ROCKFORD, Mich., Sept. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolverine
Worldwide (NYSE: WWW) announced the completion of its debt
refinancing activities on September 15,
2016, including the amendment of its senior credit facility
and the redemption of its 6.125% Senior Notes due 2020.
The resulting capital structure is expected to meaningfully
benefit the Company, with estimated interest savings of
$30 million through 2020 and more
flexibility as a result of more favorable terms for use of
cash. Coupled with the recently announced four-year,
$300 million share repurchase
program, the new capital structure is expected to allow for greater
capacity to repurchase shares beginning in 2016, as deemed
appropriate, drive organic growth, or fund future acquisitions.
The completed refinancing included the following activities:
- Redemption of $375 million of
6.125% Senior Notes due 2020
- Issuance of $250 million of
5.000% Senior Notes due 2026
- Amendment of the Company's senior credit facility, which will
provide $150 million of incremental
term loans and $100 million of
incremental revolving credit facility
"We expect to continue to consistently generate significant cash
and, as a result of our refinancing efforts, we are better
positioned to return more of this value to shareholders," said
Mike Stornant, Senior Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer. "Further, we remain confident in
the business' direction and our strategic initiatives, focused on
driving the global growth of our brands and improving bottom-line
performance going forward."
ABOUT WOLVERINE WORLDWIDE
With a commitment to service and product excellence, Wolverine
World Wide, Inc. is one of the world's leading marketers of branded
casual, active lifestyle, work, outdoor sport, athletic, children's
and uniform footwear and apparel. The Company's portfolio of
highly recognized brands includes: Merrell®,
Sperry®, Hush Puppies®, Saucony®,
Wolverine®, Keds®, Stride Rite®,
Sebago®, Chaco®, Bates®,
HYTEST®, and Soft Style®. The Company
also is the global footwear licensee of the popular brands
Cat® and Harley-Davidson®. The
Company's products are carried by leading retailers in the U.S. and
globally in approximately 200 countries and territories. For
additional information, please visit our website,
www.wolverineworldwide.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which
are statements relating to future, not past, events. In this
context, forward-looking statements often address management's
current beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates and
projections about future business and financial performance,
national, regional or global political, economic and market
conditions, and the Company itself. Such statements often
contain words such as "guidance," "estimates," "anticipates,"
"believes," "forecasts," "step," "plans," "predicts," "projects,"
"is likely," "expects," "intends," "should," "will," "confident,"
variations of such words, and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements include all matters that are not
historical facts, and by their nature, address matters that are, to
varying degrees, uncertain. They appear in a number of places
throughout this press release and include statements regarding the
Company's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning,
among other things, our results of operations, financial condition,
liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which
we operate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, the following: changes in general economic conditions,
employment rates, business conditions, interest rates, tax policies
and other factors affecting consumer spending in the markets and
regions in which the Company's products are sold; the inability for
any reason to effectively compete in global footwear, apparel and
consumer-direct markets; the inability to maintain positive brand
images and anticipate, understand and respond to changing footwear
and apparel trends and consumer preferences; the inability to
effectively manage inventory levels; increases or changes in
duties, tariffs, quotas or applicable assessments in countries of
import and export; currency fluctuations; currency restrictions;
capacity constraints, production disruptions, quality issues, price
increases or other risks associated with foreign sourcing; the cost
and availability of raw materials, inventories, services and labor
for owned and contract manufacturers; labor disruptions; changes in
relationships with, including the loss of, significant wholesale
customers; the failure of the U.S. Department of Defense to
exercise future purchase options or award new contracts, or the
cancellation or modification of existing contracts by the
Department of Defense or other military purchasers; risks related
to the significant investment in, and performance of, the Company's
consumer-direct operations; risks related to the expanding into new
markets and complementary product categories as well as
consumer-direct operations; the impact of seasonality and
unpredictable weather conditions; changes in general economic
conditions and/or the credit markets on the Company's distributors,
suppliers and customers; increase in the Company's effective tax
rates; failure of licensees or distributors to meet planned annual
sales goals or to make timely payments to the Company; the risks of
doing business in developing countries, and politically or
economically volatile areas; the ability to secure and protect
owned intellectual property or use licensed intellectual property;
the impact of regulation, regulatory and legal proceedings and
legal compliance risks; the inability to attract and retain
executive managers and other key employees; the potential breach of
the Company's databases, or those of its vendors, which contain
certain personal information or payment card data; problems
affecting the Company's distribution system, including service
interruptions at shipping and receiving ports; strategic actions,
including new initiatives and ventures, acquisitions and
dispositions, and the Company's success in integrating acquired
businesses, and implementing new initiatives and ventures; the risk
of impairment to goodwill and other acquired intangibles; the
success of the Company's consumer-direct realignment initiatives;
changes in future pension funding requirements and pension
expenses; risks related to our substantial indebtedness; and
additional factors discussed in the Company's reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission and exhibits thereto.
Although we base these forward-looking statements on assumptions
that we believe are reasonable when made, we caution investors that
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and
liquidity and the development of the industry in which we operate
may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the
forward-looking statements contained or incorporated by reference
in this press release. In addition, even if our results of
operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development
of the industry in which we operate are consistent with the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release, those
results or developments may not be indicative of results or
developments in subsequent periods. Given these risks and
uncertainties, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance
on these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements
that we make in this press release speak only as of the date of
such forward-looking statements, and we undertake no obligation to
update, amend or clarify those statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise. Comparisons of
results for current and any prior periods are not intended to
express any future trends or indications of future performance,
unless expressed as such, and should only be viewed as historical
data.
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SOURCE Wolverine Worldwide