Elizabeth Arden
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ELIZABETH ARDEN, INC. ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF COMMON STOCK
OFFERING BY SELLING SHAREHOLDERS
*Company Over-Allotment Option Exercised *
New York, New York (June 15, 2004) -- Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEN), a global prestige fragrance and beauty products company, today announced the closing of an offering of 2,549,723 shares of its common stock at $19.50 per share. Affiliates of Unilever N.V. sold 2,317,930 shares and the Company sold 231,793 shares pursuant to an over-allotment option granted by the Company and exercised by the underwriter on June 10, 2004.
The shares sold by Conopco, Inc. and Unilever United States Foundation, Inc., the Unilever affiliates, represent the remaining shares of common stock underlying the Company's outstanding Series D Convertible Preferred Stock ("Series D Preferred Stock"). Unilever and its affiliates no longer own any shares of the Company's common stock or Series D Preferred Stock and no shares of Series D Preferred Stock will remain outstanding. As a result, the Company will no longer be obligated to pay the 5% dividend on the outstanding liquidation value of the Series D Preferred Stock. In addition, as previously disclosed in the Company's public filings, the Company expects to incur a non-cash charge to reflect the accelerated accretion associated with the conversion of the Series D Preferred Stock to common stock. The Company expects the charge for the five-month period ending June 30, 2004 to be approximately $19.2 million, of which $6.0 million was incurred during t he three months ended May 1, 2004. This will represent the last charge associated with the Series D Preferred Stock. The Company will use the net proceeds it receives to reduce borrowings under its revolving credit facility.
Elizabeth Arden is a global prestige fragrance and beauty products company. The Company's portfolio of brands includes the fragrance brands Elizabeth Arden's Red Door, Red Door Revealed, 5th Avenue, Elizabeth Arden green tea,ardenbeautyand Elizabeth Arden Provocative Woman, Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds, Passion, Forever Elizabeth and Gardenia, White Shoulders, Geoffrey Beene's Grey Flannel, Halston, Halston Z-14, PS Fine Cologne for Men, Design and Wings; the Elizabeth Arden skin care lines, including Ceramide and Eight Hour Cream; and the Elizabeth Arden color cosmetics line.
Company Contact: | | Marcey Becker, Senior Vice President, Finance |
| | (203) 462-5809 |
| | |
Investor Contact: | | Cara O'Brien/Lila Sharifian |
| | Financial Dynamics |
| | (212) 850-5600 |
| | |
Press Contact: | | Stephanie Sampiere |
| | Financial Dynamics |
| | (212) 850-5600 |
In connection with the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Elizabeth Arden, Inc., is hereby providing cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements (as defined in such act). Any statements that are not historical facts and that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimated," "intends," "plans" and "projection") are not historical facts and may be forward-looking and may involve estimates and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their ent irety by reference to, and are accompanied by, the following key factors that have a direct bearing on our results of operations: our absence of contracts with customers or suppliers and our ability to maintain and develop relationships with customers and suppliers; international and domestic economic and business changes that could impact consumer confidence; the impact of competitive products and pricing; risks of international operations, including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political consequences of terrorist attacks, political instability in certain regions of the world, and diseases affecting customer purchasing patterns; our ability to successfully and cost-effectively integrate acquired businesses or new brands; our substantial indebtedness, debt service obligations and restrictive covenants in our revolving credit facility and our indenture for our 7 3/4% senior subordinated notes; our customers' financial condition; our ability to access capital for acquisitions; changes in produc t mix to less profitable products; the retention and availability of key personnel; the assumptions underlying our critical accounting estimates; delays in shipments, inventory shortages and higher costs of production due to interruption of operations at key third party manufacturing or fulfillment facilities that manufacture or provide logistic services for the majority of our supply of certain products; changes in the retail, fragrance and cosmetic industries; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; changes in the legal, regulatory and political environment that impact, or will impact, our business, including changes to customs or trade regulations or accounting standards; and other risks and uncertainties. We caution that the factors described herein could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements we make and that investors should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of such factors. Further, we cannot assess the impact of each such factor on our results of operations or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.
###
