New Flyer Announces Amended and Restated Credit Facility

New Flyer Industries Inc. (TSX:NFI.UN) (“New Flyer” or the “Company”), the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in Canada and the United States, is pleased to announce that New Flyer Industries Canada ULC and New Flyer of America Inc., the Company’s Canadian and American operating subsidiaries, have entered into an amended and restated credit facility agreement (the “New Credit Facility”) with The Bank of Nova Scotia, as lead arranger, sole book runner and administrative agent and a syndicate of leading Canadian and American financial institutions in the amount of US$180 million.  The New Credit Facility refinances New Flyer’s existing senior credit facility which was scheduled to mature in August 2009.  The New Credit Facility matures on April 24, 2012 and consists of a US$90 million term loan, a US$50 million revolver and a US$40 million letter of credit facility.

In total, initial proposed commitments received from lenders under the New Credit Facility exceeded the required size of the facility by over 20%.  The lending syndicate includes The Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, Export Development Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of America, Laurentian Bank and The Toronto-Dominion Bank.

In connection with the New Credit Facility, the borrowers will be rolling over existing cross-currency interest rate swaps designed to hedge floating rate exposure for the term of the New Credit Facility.  Based on the interest rate applicable to the term portion of the New Credit Facility and the terms of the swap, management expects that the overall interest costs of the term portion of the New Credit Facility will not exceed those of the previous credit facility.

In light of the current challenges faced by many companies seeking to access the tightening credit markets, management believes this refinancing is a testament to the strength of the Company’s current and projected financial performance and the positive growth outlook for the business.

About New Flyer

New Flyer is the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in Canada and the United States. The Company’s three facilities – in Winnipeg, MB, St. Cloud, MN and Crookston, MN – are all ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified. With a skilled workforce of approximately 2,500 employees, New Flyer is a technology leader in the heavy-duty transit market, offering the broadest product line in the industry, including drive systems powered by clean diesel, LNG, CNG and electric trolley, as well as energy-efficient gasoline-electric and diesel-electric hybrid vehicles. All of New Flyer’s products are supported by an industry-leading, comprehensive parts and service network. The IDSs are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol NFI.UN.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are “forward looking statements”, which reflect the expectations of management regarding the Company’s future growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities. The words “believes”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “expects”, “intends”, “projects”, “estimates” ,“outlook” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. These forward looking statements reflect management’s current expectations regarding future events, including the Company’s  operating performance and future growth and speak only as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance, results or events, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not or the times at or by which such events will occur or results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Such differences may be caused by factors which include, but are not limited to, volatility in the credit markets, competition in the heavy-duty transit bus industry, availability of funding to the Company’s customers at current levels or at all, material losses and costs may be incurred as a result of product warranty issues, material losses and costs may be incurred as a result of product liability claims, changes in Canadian or United States tax legislation, the Company’s success depends on a limited number of key executives who the Company may not be able to adequately replace in the event that they leave the Company, the absence of fixed term customer contracts and the termination of contracts by customers for convenience, the current “Buy-America” legislation may change and/or become more onerous, production delays may result in liquidated damages under the Company’s contracts with its customers, currency fluctuations could adversely affect the Company’s financial results or competitive position in the industry, the Company may not be able to maintain performance bonds or letters of credit required by its existing contracts or obtain performance bonds and letters of credit required for new contracts, third party debt service obligations may have important consequences to the Company, the covenants contained in the senior credit facility and subordinated note indenture of New Flyer Industries Canada ULC could impact the ability of the Company to fund distributions and take certain other actions, interest rates could change substantially and materially impact the Company’s profitability, the dependence on limited sources of supply, the possibility of fluctuations in the market prices of the pension plan investments and discount rates used in the actuarial calculations will impact pension expense and funding requirements, the Company’s profitability and performance can be adversely affected by increases in raw material and component costs and the availability of labour could have an impact on production levels. The Company cautions that this list of factors is not exhaustive. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company’s materials filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Although the forward looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, investors cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward looking statements, and the differences may be material. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by applicable securities laws.

For further information, please contact:

New Flyer Industries Inc.
Glenn Asham
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: (204) 224-1251
E-mail: [email protected]