IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NXST) announced today it received commitments for a $3.1 billion refinancing of its outstanding Senior Secured Term Loan facilities, including the balance of the $2.75 billion Senior Secured Term Loan B due January 2024, the $51.3 million Senior Secured Term Loan A due June 2018 and the $293.9 million Senior Secured Term Loan A due January 2022. Nexstar will also be refinancing its $175.0 million Senior Secured revolving credit facility under which $3.0 million was drawn as of March 31, 2017. The Company expects the refinancing transaction to close on or about July 18, 2017, which will lower its annual interest expense by approximately $15 million and increase free cash flow by approximately $9 million on an annualized basis.
The new $2.125 billion Term Loan B facility was issued at par and bears interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 2.50%, while its maturity date remains unchanged. These new terms represent a 50 basis point interest rate reduction compared to the Company’s prior Term Loan B facility. The new $800 million Term Loan A facility was issued at par and initially bears interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 2.00%, with periodic adjustments thereafter according to a leverage based grid. The maturity on the balance of the $51.3 million tranche is unchanged and the remaining portion of the Term Loan A will have a new 5 year maturity. The Company’s new Senior Secured revolving credit facility has a total capacity of $175 million, of which $3.0 million is currently drawn, and initially bears interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 2.00%, with periodic adjustments thereafter according to a leverage based grid. The Company’s previous Term Loan A and revolving credit facility were priced at a rate of LIBOR plus 2.50%, while the interest rate for the new Term Loan A and revolving credit facilities is LIBOR plus 2.00%.
Perry A. Sook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. commented, “The refinancing of our Senior Secured Term Loan facilities and revolving credit facility further underscores Nexstar’s ongoing focus on actively managing our capital structure to drive free cash flow growth and provide the financial flexibility to support our near- and long-term growth and return of capital objectives. We thank our lenders for their continued support and believe this refinancing will enhance long-term shareholder value as it reduces our annual cash interest expense thus increasing our significant and growing free cash flow. Furthermore, we continue to expect Nexstar’s net leverage, absent additional strategic activity, to be in the high 4x range at the end of 2017 before declining to the mid 3x range by the end of 2018.”
About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group is a leading diversified media company that leverages localism to bring new services and value to consumers and advertisers through its traditional media, digital and mobile media platforms. Nexstar owns, operates, programs or provides sales and other services to 170 television stations and related digital multicast signals reaching 100 markets or nearly 39% of all U.S. television households. Nexstar’s portfolio includes primary affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV and The CW. Nexstar’s community portal websites offer additional hyper-local content and verticals for consumers and advertisers, allowing audiences to choose where, when and how they access content while creating new revenue opportunities. For more information please visit www.nexstar.tv.
Forward-Looking Statements
This communication includes forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. Forward-looking statements include information preceded by, followed by, or that includes the words "guidance," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "could," or similar expressions. For these statements, Nexstar claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this communication, concerning, among other things, future financial performance, including changes in net revenue, cash flow and operating expenses, involve risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various important factors, including the impact of changes in national and regional economies, the ability to service and refinance our outstanding debt, successful integration of acquired television stations and digital businesses (including achievement of synergies and cost reductions), pricing fluctuations in local and national advertising, future regulatory actions and conditions in the television stations' operating areas, competition from others in the broadcast television markets, volatility in programming costs, the effects of governmental regulation of broadcasting, industry consolidation, technological developments and major world news events. Nexstar undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this communication might not occur. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. For more details on factors that could affect these expectations, please see Nexstar’s other filings with the SEC.
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