US Private Placement

Northgate PLC 15 December 2006 15 December 2006 Northgate plc US Private Placement Northgate plc ('Northgate' or the 'Group'), the leading commercial vehicle hire company in the UK and Spain, today announced that it is issuing approximately £175 million of senior guaranteed loan notes into the US Private Placement debt market. Notes were issued on 14 December 2006 in both US dollars ($245 million) and UK sterling (£21 million) with further notes scheduled to be issued in US dollars ($50m) in January 2007. The notes are fixed rate and unsecured, with a maturity of 7 and 10 years. The proceeds of the issue are being applied to reduce the Group's existing bank debt. The placement extends the maturity profile of Northgate's debt facilities whilst taking advantage of favourable longer-term UK sterling interest rates. After swapping US fixed interest rates into UK sterling fixed interest rates, the weighted average interest rate payable by the Group on these notes is approximately 5.78%. The reduction of Northgate's existing bank debt has no transactional costs under the terms of the facilities and creates capacity to fund the Group's continued growth. Northgate's interim results will be announced on 9 January 2007. -Ends- For further information, please contact: Northgate plc Tel: 01325 467558 Steve Smith, Chief Executive Officer Gerard Murray, Group Finance Director Hogarth Partnership Limited Tel: 0207 357 9477 Andrew Jaques Barnaby Fry Anthony Arthur Further information regarding Northgate can be found on the Group's website: http://www.northgateplc.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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