HOUSTON, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Universal Compression Holdings,
Inc. (NYSE: UCO), a leading provider of natural gas compression services,
announced today that it is negotiating a new $650 million senior secured
credit facility consisting of a five-year revolver and a seven-year term loan.
The Company intends to utilize the new credit facility to redeem its $440
million of 8.875% BRL Notes, repay $82 million of BRL term debt and $50
million outstanding under its existing revolver, and utilize additional
capacity for working capital needs and general corporate purposes. The 8.875%
BRL Notes are callable beginning February 15, 2005 at a price of 104.438. A
redemption of the 8.875% BRL Notes at that time would result in debt
extinguishment costs, including call premium and expense of unamortized debt
issuance costs, of approximately $26 million on a pretax basis.
"We are pleased with the potential opportunity to lower ongoing interest
expense and extend our existing debt maturity schedules. The new credit
facility is expected to close in January 2005," said J. Michael Anderson,
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
The Company expects the new credit facility to be arranged by Wachovia
Capital Markets and J.P. Morgan Securities although at this time the Company
has not obtained commitment to enter into or extend credit under this new
facility. There is no assurance that the new credit facility will close or
that the Company will redeem the 8.875% BRL Notes.
Universal Compression, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading
natural gas compression services company, providing a full range of contract
compression, sales, operations, maintenance and fabrication services to the
domestic and international natural gas industry.
Statements about Universal's outlook and all other statements in this
release other than historical facts are forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future
events and are subject to a number of uncertainties and factors, many of which
are outside Universal's control, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from such statements. While Universal believes that the assumptions
concerning future events are reasonable, it cautions that there are inherent
difficulties in predicting certain important factors that could impact the
future performance or results of its business. Among the important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by
such forward-looking statements are the demand for Universal's products and
services and worldwide economic and political conditions. These and other risk
factors are discussed in Universal's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, copies of which are available to the public. Universal expressly
disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise.
SOURCE Universal Compression Holdings, Inc.
-0- 12/06/2004
/CONTACT: David Oatman, Vice President of Investor Relations,
+1-713-335-7460/
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/Web site: http://www.universalcompression.com//
(UCO)
CO: Universal Compression Holdings, Inc.
ST: Texas
IN: OIL
SU: PDT
EA
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1819 12/06/2004 07:00 EST http://www.prnewswire.com