LONG-TERM DEBT AND CREDIT FACILITY

Long-term debt, term note and notes payable consisted of the following (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2017		2016
Term note, due October 30, 2020, annualized rates of 3.60% and 3.08%, respectively	$	308,437	$	328,125
Line of credit, 3.50% and 2.96%, respectively	38,000		36,000
Other notes with interest rates from 3.3% to 7.8%	875		9,901
Subtotal	347,312		374,026
Less – Current maturities and notes payable	26,555		19,835
Less – Unamortized loan costs	2,517		3,406
Total	$	318,240	$	350,785

At December 31, 2017, principal payments required to be made for each of the next five years are summarized as follows (in thousands):



Year	Amount ⁽¹⁾
2018	$	26,555
2019	28,437
2020	292,320
2021	—
2022	—
Thereafter	—
Total	$	347,312

___________________


⁽¹⁾	See Note 15 to the consolidated financial statements contained in this Report regarding the amended Credit Facility.

Financing Arrangements

In October 2015, the Company entered into an amended and restated $650.0 million senior secured credit facility (the “Credit Facility”) with a syndicate of banks. Bank of America, N.A. served as the sole administrative agent and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. and U.S. Bank National Association acted as co-syndication agents. Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Incorporated, JPMorgan Securities LLC and U.S. Bank National Association acted as joint lead arrangers and joint book managers in the syndication of the Credit Facility.

At December 31, 2017, the Credit Facility consisted of a $300.0 million five-year revolving line of credit and a $350.0 million five-year term loan facility. The Company drew the entire term loan from the Credit Facility to (i) retire $344.7 million in indebtedness outstanding under the Company’s prior credit facility; (ii) fund expenses associated with the Credit Facility; and (iii) fund general corporate purposes.

In 2015, the Company paid expenses of $4.4 million associated with the Credit Facility, $1.8 million related to up-front lending fees and $2.6 million related to third-party arranging fees, the latter of which was recorded in interest expense on the consolidated statement of operations. In addition, the Company had $3.5 million in unamortized loan costs associated with the prior credit facility, of which $0.8 million was recorded in interest expense on the consolidated statement of operations.

Generally, interest is charged on the principal amounts outstanding under the Credit Facility at the British Bankers Association LIBOR rate plus an applicable rate ranging from 1.25% to 2.25% depending on the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio. The Company can also opt for an interest rate equal to a base rate (as defined in the credit documents) plus an applicable rate, which is also based on the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio. The applicable LIBOR borrowing rate (LIBOR plus Company’s applicable rate) as of December 31, 2017 was approximately 3.59%.

The Company’s indebtedness at December 31, 2017 consisted of $308.4 million outstanding from the $350.0 million term loan under the Credit Facility, $38.0 million on the line of credit under the Credit Facility and $0.9 million of third-party notes and bank debt. Additionally, the Company had $7.7 million of debt held by its joint venture partner (representing funds loaned by its joint venture partner) listed as held for sale at December 31, 2017 related to the planned sale of Bayou. During 2017, the Company had net borrowings of $2.0 million on the line of credit for domestic working capital needs.

As of December 31, 2017, the Company had $30.5 million in letters of credit issued and outstanding under the Credit Facility. Of such amount, $13.4 million was collateral for the benefit of certain of our insurance carriers and $17.1 million was for letters of credit or bank guarantees of performance or payment obligations of foreign subsidiaries.

The Company’s indebtedness at December 31, 2016 consisted of $328.1 million outstanding from the term loan under the Credit Facility and $36.0 million on the line of credit under the Credit Facility. During 2016, the Company: (i) borrowed $30.0 million on the line of credit to help fund the acquisition of Underground Solutions; (ii) borrowed $3.0 million on the line of credit to help fund a small acquisition; and (iii) had net borrowings of $3.0 million on the line of credit for both domestic and international working capital needs. Additionally, the Company designated $9.6 million of debt held by its joint ventures (representing funds loaned by its joint venture partners) as third-party debt in the consolidated financial statements and held $0.3 million of third-party notes and bank debt at December 31, 2016.

At December 31, 2017 and 2016, the estimated fair value of the Company’s long-term debt was approximately $356.0 million and $366.0 million, respectively. Fair value was estimated using market rates for debt of similar risk and maturity and a discounted cash flow model, which are based on Level 3 inputs as defined in Note 12.

In October 2015, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement for a notional amount of $262.5 million, which is set to expire in October 2020. The notional amount of this swap mirrors the amortization of a $262.5 million portion of the Company’s $350.0 million term loan drawn from the Credit Facility. The swap requires the Company to make a monthly fixed rate payment of 1.46% calculated on the amortizing $262.5 million notional amount, and provides for the Company to receive a payment based upon a variable monthly LIBOR interest rate calculated on the same amortizing $262.5 million notional amount. The receipt of the monthly LIBOR-based payment offsets the variable monthly LIBOR-based interest cost on a corresponding $262.5 million portion of the Company’s term loan from the Credit Facility. This interest rate swap is used to partially hedge the interest rate risk associated with the volatility of monthly LIBOR rate movement and is accounted for as a cash flow hedge. See Note 12.

The Credit Facility is subject to certain financial covenants, including a consolidated financial leverage ratio and consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio. Under the amended Credit Facility, as described in Note 15, these financial covenants were subsequently revised and effective as of December 31, 2017. Subject to the specifically defined terms and methods of calculation as set forth in the amended Credit Facility, the financial covenant requirements, as of each quarterly reporting period end, are defined as follows:

•

Consolidated financial leverage ratio, as amended, compares consolidated funded indebtedness to amended Credit Facility defined income with a maximum amount not to exceed 3.75 to 1.00. At December 31, 2017, the Company’s consolidated financial leverage ratio was 2.97 to 1.00 and, using the amended Credit Facility defined income, the Company had the capacity to borrow up to $95.3 million of additional debt.


•	Consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio, as amended, compares amended Credit Facility defined income to amended Credit Facility defined fixed charges with a minimum permitted ratio of not less than 1.15 to 1.00. At December 31, 2017, the Company’s fixed charge ratio was 1.72 to 1.00.

At December 31, 2017, the Company was in compliance with all of its debt and financial covenants as required under the amended Credit Facility.

See Note 15 for further information regarding the amended Credit Facility.