LONG-TERM DEBT / INTEREST EXPENSE (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Long-term debt consisted of the following:



	December 31,
	2017			2016
	(in thousands)
Term Loan Facility (net of $0.9 million and $1.6 million discount)	$	1,130,320		$	1,170,486
Revolving Credit Facility	—			127,000
Notes	167,988			245,273
Debt issuance costs	(1,285		)	(2,306		)
Total debt	$	1,297,023		$	1,540,453
Less: current maturities	—			(12,562		)
Long-term debt	$	1,297,023		$	1,527,891

Schedule of Total Debt Principal Maturities

At December 31, 2017, the Company's future annual contractual obligations on long-term debt are detailed below:



Year Ending December 31,	Term Loan Facility ⁽¹⁾		Convertible Notes ⁽²⁾		Total
	(in thousands)
2019	$	1,131,197	$	—	$	1,131,197
2020	—		188,565		188,565
Total	$	1,131,197	$	188,565	$	1,319,762

(1) Includes the unamortized original issuance discount of $0.9 million.

(2) Includes unamortized conversion feature of $18.1 million and original issuance discount of $2.5 million.

Convertible Debt

The Notes consist of the following components:



	As of December 31,
	2017			2016
	(in thousands)
Liability component
Principal	$	188,565		$	287,500
Conversion feature	(18,065		)	(37,179		)
Discount related to debt issuance costs	(2,512		)	(5,048		)
Net carrying amount	$	167,988		$	245,273

Equity component
Conversion feature	$	49,680		$	49,680
Debt issuance costs	(1,421		)	(1,421		)
Deferred taxes ^(*)	(16,620		)	(17,750		)
Net amount recorded in additional paid-in capital	$	31,639		$	30,509

* The balance at December 31, 2017 includes $1.1 million related to the tax provision that was allocated to additional paid-in capital associated with the exchange explained above.

Interest Income and Interest Expense Disclosure

Interest expense consisted of the following:



	For the year ended December 31,
	2017		2016			2015
	(in thousands)
Senior Credit Facility:
Term Loan Facility coupon	$	41,477	$	38,821		$	42,147
Revolving Credit Facility	4,685		4,689			805
Amortization of discount and debt issuance costs	2,413		2,444			2,583
Total Senior Credit Facility	48,575		45,954			45,535
Notes:
Coupon	4,272		4,313			1,702
Amortization of conversion feature	9,496		9,092			3,410
Amortization of discount and debt issuance costs	1,251		1,140			412
Total Notes	15,019		14,545			5,524
Interest income and other	627		(56		)	(123		)
Interest expense, net	$	64,221	$	60,443		$	50,936