Long-term debt

6 Months Ended

Jun. 25, 2022

Long-term debt

Long-term debt

8. Long-Term Debt

Long-term debt consisted of the following:

	June 25, 2022
			Unamortized
			debt issuance
(In thousands)	Principal		costs		Total debt, net
Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility	$	480,800	$	(5,875)	$	474,925
Finance lease liabilities		7,048		—		7,048
Total debt	$	487,848	$	(5,875)		481,973
Less: current portion of finance lease liabilities						90
Total long-term debt					$	481,883

	December 25, 2021
			Unamortized
			debt issuance
(In thousands)	Principal		costs		Total debt, net
Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility	$	480,800	$	(6,377)	$	474,423
Finance lease liabilities		7,095		—		7,095
Total debt	$	487,895	$	(6,377)		481,518
Less: current portion of finance lease liabilities						98
Total long-term debt					$	481,420

Senior Debt

In November 2018, in conjunction with the acquisition of Noosa, Sovos Intermediate (“Borrower”) entered into a Credit Facility Agreement with Credit Suisse, Citizens Bank N.A. (“Citizens”), Deutsche Bank and Aresbank, S.A. (“Credit Agreement”) with a term loan of $280 million (“2018 Term Loan”) and a revolving line of credit of $45 million (“Revolving Line of Credit”). In accordance with the Credit Agreement, the Company repaid the outstanding 2017 term loan of $158.4 million with Citizens as well as the amount outstanding under the revolving line of credit of $7.0 million.

In October 2020, the Company entered into an amendment to its Credit Agreement (“Amended Credit Agreement”). The Amended Credit Agreement provided, among other things, for an additional $100.0 million term loan (the “Incremental Term Loan”) which was part of the same class and had the same terms as the 2018 Term Loan. The Company analyzed the amendment and determined the Incremental Term Loan was not considered a debt modification because the existing 2018 Term Loan was not paid off. The Company paid debt issuance costs related to the Incremental Term Loan of $3.2 million, which were all capitalized.

In June 2021, Sovos Intermediate entered into a First Lien Credit Agreement (“First Lien Credit Agreement”) among Sovos Intermediate, Sovos Brands Holdings, Inc., Credit Suisse AG, Cayman Islands Branch (“Credit Suisse”), as administrative agent and collateral agent, and the lenders and issuing banks from time to time party thereto (“First Lien

Lenders”), consisting of an initial term loan facility of $580.0 million (“Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility”), and a revolving credit facility of $125.0 million (“Revolving Facility”), including a letter of credit facility with a $45.0 million sublimit. Also in June 2021, Sovos Intermediate entered into a Second Lien Credit Agreement (“Second Lien Credit Agreement”) among Sovos Intermediate, Sovos Brands Holdings, Inc., Owl Rock Capital Corporation, as administrative agent and collateral agent, and the lenders from time to time party thereto (“Second Lien Lenders”), consisting of an initial term loan facility of $200.0 million (“Initial Second Lien Facility”). In accordance with the First Lien Credit Agreement and Second Lien Credit Agreement, the Company repaid the outstanding 2018 Term Loan and Incremental Term Loan of $373.2 million to Credit Suisse and made a restricted payment for the purpose of paying a dividend in the amount of $400.0 million to the direct or indirect equity holders of the Ultimate Parent. See Note 13. Stockholders’ Equity for further information on the dividend payment.

As the June 2021 debt transaction on the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility and Initial Second Lien Facility was accounted for as an extinguishment of the old debt, the Company wrote off $9.4 million of the existing 2018 Term Loan and Incremental Term Loan debt issuance costs to expense. The Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility and Initial Second Lien Facility were issued with discounts of $1.5 million and $4.0 million respectively, and the Company paid debt issuance costs of $6.8 million and $0.5 million respectively. The discounts and debt issuance costs paid on the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility and Initial Second Lien Facility were capitalized. The debt transaction on the Revolving Facility was accounted for as a debt modification. The Company continued to amortize $0.2 million of the existing Revolving Line of Credit debt issuance costs over the new life of the debt, wrote off $0.3 million of the existing Revolving Line of Credit debt issuance costs to expense, and paid $1.1 million in debt issuance costs for the new Revolving Facility, which was capitalized.

In September 2021, using net proceeds of the IPO, the Company paid the full outstanding principal balance on the Initial Second Lien Facility of $200.0 million plus accrued interest of approximately $2.9 million. Upon the full prepayment of the Initial Second Lien Facility, the Company recognized a loss on the loan extinguishment resulting in a write-off of $4.3 million of the related unamortized issuance costs and discounts. Additionally, in September 2021 and October 2021, the Company prepaid $59.7 million and $39.5 million, respectively, of the outstanding principal balance under the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility, plus total accrued interest of approximately $0.9 million. Upon the partial prepayment of the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility, the Company recognized a $1.4 million proportional loss on the partial extinguishment of the related unamortized issuance costs and discounts.

The remaining principal balance on the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility, after the $59.7 million and $39.5 million prepayments, is $480.8 million. The Company has directed Credit Suisse to apply the prepayments against future scheduled principal installments, which eliminates all future principal payments for the remaining term of the loan.

The amortization of debt issuance costs and discount of $0.3 million and $0.5 million for the 13 weeks ended June 25, 2022 and June 26, 2021, respectively, and $0.6 million and $1.1 million for the 26 weeks ended June 25, 2022 and June 26, 2021, respectively, is included within interest expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The interest rate for the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility and Revolving Facility is London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBO Rate”) plus an applicable rate contingent on the Company’s calculated first lien leverage ratio, ranging from 400 to 425 basis points, and is subject to a 50 basis points reduction, at each level, after the consummation of an initial public offering (as used in this paragraph, an "IPO"). In no event shall the LIBO Rate be less than 0.75% per annum for the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility or less than 0.00% per annum for the Revolving Line of Credit. The Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility matures on June 8, 2028 and the Revolving Facility matures on June 8, 2026. The Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility is collateralized by substantially all of the assets of the Company.

The interest rate for the Initial Second Lien Facility was LIBO Rate plus 8.00% per annum and was subject to a 25 basis points reduction after the consummation of an IPO. In no event could the LIBO Rate be less than 0.75% per annum. The Initial Second Lien Facility was originally scheduled to mature on June 8, 2029 and was collateralized by substantially all of the assets of the Company. As described above, in September 2021, the Initial Second Lien Facility was paid in full.

As of September 27, 2021, the closing date of the IPO, the interest rate on the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility and Revolving Facility decreased 50 basis points. As of June 25, 2022 and December 25, 2021, the effective interest rate for the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility and Revolving Facility was 4.25% and 4.50%, respectively.

In July 2022, the Company entered into an interest rate hedge. See Note 18. Subsequent Events for additional discussion.

As of June 25, 2022 and December 25, 2021, the Company had available credit of $125 million under the Revolving Facility. There was zero outstanding on the Revolving Facility as of June 25, 2022 and December 25, 2021.

Loan Covenants

In connection with the First Lien Credit Agreement, the Company has various financial, affirmative and negative covenants that it must adhere to as specified within the loan agreements. The First Lien Credit Agreement contains a springing financial covenant, which requires the Borrower to maintain a first lien net leverage ratio of consolidated first lien net debt to consolidated EBITDA (with certain adjustments as set forth in the First Lien Credit Agreement) no greater than 6.95:1.00. Such financial covenant is tested only if outstanding revolving loans (excluding any undrawn letters of credit) minus unrestricted cash exceed 35% of the aggregate revolving credit commitments. The financial covenant is subject to customary “equity cure” rights. In addition, under the First Lien Credit Agreement, an annual excess cashflow calculation is required, to determine if any excess is required to be paid on the Initial First Lien Term Loan Facility. As of June 25, 2022, the Company had no outstanding revolving loans, so did not meet the requirement to test the financial covenant under the First Lien Credit Agreement.

See Note 9. Leases and Note 16. Related Party Transactions for additional discussion of the finance lease liabilities.