|
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
|
 |
|
Contact:
Leigh J. Abrams, CEO
|
|
|
Phone: (914)
428-9098 Fax: (914) 428-4581
|
|
|
E
Mail: Drew@drewindustries.com
|
Drew
Industries Incorporated Announces New Credit Agreements
White
Plains, New York - December 2, 2008 - Drew
today announced that it and its subsidiaries, Kinro, Inc. and Lippert
Components, Inc. (the “Company”), entered into a new $50 million revolving
credit facility with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
(collectively, the “Lenders”), which expires in November 2011. This new credit
facility replaces the Company’s previous $70 million credit facility which was
scheduled to expire in June 2009.
Interest
on borrowings from the credit facility can be designated from time to time
by
the Company as either LIBOR-based, or Prime Rate-based. Interest on LIBOR-based
borrowings will be LIBOR plus additional interest ranging from 2% to 2.8%
(currently 2%). Interest on Prime Rate-based borrowings will be the Prime
Rate,
as defined (but not less than 2.5%), plus additional interest ranging from
0% to
0.8% (currently 0%). The additional interest will depend on the Company’s
performance and financial condition. Interest rates under the new credit
facility are generally higher than under the prior credit facility. Drew
currently has no borrowings under either the new or prior credit
facility.
Simultaneously,
the Company entered into a $125 million shelf-loan facility with Prudential
Investment Management, Inc., and its affiliates (“Prudential”), replacing the
Company’s previous $60 million shelf-loan facility with Prudential, of which $25
million remained. The Company had previously borrowed $35 million under the
shelf-loan facility, in two separate transactions, of which $6 million is
currently outstanding.
The
new
shelf-loan facility provides for Prudential to consider purchasing, at the
Company’s request, in one or a series of transactions, Senior Promissory Notes
of the Company in the aggregate principal amount of up to $125 million, to
mature no more than twelve years after the date of original issue of each
Note.
Prudential has no obligation to purchase the Notes. Interest payable on the
Notes will be at rates determined within five business days after the Company
issues a request to Prudential. The shelf-loan facility expires in November
2011.
Borrowings
under both the credit facility and the shelf-loan facility are secured on
a pari
passu basis by first priority liens on the capital stock or other equity
interests of each of the Company’s direct and indirect subsidiaries. Pursuant to
the credit facility and the shelf-loan facility, the Company is required
to meet
certain financial covenants, with which the Company is currently in
compliance.
Other
than for normal working capital purposes, which are not expected to be
significant, the Company does not currently have any plans to borrow under
either the credit facility or the shelf-loan facility.
-more-
Drew
Industries / page 2 of 2
About
Drew
Drew,
through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Kinro and Lippert Components, supplies
a
broad array of components for RVs and manufactured homes, including windows,
doors, chassis, chassis parts, bath and shower units, axles, and upholstered
furniture. In addition, Drew manufactures slide-out mechanisms for RVs, and
trailers primarily for hauling boats. Currently, from 36 factories located
throughout the United States, Drew serves most major national manufacturers
of
RVs and manufactured homes in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Additional
information about Drew and its products can be found at www.drewindustries.com.
Forward-Looking
Statements
This
press release may contain certain “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect
to
financial condition, results of operations, business strategies, operating
efficiencies or synergies, competitive position, growth opportunities for
existing products, plans and objectives of management, markets for the Company’s
common stock and other matters. Statements in this press release that are
not
historical facts are “forward-looking statements” for the purpose of the safe
harbor provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933.
Forward-looking
statements, including, without limitation, those relating to our future business
prospects, revenues, expenses and income, whenever they occur in this press
release, are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of our senior
management at the time such statements were made, and involve a number of
risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those suggested by forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake
to
update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that
occur
after the date the forward-looking statements are made. You should consider
forward-looking statements, therefore, in light of various important factors
as
identified in this press release and in our Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2007, and in our subsequent Form 10-Qs filed with the SEC.
There
are
a number of factors, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, which could
cause actual results and events to differ materially from those described
in the
forward-looking statements. These factors include pricing pressures due to
domestic and foreign competition, costs and availability of raw materials
(particularly steel and related components, vinyl, aluminum, glass and ABS
resin), availability of credit for financing the retail and wholesale purchase
of manufactured homes and recreational vehicles, availability and costs of
labor, inventory levels of retailers and manufacturers, levels of repossessed
manufactured homes, the disposition into the market by FEMA, by sale or
otherwise, of RVs or manufactured homes purchased by FEMA in connection with
natural disasters, changes in zoning regulations for manufactured homes,
a sales
decline in either the RV or the manufactured housing industries, the financial
condition of our customers, retention of significant customers, interest
rates,
oil and gasoline prices, the outcome of litigation, and adverse weather
conditions impacting retail sales. In addition, national and regional economic
conditions and consumer confidence may affect the retail sale of recreational
vehicles and manufactured homes.
###
Page
2 of
2