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Debt
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Debt [Abstract]  
Debt Disclosure

8  Debt

 

In June 2013, the Company entered into a credit agreement that provides for a $1.1 billion revolving facility and a $300 million term loan facility. In April 2015, Waters entered into an amendment to this agreement (the “Amended Credit Agreement”). The Amended Credit Agreement provides for an increase of the revolving commitments from $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion and extends the maturity of the original credit agreement from June 25, 2018 until April 23, 2020. The Company plans to use future proceeds from the revolving facility for general corporate purposes.

 

The interest rates applicable to the Amended Credit Agreement are, at the Company's option, equal to either the alternate base rate calculated daily (which is a rate per annum equal to the greatest of (a) the prime rate in effect on such day, (b) the federal funds effective rate in effect on such day plus 1/2% per annum, or (c) the adjusted LIBO rate on such day (or if such day is not a business day, the immediately preceding business day) for a deposit in U.S. dollars with a maturity of one month plus 1% per annum) or the applicable 1, 2, 3 or 6 month adjusted LIBO rate, in each case, plus an interest rate margin based upon the Company's leverage ratio, which can range between 0 to 12.5 basis points for alternate base rate loans and between 80 basis points and 117.5 basis points for adjusted LIBO rate loans. The facility fee on the Amended Credit Agreement ranges between 7.5 basis points and 20 basis points. The Amended Credit Agreement requires that the Company comply with an interest coverage ratio test of not less than 3.50:1 as of the end of any fiscal quarter for any period of four consecutive fiscal quarters and a leverage ratio test of not more than 3.50:1 as of the end of any fiscal quarter. In addition, the Amended Credit Agreement includes negative covenants, affirmative covenants, representations and warranties and events of default that are customary for investment grade credit facilities.

 

At December 31, 2015, $125 million of the outstanding portion of the revolving facility was classified as short-term liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet due to the fact that the Company expects to repay this portion of the borrowing under the revolving line of credit within the next twelve months. The remaining $745 million of the outstanding portion of the revolving facility was classified as long-term liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet, as this portion is not expected to be repaid within the next twelve months.

 

As of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the Company had a total of $500 million and $600 million of outstanding senior unsecured notes, respectively. Interest on the fixed rate senior unsecured notes is payable semi-annually each year. Interest on the floating rate senior unsecured notes is payable quarterly. The Company may prepay all or some of the senior unsecured notes at any time in an amount not less than 10% of the aggregate principal amount outstanding, plus the applicable make-whole amount or prepayment premium for Series H senior unsecured notes. In the event of a change in control of the Company (as defined in the note purchase agreement), the Company may be required to prepay the senior unsecured notes at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest. These senior unsecured notes require that the Company comply with an interest coverage ratio test of not less than 3.50:1 for any period of four consecutive fiscal quarters and a leverage ratio test of not more than 3.50:1 as of the end of any fiscal quarter. In addition, these senior unsecured notes include customary negative covenants, affirmative covenants, representations and warranties and events of default.

 

On December 31, 2015, the Company adopted new accounting guidance related to the presentation of debt issuance costs. The accounting guidance requires debt issuance costs to be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying value of the associated debt liability, but allows debt issuance costs related to line-of-credit arrangements to remain as an asset, regardless of whether or not there are any outstanding borrowings on the line-of-credit arrangement. The Company applied the adoption of these standards retrospectively and reclassified $2 million and $3 million of unamortized debt issuance costs from intangible assets to short-term and long-term debt as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The Company elected to continue to present unamortized debt issuance costs related to the revolving line of credit as intangible assets. Other than this reclassification, the adoption of these standards did not have an impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

The Company had the following outstanding debt at December 31, 2015 and 2014 (in thousands):

   December 31,
   2015 2014
Foreign subsidiary lines of credit $ 322 $ 243
Senior unsecured notes - Series A - 3.75%, due February 2015   -   100,000
Senior unsecured notes - Series C - 2.50%, due March 2016   50,000   -
Credit agreements   125,000   125,000
Unamortized debt issuance costs   (13)   (13)
 Total notes payable and debt   175,309   225,230
        
Senior unsecured notes - Series B - 5.00%, due February 2020   100,000   100,000
Senior unsecured notes - Series C - 2.50%, due March 2016   -   50,000
Senior unsecured notes - Series D - 3.22%, due March 2018   100,000   100,000
Senior unsecured notes - Series E - 3.97%, due March 2021   50,000   50,000
Senior unsecured notes - Series F - 3.40%, due June 2021   100,000   100,000
Senior unsecured notes - Series G - 3.92%, due June 2024   50,000   50,000
Senior unsecured notes - Series H - floating rate*, due June 2024   50,000   50,000
Credit agreements   1,045,000   740,000
Unamortized debt issuance costs   (1,973)   (2,537)
 Total long-term debt   1,493,027   1,237,463
        
Total debt $ 1,668,336 $ 1,462,693
        
* Series H senior unsecured notes bear interest at a 3-month LIBOR for that floating rate interest period plus 1.25%.

As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company had a total amount available to borrow under existing credit agreements of $428 million and $533 million, respectively, after outstanding letters of credit. The weighted-average interest rates applicable to the senior unsecured notes and credit agreement borrowings collectively were 2.11% and 2.31% at December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. As of December 31, 2015, the Company was in compliance with all debt covenants.

 

The Company and its foreign subsidiaries also had available short-term lines of credit totaling $97 million and $88 million at December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, for the purpose of short-term borrowing and issuance of commercial guarantees. The weighted-average interest rates applicable to these short-term borrowings were 1.24% and 1.48% at December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.