Brussels—Mar 9, 2009
Fortis Bank commits to the first of two tranches of EUR 50 million for the financing of XDC's roll-out of digital cinema in Europe
Fortis Bank has committed to funding the first tranche of EUR 50 million for the financing of XDC’s roll-out of digital cinema equipment across Europe, pursuant to its mandate to arrange EUR 100 million financing. The Credit Facility will be available for draw down upon fulfillment of certain conditions, including satisfactory documentation.
This financing will be, upon closing expected by mid April, the first major financing deal in the European digital cinema industry and will further enhance XDC’s position as a major player in the European market.
Last year XDC executed Digital Cinema Deployment Agreements (“DCDAs”) with 6 major Hollywood studios after which the company started the first deployment with European exhibitors and the support of European distributors.
The commitment by Fortis Bank to provide this financing – which was seen as the missing link – will now enable XDC to complete the first phase of the VPF (Virtual Print Fee) based roll-out. With the total EUR 100 million XDC will be able to finance more than 2,000 digital screens across different European countries.
In parallel, within this scope, XDC raised in December 2008 an additional EUR 6 million funding of which EUR 3 million from its existing shareholders and EUR 3 million coming from SRIW (Société Régionale d’Investissement de Wallonie).
About Fortis Bank and Global Export and Project Finance
Fortis Bank is an international provider of banking services to personal, business and institutional customers. Global Export & Project Finance (GEPF) is Fortis competence centre for long-term export and project finance and has a fully integrated international team of specialists in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, UK, the United Arab Emirates and the USA. It also benefits from the support of representative offices in Algeria, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, South Korea and Vietnam. GEPF is specialised in structuring and underwriting of the financing of large investment projects as well as Infrastructure and Private Financing Initiatives in European countries. GEPF is one of Fortis’ platforms for growth with a global reach.
More info available at www.fortisbank.be Contacts: Press office Brussels - Tel.:+32 2 565 35 84
