The Company is exposed to risks from changes in interest rates related to the 2021 Term Loan (See Note 10. Long-Term Debt). The Company uses derivative financial instruments, specifically, interest rate swap contracts, in order to manage its exposure to interest rate movements. Interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges involve the receipt of variable amounts from a counterparty in exchange for the Company making fixed-rate payments over the life of the agreements without exchange of the underlying notional amount. Our primary objective in holding derivatives is to reduce the volatility of cash flows associated with changes in interest rates. The Company does not enter into derivative transactions for speculative or trading purposes.

The Company entered into two interest rate swap agreements, effective on March 31, 2022. Until October 31, 2022, the counterparties to each of the agreements paid the Company interest at a floating rate on the notional amounts based on the one-month USD-LIBOR swap rate. On October 31, 2022, in conjunction with the amendment to the 2021 Credit Agreement (See Note 10. Long-Term Debt), the Company amended the two interest rate swap agreements to replace the LIBO rate with Term SOFR. As a result, subsequent to October 31, 2022, the counterparties paid and will continue to pay interest at a floating rate based on Term SOFR.

As of December 31, 2022, the two outstanding interest rate swap agreements each had a notional value of $66.6 million with fixed interest rates of 1.909% and 1.9065%. Interest payments under the swaps are made monthly on a net settlement basis. The Company has not recorded any amounts due to ineffectiveness for the year ended December 31, 2022. The notional value of each interest rate swap agreement is expected to match the corresponding principal amount of a portion of our borrowings under the 2021 Term Loan. The swap agreements mature on March 31, 2025.

The derivative interest rate swaps are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges. Consequently, the change in the estimated fair value of the effective portion of the derivative is recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) on our consolidated balance sheets and reclassified to interest expense, net, when the underlying transaction has an impact on earnings. The Company expects to recognize approximately $3.7 million of net pre-tax gains from accumulated other comprehensive income as a reduction of interest expense in the next twelve months associated with its interest rate swaps. The Company recognizes derivative instruments and hedging activities on a gross basis as either assets or liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets and measures them at fair value. Hedge accounting generally provides for the matching of the timing of gain or loss recognition on the hedging instrument with the earnings effect of the hedged forecasted transactions in a cash flow hedge. To receive hedge accounting treatment, all hedging relationships are formally documented at the inception of the hedge, and the hedges must be highly effective in offsetting changes to future cash flows on hedged transactions.

The fair values of the interest rate swaps and their respective locations in our consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2022 were as follows:


(in thousands)
Description	Balance Sheet Location	December 31, 2022
Short-term derivative asset	Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$	3,716
Long-term derivative asset	Other assets		2,834