Memphis, Tennessee, USA, 02 December 2009 -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Buckeye Technologies Inc. (NYSE:BKI) today announced that it is calling for redemption prior to their maturity USD 35 million in aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 8.5% senior notes due 2013 at a redemption price of 102.833% of their principal amount in accordance with their terms. Buckeye will redeem these notes on 04 January 2010.

Upon completion of this redemption, USD 165 million of the 2013 notes will remain outstanding. A formal notice of redemption is being sent separately to the affected holders of the 2013 notes, in accordance with the terms of the indenture for these notes.

Buckeye plans to finance this redemption using drawings from its revolving credit facility and cash on hand. As of 30 November 2009, Buckeye had approximately USD 99 million of availability on its revolving credit facility and a cash balance of approximately USD 28 million. This redemption is expected to result in a one-time charge for early extinguishment of debt in Buckeye's fiscal third quarter of USD 1.6 million (of which USD 0.6 million is a noncash charge), or about 3 cents per share. The comany expects to realize annualized interest savings of approximately USD 2.4 million assuming variable interest rates remain close to current levels.