Long-term Debt

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

The Company’s total indebtedness as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018 consisted of the following:



	September 30, 2019			December 31, 2018
	(Dollars in millions)
6.000% Senior Secured Notes due March 2022	$	500.0		$	500.0
6.375% Senior Secured Notes due March 2025	500.0			500.0
Senior Secured Term Loan due 2025, net of original issue discount	393.0			395.9
Finance lease obligations	19.6			40.0
Less: Debt issuance costs	(59.8		)	(68.9		)
	1,352.8			1,367.0
Less: Current portion of long-term debt	23.4			36.5
Long-term debt	$	1,329.4		$	1,330.5

6.000% and 6.375% Senior Secured Notes

On February 15, 2017, the Company entered into an indenture (the Indenture) with Wilmington Trust, National Association, as trustee, relating to its issuance of $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 6.000% senior secured notes due 2022 (the 2022 Notes) and $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 6.375% senior secured notes due 2025 (the 2025 Notes and, together with the 2022 Notes, the Senior Notes). The Senior Notes were sold on February 15, 2017 in a private transaction exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933.

The Senior Notes were issued at par value. The Company paid aggregate debt issuance costs of $49.5 million related to the offering, which are being amortized over the respective terms of the Senior Notes. Interest payments on the Senior Notes are scheduled to occur each year on March 31 and September 30 until maturity. During the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company recorded interest expense of $18.1 million and $19.1 million, respectively, and during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company recorded interest expense of $54.2 million and $54.0 million, respectively, related to the Senior Notes.

The Company may redeem the 2022 Notes during 2019, in whole or in part, at 103.0% of par, in 2020 at 101.5% of par, and in 2021 and thereafter at par. The 2025 Notes may be redeemed, in whole or in part, beginning in 2020 at 104.8% of par, in 2021 at 103.2% of par, in 2022 at 101.6% of par, and in 2023 and thereafter at par. In addition, prior to the first date on which the Senior Notes are redeemable at the redemption prices noted above, the Company may also redeem some or all of the Senior Notes at a calculated make-whole premium, plus accrued and unpaid interest.

On August 9, 2018, the Company executed an amendment to the Indenture following the solicitation of consents from the requisite majorities of holders of each series of Senior Notes. The amendment permits a category of restricted payments at any time not to exceed the sum of $650.0 million, plus an additional $150.0 million per calendar year, commencing with calendar year 2019, with unused amounts in any calendar year carrying forward to and available for restricted payments in any subsequent calendar year. The Company paid consenting Senior Note holders $10.00 in cash per $1,000 principal amount of 2022 Notes and $30.00 in cash per $1,000 principal amount of 2025 Notes, which amounted to $19.8 million in aggregate consent payments. Such consent payments were capitalized as additional debt issuance costs to be amortized over the respective terms of the Senior Notes. The Company also expensed $1.5 million of other payments associated with the amendment to “Interest expense” in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations during 2018.

The Indenture contains customary conditions of default and imposes certain restrictions on the Company’s activities, including its ability to incur liens, incur debt, make investments, engage in fundamental changes such as mergers and dissolutions, dispose of assets, enter into transactions with affiliates and make certain restricted payments, such as cash dividends and share repurchases.

The Senior Notes rank senior in right of payment to any subordinated indebtedness and equally in right of payment with any senior indebtedness to the extent of the collateral securing that indebtedness. The Senior Notes are jointly and severally and fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior secured basis by substantially all of the Company’s material domestic subsidiaries and secured by first priority liens over (1) substantially all of the assets of the Company and the guarantors, except for certain excluded assets, (2) 100% of the capital stock of each domestic restricted subsidiary of the Company, (3) 100% of the non-voting capital stock of each first tier foreign subsidiary of the Company or a foreign subsidiary holding company and no more than 65% of the voting capital stock of each first tier foreign subsidiary of the Company or a foreign subsidiary holding company, (4) a legal charge of 65% of the voting capital stock and 100% of the non-voting capital stock of Peabody Investments (Gibraltar) Limited and (5) all intercompany debt owed to the Company or any guarantor, in each case, subject to certain exceptions. The obligations under the Senior Notes are secured on a pari passu basis by the same collateral securing the Credit Agreement (as defined below), subject to certain exceptions.

Credit Agreement

The Company entered into a credit agreement, dated as of April 3, 2017, among the Company, as borrower, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, as administrative agent, and other lenders party thereto (the Credit Agreement). The Credit Agreement originally provided for a $950.0 million senior secured term loan (the Senior Secured Term Loan), which was to mature in 2022 prior to the amendments described below.

Following the voluntary prepayments and amendments described below, the Credit Agreement provided for a $400.0 million first lien senior secured term loan, which bore interest at LIBOR plus 2.75% per annum as of September 30, 2019. During the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company recorded interest expense of $5.6 million and $5.1 million, respectively, and during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company recorded interest expense of $17.0 million and $18.5 million, respectively, related to the Senior Secured Term Loan.

Proceeds from the Senior Secured Term Loan were received net of an original issue discount and deferred financing costs of $37.3 million that are being amortized over its term. The loan principal is payable in quarterly installments plus accrued interest through December 2024 with the remaining balance due in March 2025. The loan principal was voluntarily prepayable at 101% of the principal amount repaid if prepayment occurred prior to October 2018 (subject to certain exceptions, including prepayments made with internally generated cash) and is voluntarily prepayable at any time thereafter without premium or penalty. The Senior Secured Term Loan may require mandatory principal prepayments of up to 75% of Excess Cash Flow (as defined in the Credit Agreement) for any fiscal year if the Company’s Total Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement and calculated at December 31, net of any unrestricted cash) is greater than 2.00:1.00. The mandatory principal prepayment requirement changes to (i) 50% of Excess Cash Flow if the Company’s Total Leverage Ratio is less than or equal to 2.00:1.00 and greater than 1.50:1.00, (ii) 25% of Excess Cash Flow if the Company’s Total Leverage Ratio is less than or equal to 1.50:1.00 and greater than 1.00:1.00, or (iii) zero if the Company’s Total Leverage Ratio is less than or equal to 1.00:1.00. If required, mandatory prepayments resulting from Excess Cash Flows are payable within 100 days after the end of each fiscal year. The calculation of mandatory prepayments would be reduced commensurately by the amount of previous voluntary prepayments. In certain circumstances, the Senior Secured Term Loan requires that Excess Proceeds (as defined in the Credit Agreement) of $10.0 million or greater received from sales of Company assets be applied against the loan principal, unless such proceeds are reinvested within one year. The Senior Secured Term Loan also requires that any net insurance proceeds be applied against the loan principal, unless such proceeds are reinvested within one year.

The Credit Agreement contains customary conditions of default and imposes certain restrictions on the Company’s activities, including its ability to incur liens, incur debt, make investments, engage in fundamental changes such as mergers and dissolutions, dispose of assets, enter into transactions with affiliates, and make certain restricted payments, such as cash dividends and share repurchases. Obligations under the Credit Agreement are secured on a pari passu basis by the same collateral securing the Senior Notes.

Since entering into the Credit Agreement, the Company has repaid $556.0 million of the original $950.0 million loan principal amount on the Senior Secured Term Loan in various installments, including $546.0 million of voluntary prepayments. In September 2017, the Company entered into an amendment to the Credit Agreement which permitted the Company to add an incremental revolving credit facility in addition to the Company’s ability to add one or more incremental term loan facilities under the Credit Agreement. The incremental revolving credit facility and/or incremental term loan facilities originally allowed for an aggregate principal amount of up to $350.0 million plus additional amounts so long as the Company remains in compliance with Total Leverage Ratio requirements as set forth in the Credit Agreement. The amendment also made available an additional restricted payment basket that permits additional repurchases, dividends or other distributions with respect to the Company’s common and preferred stock in an aggregate amount up to $450.0 million so long as the Company’s Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement) is at least 2.00:1.00 on a pro forma basis.

In April 2018, the Company entered into another amendment to the Credit Agreement which lowered the interest rate on the Senior Secured Term Loan to its current level of LIBOR plus 2.75% and eliminated an existing 1.0% LIBOR floor. The amendment also extended the maturity of the Senior Secured Term Loan by three years to 2025 and eliminated previous capital expenditure restriction covenants on both the Senior Secured Term Loan and the incremental revolving credit facility described below. In connection with this amendment, the Company voluntarily repaid $46.0 million of principal on the Senior Secured Term Loan.

During the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company entered into the incremental revolving credit facility (the Revolver) for an aggregate commitment of $350.0 million for general corporate purposes and paid debt issuance costs of $4.7 million. In September 2019, the Company entered into an amendment to the Credit Agreement which increased the aggregate commitment amount under the Revolver to $565.0 million and extended the maturity date on $540.0 million of the commitments from November 2020 to September 2023. The maturity date for the remaining $25.0 million commitment is November 2020. The Company incurred $5.7 million of additional debt issuance costs in connection with the amendment. The Revolver currently permits loans which bear interest at LIBOR plus 3.25%, as well as letters of credit which incur combined fees of 3.375% per annum. Unused capacity under the Revolver bears a commitment fee of 0.5% per annum. As a result of the amendment, such loans, letters of credit and unused capacity related to the $540.0 million of extended commitments will bear interest and incur fees at rates dependent upon the Company’s First Lien Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement) beginning in 2020. The Revolver is also subject to a 2.00:1.00 Total Leverage Ratio requirement (as defined in the Credit Agreement), modified to limit unrestricted cash netting to $800.0 million.

To date, the Revolver has only been utilized for letters of credit, including $66.4 million outstanding at September 30, 2019. Such letters of credit were primarily in support of the Company’s reclamation obligations, as further described in Note 18. “Financial Instruments and Other Guarantees.” During the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company recorded interest expense and fees of $1.4 million and $1.3 million, respectively, and during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company recorded interest expense and fees of $4.5 million and $4.3 million, respectively, related to the Revolver.

Restricted Payments Under the Senior Notes and Credit Agreement

In addition to the $450.0 million restricted payment basket provided for under the September 2017 amendment, the Credit Agreement provides a builder basket for additional restricted payments subject to a maximum Total Leverage Ratio of 2.00:1.00 (as defined in the Credit Agreement).

In addition to the $650.0 million restricted payment basket, plus an additional $150.0 million per calendar year, provided under the August 2018 amendment, the Indenture provides a builder basket for restricted payments that is calculated based upon the Company’s Consolidated Net Income, and is subject to a Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio of at least 2.25:1.00 (as defined in the Indenture).

Further, under both the Indenture and Credit Agreement, additional restricted payments are permitted through a $50.0 million general basket and an annual aggregate $25.0 million basket which allows dividends and common stock repurchases. The payment of dividends and purchases of common stock under this annual aggregate $25.0 million basket are permitted so long as the Company’s Total Leverage Ratio would not exceed 1.25:1.00 on a pro forma basis (as defined in the Credit Agreement and Indenture).

Finance Lease Obligations

Refer to Note 11. “Leases” for additional information associated with the Company’s finance leases, which pertain to the financing of mining equipment used in operations.