Senior Notes

On May 7, 2008, we issued $275 million of senior notes in a private placement to a group of institutional investors (the “2008 Senior Notes”). The 2008 Senior Notes were issued in four series as follows:



Series	Amount		Interest Rate		Maturity Date
	(In millions)
A	$	41.0	6.37	%	May 7, 2013
B	$	40.0	6.37	%	May 7, 2015
C	$	63.0	6.71	%	May 7, 2015
D	$	131.0	7.18	%	May 7, 2018

On July 14, 2010, we issued $245 million of senior notes in a private placement to a group of institutional investors (the “2010 Senior Notes” and, with the 2008 Senior Notes, the “Senior Notes”). The 2010 Senior Notes were issued in four series as follows:



Series	Amount		Interest Rate		Maturity Date
	(In millions)
E	$	60.0	4.72	%	July 14, 2016
F	$	72.0	5.04	%	July 14, 2017
G	$	28.0	5.42	%	July 14, 2019
H	$	85.0	5.59	%	July 14, 2020

We were and are required to pay the entire unpaid principal balances of each note series on its maturity date except for Series B notes, which required annual principal payments of $8.0 million starting on May 7, 2011 and ending on May 7, 2015. The Senior Notes require interest payments semi-annually and contain certain restrictive covenants, including the maintenance of consolidated net debt to consolidated EBITDA ratio and a fixed charge coverage ratio. The purchase agreements for the Senior Notes also contain certain covenants typical of unsecured facilities. As of September 30, 2016, we were in compliance with all financial covenants.

The following table presents the principal amounts, carrying amounts and fair values for the Senior Notes at September 30, 2016 and 2015:



	September 30, 2016						September 30, 2015
	Principal		Carrying Amounts		Fair Value		Principal		Carrying Amounts		Fair Value
	(In thousands)						(In thousands)
The 2008 Senior Notes	$	131,000	$	131,000	$	139,902	$	131,000	$	131,000	$	144,009
The 2010 Senior Notes	$	185,000	$	185,000	$	195,715	$	245,000	$	245,000	$	257,563

We measure the fair value of the Senior Notes based on Level 2 inputs, which include quoted market prices and interest rate spreads of similar securities.

Future principal payments for the Senior Notes are as follows (in thousands):



Year Ended September 30,
2017	$	72,000
2018	131,000
2019	28,000
2020	85,000
Total	$	316,000