Page 9: of Marine News Magazine (April 2006)

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April, 2006 • MarineNews 9

NEWS $30m Loan Funds

Distributed in LA

Louisiana Governor Blanco announced that the $30m Extended Bridge Loan pro- gram for small businesses affected by last year's hurricanes has been depleted in less than three weeks. The program has autho- rized 326 loans, with loan amounts aver- aging approximately $88,000 each. The program was designed to provide cash infusions for businesses awaiting insur- ance payments or other financial assis- tance. "Extended Bridge Loans are help- ing small businesses across South

Louisiana rebuild, re-hire and rejuvenate their operations," said Governor Blanco. "Each business that we help sustain adds to South Louisiana's recovery and the overall economic health of the entire state."

Initiated by Louisiana Economic

Development (LED), the program was administered through the Louisiana Pub- lic Facilities Authority (LPFA) and pri- vate banks. "We anticipated that the urgent need for funds would quickly deplete the available pool. This is another verification of our small businesses' criti- cal need for access to capital," said LED

Secretary Michael J. Olivier.

By using community banks to process the loans, the state was able to expedite the timetable for application, authoriza- tion and receipt of funds. "The Louisiana Extended Bridge Loan program accomplished its goal, which was to get cash quickly in the hands of small Louisiana businesses," said James

W. Parks, II, president and CEO of LPFA. "The program's success is testimony to what can be accomplished when state government, private banks and an organi- zation such as LPFA join forces. The par- ticipating banks did an outstanding job of promptly processing loan applications."

The Extended Bridge Loans are the sec- ond phase of a program initiated in Octo- ber 2005.

That loan pool was also depleted in less than one month. LED expects to re-fund the program as loans are repaid and as the state receives the additional Community

Development Block Grant money promised by the federal government and dedicated by the Louisiana Recovery

Authority for this purpose.

Horizon Completes $77m Refinancing

Horizon Offshore, Inc. has entered into a $77.4 million secured term facility agented by The CIT Group/Equipment

Financing, Inc. (the CIT Group). The credit facility has a five year term and bears interest at LIBOR plus 4.5% per annum. The credit facility is payable in monthly installments of $0.9 million, plus interest, for the first 24 months beginning

March 31, 2006 and $0.6 million, plus interest, for the next 35 months, with the remaining principal and unpaid interest due at maturity in March 2011.

The proceeds from the facility were used to repay the outstanding amount under the Company's previous CIT Group facility maturing in March 2006 and out- standing amount under the $70 million senior secured term loan facility agented by Manchester Securities Corp. maturing in March 2007 and related closing costs and fees.

Amounts outstanding under the new secured term loan facility are secured by mortgages on most of Horizon's vessels and contains covenants, events of default and cross-default provisions customary in financings of this type.

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