Armstrong World Industries, Inc. has announced that its board of directors has declared a special cash dividend of $8.55 per share. The dividend will be paid on April 10 to shareholders of record as of April 3. The ex-dividend date will be March 30. The dividend will be funded in part by surplus cash on the company’s balance sheet, and in part by the additional $250 million of debt that the Company successfully issued in the term loan B market via an expansion of its existing senior credit facility from $1.05 billion to $1.3 billion.

Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have affirmed their credit ratings on Armstrong; BB- (stable) and B1 (stable) respectively.

The amount of Armstrong’s special cash dividend that would be treated as a dividend for U.S. tax purposes depends on the amount of Armstrong’s current and accumulated earnings and profits as determined under the Internal Revenue Code. Because this determination is made as of the close of Armstrong’s fiscal year (Dec. 31, 2012), Armstrong is not in a position to determine the portion of the special cash dividend that will be treated as a dividend for U.S. tax purposes at this time, the company said.