Fair Value of Financial Instruments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Fair Value of Financial Instruments [Text Block]

FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS:

The Company applies the following three-level hierarchy of valuation inputs for measuring fair value:


•	Level 1 - Quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets that the Company has the ability to access at the measurement date.


•	Level 2 - Quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable market data.


•	Level 3 - Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable.

The following methods and assumptions were used to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instruments held by the Company:

•

Financial Instruments Carried at Fair Value: Derivative instruments are recorded on the consolidated balance sheets as either assets or liabilities measured at fair value. During the reporting period, the Company's derivative financial instruments consisted of interest rate swap agreements and British pound forward purchase contracts. The Company estimated the fair value of its interest rate swap agreements based on Level 2 valuation inputs, including fixed interest rates, LIBOR implied forward interest rates and the remaining time to maturity. The Company estimated the fair value of its British pound forward purchase contracts based on Level 2 valuation inputs, including LIBOR implied forward interest rates, British pound LIBOR implied forward interest rates and the remaining time to maturity.

The Company's recurring fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) relate solely to the Company's deferred consideration from the Freightliner acquisition. The fair value of the deferred consideration liability, which equals the representative share value on the acquisition date, was estimated by discounting, to present value, contingent payments expected to be made (see Note 2, Changes in Operations).


•	Financial Instruments Carried at Historical Cost: The fair value of the Company's long-term debt was estimated using a discounted cash flow analysis based on Level 2 valuation inputs, including borrowing rates the Company believes are currently available to it for loans with similar terms and maturities.

The following table presents the Company's financial instruments carried at fair value using Level 2 inputs as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (dollars in thousands):



	March 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
Financial instruments carried at fair value using Level 2 inputs:
Financial assets carried at fair value:
Interest rate swap agreements	$	—	$	136
Financial liabilities carried at fair value:
Interest rate swap agreements	$	14,307	$	4,711
British pound forward purchase contracts	787		—
Total financial liabilities carried at fair value	$	15,094	$	4,711

The following table presents the Company's financial instrument carried at fair value using Level 3 inputs as of March 31, 2015 (dollars in thousands):



	March 31, 2015
	GBP		USD
Financial instruments carried at fair value using Level 3 inputs:
Financial liabilities carried at fair value:
Accrued deferred consideration	£	23,957	$	35,563

The following table presents the carrying value and fair value using Level 2 inputs of the Company's financial instruments carried at historical cost as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (dollars in thousands):



	March 31, 2015				December 31, 2014
	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
Financial liabilities carried at historical cost:
United States term loan	$	1,782,000	$	1,775,845	$	1,407,000	$	1,402,950
Australian term loan	242,730		232,102		133,857		133,900
U.K. term loan	150,935		150,021		—		—
Revolving credit facility	171,158		170,913		43,187		43,304
Amortizing notes component of tangible equity units	8,434		8,481		11,184		11,233
Other debt	3,465		3,438		8,544		8,523
Total	$	2,358,722	$	2,340,800	$	1,603,772	$	1,599,910

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

+ References+ Details