Northstar Aerospace, Inc. announces new $66 million credit facility

    
    LISTED:    TSX
    SYMBOL:    NAS               Common Shares
    

CHICAGO, IL, March 30 /CNW/ - (All amounts in this news release are stated in U.S. dollars.) Northstar Aerospace, Inc. announced today that the company has closed an expanded three year credit agreement with Fifth Third Bank and Wintrust Financial Corporation as arranged by the Structured Finance Group at Fifth Third Bank.

The new $66 million credit agreement includes a $26 million term loan and a revolving asset based credit facility with maximum borrowing up to $40 million. The term loan is to be repaid at a rate of $1 million per quarter beginning on September 30, 2010. Funds from the term loan will be used to pay off $19 million of the existing revolving credit facility and retire approximately $7 million of capital lease obligations. The revolving line of credit will be used to retire the remainder of the current credit facility, with the remaining line available to the company for working capital purposes and other short and long-term cash needs. Borrowings under these loans will be at a lower interest rate than the existing facility and are subject to fewer financial covenants.

"Our ability to close a credit arrangement of this scope in today's challenging banking environment speaks to the strength of our business opportunities and the operational improvements we have made over the last couple of years," said Donald Jackson, Executive Chairman of Northstar Aerospace, Inc.

"We are pleased to augment our 5-year relationship with Northstar Aerospace," said Phil Kain, Managing Director of the Structured Finance Group at Fifth Third Bank. "At Fifth Third, we are committed to responsible lending for our commercial middle market clients."

Northstar Aerospace, Inc. (www.nsaero.com) is North America's leading independent manufacturer of flight critical gears and transmissions. Northstar Aerospace is a public company (TSX:NAS) with operating subsidiaries in the United States and Canada. Its principal products include helicopter gears and transmissions, accessory gearbox assemblies, rotorcraft drive systems and other machined and fabricated parts. It also provides maintenance, repair and overhaul of transmissions and drive systems. The Company's executive offices are located in Chicago, Illinois. Its plants are located in Chicago, Illinois; Phoenix, Arizona; Anderson, Indiana; and Milton and Windsor, Ontario.

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Company has $113 billion in assets, operates 16 affiliates with 1,309 full-service Banking Centers, including 103 Bank Mart(R) locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores and 2,361 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Georgia and North Carolina. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, and Investment Advisors. Fifth Third also has a 49% interest in Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of December 31, 2009, has $187 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $25 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ(R) National Global Select Market under the symbol "FITB." Fifth Third Bank, Member FDIC.

Wintrust is a financial holding company with assets of approximately $12 billion whose common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq:WTFC). Wintrust operates fifteen community bank subsidiaries that are located in the greater Chicago and Milwaukee market areas. Additionally, the Company operates various non-bank subsidiaries including one of the largest commercial insurance premium finance companies operating in the United States, a company providing short-term accounts receivable financing and value-added out-sourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, companies engaging primarily in the origination and purchase of residential mortgages for sale into the secondary market throughout the United States, and companies providing wealth management services including broker-dealer, money management services, advisory services, and trust and estate services. Currently, Wintrust operates more than 75 banking offices.

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For further information: Greg Schindler, Chief Financial Officer, Vice President Finance, [phone] or [email protected]