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Long-Term Debt, Financing and Capital Lease Obligations
3 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017
Long-term Debt and Capital Lease Obligations [Abstract]  
Long-Term Debt, Financing and Capital Lease Obligations
Long-Term Debt, Financing and Capital Lease Obligations
 
 
Interest Rates
 
Maturities
 
June 30,
2017
 
March 31,
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in millions)
Notes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Senior notes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sprint Corporation
7.13
-
7.88%
 
2021
-
2025
 
$
10,500

 
$
10,500

Sprint Communications, Inc.
6.00
-
11.50%
 
2017
-
2022
 
5,692

 
6,080

Sprint Capital Corporation
6.88
-
8.75%
 
2019
-
2032
 
6,204

 
6,204

Senior secured notes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sprint Spectrum Co LLC, Sprint Spectrum Co II LLC, Sprint Spectrum Co III LLC
3.36%
 
2021
 
3,500

 
3,500

Sprint Communications, Inc.
9.25%
 
2022
 
200

 
200

Guaranteed notes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sprint Communications, Inc.
7.00
-
9.00%
 
2018
-
2020
 
2,800

 
4,000

Exchangeable notes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Clearwire Communications LLC (1)
8.25%
 
2017
 
629

 
629

Credit facilities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Secured revolving bank credit facility
3.75%
 
2021
 

 

Secured term loan
3.75%
 
2024
 
3,990

 
4,000

Export Development Canada (EDC)
3.73%
 
2019
 
300

 
300

Secured equipment credit facilities
2.68
-
3.38%
 
2020
-
2021
 
430

 
431

Accounts receivable facility
2.12
-
2.62%
 
2018
 
2,604

 
1,964

Financing obligations, capital lease and other obligations
2.35
-
10.63%
 
2017
-
2024
 
2,731

 
3,016

Net premiums and debt financing costs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4

 
90

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
39,584

 
40,914

Less current portion
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(5,125
)
 
(5,036
)
Long-term debt, financing and capital lease obligations
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$
34,459

 
$
35,878


_________________
 (1)
Notes of Clearwire Communications LLC are guaranteed by certain Clearwire subsidiaries. They have both a par call and put on December 1, 2017 resulting in the balance being classified as a current debt obligation.
As of June 30, 2017, Sprint Corporation, the parent corporation, had $10.5 billion in aggregate principal amount of senior notes outstanding. In addition, as of June 30, 2017, the outstanding principal amount of the senior notes issued by Sprint Communications and Sprint Capital Corporation, the senior secured notes issued by Sprint Communications, the guaranteed notes issued by Sprint Communications, the exchangeable notes issued by Clearwire Communications LLC, Sprint Communications' secured term loan and secured revolving bank credit facility, the EDC agreement, the secured equipment credit facilities, the Receivables Facility, the Handset Sale-Leaseback Tranche 2 (subject to a cap of 20% of the aggregate cash purchase price), and certain other obligations collectively totaled $23.3 billion in principal amount of our long-term debt. Sprint Corporation fully and unconditionally guaranteed such indebtedness, which was issued by 100% owned subsidiaries. Although certain financing agreements restrict the ability of Sprint Communications and its subsidiaries to distribute cash to Sprint Corporation, the ability of the subsidiaries to distribute cash to their respective parents, including to Sprint Communications, is generally not restricted.
Cash interest payments, net of amounts capitalized of $15 million and $10 million, totaled $660 million and $626 million during the three-month periods ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
Notes
As of June 30, 2017, our outstanding notes consisted of senior notes, guaranteed notes, and exchangeable notes, all of which are unsecured, as well as senior secured notes associated with our spectrum financing transaction and secured senior notes issued by Sprint Communications. Cash interest on all of the notes is generally payable semi-annually in arrears with the exception of the spectrum financing senior secured notes, which is payable quarterly. As of June 30, 2017, $28.7 billion aggregate principal amount of the notes was redeemable at the Company's discretion at the then-applicable redemption prices plus accrued interest.
As of June 30, 2017, $22.5 billion aggregate principal amount of our senior notes and guaranteed notes provided holders with the right to require us to repurchase the notes if a change of control triggering event (as defined in the applicable indentures and supplemental indentures) occurs.
On December 1, 2017, the Exchangeable Notes can be tendered at the holder’s option and called at our option, in each case for 100% of the par value plus accrued interest resulting in the entire balance being classified as a current debt obligation.
During the three-month period ended June 30, 2017, pursuant to a cash tender offer, Sprint Communications retired $388 million principal amount of its outstanding 8.375% Notes due 2017 and $1.2 billion principal amount of its outstanding 9.000% Guaranteed Notes due 2018. We incurred costs of $130 million, which consisted of call redemption premiums and tender expenses, and removed unamortized premiums of $64 million associated with these retirements resulting in a loss on early extinguishment of debt of $66 million, which is included in "Other (expense) income, net" in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss).
Spectrum Financing
In October 2016, Sprint transferred certain directly held and third-party leased spectrum licenses (collectively, "Spectrum Portfolio") to wholly-owned bankruptcy-remote special purpose entities (collectively, "Spectrum Financing SPEs"). The Spectrum Portfolio, which represented approximately 14% of Sprint's total spectrum holdings on a MHz-pops basis, was used as collateral to raise an initial $3.5 billion in senior secured notes bearing interest at 3.36% per annum under a $7.0 billion program that permits Sprint to raise up to an additional $3.5 billion in senior secured notes, subject to certain conditions. The senior secured notes are repayable over a five-year term, with interest-only payments over the first four quarters and amortizing quarterly principal payments thereafter commencing December 2017 through September 2021. As of June 30, 2017, approximately $656 million of the total principal outstanding was classified as "Current portion of long-term debt, financing and capital lease obligations" in the consolidated balance sheets.
Sprint Communications simultaneously entered into a long-term lease with the Spectrum Financing SPEs for the ongoing use of the Spectrum Portfolio. Sprint Communications is required to make monthly lease payments to the Spectrum Financing SPEs at a market rate. The lease payments, which are guaranteed by certain subsidiaries of Sprint Communications, are sufficient to service the senior secured notes and the lease also constitutes collateral for the senior secured notes. As the Spectrum Financing SPEs are wholly-owned Sprint subsidiaries, these entities are consolidated and all intercompany activity has been eliminated.
Each Spectrum Financing SPE is a separate legal entity with its own separate creditors who will be entitled, prior to and upon the liquidation of the Spectrum Financing SPE, to be satisfied out of the Spectrum Financing SPE's assets prior to any assets of the Spectrum Financing SPE becoming available to Sprint. Accordingly, the assets of the Spectrum Financing SPE are not available to satisfy the debts and other obligations owed to other creditors of Sprint until the obligations of the Spectrum Financing SPEs under the spectrum-backed senior secured notes are paid in full.
Credit Facilities
Secured Term Loan and Revolving Bank Credit Facility
On February 3, 2017, we entered into a new credit agreement for $6.0 billion, consisting of a $4.0 billion, seven-year secured term loan that matures in February 2024 and a $2.0 billion secured revolving bank credit facility that expires in February 2021. As of June 30, 2017, approximately $192 million in letters of credit were outstanding under the secured revolving bank credit facility, including the letter of credit required by the Report and Order (see Note 11. Commitments and Contingencies). As a result of the outstanding letters of credit, which directly reduce the availability of borrowings, the Company had approximately $1.8 billion of borrowing capacity available under the secured revolving bank credit facility as of June 30, 2017. The bank credit facility requires a ratio (Leverage Ratio) of total indebtedness to trailing four quarters earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and other non-recurring items, as defined by the bank credit facility (adjusted EBITDA), not to exceed 6.0 to 1.0 through the quarter ending December 31, 2017. After December 31, 2017, the Leverage Ratio declines on a scheduled basis until the ratio becomes fixed at 3.5 to 1.0 for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2020 and each fiscal quarter ending thereafter through expiration of the facility. The term loan has an interest rate equal to LIBOR plus 250 basis points and the secured revolving bank credit facility has an interest rate equal to LIBOR plus a spread that varies depending on the Leverage Ratio.
In consideration of the seven-year secured term loan, we entered into a five-year fixed-for-floating interest rate swap on a $2.0 billion notional amount that has been designated as a cash flow hedge. The effective portion of changes in fair value are recorded in "Other comprehensive income (loss)" in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) and the ineffective portion, if any, is recorded in current period earnings in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) as interest expense. The fair value of the interest rate swap was approximately $10 million as of June 30, 2017, which was recorded as a liability in the consolidated balance sheets.
EDC Agreement
As of June 30, 2017, the EDC agreement provided for security and covenant terms similar to our secured term loan and revolving bank credit facility. However, under the terms of the EDC agreement, repayments of outstanding amounts cannot be redrawn. As of June 30, 2017, the total principal amount of our borrowings under the EDC facility was $300 million.
Secured Equipment Credit Facilities
Finnvera plc (Finnvera)
The Finnvera secured equipment credit facility provides for the ability to borrow up to $800 million to finance network equipment-related purchases from Nokia Solutions and Networks US LLC, USA. The facility has one tranche remaining and available for borrowing through October 2017. Such borrowings are contingent upon the amount and timing of network-related purchases made by Sprint. During the three-month period ended June 30, 2017, we drew $92 million and made principal repayments totaling $57 million on the facility, resulting in a total principal amount of $175 million outstanding as of June 30, 2017.
K-sure
The K-sure secured equipment credit facility provides for the ability to borrow up to $750 million to finance network equipment-related purchases from Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC. The facility can be divided in up to three consecutive tranches of varying size with borrowings available until May 2018, contingent upon the amount of network-related purchases made by Sprint. During the three-month period ended June 30, 2017, we made principal repayments totaling $33 million on the facility, resulting in a total principal amount of $226 million outstanding as of June 30, 2017.
Delcredere | Ducroire (D/D)
The D/D secured equipment credit facility provided for the ability to borrow up to $250 million to finance network equipment-related purchases from Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc. During the three-month period ended June 30, 2017, we made principal repayments totaling $3 million on the facility, resulting in a total principal amount of $29 million outstanding as of June 30, 2017. At the end of the quarter, our ability to borrow the remaining, undrawn portion of the facility had expired.
Borrowings under the Finnvera, K-sure and D/D secured equipment credit facilities are each secured by liens on the respective network equipment purchased pursuant to each facility's credit agreement. In addition, repayments of outstanding amounts borrowed under the secured equipment credit facilities cannot be redrawn. Each of these facilities is fully and unconditionally guaranteed by both Sprint Communications and Sprint Corporation. The secured equipment credit facilities have certain key covenants similar to those in our secured term loan and revolving bank credit facility.
Accounts Receivable Facility
Transaction Overview
Our Receivables Facility provides us the opportunity to sell certain wireless service receivables, installment receivables, and future amounts due from customers who lease certain devices from us to the Purchasers. The maximum funding limit under the Receivables Facility is $4.3 billion. While we have the right to decide how much cash to receive from each sale, the maximum amount of cash available to us varies based on a number of factors and currently represents approximately 50% of the total amount of the eligible receivables sold to the Purchasers. As of June 30, 2017, the total amount of borrowings under our Receivables Facility was $2.6 billion and the total amount available to be drawn was $110 million. The Receivables Facility was amended in November 2016 to, among other things, reallocate the Purchasers' commitments between wireless service, installment and future lease receivables to 33%, 39% and 28%, respectively. The amendment was in response to changing trends in the financing methods selected by customers. In February 2017, the Receivables Facility was amended to extend the maturity date to November 2018. Additionally, Sprint gained effective control over the receivables transferred to the Purchasers by obtaining the right, under certain circumstances, to repurchase them. Subsequent to the February 2017 amendment, all proceeds received from the Purchasers in exchange for the transfer of our wireless service and installment receivables are recorded as borrowings and all cash inflows and outflows under the Receivables Facility are reported as financing activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows. During the three-month period ended June 30, 2017, we drew $765 million and repaid $125 million to the Purchasers.
Prior to the February 2017 amendment, wireless service and installment receivables sold to the Purchasers were treated as a sale of financial assets and we derecognized these receivables, as well as the related allowances, and recognized the net proceeds received in cash provided by operating activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows. The total proceeds from the sale of these receivables were comprised of a combination of cash and a deferred purchase price (DPP). The DPP was realized by us upon either the ultimate collection of the underlying receivables sold to the Purchasers or upon Sprint's election to receive additional advances in cash from the Purchasers subject to the total availability under the Receivables Facility. The fees associated with these sales were recognized in "Selling, general and administrative" in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) through the date of the February 2017 amendment. Subsequent to the February 2017 amendment, the sale of wireless service and installment receivables are reported as financings, which is consistent with our historical treatment for the sale of future lease receivables, and the associated fees are recognized as "Interest expense" in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss).
During the three-month period ended June 30, 2016, we remitted $185 million of funds to the Purchasers because the amount of cash proceeds received by us under the facility exceeded the maximum funding limit, which increased the total amount of the DPP due to Sprint. We also elected to receive $40 million of cash, which decreased the total amount of the DPP due to Sprint. In addition, during the three-month period ended June 30, 2016, cash collections on previously sold receivables exceeded sales of new receivables such that the DPP decreased by $28 million.
Transaction Structure
Sprint contributes certain wireless service, installment and future lease receivables, as well as the associated leased devices to Sprint's wholly-owned consolidated bankruptcy-remote SPEs. At Sprint's direction, the SPEs have sold, and will continue to sell, wireless service, installment and future lease receivables to Purchasers or to a bank agent on behalf of the Purchasers. Leased devices will remain with the SPEs, once sales are initiated, and continue to be depreciated over their estimated useful life. As of June 30, 2017, wireless service and installment receivables contributed to the SPEs and included in "Accounts and notes receivable, net" in the consolidated balance sheets were $3.0 billion and the long-term portion of installment receivables included in "Other assets" in the consolidated balance sheets was $489 million. As of June 30, 2017, the net book value of devices contributed to the SPEs was approximately $3.2 billion.
Each SPE is a separate legal entity with its own separate creditors who will be entitled, prior to and upon the liquidation of the SPE, to be satisfied out of the SPE’s assets prior to any assets in the SPE becoming available to Sprint. Accordingly, the assets of the SPE are not available to pay creditors of Sprint or any of its affiliates (other than any other SPE), although collections from these receivables in excess of amounts required to repay the advances, yield and fees of the Purchasers and other creditors of the SPEs may be remitted to Sprint during and after the term of the Receivables Facility.
Sales of eligible receivables by the SPEs generally occur daily and are settled on a monthly basis. Sprint pays a fee for the drawn and undrawn portions of the Receivables Facility. A subsidiary of Sprint services the receivables in exchange for a monthly servicing fee, and Sprint guarantees the performance of the servicing obligations under the Receivables Facility.
Variable Interest Entity
Sprint determined that certain of the Purchasers, which are multi-seller asset-backed commercial paper conduits (Conduits) are considered variable interest entities because they lack sufficient equity to finance their activities. Sprint's interest in the receivables purchased by the Conduits is not considered a variable interest because Sprint's interest is in assets that represent less than 50% of the total activity of the Conduits.
Financing Obligations
Network Equipment Sale-Leaseback
In April 2016, Sprint sold and leased back certain network equipment to unrelated bankruptcy-remote special purpose entities (collectively, "Network LeaseCo"). The network equipment acquired by Network LeaseCo, which we consolidate, was used as collateral to raise approximately $2.2 billion in borrowings from external investors, including SoftBank Group Corp. (SoftBank). Principal and interest payments on the borrowings from the external investors will be repaid in staggered, unequal payments through January 2018. During the three-month period ended June 30, 2017, we made principal repayments totaling $117 million, resulting in a total principal amount of $1.8 billion outstanding as of June 30, 2017.
Network LeaseCo is a variable interest entity for which Sprint is the primary beneficiary. As a result, Sprint is required to consolidate Network LeaseCo and our consolidated financial statements include Network LeaseCo's debt and the related financing cash inflows. The network assets included in the transaction, which had a net book value of approximately $3.0 billion and consisted primarily of equipment located at cell towers, remain on Sprint's consolidated financial statements and continue to be depreciated over their respective estimated useful lives. As of June 30, 2017, these network assets had a net book value of approximately $2.2 billion.
The proceeds received were reflected as cash provided by financing activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows and payments made to Network LeaseCo are reflected as principal repayments and interest expense over the respective terms. Sprint has the option to purchase the equipment at the end of the leaseback term for a nominal amount. All intercompany transactions between Network LeaseCo and Sprint are eliminated in our consolidated financial statements.
Handset Sale-Leasebacks
Transaction Structure
Sprint sold certain iPhone® devices being leased by our customers to MLS, a company formed by a group of equity investors, including SoftBank, and then subsequently leased the devices back. Under the agreements, Sprint generally maintains the customer leases, continues to collect and record lease revenue from the customer and remits monthly rental payments to MLS during the leaseback periods.
Under the agreements, Sprint contributed the devices and the associated customer leases to wholly-owned consolidated bankruptcy-remote special purpose entities of Sprint (SPE Lessees). The SPE Lessees then sold the devices and transferred certain specified customer lease-end rights and obligations, such as the right to receive the proceeds from customers who elect to purchase the device at the end of the customer lease term, to MLS in exchange for a combination of cash and DPP. Settlement for the DPP occurs after repayment of MLS's senior loan obligations, senior subordinated loan obligations, and a return to MLS's equity holders and can be reduced to the extent that MLS experiences a loss on the device (either not returned or sold at an amount less than the expected residual value of the device), but only to the extent of the device's DPP balance. In the event that MLS sells the devices returned from our customers at a price greater than the expected device residual value, Sprint has the potential to share some of the excess proceeds.
The SPE Lessees retain all rights to the underlying customer leases, such as the right to receive the rental payments during the device leaseback period, other than the aforementioned certain specified customer lease-end rights. Each SPE Lessee is a separate legal entity with its own separate creditors who will be entitled, prior to and upon the liquidation of the SPE Lessee, to be satisfied out of the SPE Lessee’s assets prior to any assets in the SPE Lessee becoming available to Sprint. Accordingly, the assets of the SPE Lessee are not available to pay creditors of Sprint or any of its affiliates. The SPE Lessees are obligated to pay the full monthly rental payments under each device lease to MLS regardless of whether our customers make lease payments on the devices leased to them or whether the customer lease is canceled. Sprint has guaranteed to MLS (subject to a cap of 20% of the aggregate cash purchase price) the performance of the agreements and undertakings of the SPE Lessees under the transaction documents.
Handset Sale-Leasebacks Tranche 2 (Tranche 2)
In May 2016, Sprint entered into Tranche 2. We transferred devices with a net book value of approximately $1.3 billion to MLS in exchange for cash proceeds totaling $1.1 billion and a DPP of $186 million. The proceeds were accounted for as a financing. Accordingly, the devices remain in "Property, plant and equipment, net" in the consolidated balance sheets and we continue to depreciate the assets to their estimated residual values over the respective customer lease terms. At June 30, 2017, the net book value of devices transferred to MLS was approximately $470 million.
During the three-month period ended June 30, 2017, we made principal repayments totaling $158 million to MLS, resulting in a total principal amount of $227 million outstanding as of June 30, 2017.
The proceeds received are reflected as cash provided by financing activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows and payments made to MLS will be reflected as principal repayments and interest expense. We have elected to account for the financing obligation at fair value. Accordingly, changes in the fair value of the financing obligation are recognized in "Other (expense) income, net" in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) over the course of the arrangement.
Tranche 2 primarily includes devices from our iPhone Forever Program. The iPhone Forever Program provides our leasing customers the ability to upgrade their devices and to enter into a new lease agreement, subject to certain conditions, upon Apple's release of a next generation device. Upon a customer exercising their iPhone Forever upgrade right, Sprint has the option to terminate the existing leaseback by immediately remitting all unpaid device leaseback payments and returning the device to MLS. Alternatively, Sprint has the option to transfer the title in the new device to MLS in exchange for the title in the original device (Exchange Option). If Sprint elects the Exchange Option, we are required to continue to pay existing device leaseback rental payments related to the original device, among other requirements.
Handset Sale-Leasebacks Tranche 1 (Tranche 1)
In December 2015, Sprint entered into Tranche 1. We recorded the sale, removed the devices from our balance sheet, and classified the leasebacks as operating leases. The cash proceeds received in the transaction were reflected as cash provided by investing activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows and payments made to MLS under the leaseback were reflected as "Cost of products" in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss). Rent expense related to MLS totaled $197 million during the three-month period ended June 30, 2016 and is reflected in cash flows from operations. In December 2016, Sprint terminated Tranche 1 by repurchasing the devices and related customer lease-end rights and obligations from MLS. Additionally, the leaseback was canceled and there are no further rental payments owed to MLS related to Tranche 1.
Tower Financing
We have approximately 3,000 cell sites that we sold and subsequently leased back during 2008. Terms extend through 2021, with renewal options for an additional 20 years. These cell sites continue to be reported as part of our "Property, plant and equipment, net" in our consolidated balance sheets due to our continued involvement with the property sold and the transaction is accounted for as a financing. The financing obligation as of June 30, 2017 is $181 million.
Capital Lease and Other Obligations
In May 2016, Sprint closed on a transaction with Shentel to acquire one of our wholesale partners, NTELOS Holdings Corporation (nTelos). The total consideration for this transaction included $181 million, on a net present value basis, of notes payable to Shentel. Sprint will satisfy its obligations under the notes payable over an expected term of five to six years, of which the remaining obligation is $158 million as of June 30, 2017. The remainder of our capital lease and other obligations of $324 million as of June 30, 2017 are primarily for the use of wireless network equipment.
Covenants
Certain indentures and other agreements require compliance with various covenants, including covenants that limit the ability of the Company and its subsidiaries to sell all or substantially all of its assets, limit the ability of the Company and its subsidiaries to incur indebtedness and liens, and require that we maintain certain financial ratios, each as defined by the terms of the indentures, supplemental indentures and financing arrangements.
As of June 30, 2017, the Company was in compliance with all restrictive and financial covenants associated with its borrowings. A default under any of our borrowings could trigger defaults under certain of our other debt obligations, which in turn could result in the maturities being accelerated.
Under our secured revolving bank credit facility, we are currently restricted from paying cash dividends because our ratio of total indebtedness to adjusted EBITDA (each as defined in the applicable agreements) exceeds 2.5 to 1.0.