5. Debt

Below is a listing of the Company’s outstanding debt, including capital leases and lease financing obligations, as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 (in thousands):


	Weighted Average
	Coupon Interest Rate at		December 31,		December 31,
	December 31, 2015	Maturities	2015		2014
Unsecured Credit Facility
Revolving Credit Facility	1.82%	December 17, 2019	$	224,002	$	139,838
Term Loan I	1.78%	December 17, 2020		150,000		100,000
Term Loan II	1.92%	April 27, 2021		150,000		-
Senior Notes, net of discount	5.88%	August 1, 2022		297,976		297,729
Richmond Credit Facility	N/A	N/A		-		70,000
Atlanta-Metro Equipment Loan	N/A	N/A		-		16,600
Capital Lease and Lease Financing Obligations	3.35%	2016 - 2025		49,761		13,062
Total	3.31%		$	871,739	$	637,229

Credit Facilities, Senior Notes and Mortgage Notes Payable

(a) Unsecured Credit Facility – On May 1, 2013, the Company entered into a $575 million unsecured credit facility comprised of a five-year $225 million term loan and a four-year $350 million revolving credit facility with a one year extension, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, and had the ability to expand the total credit facility by an additional $100 million subject to certain conditions set forth in the credit agreement. In July 2014 the Company’s term loan was reduced by $75 million to $150 million in connection with the issuance of the Senior Notes. On December 17, 2014, the Company amended and restated its unsecured credit facility to provide for a $650 million unsecured credit facility comprised of a five-year $100 million term loan maturing December 17, 2019 and a four-year $550 million revolving credit facility maturing December 17, 2018, with the option to extend one year until December 17, 2019, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. The lenders under the unsecured credit facility could issue up to $30 million in letters of credit subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions.

In October 2015, the Company further amended its unsecured credit facility, increasing the total capacity by $250 million and extending the term. At the same time, the Company terminated its secured credit facility relating to the Richmond data center. The amended unsecured credit facility has a total capacity of $900 million and includes a $150 million term loan which matures on December 17, 2020, another $150 million term loan which matures on April 27, 2021, and a $600 million revolving credit facility which matures on December 17, 2019, with a one year extension option. Amounts outstanding under the amended unsecured credit facility bear interest at a variable rate equal to, at our election, LIBOR or a base rate, plus a spread that will vary depending upon our leverage ratio. For revolving credit loans, the spread ranges from 1.55% to 2.15% for LIBOR loans and 0.55% to 1.15% for base rate loans. For term loans, the spread ranges from 1.50% to 2.10% for LIBOR loans and 0.50% to 1.10% for base rate loans. The amended unsecured credit facility also includes a $200 million accordion feature.

Under the amended unsecured credit facility, the capacity may be increased from the current capacity of $900 million to $1.1 billion subject to certain conditions set forth in the credit agreement, including the consent of the administrative agent and obtaining necessary commitments. As of December 31, 2015, the weighted average interest rate for amounts outstanding under the unsecured credit facility was 1.84%. The Company is also required to pay a commitment fee to the lenders assessed on the unused portion of the unsecured revolving credit facility. At the Company’s election, the Company can prepay amounts outstanding under the unsecured credit facility, in whole or in part, without penalty or premium.

The Company’s ability to borrow under the amended unsecured credit facility is subject to ongoing compliance with a number of customary affirmative and negative covenants, including limitations on liens, mergers, consolidations, investments, distributions, asset sales and affiliate transactions, as well as the following financial covenants: (i) the outstanding principal balance of the loans and letter of credit liabilities cannot exceed the unencumbered asset pool availability (as defined in the third amended and restated credit agreement), (ii) a maximum leverage ratio of total indebtedness to gross asset value (as defined in the third amended and restated credit agreement) not in excess of 60%, (iii) a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio (defined as the ratio of consolidated EBITDA, subject to certain adjustments, to consolidated fixed charges) for the prior two most recently-ended calendar quarters of not less than 1.70 to 1.00, (iv) tangible net worth of at least $958 million plus 80% of the sum of net equity offering proceeds and the value of interests in the Operating Partnership issued upon contribution of assets to the Operating Partnership or its subsidiaries, (v) unhedged variable rate debt not greater than 35% of gross asset value and (vi) a maximum distribution payout ratio of the greater of (a) 95% of the Company’s “funds from operations” (as defined in the agreement) and (b) the amount required for QTS to qualify as a REIT under the Code. The interest rate applied to the outstanding balance of the unsecured credit facility decreases incrementally for every 5% below the maximum leverage ratio.

The availability under the amended unsecured revolving credit facility is the lesser of (i) $600 million, (ii) 60% of unencumbered asset pool capitalized value, or (iii) the amount resulting in an unencumbered asset pool debt yield of 14%. In the case of clauses (ii), (iii) and (iv) of the preceding sentence, the amount available under the unsecured revolving credit facility is adjusted to take into account any other unsecured debt and certain capitalized leases. The availability of funds under the amended unsecured credit facility depends on compliance with the covenants. As of December 31, 2015, the Company had outstanding $524.0 million of indebtedness under the unsecured credit facility, consisting of $224.0 million of outstanding borrowings under the unsecured revolving credit facility and $300.0 million outstanding term loan indebtedness. In connection with the unsecured credit facility, as of December 31, 2015, the Company had an additional $2.0 million letter of credit outstanding.

(b) Senior Notes – On July 23, 2014, the Operating Partnership and QTS Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of the Operating Partnership formed solely for the purpose of facilitating the offering of the notes described below (collectively, the “Issuers”), issued $300 million aggregate principal amount of 5.875% Senior Notes due 2022 (the “Senior Notes”). The Senior Notes have an interest rate of 5.875% per annum, were issued at a price equal to 99.211% of their face value and mature on August 1, 2022. The proceeds from the offering were used to repay amounts outstanding under the unsecured credit facility, including $75 million outstanding under the term loan. The Senior Notes are unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior unsecured basis by all of the Operating Partnership’s existing subsidiaries (other than foreign subsidiaries and receivables entities) and future subsidiaries that guarantee any indebtedness of QTS Realty Trust, Inc., the Issuers or any other subsidiary guarantor. The Company will not initially guarantee the Senior Notes and will not be required to guarantee the Senior Notes except under certain circumstances. The offering was conducted pursuant to Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Senior Notes were issued pursuant to an indenture, dated as of July 23, 2014, among the Operating Partnership, QTS Finance Corporation, the Company, the guarantors named therein, and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, as trustee (the “Indenture”).

On March 23, 2015, the SEC declared effective the Operating Partnership and QTS Finance Corporation’s registration statement on Form S-4 pursuant to which the issuers exchanged the originally issued Senior Notes for $300 million of 5.875% Senior Notes due 2022 (the “Exchange Notes”) that are registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The exchange offer was completed on April 23, 2015, and all outstanding originally issued Senior Notes were tendered. The Exchange Notes did not provide the Company with any additional proceeds and satisfied its obligations under a registration rights agreement entered into in connection with the issuance of the Senior Notes.

(c) Richmond Credit Facility – In December 2012, the Company entered into a credit facility secured by the Company’s Richmond data center (the “Richmond Credit Facility”). The proceeds from the Richmond Credit Facility were required to be used solely to finance the development of the Richmond property into a data center and to repay indebtedness under the unsecured credit facility. The Richmond Credit Facility required the Company to comply with covenants similar to the Unsecured Credit Facility.

As amended on June 30, 2014, the Richmond Credit Facility had a stated maturity of June 30, 2019, and a capacity of $120 million with an accordion feature to provide for total borrowing capacity of up to $200 million. The interest rate for LIBOR loans ranged from LIBOR plus 2.10% to 2.85%, with the rate determined by the overall leverage ratio as defined in the agreement.

As discussed above, the Company terminated the Richmond Credit Facility in conjunction with the October 2015 amendment of the unsecured credit facility.

(d) Atlanta-Metro Equipment Loan – On April 9, 2010, the Company entered into a $25 million loan to finance equipment related to an expansion project at the Company’s Atlanta-Metro data center (the “Atlanta-Metro Equipment Loan”). The loan originally required monthly interest-only payments and subsequently required monthly interest and principal payments. The loan bore interest at 6.85% and was scheduled to mature on June 1, 2020. This debt was repaid in June 2015 when its prepayment penalties expired.

The annual remaining principal payment requirements as of December 31, 2015 per the contractual maturities and excluding extension options, capital leases and lease financing obligations, are as follows (in thousands):


2016	$	-
2017		-
2018		-
2019		224,002
2020		150,000
Thereafter		450,000
Total	$	824,002

As of December 31, 2015, the Company was in compliance with all of its covenants.

Capital Leases

The Company has historically entered into capital leases for certain equipment. In addition, through its acquisition of Carpathia on June 16, 2015, the Company acquired capital leases of both equipment and certain properties. Total outstanding liabilities for capital leases were $26.9 million as of December 31, 2015, of which $16.6 million were assumed through the Carpathia acquisition, all of which was related to the lease of real property. Carpathia had entered into capital lease arrangements for datacenter space under two lease agreements expiring in 2018 and 2019 at its Harrisonburg, Virginia and Ashburn, Virginia locations. Total recurring monthly payments range from approximately $0.2 million to $0.5 million during the terms of the leases, in addition to payments made for utilities. Depreciation related to the associated assets for the capital leases is included in depreciation and amortization expense in the Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income.

Lease Financing Obligations

Through the acquisition of Carpathia, the Company acquired lease financing obligations totaling $22.8 million at December 31, 2015, of which $20.6 million related to a sale-leaseback transaction where Carpathia has continuing involvement. On December 23, 2011, Carpathia sold the shell of a building and the associated land to an unrelated third party. Carpathia leases the property back and is a party to an agreement with the same third party to construct a new building on the adjoining property for use as a data center. Carpathia is primarily responsible for financing the improvements and outfitting the building with the necessary equipment. The third party leases back the new building in stages to Carpathia as the various stages are completed. In accordance with ASC 840-40, Leases, Carpathia has continuing involvement with the related leased assets; therefore, the Company will continue to account for the existing building shell and the associated land as fixed assets and will capitalize the construction costs of the new building. The financing obligation related to the building and equipment was $18.9 million at December 31, 2015. In addition, due to Carpathia’s continuing involvement, it was required to defer a gain on the sale of the assets. The deferred gain was $1.6 million at December 31, 2015, and is also included in lease financing obligations.

The financing obligation is reduced as rental payments are made on the existing building, which payments started in January 2012. Rental payments, which include amounts attributable to both principal and interest, increased to approximately $0.2 million per month in March 2013, which is when the newly constructed building was inhabited by Carpathia. Depreciation expense on the related asset is included in depreciation and amortization expense in the Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income.

The Company, through its acquisition of Carpathia, also has a lease financing agreement in connection with a $4.8 million tenant improvement allowance on one of its data center lease agreements. The financing requires monthly payments of principal and interest of less than $0.1 million through February 2019. The outstanding balance on the financing agreement was $2.3 million as of December 31, 2015. Depreciation expense on the related leasehold improvements is included in depreciation and amortization expense in the Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income.

The following table summarizes the Company’s combined future payment obligations, excluding interest, as of December 31, 2015, on the capital leases and lease financing obligations above (in thousands):


2016	$	12,558
2017		12,388
2018		8,804
2019		2,461
2020		2,190
Thereafter		11,360
Total	$	49,761