BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- American Capital,
Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS) ("American Capital" or the "Company") announced
today that its Board of Directors has instructed the Company to
undertake a full strategic review of all alternatives with Goldman
Sachs & Co. and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC as its financial advisors to assist
in this review. The strategic review will consider all
alternatives for maximizing shareholder value, including a sale of
the Company or its various business lines in whole or in part.
The strategic review will be run by an independent committee
of the Board consisting of Neil
Hahl, Kristen Manos,
Kenneth Peterson and David Richards and will be chaired by Mr.
Hahl.
"The Strategic Review Committee looks forward to a full
independent review with the sole goal of maximizing value for
shareholders," said Mr. Hahl. The Company's previously announced
plan to spin off to its shareholders a new business development
company will be evaluated as part of the review.
"We have generated a 16% annualized growth rate in both our book
value and price per share over the five years ended September 30, 2015," said Malon Wilkus, Chair and Chief Executive Officer
of the Company. "Nonetheless, we continue to trade at a
meaningful discount to our book value, even as we progress with our
plans for the spin off, which is intended to unlock shareholder
value. Therefore, I am fully supportive of this strategic
review, which will allow us to realize the optimal value for our
shareholders."
The Company also announced that its Board of Directors has
revised and expanded its current stock buyback program, which began
in the third quarter of 2015, by increasing it to a range of
$600 million to $1 billion from the prior range of
$300 million to $600 million. Under the program,
purchases will only be made at per share prices below 85% of the
Company's net asset value per share as of September 30, 2015. The Company
expects to enter into a Rule10b5-1 trading plan to undertake
accretive share repurchases on a non-discretionary basis up to the
$1 billion limit. The Company expects
to complete the upsized program by June 30,
2016.
"We consider our stock to be a terrific bargain," added Mr.
Wilkus. "Having already purchased shares representing 34% of
our shares outstanding when the program started, we intend to
purchase additional significant amounts as long as we continue to
trade at a significant discount to our book value. During the
course of our strategic review we will continue to be prudent
managing our balance sheet and cost structure."
Since American Capital began stock buybacks in August 2011 through September 30, 2015,
American Capital made open market purchases of 117.8 million
shares, for an aggregate of $1.4
billion, of American Capital common stock at an average
price of $12.05 per share.
American Capital expects to disclose publicly the initial
results of its strategic review no later than January 31, 2016.
ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL
American Capital, Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS) is a publicly traded
private equity firm and global asset manager. American Capital,
both directly and through its asset management business,
originates, underwrites and manages investments in middle market
private equity, leveraged finance, real estate, energy &
infrastructure and structured products. American Capital manages
$23 billion of assets, including
assets on its balance sheet and fee earning assets under management
by affiliated managers, with $80
billion of total assets under management (including levered
assets). Through a wholly-owned affiliate, American Capital manages
publicly traded American Capital Agency Corp. (Nasdaq: AGNC),
American Capital Mortgage Investment Corp. (Nasdaq: MTGE) and
American Capital Senior Floating, Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACSF) with
approximately $10 billion of total
net book value. From its eight offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia, American Capital and its wholly-owned
affiliate, European Capital, will consider investment opportunities
from $10 million to $600 million. For
further information, please refer to www.AmericanCapital.com.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This press release contains forward-looking information and
statements. Forward-looking statements give our current
expectations and projections relating to the Company's financial
condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future
performance and business. You can identify forward-looking
statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to
historical or current facts. These statements may include
words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project,"
"plan," "intend," "believe," "confident," "may," "should," "can
have," "likely," "future" and other words and terms of similar
meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature
of transaction closings, future operating or financial performance
or other events. Forward looking statements are not
guarantees of performance or results, and involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond the Company's
control), assumptions and other factors that may cause actual
results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in
such forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, the Company's actual results
may vary in material respects from those projected in any
forward-looking statements. Certain factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in
the forward-looking statements are included in the "Risk Factors"
section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2014 and the Company's subsequent
periodic filings. Copies are available on
the SEC's website at
www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statement made by
the Company in this press release speaks only as of the date on
which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to
update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be
required by law. Performance data quoted above
represents past performance of American
Capital. Past performance does not guarantee future results
and the investment return and principal value of an investment
in American Capital will
likely fluctuate.
Contact:
Media (301) 968-9400
Investor Relations (301) 951-5917
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SOURCE American Capital, Ltd.