VANCOUVER, BC – July 3, 2012 – PEER 1 Network Enterprises, Inc. (TSX:PIX), operating as PEER 1 Hosting ("PEER 1" or the "Company"), a leading provider of IT infrastructure, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of all outstanding shares in the capital of NetBenefit (UK) Limited ("NetBenefit"). The Company has also entered into a credit agreement with a syndicate of lenders led by National Bank of Canada ("NBC"), and including HSBC Bank Canada, HSBC Bank PLC, GE Canada, Business Development Bank, Bank of America, Laurentian Bank of Canada and Canadian Western Bank, for a US$100 million non-revolving term facility and a US$50 million revolving credit facility. In addition, an accordion feature allows PEER 1 Hosting to request an increase in the amount available under the revolving facility by a further US$25 million, bringing the total potential credit available under the facilities to US$175 million. The credit facilities are subject to customary conditions, the adherence to certain financial covenants, and are secured by the assets of the Company and its subsidiaries.
"We are pleased to welcome NetBenefit's employees, customers and other stakeholders to the PEER 1 Hosting family," said Fabio M. Banducci, President and CEO of PEER 1. "With the transaction completed we can focus on leveraging our enhanced scale and state-of-the-art infrastructure in the EMEA region to drive growth by offering our shared high quality solutions to both new and existing customers."
The four-year non-revolving term facility has a principal amount of US$100 million, all of which has been drawn at closing and will be used to repay all indebtedness under the Company's previous credit facilities and fund the acquisition of NetBenefit. Advances under the term loan are at Prime Rate, US Base Rate, GBP Base Rate, or LIBO Rate plus a margin of between 1.00% and 3.00% with the applicable margin dependent upon the Company's ratio of funded debt to EBITDA at the time the funds are drawn.
The four-year revolving credit facility has a principal amount of US$50 million, none of which has been drawn at closing, and will be available for general corporate purposes, and permitted acquisitions and distributions. Advances under the revolving facility will be at Prime Rate, US Base Rate, GBP Base Rate, or LIBO Rate plus a margin of between 1.00% and 3.00%, with the applicable margin dependent upon the Company's ratio of funded debt to EBITDA at the time the funds are drawn.
About PEER 1 Hosting
PEER 1 Hosting is one of the world's leading IT hosting providers. The company is built on two obsessions: Ping & People. Ping, represents its commitment to best-in-breed technology, founded on a high performance 10Gbps FastFiber Network™ connected by 18 state-of-the-art datacenters, 22 points-of-presence and 10 colocation facilities throughout North America and Europe. People, represents its commitment to delivering outstanding customer service to its more than 12,000 customers worldwide, backed by a 100 percent uptime guarantee and 24x7x365 FirstCall Support™. Info-Tech Research Group recently named PEER 1 Hosting as a "Champion" in its Canadian colocation and managed services Vendor Landscape report, recognizing the company's strength in product offerings and enterprise strategy in the global IT marketplace. PEER 1 Hosting's portfolio includes Managed Hosting, Dedicated Servers, Colocation and Cloud Services. Founded in 1999, the company is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with European operations headquartered in Southampton, UK. PEER 1 Hosting shares are traded on the TSX under the symbol PIX. For more information visit: www.peer1.com or www.peer1hosting.co.uk.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this release relating to matters that are not historical fact are forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, changes in technology, reliance on third party manufacturing, managing rapid growth, global sales risks, limited intellectual property protection and other risks and uncertainties described in PEER 1 Hosting's public filings with securities regulatory authorities.
For investor inquiries please contact:
Nick Hurst
The Equicom Group
+1 (403) 218-2835
[email protected]
For media inquiries please contact:
Rajan Sodhi
PEER 1 Hosting
+1 (604) 909-6407
[email protected]