FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS

Our outstanding debt was as follows at November 30:



(millions)	2017			2016
Short-term borrowings
Commercial paper	$	219.4		$	356.9
Other	38.2			33.4
	$	257.6		$	390.3
Weighted-average interest rate of short-term borrowings at year-end	2.3		%	1.4		%

Long-term debt
5.75% notes due 12/15/2017⁽¹⁾	$	250.0		$	250.0
Term loan due 8/17/2020⁽²⁾	500.0			—
3.90% notes due 7/8/2021⁽³⁾	250.0			250.0
2.70% notes due 8/15/2022	750.0			—
Term loan due 8/17/2022⁽²⁾	731.3			—
3.50% notes due 8/19/2023⁽⁴⁾	250.0			250.0
3.15% notes due 8/15/2024	700.0			—
3.25% notes due 11/15/2025⁽⁵⁾	250.0			250.0
3.40% notes due 8/15/2027⁽⁶⁾	750.0			—
4.20% notes due 8/15/2047	300.0			—
7.63%–8.12% notes due 2024	55.0			55.0
Other	19.6			11.1
Unamortized discounts, premiums, debt issuance costs and fair value adjustments	(36.4		)	(9.2		)
	4,769.5			1,056.9
Less current portion	325.6			2.9
	$	4,443.9		$	1,054.0


(1)	Interest rate swaps, settled upon the issuance of these notes in 2007, effectively set the interest rate on the $250 million notes at a weighted-average fixed rate of 6.25%.


(2)	As more fully described below, the term loans are prepayable in whole or in-part. Also, the term loan due in 2022 requires quarterly principal payments of 2.5% of the initial principal amount.


(3)	Interest rate swaps, settled upon the issuance of these notes in 2011, effectively set the interest rate on the $250 million notes at a weighted-average fixed rate of 4.01%.


(4)	Interest rate swaps, settled upon the issuance of these notes in 2013, effectively set the interest rate on the $250 million notes at a weighted-average fixed rate of 3.30%.

(5)

Interest rate swaps, settled upon the issuance of these notes in 2015, effectively set the interest rate on the $250 million notes at a weighted-average fixed rate of 3.45%. The fixed interest rate on $100 million of the 3.25% notes due in 2025 is effectively converted to a variable rate by interest rate swaps through 2025. Net interest payments are based on 3 month LIBOR plus 1.22% during this period (our effective rate as of November 30, 2017 was 2.64%).


(6)	Interest rate swaps, settled upon the issuance of these notes in 2017, effectively set the interest rate on the $750 million notes at a weighted-average fixed rate of 3.44%.

Maturities of long-term debt during the fiscal years subsequent to November 30, 2018 are as follows (in millions):



2019	$	77.1
2020	576.8
2021	326.8
2022	1,182.6
Thereafter	2,317.0

The consideration for our acquisition of RB Foods on August 17, 2017 totaled approximately $4.2 billion in cash (see note 2) and was funded with (a) borrowings under McCormick’s $1.5 billion Term Loan Agreement described below; (b) amounts received from the offering of $2.5 billion aggregate principal amount of McCormick’s senior unsecured notes described below; and (c) amounts received from the offering of McCormick’s common stock non-voting, which closed on August 11, 2017 (see note 13).

In connection with our entry into the agreement to acquire RB Foods, we entered into a commitment letter, dated July 18, 2017 (the “Commitment Letter”), under which certain banks agreed to provide a senior unsecured 364-day bridge loan facility (the “Bridge Facility”) of up to $4.2 billion in the aggregate. On August 7, 2017, we entered into a Senior Unsecured Bridge Credit Agreement with certain financial institutions under which those financial institutions agreed to provide a senior unsecured 364-day bridge loan facility (the “Bridge Facility”) for the purpose of providing the financing necessary to fund all or a portion of the consideration to be paid pursuant to the terms of the agreement related to the acquisition of RB Foods and related fees and expenses (the “Bridge Loan Commitment”). The Bridge Facility provided that the Bridge Loan Commitment would be reduced in equivalent amounts upon any incurrence by McCormick of, among other things, term loans and/or the issuance of equity or notes in a public offering or private placement prior to the consummation of the transaction, subject to certain exceptions set forth in the Bridge Facility. McCormick secured its permanent financing for the RB Foods acquisition, as described above, prior to the August 17, 2017 acquisition date. As a result, the Bridge Loan Commitment was reduced to zero without us ever drawing under the Bridge Facility. Other debt costs of $15.4 million for the year ended November 30, 2017 represents the Bridge Loan Commitment financing fees.

As previously noted, in connection with our acquisition of RB Foods, we entered into a Term Loan Agreement (“Term Loan”) in August 2017. The Term Loan provides for three-year and five-year senior unsecured term loans, each for $750 million. The net proceeds received from the issuance of the Term Loan was $1,498.3 million. The three-year loan is payable at maturity. The five-year loan is payable in equal quarterly installments in an amount of 2.5% of the initial principal amount, with the remaining unpaid balance due at maturity. The three-year and five-year loans are each prepayable in whole or in-part. During the fourth quarter of 2017, we repaid $250 million of the three-year loan. The three-year and five-year loans currently bear interest at LIBOR plus 1.125% and LIBOR plus 1.25%, respectively. The interest rates are based on our credit rating with the maximum potential interest rates of LIBOR plus 1.625% and LIBOR plus 1.75% for the three-year loan and five-year loan, respectively.

The provisions of our outstanding $1.0 billion revolving credit facility and the Term Loan restrict subsidiary indebtedness and require us to maintain certain minimum and maximum financial ratios for interest expense coverage and our leverage ratio. The applicable leverage ratio is reduced annually commencing on November 30, 2018. As of November 30, 2017, our capacity under the revolving credit facility is not affected by these covenants. We do not expect that these covenants would limit our access to our revolving credit facility for the foreseeable future; however, the leverage ratio could restrict our ability to utilize this facility.

In August 2017, we issued an aggregate amount of $2.5 billion of senior unsecured notes. These notes are due as follows: $750.0 million due August 15, 2022, $700.0 million due August 15, 2024, $750.0 million due August 15, 2027 and $300.0 million due August 15, 2047 with stated fixed interest rates of 2.70%, 3.15%, 3.40% and 4.20%, respectively. Interest is payable semiannually in arrears in August and February of each year. The net proceeds received from the issuance of these notes were $2,479.3 million. The net proceeds from this issuance were used to partially fund our acquisition of RB Foods. In addition, we used a portion of these proceeds, which in the interim were used to repay commercial paper borrowings, to repay our $250 million, 5.75% notes that matured on December 15, 2017.

In November 2015, we issued $250 million of 3.25% notes due 2025, with net cash proceeds received of $246.5 million. Interest is payable semiannually in arrears in May and November of each year. Of these notes, $100 million were subject to cash flow hedges and $100 million to fair value hedges as further disclosed in note 7. The net proceeds from this issuance were used to pay down short-term borrowings and for general corporate purposes. In December of 2015, proceeds from short-term borrowings were used to pay off $200 million of 5.20% notes that matured in that month.

We have available credit facilities with domestic and foreign banks for various purposes. Some of these lines are committed lines and others are uncommitted lines and could be withdrawn at various times. In August 2017, we entered into a five-year $1.0 billion revolving credit facility, which will expire in August 2022. The current pricing for the credit facility, on a fully drawn basis, is LIBOR plus 1.25%. The pricing of the credit facility is based on a credit rating grid that contains a fully drawn maximum pricing of the credit facility equal to LIBOR plus 1.75%. This credit facility supports our commercial paper program and, after $219.4 million was used to support issued commercial paper, we have $780.6 million of capacity at November 30, 2017. This facility replaces our prior facilities: (i) a five-year $750 million revolving credit facility that was due to expire in June 2020 and (ii) a 364-day $250 million revolving facility, which we entered into in March 2017 and that was due to expire in March 2018. The pricing for the 364-day credit facility, on a fully drawn basis, was LIBOR plus 0.75%. In addition, we have several uncommitted lines totaling $233.1 million, which have a total unused capacity at November 30, 2017 of $184.1 million. These lines by their nature can be withdrawn based on the lenders’ discretion. Committed credit facilities require a fee, and commitment fees were $0.8 million and $0.5 million for 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Rental expense under operating leases (primarily buildings and equipment) was $46.5 million in 2017, $41.6 million in 2016 and $39.0 million in 2015. Future annual fixed rental payments⁽¹⁾ for the years ending November 30 are as follows (in millions):



2018	$	41.7
2019	33.4
2020	26.2
2021	20.4
2022	16.6
Thereafter	33.7

⁽¹⁾In July 2016, we entered into a 15-year lease for a headquarters building in Hunt Valley, Maryland. The lease, which is expected to commence upon completion of building construction and fit-out, currently scheduled for the second half of 2018, requires monthly lease payments of approximately $0.9 million beginning six months after lease commencement. The $0.9 million monthly lease payment is subject to adjustment after an initial 60-month period and thereafter on an annual basis as specified in the lease agreement. In addition, the initial $0.9 million monthly lease payment is subject to increase in the event of agreed-upon changes to specifications related to the headquarters building. We expect to consolidate our Corporate staff and certain non-manufacturing U.S. employees, currently housed in four locations in the suburban Baltimore, Maryland area, to the new headquarters building. Due to uncertainty as to the exact date when the lease will commence, these lease payments are not reflected in the preceding table of annual fixed rental payments for the years ending November 30, 2018 through 2022 and thereafter.

At November 30, 2017, we had guarantees outstanding of $0.6 million with terms of one year or less. At November 30, 2017 and 2016, we had outstanding letters of credit of $7.3 million and $7.2 million, respectively. These letters of credit typically act as a guarantee of payment to certain third parties in accordance with specified terms and conditions. The unused portion of our letter of credit facility was $13.7 million at November 30, 2017.