Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC [NYSE: WBD] today announced the placement
of two bond issues raising a total of 10 billion rubles (US$319.9
million at the exchange rate on July 1, 2010).
Tony Maher, CEO of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods commented: "I am very pleased
with the results of the placement. During the book building we received
71 bids for a total of more than 17.2 billion rubles. Such strong demand
for our bonds from foreign and domestic investors allowed us to increase
the size of the placement from 5 to 10 billion rubles. The rate of the
first coupon was set at 7.90% annually, a level significantly lower than
our debt being retired and the rate seen during the marketing process.
This is a striking endorsement by the investment community of our sound
fundamentals, business model and strong growth prospects. The issuance
of ruble bonds provides us with additional capital for future growth and
further optimizes our debt portfolio.”
VTB Capital and Raiffeisenbank acted as organizers for the bond issues.
The two bond issues, with a total nominal value of 10 billion rubles,
have a maturity of three years, with coupons paid every six months. The
technical placement of the bonds took place on July 1, 2010 on the
Moscow Interbank Stock Exchange.
Some of the information contained in this press release may contain
projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events
or the future financial performance of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC, as
defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these
statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may
differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements to
conform them to actual results. We refer you to the documents
Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC files from time to time with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically, the Company's most
recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important
factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk
Factors" in our Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ
materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking
statements, including, among others, potential fluctuations in quarterly
results, and risks associated with our competitive environment,
acquisition strategy, ability to develop new products or maintain market
share, brand and company image, operating in Russia, volatility of stock
price, financial risk management, and future growth.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC was founded in 1992 and is the largest
manufacturer of dairy products and a leading producer of juices and
beverages in Russia and the CIS. The company produces dairy products
(main brands include: Domik v Derevne, Neo, 2Bio, 33 Korovy, Chudo and
more), juices (J7, Lubimy Sad, 100% Gold), Essentuki mineral water and
Agusha baby food.
The company has 37 manufacturing facilities in Russia, Ukraine,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia with over 16,000 employees. In 2005,
Wimm-Bill-Dann became the first Russian dairy producer to receive
approval from the European Commission to export its products into the
European Union.
In 2010, Standard & Poor's Governance Services confirmed on WBD its
governance, accountability, management, metrics, and analysis (GAMMA)
score "GAMMA- 7+”. The score reflects the effective work of the Board of
Directors and, in particular, the real influence of independent
directors in the decision-making process and the adherence of the
controlling shareholders to the highest standards of corporate
governance.
