Debt

Long-term debt consisted of the following:



	September 30, 2015		December 31, 2014
	(thousands)
Asset-based revolving credit facility	$	—	$	—
Term loan	50,000		—
6.375% senior notes	299,990		299,990
Unamortized premium on 6.375% senior notes	1,269		1,425
Long-term debt	$	351,259	$	301,415

Asset-Based Credit Facility

On May 15, 2015, Boise Cascade and its principal operating subsidiaries, Boise Cascade Wood Products, L.L.C., and Boise Cascade Building Materials Distribution, L.L.C., as borrowers, and Boise Cascade Wood Products Holdings Corp., Chester Wood Products LLC, and Moncure Plywood LLC, as guarantors, entered into an Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (Amended Agreement) with Wells Fargo Capital Finance, LLC, as administrative agent, and the banks named therein as lenders. The Amended Agreement includes a $350 million senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility (Revolving Credit Facility) and a new $50.0 million term loan (Term Loan) maturing on May 1, 2022. The Amended Agreement amends and restates the credit agreement originally dated July 13, 2011 (Prior Agreement) as amended, restated, supplemented, or otherwise modified before the date of the Amended Agreement. The principal changes resulting from the Amended Agreement were to add the Term Loan, discussed further below, and to extend the maturity date of the Revolving Credit Facility to April 30, 2020. Borrowings under the Amended Agreement are constrained by a borrowing base formula dependent upon levels of eligible receivables and inventory reduced by outstanding borrowings and letters of credit (Availability). On August 7, 2015, we entered into the first amendment to the Amended Agreement which reduced the applicable margins for calculating the interest rates payable under the revolving credit facility.

The Amended Agreement is secured by a first-priority security interest in substantially all of our assets, except for property and equipment. The proceeds of borrowings under the agreement are available for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

The Amended Agreement contains customary nonfinancial covenants, including a negative pledge covenant and restrictions on new indebtedness, investments, distributions to equityholders, asset sales, and affiliate transactions, the scope of which are dependent on the Availability existing from time to time. The Amended Agreement also contains a requirement that we meet a 1:1 fixed-charge coverage ratio (FCCR), applicable only if Availability falls below 10% of the aggregate revolving lending commitments (or $35 million). Availability exceeded the minimum threshold amounts required for testing of the FCCR at all times since entering into the Prior Agreement and Amended Agreement, and Availability at September 30, 2015, was $292.7 million.

The Amended Agreement generally permits dividends only if certain conditions are met, including complying with either (i) pro forma Excess Availability (as defined in the Amended Agreement) equal to or exceeding 25% of the aggregate Revolver Commitments (as defined in the Amended Agreement) or (ii) (x) pro forma Excess Availability equal to or exceeding 15% of the aggregate Revolver Commitment and (y) a fixed-charge coverage ratio of 1:1 on a pro forma basis.

Revolving Credit Facility

Interest rates under the Revolving Credit Facility are based, at our election, on either LIBOR or a base rate, as defined in the credit agreement, plus a spread over the index elected that ranges from 1.25% to 1.75% for loans based on LIBOR and from 0.25% to 0.75% for loans based on the base rate. The spread is determined on the basis of a pricing grid that results in a higher spread as average quarterly Availability declines. Letters of credit are subject to a fronting fee payable to the issuing bank and a fee payable to the lenders equal to the LIBOR margin rate. In addition, we are required to pay an unused commitment fee at a rate ranging from 0.25% to 0.375% per annum (based on facility utilization) of the average unused portion of the lending commitments.

At both September 30, 2015, and December 31, 2014, we had no borrowings outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility and $8.0 million of letters of credit outstanding. These letters of credit and borrowings, if any, reduced our borrowing capacity under the Revolving Credit Facility by an equivalent amount.

Term Loan

The Term Loan was provided by institutions within the Farm Credit system. Borrowings under the Term Loan may be repaid from time to time at the discretion of the borrowers without premium or penalty. However, any principal amount of Term Loan repaid, may not be subsequently re-borrowed.

Interest rates under the Term Loan are based, at our election, on either LIBOR or a base rate, as defined in the agreement, plus a spread over the index elected that ranges from 1.75% to 2.25% for LIBOR rate loans and from 0.75% to 1.25% for base rate loans, both dependent on the amount of Average Excess Availability (as defined in the Amended Agreement). During the period for which the Term Loan was outstanding, the average interest rate on the Term Loan was approximately 1.95%.

We expect to receive patronage credits under the Term Loan. Patronage credits are distributions of profits from banks in the Farm Credit system, which are cooperatives that are required to distribute profits to their members. Patronage distributions, which are generally made in cash, are received in the year after they are earned. Patronage credits are recorded as a reduction to interest expense in the year earned. After giving effect to expected patronage distributions, the effective net interest rate on the Term Loan was approximately 1.2%.

Proceeds from the Term Loan were used to fund a $40.0 million discretionary pension contribution and for general corporate purposes. For additional information on the discretionary pension contribution, see Note 6, Retirement and Benefit Plans.

Senior Notes

On October 22, 2012, Boise Cascade and its wholly owned subsidiary, Boise Cascade Finance Corporation (Boise Finance and together with Boise Cascade, the Co-issuers), issued $250 million of 6.375% senior notes due November 1, 2020 (Senior Notes) through a private placement that was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act). Interest on our Senior Notes is payable semiannually in arrears on May 1 and November 1. On March 28, 2013, Boise Finance was merged with and into Boise Cascade, with Boise Cascade as the surviving entity and sole issuer of the Senior Notes. The Senior Notes are guaranteed by each of our existing and future direct or indirect domestic subsidiaries that is a guarantor or co-borrower under our Revolving Credit Facility.

On August 15, 2013, we issued an additional $50 million in aggregate principal amount of Senior Notes in a private placement that was exempt from registration under the Securities Act. The additional $50 million of Senior Notes were priced at 103.5% of their principal amount plus accrued interest from May 1, 2013, and were issued as additional Senior Notes under the related indenture dated as of October 22, 2012.

On May 8, 2013 and November 26, 2013, we completed offers to exchange any and all of our $250 million and $50 million, respectively, outstanding Senior Notes for a like principal amount of new 6.375% Senior Notes due 2020 having substantially identical terms to those of the Senior Notes. $250 million and $49,990,000 in aggregate principal amount (or 100% and 99.98%, respectively) of the outstanding Senior Notes were tendered and accepted for exchange upon closing of the related exchange offers and have been registered under the Securities Act.

Cash Paid for Interest

For the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, cash payments for interest were $10.6 million and $10.4 million, respectively.