Dec 9 2010
China-Biotics, Inc. ("China-Biotics" or "the Company"), (Nasdaq: CHBT) the leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of probiotics products in China, today announced that it has redeemed $25 million in outstanding 4 percent senior convertible promissory notes for cash two days before the December 11, 2010 maturity date.
The $1,000 notes were originally issued on December 11, 2007. The redemption price is 100 percent of the principal amount per convertible note, plus accrued and unpaid interest as of the redemption date of December 11, 2010. The total redemption cost is $25 million in convertible note principal, plus approximately $4.68 million in accrued and unpaid interest. The convertible note principal is equivalent to 2.08 million common shares. With this redemption, the total diluted share count for computation of EPS is now reduced to 22.3 million shares. As of September 30, 2010, cash and cash equivalents were $158.8 million.
Mr. Jinan Song, Chairman and CEO of China-Biotics, commented, "We are very pleased to retire our only interest-bearing debt instrument. Redemption of these convertible notes enhances shareholder value through substantially strengthening our balance sheet and creating immediate accretion of our earnings per share. With our proven track record to consistently generate free cash-flow, we plan to continue to leverage our strong balance sheet to propel rapid sales growth and fund strategic expansion in production going forward. We believe this key milestone enables us to upgrade our shareholder base to higher quality long-term investors."
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