European Capital Announces Completion of Debt Restructuring

ST. PETER PORT, Guernsey, June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- European Capital Limited ("European Capital") announced today that it has recently completed the restructuring and partial retirement of its debt.  European Capital's parent company, American Capital, Ltd., is also announcing today completion of its debt restructuring.

On 18 December 2009, European Capital's wholly owned subsidiary ECAS S.a r.l. amended its existing secured multi-currency credit facility into a term facility.  As of 31 May 2010, the balance under the facility was euro 272 million.  Interest on the borrowings under this amended facility is charged at Euribor or LIBOR, depending on the currency of the borrowing, plus a margin of 2.5%, and a Program Fee of either 5.0% or 7.5%, paid in kind, based on the amount outstanding under the facility as shown in the table below.  This facility is collateralized by the assets of ECAS S.a r.l. The facility matures on 31 December 2011, with all scheduled principal amortization until 30 June 2011 already met.

    
    
    Program Fee declines as principal is repaid:
      Advances outstanding                         Program fee
      Greater than euro 200 million                    7.5%
      Less than euro 200 million                       5.0%

As of 4 March 2010, European Capital S.A. SICAR, a wholly-owned subsidiary of European Capital, paid down the remaining euro 85 million balance on its unsecured multi-currency revolving credit facility.  American Capital funded $75 million to European Capital S.A. SICAR as a bridge loan.  As of 31 May 2010, the amount outstanding under the bridge loan was $15 million.

European Capital now has euro 283 million of secured debt, euro 142 million of unsecured debt and euro 168 million of securitized debt and has approximately euro 583 million of net asset value.

"I am pleased to complete the amendment and partial retirement of European Capital's debt, having delevered our balance sheet by more than euro 201 million over the past six months," said Malon Wilkus, Chairman and Director, European Capital Limited.  "This should enhance shareholder value and provides us with a capital structure to continue to finance and grow our portfolio companies.  Since November 2009, European Capital has had euro 224 million in realizations, which has resulted in significant deleveraging."

ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL

European Capital is an investment company for pan-European equity, mezzanine and senior debt investments with euro 1.2 billion in assets under management.  It is managed by European Capital Financial Services (Guernsey) Limited ("ECFSG" or the "Investment Manager"), a wholly-owned affiliate of American Capital, Ltd.

ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL

American Capital (Nasdaq: ACAS) is a publicly traded private equity firm and global asset manager with $14 billion in capital resources under management.  American Capital, both directly and through its asset management business, originates, underwrites and manages investments in middle market private equity, leveraged finance, real estate and structured products.  Founded in 1986, American Capital currently has eight offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.  For further information, please refer to www.AmericanCapital.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. The statements regarding expected results of European Capital and/or American Capital are subject to various factors and uncertainties, including the uncertainties associated with the timing of transaction closings, changes in interest rates, availability of transactions, changes in regional, national or international economic conditions, or changes in the conditions of the industries in which European Capital and/or American Capital has made investments.

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www.EuropeanCapital.com

SOURCE European Capital Limited