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Long-Term Debt and Finance Lease Liabilities
9 Months Ended
Sep. 29, 2019
Long Term Debt And Finance Lease Liabilities [Abstract]  
Long-Term Debt and Finance Lease Liabilities

4. Long-Term Debt and Finance Lease Liabilities

A summary of long-term debt and finance lease liabilities is as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As of

 

Facility

 

Maturity

 

Interest Rate

 

September 29,

2019

 

 

December 30,

2018

 

Senior secured debt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$700.0 million Credit Agreement

 

March 27, 2023

 

Variable

 

$

515,000

 

 

$

453,000

 

Finance lease liabilities (see Note 5)

 

Various

 

n/a

 

 

11,699

 

 

 

 

Long-term debt and finance lease liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

$

526,699

 

 

$

453,000

 

 

Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility

March 2018 Refinancing

On March 27, 2018, the Company’s subsidiary, Sprouts Farmers Markets Holdings, LLC (“Intermediate Holdings”), as borrower, entered into an amended and restated credit agreement (the “Amended and Restated Credit Agreement”) to amend and restate the Company’s existing senior secured credit facility, dated April 17, 2015 (the “Former Credit Facility”). The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement provides for a revolving credit facility with an initial aggregate commitment of $700.0 million, an increase from $450.0 million from the Former Credit Facility, which may be increased from time to time pursuant to an expansion feature set forth in the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement.

Concurrently with the closing of the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, all commitments under the Former Credit Facility were terminated, resulting in a $0.3 million loss on early extinguishment of debt, recorded in interest expense during the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. The loss was due to the write-off of a proportional amount of deferred financing costs associated with the Former Credit Facility as the result of certain banks exiting the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement in connection with the refinancing. No amounts were outstanding under the Former Credit Facility as of September 29, 2019.

The Company capitalized debt issuance costs of $2.1 million related to the refinancing which combined with the remaining $0.7 million debt issuance costs for the Former Credit Facility, are being amortized on a straight-line basis to interest expense over the five-year term of the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement.

The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement also provides for a letter of credit sub-facility and a $15.0 million swingline facility. Letters of credit issued under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement reduce its borrowing capacity. Letters of credit totaling $26.9 million have been issued as of September 29, 2019, primarily to support the Company’s insurance programs.

On March 6, 2019, Intermediate Holdings entered into an amendment to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement intended to align the treatment of certain lease accounting terms with the Company’s adoption of ASC 842. This amendment had no impact on borrowing capacity, interest rate, or maturity.

Guarantees

Obligations under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement are guaranteed by the Company and all of its current and future wholly-owned material domestic subsidiaries (other than the borrower), and are secured by first-priority security interests in substantially all of the assets of the Company and its subsidiary guarantors, including, without limitation, a pledge by the Company of its equity interest in Intermediate Holdings.

Interest and Fees    

Loans under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement initially bear interest at LIBOR plus 1.50% per annum or prime plus 0.5%. The interest rate margins are subject to adjustment pursuant to a pricing grid based on the Company’s total net leverage ratio, as set forth in the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement. Under the terms of the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, the Company is obligated to pay a commitment fee on the available unused amount of the commitments between 0.15% to 0.30% per annum, also pursuant to a pricing grid based on the Company’s total net leverage ratio.

The interest rate on approximately 49% of outstanding debt under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement is fixed, reflecting the effects of floating to fixed interest rate swaps (see Note 11, “Derivative Financial Instruments”).

Outstanding letters of credit under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement are subject to a participation fee of 1.50% per annum and an issuance fee of 0.125% per annum.

Payments and Borrowings    

The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement is scheduled to mature, and the commitments thereunder will terminate on March 27, 2023, subject to extensions as set forth therein.

The Company may prepay loans and permanently reduce commitments under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement at any time in agreed-upon minimum principal amounts, without premium or penalty (except LIBOR breakage costs, if applicable).

During the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 29, 2019 the Company borrowed an additional $64.5 million and $187.4 million, respectively, primarily for share repurchases. During the same periods, the Company made principal payments totaling $64.5 million and $125.4 million, respectively; resulting in total outstanding debt under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement of $515.0 million as of September 29, 2019. During fiscal year 2018, the Company borrowed $233.0 million to be used in connection with the Company’s share repurchase programs (see Note 9, “Stockholders’ Equity”) and made a total of $128.0 million of principal payments; resulting in total outstanding debt under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement of $453.0 million at December 30, 2018.

Covenants    

The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement contains financial, affirmative and negative covenants.  The negative covenants include, among other things, limitations on the Company’s ability to:

 

incur additional indebtedness;

 

grant additional liens;  

 

enter into sale-leaseback transactions;

 

make loans or investments;

 

merge, consolidate or enter into acquisitions;

 

pay dividends or distributions;

 

enter into transactions with affiliates;

 

enter into new lines of business;

 

modify the terms of debt or other material agreements; and

 

change its fiscal year.

Each of these covenants is subject to customary and other agreed-upon exceptions.

In addition, the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement requires that the Company and its subsidiaries maintain a maximum total net leverage ratio not to exceed 3.25 to 1.00 and minimum interest coverage ratio not to be less than 1.75 to 1.00. Each of these covenants is tested on the last day of each fiscal quarter.

The Company was in compliance with all applicable covenants under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement as of September 29, 2019.

Former Credit Facility

On April 17, 2015, Intermediate Holdings, as borrower, entered into the Former Credit Facility that provided for a revolving credit facility with an initial aggregate commitment of $450.0 million, subject to an expansion feature set forth therein. The Former Credit Facility also provided for a letter of credit sub-facility and a $15.0 million swingline facility. 

The Former Credit Facility was scheduled to mature, and the commitments thereunder were scheduled to terminate, on April 17, 2020.

Loans under the Former Credit Facility bore interest, at the Company’s option, either at adjusted LIBOR plus 1.50% per annum, or a base rate plus 0.50% per annum. The interest rate margins were subject to adjustment pursuant to a pricing grid based on the Company’s total gross leverage ratio, as defined in the Former Credit Facility. Under the terms of the Former Credit Facility, the Company was obligated to pay a commitment fee on the available unused amount of the commitments equal to 0.20% per annum.