrue on the notes on the day that
the holder elected to exercise the early repurchase option, and the
right to convert the notes into shares of common stock is suspended
unless the Company fails to complete the repurchase. As a result of
the holders of 100% of the outstanding $80 million in aggregate
principal amount of notes exercising the early repurchase option,
the Company can repurchase, and retire, the notes for an aggregate
cost of $92 million. Pursuant to the early repurchase right, in
addition to the $11.0 million already paid, the Company is
obligated to pay an additional $4.33 million by January 15, 2009,
$15.33 million by each of April 15 and July 15, 2009, and the
balance of $46.0 million by October 15, 2009. If the Company fails
to make the payment due on January 15, 2009, it will constitute a
default under the Senior Secured Notes, in which event holders
would have the right to declare the entire $92 million early
repurchase amount due and payable immediately. If the Company fails
to make any of the payments due on April 15, July 15 or October 15,
2009, it would not constitute a default, but certain of the waivers
granted by the holders with respect to provisions of the notes
would terminate, interest would begin to accrue again and would be
subject to increases if certain requirements are not met, and
holders would again have the right to convert Senior Secured Notes
into shares of the Company's common stock. The Company funded the
initial repurchase payment using proceeds from borrowings by
certain of its operating subsidiaries. "We are very pleased to have
been able to reach an agreement with the holders of our Senior
Secured Notes to restructure our existing indebtedness and to
provide us with the flexibility to refinance, repurchase and
retire, these notes on terms that provide much more flexibility and
a significant cost savings for American Dairy," said Leng You-Bin,
the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
"Our Company continues to make progress towards completion of the
previously announced voluntary reaudits of certain of our
historical financial statements, and to bring current our filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission as soon as possible. In
addition, as one of the companies that was not implicated in the
melamine crisis in China, we have had the opportunity to
significantly increase sales and we continue to seek ways to
further grow our product sales and brand loyalty and to build long
term value for all of our shareholders," Mr. Leng also said. "We
are delighted with the support we received from all holders of our
outstanding notes in this process. We believe that the
restructuring of the notes that we were able to implement is
beneficial to all stakeholders, and will enable American Dairy to
further work towards achieving a strengthened balance sheet and
capital structure that support the long term growth of the
Company," said Jonathan Chou, Chief Financial Officer of American
Dairy. About American Dairy, Inc. American Dairy, Inc. conducts
operations in The People's Republic of China ("China") through its
wholly owned subsidiary, Feihe Dairy. Founded in 1962, Feihe Dairy
is one of the leading producers and distributors of premium infant
formula, milk powder and soybean, rice and walnut products in
China. Feihe Dairy is headquartered in Beijing, China, and has
processing and distribution facilities in Kedong, Qiqihaer,
Baiquan, Gannan, Shanxi, and Langfang.
http://www.americandairyinc.com/ | http://www.feihe.com/
Forward-Looking Statements Certain of the statements made herein
constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking
statements represent current expectations or forecasts of future
events and are not guarantees of future performance. Such
statements typically involve risks and uncertainties and may
include financial projections or information regarding our future
plans, objectives or performance. Actual results could differ
materially from the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements as a result of a variety of factors, including the
effect of changing economic conditions in The People's Republic of
China, variations in cash flow, unanticipated fluctuations in
sales, the Company's ability to generate cash from operations, or
obtain financing from lenders, in sufficient amounts to repurchase
its Senior Secured Notes as planned, and other risk factors
detailed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission from time to time. DATASOURCE: American Dairy, Inc.
CONTACT: Ashley Ammon, +1-203-682-8200, or China, Wei-Jung Yang,
+86 8523-3088, both of ICR, Inc., for American Dairy, Inc. Web
site: http://www.americandairyinc.com/ http://www.feihe.com/
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