Boston Scientific Amends Credit Facility and Prepays $1 Billi...( NATICK Mass. Aug. 23 /- Boston Sc...)

NATICK, Mass., Aug. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced that it has successfully amended its $2 billion revolving line of credit and $5 billion term loan agreement, providing the Company additional financial flexibility as it implements initiatives designed to increase shareholder value.

"We were pleased to work with our lenders to amend our credit facility," said Jim Tobin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Scientific. "These changes provide significant financial flexibility that will assist us as we execute our plan to divest non-strategic assets, monetize our investment portfolio, and reduce expenses and head count, as well as achieve our broader goal of increasing shareholder value."

Among other items, the amendment extends a step-down in the maximum permitted leverage ratio (total debt divided by EBITDA [Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization]) as follows:

From: To:

4.5 times to 3.5 times on March 31, 2008 4.5 times to 4.0 times on March

31, 2009, and 4.0 times to 3.5

times on September 30, 2009

The amendment clarifies the definition of EBITDA to exclude up to $300 million of any restructuring charges incurred through June 30, 2009 and up to $500 million of any litigation charges -- less any litigation income recorded -- each year through June 30, 2009. In addition, the amendment changes the application of any term loan pre-payments from pro-rata across maturities to the chronological order of maturities.

The amended credit facility and resulting financial
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