DEBT

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

NOTE 6: DEBT

Debt at December 31 is detailed as follows:



	Effective
in thousands	Interest Rates	2020	2019
Short-term Debt
Bank line of credit expires 2025 ¹		$ 0	$ 0
Total short-term debt		$ 0	$ 0
Long-term Debt
Bank line of credit expires 2025 ¹		$ 0	$ 0
Floating-rate notes due 2020		0	250,000
Floating-rate notes due 2021	1.11%	500,000	500,000
8.85% notes due 2021	8.88%	6,000	6,000
4.50% notes due 2025	4.65%	400,000	400,000
3.90% notes due 2027	4.00%	400,000	400,000
3.50% notes due 2030	3.94%	750,000	0
7.15% notes due 2037	8.05%	129,239	129,239
4.50% notes due 2047	4.59%	700,000	700,000
4.70% notes due 2048	5.42%	460,949	460,949
Other notes	0.77%	11,711	185
Total long-term debt - face value		$ 3,357,899	$ 2,846,373
Unamortized discounts and debt issuance costs		(70,224)	(62,033)
Total long-term debt - book value		$ 3,287,675	$ 2,784,340
Less current maturities		515,435	25
Total long-term debt - reported value		$ 2,772,240	$ 2,784,315
Estimated fair value of long-term debt		$ 3,443,225	$ 3,073,693


¹	Borrowings on the bank line of credit are classified as short-term if we intend to repay within twelve months and as long-term if we have the intent and ability to extend payment beyond twelve months.

Discounts and debt issuance costs are amortized using the effective interest method over the terms of the respective notes resulting in $7,203,000 and $4,983,000, respectively, of net interest expense for these items for 2020 and 2019.

LINE OF CREDIT

In September 2020, we executed a new five-year unsecured line of credit of $1,000,000,000, incurring $4,632,000 of transaction costs. The line of credit contains affirmative, negative and financial covenants customary for an unsecured investment-grade facility. There are two primary negative covenants: 1) a limit on our ability to incur secured debt, and 2) a maximum ratio of debt to EBITDA of 3.50:1 (upon certain acquisitions, the maximum ratio can be 3.75:1 for four quarters). As of December 31, 2020, we were in compliance with the line of credit covenants.

Borrowings on our line of credit are classified as short-term if we intend to repay within twelve months and as long-term if we have the intent and ability to extend repayment beyond twelve months. Borrowings bear interest, at our option, at either LIBOR plus a credit margin ranging from 1.125% to 1.875%, or Truist Bank’s base rate (generally, its prime rate) plus a credit margin ranging from 0.125% to 0.875%. The credit margin for both LIBOR and base rate borrowings is determined by our credit ratings. Standby letters of credit, which are issued under the line of credit and reduce availability, are charged a fee equal to the credit margin for LIBOR borrowings plus 0.175%. We also pay a commitment fee on the daily average unused amount of the line of credit that ranges from 0.125% to 0.275% determined by our credit ratings. As of December 31, 2020, the credit margin for LIBOR borrowings was 1.250%, the credit margin for base rate borrowings was 0.250%, and the commitment fee for the unused amount was 0.150%.

In September 2020, we terminated our $750,000,000 364-day delayed draw term loan executed in April 2020. During the second quarter, we had borrowed and repaid $250,000,000 on this delayed draw term loan leaving $500,000,000 available for future borrowings prior to its termination.

As of December 31, 2020, our available borrowing capacity under the line of credit was $943,920,000. Utilization of the borrowing capacity was as follows:

none was borrowed

$56,080,000 was used to provide support for outstanding standby letters of credit

TERM DEBT

All of our $3,357,899,000 (face value) of term debt is unsecured. $3,346,188,000 of such debt is governed by three essentially identical indentures that contain customary investment-grade type covenants. The primary covenant in all three indentures limits the amount of secured debt we may incur without ratably securing such debt. As of December 31, 2020, we were in compliance with all term debt covenants.

In May 2020, we issued $750,000,000 of 3.50% senior notes due 2030. Total proceeds were $741,417,000 (net of discounts and transaction costs). $250,000,000 of the proceeds were used to retire the $250,000,000 floating rate notes due June 2020, and the remainder of the proceeds, together with cash on hand, will be used to retire the $500,000,000 floating rate notes due March 2021.

In 2018, we completed a number of financing activities resulting in gross proceeds of $850,000,000 and payments of $892,055,000. As a result of these activities, we recognized premiums of $5,608,000, transaction costs of $1,314,000 and noncash expense (acceleration of unamortized deferred transaction costs) of $466,000. The combined charge of $7,388,000 was a component of interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2018.

The total scheduled (principal and interest) debt payments, excluding the line of credit, for the five years subsequent to December 31, 2020 are as follows:



in thousands	Total	Principal	Interest
Scheduled Debt Payments (excluding the line of credit)
2021	$ 639,303	$ 515,435	$ 123,868
2022	122,720	457	122,263
2023	122,720	459	122,261
2024	122,720	461	122,259
2025	513,720	400,463	113,257

STANDBY LETTERS OF CREDIT

We provide, in the normal course of business, certain third-party beneficiaries with standby letters of credit to support our obligations to pay or perform according to the requirements of an underlying agreement. Such letters of credit typically have an initial term of one year, typically renew automatically, and can only be modified or canceled with the approval of the beneficiary. All of our standby letters of credit are issued by banks that participate in our $1,000,000,000 line of credit and reduce the borrowing capacity thereunder. Our standby letters of credit as of December 31, 2020 are summarized by purpose in the table below:



in thousands
Standby Letters of Credit
Risk management insurance				$ 48,982
Reclamation/restoration requirements				7,098
Total				$ 56,080