ICON Capital Corp. ("ICON"), an equipment leasing and
finance company based in New York City, is pleased to announce the
following:
ICON Fund to Become Largest Public Equipment Leasing Fund
On July 3, 2006, ICON's Fund Eleven received the necessary
approvals for it to begin raising capital to increase the size of its
Fund Eleven from $200 million to $375 million, which would create the
largest U.S. public equipment leasing fund in history according to
Robert A. Stanger & Co., the publishers of The Stanger Report. Having
already raised $200 million in just over the first year of capital
raising - which far exceeded ICON's initial expectations - and having
10 months remaining in its permissible capital raising period, ICON
determined that it was in the best interest of Fund Eleven's members
to increase the size of the fund - a decision that Fund Eleven's
members also supported through a consent solicitation conducted
earlier in the year.
Beau Clarke, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and the major
stockholder of ICON, stated that "The equity raised by Fund Eleven to
date has far exceeded our initial expectations and the market
reception has been unprecedented. In conjunction with our ability to
invest the capital raised by Fund Eleven in transactions with
Clearlink, Global Crossing, AeroTV, and EAM, we continue to see
greater opportunities to invest the capital raised by Fund Eleven, as
evidenced by Fund Eleven's recent acquisition of eight marine vessels.
We are delighted by our investors' confidence in our ability to
identify and complete profitable transactions and believe that the
increase in capital raised by Fund Eleven will enable us to take full
advantage of those opportunities."
ICON Fund Completes $250 Million Acquisition of Eight Vessels
Subject to Lease
On June 16 and June 21, 2006, respectively, ICON's Fund Eleven
completed the acquisition of four oil marine tankers subject to lease
with Top Tankers, Inc. and four containerships subject to lease with
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. The vessels were acquired for
approximately $254 million, including the assumption of approximately
$195 million in debt. The leases expire in 2010 and 2011. ICON's other
notable maritime investments include four containerships owned by
ICON's Fund Ten that are on lease with ZIM through 2009 and three car
and truck carrying vessels owned by ICON's Fund Nine that are on lease
with Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning through 2013.
ICON Establishes Canadian Presence with Clearlink Acquisition
In connection with ICON's recent acquisition of the leasing
business of Clearlink Capital Corporation, a Canadian financial
services provider, and Fund Eleven's related acquisition of
substantially all of Clearlink's equipment leasing portfolio for
approximately $145 million, ICON assumed the Toronto and Vancouver
offices of Clearlink and most of Clearlink's talented staff of leasing
professionals and administrative personnel.
ICON Establishes Office in London
Effective August 1, 2006, ICON is opening an office in London,
which office will serve as a European base and will enable ICON to
further expand its presence in Europe for an ever increasing array of
financing transactions to acquire equipment subject to lease. During
the past decade, ICON has been very active in the European financing
market, particularly in the United Kingdom, and is currently working
on a number of European equipment leasing opportunities.
ICON Implements Personnel Changes
To accommodate ICON's growth, Beau Clarke is pleased to announce
the following personnel changes:
-- Thomas W. Martin, the Chief Financial Officer and a director
of ICON since 1996, has also been appointed Chief Operating
Officer. While continuing in his roles as CFO and director,
Mr. Martin now oversees the day-to-day operations of the
company in his capacity as Chief Operating Officer.
-- Michael A. Reisner and Mark Gatto have been appointed
Executive Vice President--Acquisitions and Executive Vice
President - Business Development and Acquisitions,
respectively. Mr. Reisner was formerly Senior Vice President
and General Counsel of ICON and Mr. Gatto was previously
Associate General Counsel of ICON prior to becoming Director
of Player Licensing for the Topps Company and thereafter
co-founding a specialty business consulting firm. Mr. Gatto is
responsible for business and corporate development and,
together with Mr. Reisner, the acquisition of equipment
subject to lease.
-- Richard L. Specker became a Senior Managing Director of ICON
in April 2006. Mr. Specker has over 25 years experience in
asset-based finance and leasing, including as President of the
Global Lease Finance Division of Fleet Capital Leasing and as
Senior Vice President and Manager of the Structured Lease
Finance Group at NationsBanc Leasing Corporation, a subsidiary
of NationsBank that subsequently merged with Bank of America.
-- Joel S. Kress became ICON's Senior Vice President, General
Counsel, and Secretary in February 2006. Prior to joining ICON
in August 2005, Mr. Kress was an attorney with Fried, Frank,
Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP in New York and London,
concentrating on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance
and financing transactions (including debt and equity
issuances), and private equity investments.
-- Craig A. Jackson became ICON's Vice President of Remarketing
and Portfolio Management in February 2006. Previously, Mr.
Jackson founded Remarketing Services, Inc. (a transportation
equipment remarketing company) in October 2001 and, prior to
that, was Vice President of Remarketing and Vice President of
Operations for Chancellor Fleet Corporation (an equipment
leasing company) for approximately 17 years.
-- Sharon McKay, who has over 18 years of experience in the
equipment leasing industry (most recently with Clearlink
Capital Corporation), became Director of Lease Operations.
-- Brian Stevens, who has over 30 years of experience in the
equipment leasing industry (most recently with Clearlink
Capital Corporation), became Vice President of Debt Placement.
-- Matthew A. Conway, who has over 15 years of experience in the
equipment leasing industry (most recently with Clearlink
Capital Corporation), became Director of Asset Management and
Accounting.
-- Chris Long, who has many years of human resources experience
in various sectors, including the equipment leasing industry
(most recently with Clearlink Capital Corporation for 11
years), became Director of Human Resources.
-- Four talented and experienced sales staff formerly with
Clearlink Capital Corporation who became Vice President -
Sales: Tim Moon (35 years of experience); Frank Dejak (30
years of experience); Brad Edgelow (almost 30 years of
experience); and Hal Shaw (20 years of experience).
About ICON
ICON is the fifth largest independent equipment leasing and
financing company in the United States according to the 2006 Monitor
100 Report, and the largest privately-held independent equipment
leasing and finance company in the United States. ICON is
headquartered in New York City and has offices in San Francisco,
Boston, Toronto, Vancouver, and London and provides businesses with an
array of specialty finance solutions that range from traditional
leasing of equipment types such as information technology, aviation,
marine medical, manufacturing, materials handling, telecom, and
furniture, fixtures, and equipment to highly structured financial
products for unusual asset types and emerging companies. The company
was established in 1985. ICON currently manages six (6) publicly
sponsored programs that have raised approximately US $750 million to
date and has sole management responsibility for almost US $2 billion
invested in leased equipment in its sponsored programs.
