ANDOVER, Mass., Oct. 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI), a global provider of technologies that enable advanced processes and improve productivity, made a $60 million voluntary principal prepayment on its term loan. The prepayment was made through a tax efficient repatriation of cash from international operations. This prepayment is in addition to a scheduled principal payment of $1.8 million and reduces the outstanding principal amount of the term loan to $668 million as of September 30, 2016.

In addition, the Company also entered into an interest rate swap agreement to fix the rate on approximately 50% of its remaining outstanding term loan balance. The swap converts the floating rate on $335 million of the outstanding principal amount of the term loan to a fixed interest rate of 4.70% through September 2020.

“This represents our second voluntary term loan prepayment in the last four months, bringing our total voluntary prepayments to $110 million, and demonstrates our continued commitment to deleveraging our balance sheet and minimizing our cost of capital,” said Seth H. Bagshaw, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “The execution of the interest rate swap aligns with our strategy to prudently manage our interest rate risk.”

About MKS Instruments
MKS Instruments, Inc. is a worldwide leader in technology solutions for thin film, process and industrial manufacturing, environmental monitoring, defense and security, and life sciences and research. We make the instruments, subsystems and process control solutions that enable our customers to measure, control, power, monitor and analyze critical parameters of advanced processes. Our products are derived from our core competencies in pressure measurement and control, materials delivery, gas composition analysis, control and information technology, power and reactive gas generation, vacuum technology, photonics, lasers, optics and motion control.