NOTE 10. DEBT

Long-term debt consisted of the following:

	September 30,			December 31,
$s in thousands	2016			2015

Term loan	$	283,765		$	300,994
Unamortized discount and debt issuance costs	(5,993		)	(7,254		)

Total debt	277,772			293,740
Current portion of long-term debt	(2,903		)	(3,056		)

Long-term debt	$	274,869		$	290,684

On June 17, 2014, in connection with the acquisition of EQ Holdings, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively “EQ”), the Company entered into a new $540.0 million senior secured credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of banks comprised of a $415.0 million term loan (the “Term Loan”) with a maturity date of June 17, 2021 and a $125.0 million revolving line of credit (the “Revolving Credit Facility”) with a maturity date of June 17, 2019. Upon entering into the Credit Agreement, the Company terminated its existing credit agreement with Wells Fargo, dated October 29, 2010, as amended (the “Former Agreement”). Immediately prior to the termination of the Former Agreement, there were no outstanding borrowings under the Former Agreement. No early termination penalties were incurred as a result of the termination of the Former Agreement.

Term Loan

The Term Loan provided an initial commitment amount of $415.0 million, the proceeds of which were used to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of EQ and pay related transaction fees and expenses. The Term Loan bears interest at a base rate (as defined in the Credit Agreement) plus 2.00% or LIBOR plus 3.00%, at the Company’s option. The Term Loan is subject to amortization in equal quarterly installments in an aggregate annual amount equal to 1.00% of the original principal amount of the Term Loan. At September 30, 2016, the effective interest rate on the Term Loan, including the impact of our interest rate swap, was 4.75%. Interest only payments are due either monthly or on the last day of any interest period, as applicable. As set forth in the Credit Agreement, the Company is required to enter into one or more interest rate hedge agreements in amounts sufficient to fix the interest rate on at least 50% of the principal amount of the $415.0 million Term Loan. In October 2014, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement with Wells Fargo, effectively fixing the interest rate on $215.0 million, or 76%, of the Term Loan principal outstanding as of September 30, 2016.

Revolving Credit Facility

The Revolving Credit Facility provides up to $125.0 million of revolving credit loans or letters of credit with the use of proceeds restricted solely for working capital and other general corporate purposes. Under the Revolving Credit Facility, revolving loans are available based on a base rate (as defined in the Credit Agreement) or LIBOR, at the Company’s option, plus an applicable margin which is determined according to a pricing grid under which the interest rate decreases or increases based on our ratio of funded debt to consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (as defined in the Credit Agreement). At September 30, 2016, the effective interest rate on the Revolving Credit Facility was 5.25%. The Company is required to pay a commitment fee of 0.50% per annum on the unused portion of the Revolving Credit Facility, with such commitment fee to be reduced based upon the Company’s total leverage ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement). The maximum letter of credit capacity under the Revolving Credit Facility is $50.0 million and the Credit Agreement provides for a letter of credit fee equal to the applicable margin for LIBOR loans under the Revolving Credit Facility. Interest payments are due either monthly or on the last day of any interest period, as applicable. At September 30, 2016, there were $2.3 million of working capital borrowings outstanding on the Revolving Credit Facility. These borrowings are due “on demand” and presented as short-term debt in the consolidated balance sheets. As of September 30, 2016, the availability under the Revolving Credit Facility was $115.2 million with $7.5 million of the Revolving Credit Facility issued in the form of standby letters of credit utilized as collateral for closure and post-closure financial assurance and other assurance obligations.

Except as set forth below, the Company may prepay the Term Loan or permanently reduce the Revolving Credit Facility commitment under the Credit Agreement at any time without premium or penalty (other than customary “breakage” costs with respect to the early termination of LIBOR loans). Subject to certain exceptions, the Credit Agreement provides for mandatory prepayment upon certain asset dispositions, casualty events and issuances of indebtedness. The Credit Agreement is also subject to mandatory annual prepayments commencing in December 2015 if our total leverage (defined as the ratio of our consolidated funded debt as of the last day of the applicable fiscal year to our adjusted EBITDA for such period) exceeds certain ratios as follows: 50% of our adjusted excess cash flow (as defined in the Credit Agreement and which takes into account certain adjustments) if our total leverage ratio is greater than 2.50 to 1.00, with step-downs to 0% if our total leverage ratio is equal to or less than 2.50 to 1.00.

Pursuant to (i) an unconditional guarantee agreement (the “Guarantee”) and (ii) a collateral agreement, each entered into by the Company and its domestic subsidiaries on June 17, 2014, the Company’s obligations under the Credit Agreement are jointly and severally and fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior basis by all of the Company’s existing and certain future domestic subsidiaries and the Credit Agreement is secured by substantially all of the Company’s and its domestic subsidiaries’ assets except the Company’s and its domestic subsidiaries’ real property.

The Credit Agreement contains customary restrictive covenants, subject to certain permitted amounts and exceptions, including covenants limiting the ability of the Company to incur additional indebtedness, pay dividends and make other restricted payments, repurchase shares of our outstanding stock and create certain liens. We may only declare quarterly or annual dividends if on the date of declaration, no event of default has occurred and no other event or condition has occurred that would constitute default due to the payment of the dividend.

The Credit Agreement also contains a financial maintenance covenant, which is a maximum Consolidated Senior Secured Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement), and is only applicable to the Revolving Credit Facility. Our Consolidated Senior Secured Leverage Ratio as of the last day of any fiscal quarter, commencing with June 30, 2014, may not exceed the ratios indicated below:

Fiscal Quarters Ending		Maximum Ratio
December 31, 2015 through September 30, 2016		3.75 to 1.00
December 31, 2016 through September 30, 2017		3.50 to 1.00
December 31, 2017 through September 30, 2018		3.25 to 1.00
December 31, 2018 and thereafter		3.00 to 1.00

At September 30, 2016, we were in compliance with all of the financial covenants in the Credit Agreement.