LONG-TERM DEBT:

6 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

LONG-TERM DEBT:

LONG-TERM DEBT:

7.             LONG-TERM DEBT:

Long-term debt consists of the following (dollars in thousands):

	September 30, 2012		March 31, 2012
Term loan credit agreement	$	221,000	$	224,000
Capital leases and installment payment obligations on land, buildings and equipment payable in monthly payments of principal plus interest at rates ranging from approximately 3% to 8%; remaining terms up to ten years	28,937		35,726
Other debt and long-term liabilities	16,902		18,496
Total long-term debt and capital leases	266,839		278,222
Less current installments	22,492		26,336
Long-term debt, excluding current installments	$	244,347	$	251,886

The Company’s amended and restated credit agreement provides for (1) term loans up to an aggregate principal amount of $600 million and (2) revolving credit facility borrowings consisting of revolving loans, letter of credit participations and swing-line loans up to an aggregate amount of $120 million.

The term loan is payable in quarterly installments of approximately $1.5 million each, through December 31, 2014, with a final payment of approximately $207.5 million due March 15, 2015.  The revolving loan commitment expires March 15, 2014.

Revolving credit facility borrowings currently bear interest at LIBOR plus a credit spread, or at an alternative base rate or at the Federal Funds rate plus a credit spread, depending on the type of borrowing.  The LIBOR credit spread is 2.75%.  There were no revolving credit borrowings outstanding at September 30, 2012 or March 31, 2012.  Term loan borrowings bear interest at LIBOR plus a credit spread of 3.00%.  The weighted-average interest rate on term loan borrowings at September 30, 2012 was 3.7%.  Outstanding letters of credit at September 30, 2012 were $2.2 million.

The term loan allows prepayments before maturity.  The credit agreement is secured by the accounts receivable of Acxiom and its domestic subsidiaries, as well as by the outstanding stock of certain Acxiom subsidiaries.

Under the terms of the term loan, the Company is required to maintain certain debt-to-cash flow and debt service coverage ratios, among other restrictions.  At September 30, 2012, the Company was in compliance with these covenants and restrictions.  In addition, if certain financial ratios and other conditions are not satisfied, the revolving credit facility limits the Company’s ability to pay dividends in excess of $30 million in any fiscal year (plus additional amounts in certain circumstances).

On July 25, 2011, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement.  The agreement provides for the Company to pay interest through January 27, 2014 at a fixed rate of 0.94% plus the applicable credit spread on $150.0 million notional amount, while receiving interest for the same period at the LIBOR rate on the same notional amount.  The LIBOR rate as of September 30, 2012 was 0.45%.  The swap was entered into as a cash flow hedge against LIBOR interest rate movements on the term loan.  As of September 30, 2012, the hedge relationship qualified as an effective hedge under applicable accounting standards.  Consequently, all changes in fair value of the derivative are deferred and recorded in other comprehensive income (loss) until the related forecasted transaction is recognized in the consolidated statement of operations.  The fair market value of the derivative was zero at inception and an unrealized loss of $1.2 million since inception is recorded in other comprehensive income (loss) with the offset recorded to other noncurrent liabilities.  The fair value of the interest rate swap agreement recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) may be recognized in the statement of operations if certain terms of the floating-rate debt change, if the floating-rate debt is extinguished or if the interest rate swap agreement is terminated prior to maturity.  The Company has assessed the creditworthiness of the counterparty of the swap and concludes that no substantial risk of default exists as of September 30, 2012.