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Global Crossing Announces Extension of Exchange Offer on Senior Secured Notes
Florham Park, NJ - September 14, 2005 -- Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) announced today that, in light of the announcement by its wholly owned subsidiary, Global Crossing (UK) Telecommunications Limited. (GCUK), of its financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2005, and the correction made for certain depreciation costs for the first quarter of 2005, Global Crossing (UK) Finance plc (GCUK Finance), a direct subsidiary of GCUK, has extended until 5:00 p.m. BST on Friday, September 23, 2005, its exchange offer with respect to its senior secured notes. The terms of the extended exchange offer are identical to those of the original exchange offer, which had previously been scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m. BST on Thursday, September 15, 2005. This extension will allow bondholders an opportunity to review the information contained in the quarterly report to bondholders for the six months ended June 30, 2005. GCUK Finance may also be updating certain of its exchange offer documentation.
GCUK Finance seeks to exchange up to $200 million of its 10.75-percent US dollar-denominated senior secured notes due in 2014 and up to £105 million of its 11.75-percent British pounds sterling-denominated senior secured notes due in 2014, all of which were privately placed in December 2004. The notes will be exchanged for equivalent amounts and types of notes, the offer and sale of which have been registered pursuant to a registration statement that was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 2, 2005.
As of 5:00 p.m. BST on September 13, 2005, approximately 90 percent of the holders of the dollar-denominated notes had tendered their unregistered notes. The sterling-denominated notes will be tendered in accordance with the procedures of Euroclear and Clearstream (the "Clearing Systems"). The Clearing Systems will not notify The Bank of New York of the amount tendered until the expiration date of the exchange offer, and as a result, the exchange agent has received no tenders of the sterling notes to date. However, based on information it has, GCUK Finance expects all or substantially all of the notes held by the Clearing Systems to be tendered in accordance with their procedures unless beneficial holders otherwise instruct the Clearing Systems.
The terms of the exchange offer permit bondholders to withdraw their tenders until the expiration of the exchange offer. Beneficial holders of the dollar-denominated notes and the sterling-denominated notes can exercise their withdrawal rights by informing their direct or indirect participants in their respective clearing systems in accordance with the procedures of such clearing systems. As a consequence, the amount of unregistered notes that are finally tendered in the exchange offer may differ from the amounts reported in this release.
As is the case with the unregistered notes, the new notes will be guaranteed by GCUK.
The Exchange Offer satisfies certain obligations of GCUK and GCUK Finance, with respect to the registration of the notes.
Copies of the prospectus and other information relating to this exchange offer are available from the exchange agent, The Bank of New York.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase. No sale of these securities shall occur in any state on which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities law of said state.
ABOUT GLOBAL CROSSING (UK) TELECOMMUNICATIONS LTD.
Global Crossing (UK) Telecommunications Ltd. provides a full range of managed telecommunications services in a secure environment ideally suited for IP-based business applications. The company provides managed voice, data, Internet and e-commerce solutions to the strong and established commercial customer base, including more than 100 UK government departments, as well as systems integrators, rail sector customers and major corporate clients. In addition, GCUK provides carrier services to national and international communications service providers.
Global Crossing (UK) Telecommunications operates a high-capacity UK network comprising more than 5,600 route miles of fiber optic cable connecting 150 towns and cities and reaching within just over one mile of 64 percent of UK businesses. The UK network is linked into the wider Global Crossing network that connects more than 300 cities and 30 countries worldwide, and delivers services to more than 500 major cities, 50 countries and 6 continents around the globe.
ABOUT GLOBAL CROSSING
Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) provides telecommunications solutions over the world's first integrated global IP-based network. Its core network connects more than 300 cities and 30 countries worldwide, and delivers services to more than 500 major cities, 50 countries and 6 continents around the globe. The company's global sales and support model matches the network footprint and, like the network, delivers a consistent customer experience worldwide.
Global Crossing IP services are global in scale, linking the world's enterprises, governments and carriers with customers, employees and partners worldwide in a secure environment that is ideally suited for IP-based business applications, allowing e-commerce to thrive. The company offers a full range of managed data and voice products including Global Crossing IP VPN Service, Global Crossing Managed Services and Global Crossing VoIP services, to more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500, as well as 700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs.
Please visit www.globalcrossing.com for more information about Global Crossing.
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Statements made in this press release that state the company's intentions, beliefs, expectations, or predictions for the future are forward-looking statements. These statements contain words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "will," "seek," or similar expressions. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements, including the conditioning of the company's continued listing on the NASDAQ National Market on its timely filing with the SEC of all periodic reports for all reporting periods ending on or prior to September 30, 2005; the company's history of substantial operating losses and the fact that, in the near term, funds from operations will not satisfy cash requirements; legal and contractual restrictions on the payment of dividends and the inter-company transfer of funds by the company's subsidiaries, including restrictions under the senior secured notes indenture applicable to Global Crossing (UK) Telecommunications Limited ("GCUK"); the likelihood that the prices the company charges for its services will continue to decrease; the company's ability to continue to connect its network to incumbent carriers' networks or maintain Internet peering arrangements on favorable terms; the success of the company's business realignment plan and the realization of anticipated cost savings; the consequences of any inadvertent violation of the company's Network Security Agreement with the U.S. Government; the impact of actual and potential customers' bankruptcies on the company's sales prospects and results of operations; increased competition and pricing pressures resulting from technology advances and regulatory changes; competitive disadvantages relative to competitors with superior resources; the impact on the company's competitiveness of its technology choices; the company's dependence on third parties for many functions; political, legal and other risks due to the company's substantial international operations; risks arising out of the company's material weaknesses in internal controls and possible difficulties and delays in improving such controls; the concentration of GCUK's revenue in a limited number of customers, and the rights of such customers to terminate their contracts or to simply cease purchasing services thereunder; and other risks referenced from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no duty to update information contained in this press release or in other public disclosures at any time.
CONTACT GLOBAL CROSSING:
Press Contacts
Becky Yeamans
+ 1 973 937 0155
PR@globalcrossing.com
Kendra Langlie
Latin America
+ 1 305 808 5912
LatAmPR@globalcrossing.com
Mish Desmidt
Europe
+ 44 (0) 1256 732 866
EuropePR@globalcrossing.com
Analysts/Investors Contact
Laurinda Pang
+ 1 800 836 0342
glbc@globalcrossing.com
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