SAN DIEGO, Calif., March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gen-Probe Incorporated announced today that it is borrowing $170 million under a newly issued line of credit to finance its pending acquisition of Tepnel Life Sciences PLC and other general corporate activities, including its existing share repurchase program.
The Company will pay interest on the one-year, $180 million revolving credit facility, provided by Bank of America, at a floating rate 0.6 percent above the one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which was approximately 0.5 percent earlier today.
"In today's difficult economic environment, Gen-Probe's strong balance sheet and cash flow enable us to access external liquidity more cost-effectively than if we were to sell assets from our own short-term investment portfolio, which totaled $505 million at year-end and currently yields 2.9% on an after-tax basis," said Herm Rosenman, the Company's senior vice president, finance, and chief financial officer.
About Gen-Probe
Gen-Probe Incorporated is a global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of rapid, accurate and cost-effective nucleic acid tests (NATs) that are used primarily to diagnose human diseases and screen donated human blood. Gen-Probe has more than 25 years of NAT expertise, and received the 2004 National Medal of Technology, America's highest honor for technological innovation, for developing NAT assays for blood screening. Gen-Probe is headquartered in San Diego and employs approximately 1,000 people. For more information, go to www.gen-probe.com.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release relating to expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as believe, will, expect, anticipate, estimate, intend, plan and would. For example, statements regarding future uses of the credit line are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Some of these risks include, but are not limited to, (i) the risk that LIBOR will increase; (ii) the risk that yields on our current short-term investment portfolio will fall; (iii) the risk that we will default on the credit line; and (iv) the risk that we will not close our pending Tepnel acquisition. For additional information about risks and uncertainties we face and a discussion of our financial statements and footnotes, see documents we file with the SEC, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and all subsequent periodic reports. We assume no obligation and expressly disclaim any duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release or to reflect the occurrence of subsequent events.
CONTACT: Michael Watts, Vice president, investor relations and corporate
communications of Gen-Probe Incorporated, +1-858-410-8673
Web site: http://www.gen-probe.com/
