HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2004--Hanover Compressor Company
(NYSE:HC), a global market leader in full service natural gas
compression and a leading provider of service, fabrication and
equipment for oil and natural gas processing and transportation
applications, today announced the approval of the global settlement of
the Company's outstanding shareholder litigation by the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The Company
announced the terms of the settlement in May 2003.
The Court's approval of the settlement of the shareholder
litigation follows on the heels of a settlement between Hanover and
the Securities and Exchange Commission, finalized on Dec. 18,
2003, which marked the conclusion of the Commission's formal
investigation of Hanover.
"The company is extremely pleased to announce the Court's approval
of the settlement," said Chad Deaton, president and CEO of Hanover.
"Together with the recent SEC settlement, this closes the book on a
challenging chapter in our history, one from which we have emerged a
stronger organization. We look forward to focusing on our core
business, and meeting the new challenges that lie ahead."
About Hanover Compressor
Hanover Compressor Company (www.hanover-co.com) is a global market
leader in full service natural gas compression and a leading provider
of service, fabrication and equipment for oil and natural gas
processing and transportation applications. Hanover sells and provides
this equipment on a rental, contract compression, maintenance and
acquisition leaseback basis to oil and natural gas production,
processing and transportation companies that are increasingly seeking
outsourcing solutions. Founded in 1990 and a public company since
1997, Hanover's customers include both major and premier independent
producers as well as national oil companies.
Certain matters discussed in this document are "forward-looking
statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbors established by
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking
statements can generally be identified as such because of the context
of the statement or because the statement includes words such as
"believes," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," or words of similar
import. Similarly, statements that describe Hanover's future plans,
objectives or goals or future revenues or other financial measures are
also forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results
to differ materially from those anticipated as of the date the
statements were made. These risks and uncertainties include, but are
not limited to: our inability to renew our short-term leases of
equipment with our customers so as to fully recoup our cost of the
equipment; reduced profit margins or the loss of market share
resulting from competition or the introduction of competing
technologies by other companies; legislative changes or changes in
economic or political conditions in the countries in which we do
business; the inherent risks associated with our operations, such as
equipment defects, malfunctions and failures and natural disasters;
governmental safety, health, environmental and other regulations,
which could require us to make significant expenditures; our inability
to implement certain business objectives such as integrating acquired
businesses, implementing our new enterprise resource planning systems,
generating sufficient cash, accessing capital markets, refinancing
existing or incurring additional indebtedness to fund our business,
executing our exit and sale strategy with respect to assets classified
on our balance sheet as discontinued operations and held for sale, and
concluding the agreed-upon settlement of our securities-related
litigation; our inability to comply with covenants in our debt
agreements and the decreased financial flexibility associated with our
substantial debt; and fluctuations in our net income attributable to
changes in the fair value of our common stock that will be used to
fund the settlement of the securities-related litigation. A discussion
of these and other factors is included in the Company's periodic
reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Hanover Compressor Company, Houston
Lee Beckelman, 281-447-8787
SOURCE: Hanover Compressor Company