Windstream announces allocation and upsize of incremental term loan

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., March 17, 2016 -- Windstream Holdings, Inc. (“Windstream”) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Windstream Services, LLC (“Windstream Services”), received notice that the new incremental term loan under its existing senior secured credit facilities has been allocated to lenders.  Windstream Services expects to incur approximately $600 million of incremental term loans, which will be priced at 97.5% of the principal amount and bear interest of LIBOR plus 5.00% per annum (with a minimum LIBOR rate of 0.75%).  As previously announced, Windstream Services intends to use the proceeds of such incremental term loans to repay certain of its 7.875% senior notes due 2017 and/or repay certain of its other debts.   

“We were very pleased to see strong investor demand for the incremental term loans,” said Bob Gunderman, Windstream’s chief financial officer.   “The loans were multiple times oversubscribed, enabling us to improve pricing and upsize the facility to further optimize our balance sheet, significantly reduce near-term maturities and improve cash interest.”

The transaction is expected to close on March 29 and remains subject to documentation and customary closing conditions. 

This press release is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell any securities, loans or indebtedness of Windstream or Windstream Services.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties that could cause actual future events and results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, including with respect to Windstream Services’ ability to incur the incremental term loans described in this press release, and incur them on the terms set forth herein, are based on estimates, projections, beliefs, and assumptions that Windstream and Windstream Services believe are reasonable but are not guarantees of future events and results. Actual future events and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of important factors, including those described in filings by Windstream and Windstream Services with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be found at www.sec.gov.

About Windstream

Windstream (NASDAQ:WIN), a FORTUNE 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications and technology solutions for consumers, small businesses, enterprise organizations and carrier partners across the U.S. Windstream offers bundled services, including broadband, security solutions, voice and digital TV to consumers. The company also provides data, cloud solutions, unified communications and managed services to business and enterprise clients. The company supplies core transport solutions on a local and long-haul fiber-optic network spanning approximately 125,000 miles. Additional information is available at windstream.com. Please visit our newsroom at news.windstream.com or follow us on Twitter at @WindstreamNews.

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Investor Contact:
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