Note 12 - Notes Payable

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Debt Disclosure [Text Block]

12.  Notes Payable:

As of December 31, 2019 and 2018 the Company’s Notes payable, net consisted of the following (dollars in millions):

	Carrying Amount at December 31,						Interest Rate at December 31,								Maturity Date at
	2019			2018			2019				2018				December 31, 2019
Senior unsecured notes	$	4,684.9		$	4,334.9			2.70%	-	4.45%		2.70%	-	6.88%		May-2021– Oct 2049
Credit facility		200.0			100.0			(a)				(a)				Mar-2021
Deferred financing costs, net		(53.1	)		(53.4	)		n/a				n/a				n/a
	$	4,831.8		$	4,381.5			3.46%*				3.48%*

* Weighted-average interest rate

(a) Accrues interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 0.875% (2.64% and 3.31% at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively).

During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company issued the following senior unsecured notes (dollars in millions):

Date Issued	Maturity Date	Amount Issued		Interest Rate
Aug-19	Oct-49	$	350.0		3.70%

During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company repaid the following notes (dollars in millions):

Type	Date Paid	Amount Repaid		Interest Rate		Maturity Date
Senior unsecured notes (1)	Aug-18	$	300.0		6.875%	Oct-19
Senior unsecured notes (2)	Jun-18 & Jul-18	$	15.1		3.200%	May-21

(1) The Company recorded an early extinguishment of debt charge of $12.8 million resulting from the early repayment of these notes.

(2) Represents partial repayments. As of December 31, 2018, these notes had an outstanding balance of $484.9 million.

The scheduled maturities of all notes payable excluding unamortized debt issuance costs of $53.1 million, as of December 31, 2019, were as follows (in millions):

	2020		2021		2022		2023		2024		Thereafter		Total
Principal payments	$	-	$	684.9	$	500.0	$	350.0	$	400.0	$	2,950.0	$	4,884.9

The Company’s supplemental indentures governing its Senior Unsecured Notes contain covenants whereby the Company is subject to maintaining (a) certain maximum leverage ratios on both unsecured senior corporate and secured debt, minimum debt service coverage ratios and minimum equity levels, (b) certain debt service ratios and (c) certain asset to debt ratios. In addition, the Company is restricted from paying dividends in amounts that exceed by more than $26.0 million the funds from operations, as defined, generated through the end of the calendar quarter most recently completed prior to the declaration of such dividend; however, this dividend limitation does not apply to any distributions necessary to maintain the Company's qualification as a REIT providing the Company is in compliance with its total leverage limitations. The Company was in compliance with all of the covenants as of December 31, 2019.   

Interest on the Company’s fixed-rate Senior Unsecured Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears. Proceeds from these issuances were primarily used for the acquisition of shopping centers, the expansion and improvement of properties in the Company’s portfolio and the repayment of certain debt obligations of the Company.

Credit Facility

The Company has a $2.25 billion unsecured revolving credit facility (the “Credit Facility”) with a group of banks, which is scheduled to expire in March 2021, with two additional six-month options to extend the maturity date, at the Company’s discretion, to March 2022. This Credit Facility, which accrues interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 87.5 basis points (2.64% as of December 31, 2019), can be increased to $2.75 billion through an accordion feature. In addition, the Credit Facility includes a $500.0 million sub-limit which provides the Company the opportunity to borrow in alternative currencies including Canadian Dollars, British Pounds Sterling, Japanese Yen or Euros. Pursuant to the terms of the Credit Facility, the Company, among other things, is subject to covenants requiring the maintenance of (i) maximum leverage ratios on both unsecured and secured debt and (ii) minimum interest and fixed coverage ratios. The Company was in compliance with all of the covenants as of December 31, 2019.   As of December 31, 2019, the Credit Facility had a balance of $200.0 million outstanding and $0.3 million appropriated for letters of credit.