Liberty Media Corporation Announces Extension of QVC Bank Credit Facilities
June 16 2009 - 6:03PM
PR Newswire (US)
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Liberty Media
Corporation
(NASDAQ:LCAPANASDAQ:LCAPBNASDAQ:LINTANASDAQ:LINTBNASDAQ:LMDIANASDAQ:LMDIB)
and QVC, Inc. today announced the extension of debt maturities
until March 2014. "We are pleased to complete the extension of
QVC's bank debt," said Greg Maffei, President and CEO of Liberty.
"The new terms enhance QVC's capital structure and provide us with
further financial flexibility to operate in this retail
environment. Our ability to refinance this debt is reflective of
the strength of and confidence in QVC's business." Concurrent with
the closing of amendments to the $5.25 billion in bank credit
facilities at QVC, Liberty Media retired $750 million of loans at
par and QVC cancelled another $18 million of unfunded commitments
at no cost. The remaining $4.48 billion bank credit facility will
mature in six tranches between June 2010 and March 2014; 11% of the
outstanding principal will be due in 2010; 16% in 2011; 9% in 2012;
9% in 2013; and 55% in 2014. Lenders consenting to the amendments,
which represent $4.998 billion in commitments, received modified
terms, including interest rates equal to LIBOR plus a margin that
varies between 350 and 550 basis points, depending on the tranche
maturity. QVC's maximum leverage ratio covenant has been reduced to
3.9x from 4.0x through March 30, 2010; 3.75x through March 30,
2011; 3.50x through March 30, 2012; and 3.0x thereafter. The loans
are secured by the stock and certain assets of QVC and certain of
its subsidiaries. Loans held by non-consenting lenders, which
represent $252 million in commitments, will remain under the
pricing terms of the previous credit facilities, with such debt
maturing in 2011. Non-consenting lenders will continue to receive a
maximum interest margin of LIBOR plus 100 basis points. Cash used
to retire the $750 million of loans came from a combination of $250
million in cash from QVC, $250 million in cash attributed to the
Liberty Entertainment group and $250 million in cash attributed to
the Liberty Capital group. The cash from the Liberty Entertainment
group and the Liberty Capital group was provided pursuant to
secured intergroup loan transactions authorized by the Liberty
Media Board of Directors. The loans are secured by various public
stocks attributed to the Liberty Interactive group, accrue interest
at a rate of LIBOR plus 500 basis points and are due June 16, 2010.
Additional Information Nothing in this press release shall
constitute a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell shares of any
of the Liberty Media tracking stocks, Liberty Entertainment, Inc.
(LEI), or shares of the new company to be issued pursuant to the
merger agreement with DIRECTV. The offer and sale of shares in the
proposed split-off and the related business combination with
DIRECTV will only be made pursuant to one or more effective
registration statements. Liberty stockholders and other investors
are urged to read the registration statements to be filed with the
SEC, including the proxy statement/prospectuses to be contained
therein, because they will contain important information about
these transactions. A copy of the registration statements and the
proxy statement/prospectuses, once filed, will be available free of
charge at the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov/). Copies of the
filings together with the materials incorporated by reference
therein can also be obtained, without charge, by directing a
request to Liberty Media Corporation, 12300 Liberty Boulevard,
Englewood, Colorado 80112, Attention: Investor Relations,
Telephone: (720) 875-5408. Participants in a Solicitation The
directors and executive officers of Liberty and other persons may
be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in
respect of proposals to approve the transactions. Information
regarding the directors and executive officers of each of Liberty,
LEI and the new DIRECTV and other participants in the proxy
solicitation and a description of their respective direct and
indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be
available in the proxy materials to be filed with the SEC. About
Liberty Media Corporation Liberty Media Corporation owns interests
in a broad range of electronic retailing, media, communications and
entertainment businesses. Those interests are attributed to three
tracking stock groups: (1) the Liberty Interactive group
(NASDAQ:LINTANASDAQ:LINTB), which includes Liberty's interests in
QVC, Provide Commerce, Backcountry.com, BUYSEASONS,
Bodybuilding.com, IAC/InterActiveCorp, and Expedia, (2) the Liberty
Entertainment group (NASDAQ: LMDIANASDAQ:LMDIB), which includes
Liberty's interests in The DIRECTV Group, Inc., Starz
Entertainment, Game Show Network, LLC, WildBlue Communications,
Inc., and Liberty Sports Holdings LLC, and (3) the Liberty Capital
group (NASDAQ: LCAPANASDAQ:LCAPB), which includes all businesses,
assets and liabilities not attributed to the Interactive group or
the Entertainment group including its subsidiaries Starz Media,
LLC, Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc., and TruePosition,
Inc., Liberty's interest in SIRIUS XM Radio, Inc., and minority
equity investments in Time Warner Inc. and Sprint Nextel
Corporation. DATASOURCE: Liberty Media Corporation CONTACT:
Courtnee Ulrich of Liberty Media Corporation, +1-720-875-5420 Web
Site: http://www.libertymedia.com/
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