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Debt
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Debt [Abstract]  
Debt

 

(7) DEBT

 

The components of debt as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 consisted of the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012

 

2011

 

 

(in thousands)

Short-term debt:

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.15% Senior Notes due 2018

 

$

1,200 

 

$

1,200 

Total short-term debt

 

 

1,200 

 

 

1,200 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long-term debt:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Variable rate (2.200%  and 2.276% as of December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively) unsecured revolving credit facility, expires February 2016

 

 

 –

 

 

671,500 

7.5% Senior Notes due 2018

 

 

600,000 

 

 

600,000 

7.35% Senior Notes due 2017

 

 

15,000 

 

 

15,000 

7.125% Senior Notes due 2017

 

 

25,000 

 

 

25,000 

7.15% Senior Notes due 2018

 

 

29,400 

 

 

30,600 

4.10% Senior Notes due 2022

 

 

1,000,000 

 

 

 –

Unamortized discount

 

 

(1,127)

 

 

 –

Total long-term debt

 

 

1,668,273 

 

 

1,342,100 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total debt

 

$

1,669,473 

 

$

1,343,300 

 

The following is a summary of scheduled long-term debt maturities by year as of December 31, 2012 (in thousands):

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014

$

1,200 

2015

 

1,200 

2016

 

1,200 

2017

 

41,200 

Thereafter

 

1,624,600 

 

$

1,669,400 

 

Issuance of Senior Notes and Subsidiary Guarantees 

 

In January 2008, the Company completed an offering of $600 million Senior Notes with a coupon rate of 7.5% (“7.5% Senior Notes”), a maturity in February 2018 and semi-annual interest payments. Upon a “change of control,” as defined in the indenture, holders have the option to require the Company to purchase all or any portion of the notes at a purchase price equal to 101% of the principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest before the change of control date.

 

In March 2012, the Company issued $1.0 billion of 4.10% Senior Notes due 2022 in a private placement. The 4.10% Senior Notes are redeemable at the Company’s election, in whole or in part, at any time prior to December 15, 2021, at a redemption price equal to the greater of: (1) 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be redeemed then outstanding; and (2) the sum of the present values of the remaining scheduled payments of principal and interest on the notes to be redeemed (not including any portion of such payments of interest accrued to the date of redemption) discounted to the redemption date on a semiannual basis (assuming a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months) as determined in accordance with the Indenture, plus 35 basis points, plus, in either of such cases, accrued and unpaid interest to the date of redemption on the notes to be redeemed. In addition, if the Company undergoes a “change of control,” as defined in the indenture, holders of the 4.10% Senior Notes will have the option to require the Company to purchase all or any portion of the notes at a purchase price equal to 101% of the principal amount of the notes to be purchased plus any accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the change of control date. Payment obligations with respect to the 4.10% Senior Notes are currently guaranteed by the Company’s subsidiaries, SEECO, SEPCO and SES, which guarantees may be unconditionally released in certain circumstances.  The indentures governing the 4.10% Senior Notes and the Company’s other senior notes contain covenants that, among other things, restrict the ability of the Company and/or its subsidiaries to incur liens, to engage in sale and leaseback transactions and to merge, consolidate or sell assets.  In December 2012, the Company completed its offer to exchange up to $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of its 4.10% Senior Notes due 2022 (the “Exchange Notes”, which were registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), for any and all of its outstanding 4.10% Senior Notes due 2022, which were issued in a private placement in March 2012 (the “Private Notes”).  The Exchange Notes have substantially identical terms to the Private Notes, except that the offering of the Exchange Notes was registered under the Act, and the Exchange Notes are not subject to any transfer restrictions.  The Company exchanged $999,500,000 of Private Notes for Exchange Notes, and has no further obligations under the related registration rights agreement.

 

The indentures governing the Company’s senior notes contain covenants that, among other things, restrict the ability of the Company and/or its subsidiaries’ ability to incur liens, to engage in certain sale and leaseback transactions and to merge, consolidate, or sell certain assets.  All of the Company’s senior notes are currently guaranteed by its subsidiaries, SEECO, Inc. (“SEECO”), Southwestern Energy Production Company (“SEPCO”) and Southwestern Energy Services Company (“SES”).  If no default or event of default has occurred and is continuing, these guarantees will be released (i) automatically upon any sale, exchange, or transfer of all of the Company’s equity interests in the guarantor; (ii) automatically upon the liquidation and dissolution of a guarantor; (iii) following delivery of notice to the trustee of the release of the guarantor of its obligations under the Company’s revolving credit facility; and (iv) upon legal or covenant defeasance or other satisfaction of the obligations under the notes.

 

Please refer to Note 15, “Condensed Consolidating Financial Information” in this Form 10-K for additional information

 

Credit Facility 

 

In February 2011, the Company amended and restated its unsecured revolving credit facility, increasing the borrowing capacity to $1.5 billion and extending the maturity date to February 2016 (“Credit Facility”).  The amount available under the Credit Facility may be increased to $2.0 billion at any time upon the Company’s agreement with its existing or additional lenders. The interest rate on the Credit Facility is calculated based upon our debt rating and is currently 200 basis points over the current London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and was 200 basis points over LIBOR as of December 31, 2012. The Credit Facility is guaranteed by the Company’s subsidiary, SEECO and requires additional subsidiary guarantors if certain guaranty coverage levels are not satisfied.  The facility contains covenants which impose certain restrictions on the Company. Under the credit agreement, the Company may not issue total debt in excess of 60% of its total adjusted capital and must maintain a ratio of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to interest expense of 3.5 or above. The terms of the Credit Facility also include covenants that restrict the ability of the Company and its material subsidiaries to merge, consolidate or sell all or substantially all of their assets, restrict the ability of the Company and its subsidiaries to incur liens and restrict the ability of the Company’s subsidiaries to incur indebtedness.  As of December 31, 2012, the Company was in compliance with the covenants of its debt agreements.  While the Company believes all of the lenders under the Credit Facility have the ability to provide funds, it cannot predict whether each will be able to meet its obligation under the facility.