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SAVVIS Closes on CWA Funding

Carrier Hotels Staff Posted Feb 17, 2004

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SAVVIS Communications said today that it has begun managing the former U.S. hosting operation of Cable & Wireless, and expects to complete the transaction in early March, once the deal gets final approval from regulators.

SAVVIS also said it had closed on $252 million in financing for the deal, raising $200 million through the sale of subordinated debt, and another $52 million through the sale of surplus data center properties to Du Pont Fabros Development. The company said it had placed $150 million in escrow to fund the Cable & Wireless purchase, and now has $100 million in working capital.

SAVVIS outbid six other suitors in a Jan. 23 bankruptcy court auction for the assets of Cable & Wireless America (CWA), agreeing to pay $155 million for C&W's American customers and data centers. Cable & Wireless placed CWA in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a deal to exit the US hosting market.

The five-year subordinated notes, which pay a minimum of 12.5 percent interest, were purchased by existing investors Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and Bear Stearns' Constellation Ventures, along with new investors from Oak Hill Special Opportunities Fund.

"The $252 million in funding we have arranged provides SAVVIS with approximately $100 million in working capital to successfully integrate the companies and continue to provide outstanding service to the CWA customer base," said Rob McCormick, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SAVVIS. "SAVVIS is also very excited about adding Oak Hill Special Opportunities Fund and DuPont Fabros to our financing group, further demonstrating continued support of SAVVIS' virtualized utility platform, which is delivering high value managed services with industry leading reliability."

"We believe SAVVIS' business model and value added services will enable it to continue to excel in the evolving telecommunications industry," said Glenn R. August, Managing Partner of Oak Hill Special Opportunities Fund. "The addition of the Cable & Wireless network and hosting assets drives SAVVIS to an even larger scale and establishes it as a leading provider of managed IP communications and computing services. We are pleased to enter into this transaction with SAVVIS."