Conrail, CSXT and NSR Announce New Terms Available for Consenting Holders of Conrail's 1995 PTCs
August 09 2004 - 10:33AM
PR Newswire (US)
Conrail, CSXT and NSR Announce New Terms Available for Consenting
Holders of Conrail's 1995 PTCs WASHINGTON, Aug. 6
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail),
CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) and Norfolk Southern Railway
Company (NSR) announced today that they are revising the offer
available to the holders of the 6.76% PTC, Series 1995-A due May
25, 2015 ("1995 PTCs"), who consent to the proposed amendments in
the secured debt consent solicitation. Pursuant to this revised
offer, Conrail has committed to pay a make-whole premium if Conrail
were to exercise its option to prepay the 1995 PTCs after November
22, 2005. This commitment would be the sole consideration for these
consents and, therefore, no consent fee would be payable to the
holders of the 1995 PTCs who consent to the proposed amendments.
For the 1995 PTCs, the original consent fee offered to holders of
the 1995 PTCs was $6.00 per $1,000 principal amount of those
certificates. The new covenant, which implements the revised offer,
will provide that: "The Company hereby agrees that in the event it
shall (i) exercise its option to prepay after November 22, 2005,
the Equipment Notes outstanding under the Owned Equipment Indenture
pursuant to Section 2.10 thereof; or (ii) exercise its option to
voluntarily terminate either Lease pursuant to Section 9(a) of such
Lease, resulting in a prepayment after November 22, 2005, of the
Equipment Notes outstanding under the related Leased Equipment
Indenture pursuant to Section 2.10 thereof, then in each case, in
addition to all other amounts payable by the Company under the
Operative Documents in connection with such prepayment or
termination, the Company shall also pay to the Trustee an amount
(an "Additional Amount") equal to the "Make-Whole Amount" (as
defined in the respective Indenture) with respect to the Equipment
Notes being prepaid, such amount to be calculated without regard to
the phrase "on or prior to November 22, 2005," appearing in each
such definition. Any Additional Amount received by the Trustee
shall be deposited in the Special Payments Account and shall be
distributed to the Certificateholders in the same manner as a
Special Payment described in clause (i) of the definition of such
term." Aside from the changes to the redemption provisions for the
1995 PTCs described above, none of the maturity dates, payment
provisions, interest rates, redemption provisions or any other
similar terms of Conrail's equipment trust certificates and pass
through trust certificates will be amended as a result of the
proposed amendments to be entered into in connection with the
secured debt consent solicitation. All other terms of the secured
debt consent solicitation dated July 26, 2004, will remain
unchanged. The secured debt consent solicitation will expire at 5
p.m., New York City time, on August 23, 2004, unless extended.
Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated is the solicitation agent for
the secured debt consent solicitation. CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX)
(CSX), based in Jacksonville, Fla., owns the largest rail network
in the eastern United States. CSXT and its 34,000 employees provide
rail transportation services over a 23,000 route-mile network in 23
states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces. CSX
also provides intermodal and global container terminal operations
through other subsidiaries. Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) through
its NSR subsidiary operates 21,500 route miles in 22 states, the
District of Columbia and Ontario, serving every major container
port in the eastern United States and providing connections to
western rail carriers. NSC operates an extensive intermodal network
and is the nation's largest rail carrier of automotive parts and
finished vehicles. Conrail is a principal freight railroad in the
Northeastern United States, and is indirectly owned 58% by NSC and
42% by CSX. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT Secured
debt consent solicitation materials have been mailed to holders of
Conrail's equipment trust certificates and pass through trust
certificates, as the case may be, in connection with the secured
debt consent solicitation. These documents contain important
information about the consent solicitation. INVESTORS AND HOLDERS
OF CONRAIL'S EQUIPMENT TRUST CERTIFICATES AND PASS THROUGH TRUST
CERTIFICATES, AS THE CASE MAY BE, ARE URGED TO READ THESE DOCUMENTS
CAREFULLY. Questions and requests for assistance or for additional
copies of the secured debt consent solicitation materials may be
directed to the Information Agent, Innisfree M&A Incorporated
at (877) 456-3507. Banks and brokers may call collect at (212)
750-5833. DATASOURCE: CSX Corporation CONTACT: Misty Skipper, CSX
Corp., +1-904-366-2949; or Media, Bob Fort, +1-757-629-2710, or
Investors, Leanne Marilley, +1-757-629-2861, both of Norfolk
Southern Corp.; or Jonathan M. Broder, Consolidated Rail Corp.,
+1-215-209-5020 Web site: http://www.csx.com/
Copyright