Debt

The Company’s outstanding indebtedness consisted of the following (dollars in thousands):



	January 27, 2018			July 29, 2017			July 30, 2016
Credit Agreement - Revolving facility (matures April 2020)	$	—		$	—		$	—
Credit Agreement - Term loan facilities (mature April 2020)	358,063			367,688			346,250
0.75% convertible senior notes, net (mature September 2021)	402,249			392,233			373,077
	760,312			759,921			719,327
Less: current portion	(26,469		)	(21,656		)	(13,125		)
Long-term debt	$	733,843		$	738,265		$	706,202

Senior Credit Agreement

The Company and certain of its subsidiaries are party to a credit agreement with various lenders, dated as of December 3, 2012 (as amended as of June 17, 2016, May 20, 2016, April 24, 2015 and September 9, 2015), that matures on April 24, 2020 (as amended, the “Credit Agreement”). The Credit Agreement provides for a $450.0 million revolving facility, $385.0 million in aggregate term loan facilities, and contains a sublimit of $200.0 million for the issuance of letters of credit.

Subject to certain conditions the Credit Agreement provides the Company with the ability to enter into one or more incremental facilities, either by increasing the revolving commitments under the Credit Agreement and/or in the form of term loans up to the greater of (i) $150.0 million and (ii) an amount such that, after giving effect to such incremental facilities on a pro forma basis (assuming that the amount of the incremental commitments are fully drawn and funded), the consolidated senior secured leverage ratio does not exceed 2.25 to 1.00. The consolidated senior secured leverage ratio is the ratio of the Company’s consolidated senior secured indebtedness to its trailing twelve month consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (“EBITDA”), as defined by the Credit Agreement. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement are guaranteed by substantially all of the Company’s subsidiaries and secured by the equity interests of the substantial majority of the Company’s subsidiaries.

Borrowings under the Credit Agreement bear interest at rates described below based upon the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio, which is the ratio of the Company’s consolidated total funded debt to its trailing twelve month consolidated EBITDA, as defined by the Credit Agreement. In addition, the Company incurs certain fees for unused balances and letters of credit at the rates described below, also based upon the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio:



Borrowings - Eurodollar Rate Loans	1.25% - 2.00% plus LIBOR
Borrowings - Base Rate Loans	0.25% - 1.00% plus administrative agent’s base rate⁽¹⁾
Unused Revolver Commitment	0.25% - 0.40%
Standby Letters of Credit	1.25% - 2.00%
Commercial Letters of Credit	0.625% - 1.00%

⁽¹⁾The agent’s base rate is described in the Credit Agreement as the highest of (i) the administrative agent’s prime rate, (ii) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.50%, and (iii) the Eurodollar rate plus 1.00%, plus an applicable margin.

Standby letters of credit of approximately $48.6 million, $48.7 million, and $57.6 million, issued as part of the Company’s insurance program, were outstanding under the Credit Agreement as of January 27, 2018, July 29, 2017, and July 30, 2016, respectively.

The weighted average interest rates and fees for balances under the Credit Agreement as of January 27, 2018, July 29, 2017, and July 30, 2016 were as follows:



	Weighted Average Rate End of Period
	January 27, 2018	July 29, 2017	July 30, 2016
Borrowings - Term loan facilities	3.30%	2.98%	2.49%
Borrowings - Revolving facility⁽¹⁾	—%	—%	—%
Standby Letters of Credit	1.75%	1.75%	2.00%
Unused Revolver Commitment	0.35%	0.35%	0.40%

⁽¹⁾There were no outstanding borrowings under the revolving facility as of January 27, 2018, July 29, 2017, or July 30, 2016.

The Credit Agreement contains a financial covenant that requires the Company to maintain a consolidated leverage ratio of not greater than 3.50 to 1.00, as measured at the end of each fiscal quarter. It provides for certain increases to this ratio as specified in the Credit Agreement in connection with permitted acquisitions. In addition, the Credit Agreement contains a financial covenant that requires the Company to maintain a consolidated interest coverage ratio, which is the ratio of the Company’s trailing twelve month consolidated EBITDA to its consolidated interest expense, as defined by the Credit Agreement, of not less than 3.00 to 1.00, as measured at the end of each fiscal quarter. At January 27, 2018, July 29, 2017, and July 30, 2016, the Company was in compliance with the financial covenants of the Credit Agreement and had borrowing availability in the revolving facility of $401.4 million, $401.3 million, and $392.4 million, respectively, as determined by the most restrictive covenant.

0.75% Convertible Senior Notes Due 2021

On September 15, 2015, the Company issued 0.75% convertible senior notes due September 2021 (the “Notes”) in a private placement in the principal amount of $485.0 million. The Company received net proceeds of approximately $471.7 million after deducting the initial purchasers’ discount of approximately $13.3 million. The Company used approximately $60.0 million of the net proceeds to repurchase 805,000 shares of its common stock from the initial purchasers of the Notes in privately negotiated transactions. In addition, the Company used approximately $296.6 million of the net proceeds to fund the redemption of all of its 7.125% senior subordinated notes due 2021 and approximately $41.1 million for the net cost of convertible note hedge transactions and warrant transactions as further described below. The remainder of the proceeds of approximately $73.9 million was used for general corporate purposes.

The Notes, governed by the terms of an indenture between the Company and a bank trustee are unsecured obligations and do not contain any financial covenants or restrictions on the payments of dividends, the incurrence of indebtedness or the issuance or repurchase of securities by the Company. The Notes bear interest at a rate of 0.75% per year, payable in cash semiannually in March and September, and will mature on September 15, 2021, unless earlier purchased by the Company or converted. In the event the Company fails to perform certain obligations under the indenture, the Notes will accrue additional interest. Certain events are considered “events of default” under the Notes, which may result in the acceleration of the maturity of the Notes, as described in the indenture.

Each $1,000 of principal of the Notes is convertible into 10.3211 shares of the Company’s common stock, which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $96.89 per share. The conversion rate is subject to adjustment in certain circumstances, including in connection with specified fundamental changes (as defined in the indenture). In addition, holders of the Notes have the right to require the Company to repurchase all or a portion of their notes on the occurrence of a fundamental change at a price of 100% of their principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest.

Prior to June 15, 2021, the Notes are convertible by the Note holder under the following circumstances: (1) during any fiscal quarter commencing after October 24, 2015 (and only during such fiscal quarter) if the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock for at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive) during the 30 consecutive trading days period ending on the last trading day of the immediately preceding fiscal quarter is greater than or equal to 130% of the applicable conversion price on such trading day ($125.96 assuming an applicable conversion price of $96.89); (2) during the five consecutive business day period after any five consecutive trading day period (the “measurement period”) in which the trading price per $1,000 principal amount of Notes for each trading day of such measurement period was less than 98% of the product of the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock and the applicable conversion rate on each such trading day; or (3) upon the occurrence of specified corporate events. On or after June 15, 2021 until the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding the maturity date, holders may convert all or a portion of their Notes at any time regardless of the foregoing circumstances. Upon conversion, the Notes will be settled, at the Company’s election, in cash, shares of the Company’s common stock, or a combination of cash and shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company intends to settle the principal amount of the Notes with cash.

During the second quarter of the 2018 transition period, the closing price of the Company’s common stock did not meet or exceed 130% of the applicable conversion price of the Notes for at least 20 of the last 30 consecutive trading dates of the quarter. Additionally, no other conditions allowing holders of the Notes to convert have been met as of January 27, 2018. As a result, the Notes are not convertible during the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and are classified as long-term debt.

In accordance with ASC Topic 470, Debt, certain convertible debt instruments that may be settled in cash upon conversion are required to be accounted for as separate liability and equity components. The carrying amount of the liability component is calculated by measuring the fair value of a similar instrument that does not have an associated convertible feature using an indicative market interest rate (“Comparable Yield”) as of the date of issuance. The difference between the principal amount of the notes and the carrying amount represents a debt discount. The debt discount is amortized to interest expense using the Comparable Yield (5.5% with respect to the Notes) using the effective interest rate method over the term of the notes. The Company incurred $9.2 million, $17.6 million, and $14.7 million of interest expense during the 2018 transition period and fiscal 2017 and 2016, respectively, for the non-cash amortization of the debt discount. The liability component of the Notes consisted of the following (dollars in thousands):



	January 27, 2018			July 29, 2017			July 30, 2016
Liability component
Principal amount of 0.75% convertible senior notes due September 2021	$	485,000		$	485,000		$	485,000
Less: Debt discount	(74,899		)	(84,069		)	(101,679		)
Less: Debt issuance costs	(7,852		)	(8,698		)	(10,244		)
Net carrying amount of Notes	$	402,249		$	392,233		$	373,077

The equity component of the Notes was recognized at issuance and represents the difference between the principal amount of the Notes and the fair value of the liability component of the Notes at issuance. The equity component approximated $112.6 million at the time of issuance and its fair value is not remeasured as long as it continues to meet the conditions for equity classification.

The following table summarizes the carrying amount and fair value of the Notes, net of the debt discount and debt issuance costs. The fair value of the Notes is based on the closing trading price per $100 of the Notes as of the last day of trading for the respective periods (Level 2), which was $136.01, $116.96, and $117.65 as of January 27, 2018, July 29, 2017, and July 30, 2016, respectively (dollars in thousands):



	January 27, 2018			July 29, 2017			July 30, 2016
Net carrying amount of Notes	$	402,249		$	392,233		$	373,077

Fair value of principal amount of Notes	$	659,649		$	567,256		$	570,603
Less: Debt discount and debt issuance costs	(82,751		)	(92,767		)	(111,923		)
Fair value of Notes	$	576,898		$	474,489		$	458,680

Convertible Note Hedge and Warrant Transactions

In connection with the offering of the Notes, the Company entered into convertible note hedge transactions with counterparties to reduce the potential dilution to common stockholders from the conversion of the Notes and offsetting any potential cash payments in excess of the principal amount of the Notes. In the event that shares or cash are deliverable to holders of the Notes upon conversion at limits defined in the indenture, counterparties to the convertible note hedge will be required to deliver up to 5.006 million shares of the Company’s common stock or pay cash to the Company in a similar amount as the value that the Company delivers to the holders of the Notes based on a conversion price of $96.89 per share. The total cost of the convertible note hedge transactions was $115.8 million.

In addition, the Company entered into separately negotiated warrant transactions with the same counterparties as the convertible note hedge transactions whereby the Company sold warrants to purchase, subject to certain anti-dilution adjustments, up to 5.006 million shares of the Company’s common stock at a price of $130.43 per share. The warrants will not have a dilutive effect on the Company’s earnings per share unless the Company’s quarterly average share price exceeds the warrant strike price of $130.43 per share. In this event, the Company expects to settle the warrant transactions on a net share basis whereby it will issue shares of its common stock. The Company received proceeds of approximately $74.7 million from the sale of these warrants.

Upon settlement of the conversion premium of the Notes, convertible note hedge, and warrants, the resulting dilutive impact of these transactions, if any, would be the number of shares necessary to settle the value of the warrant transactions above $130.43 per share. The net amounts incurred in connection with the convertible note hedge and warrant transactions were recorded as a reduction to additional paid-in capital on the consolidated balance sheets during fiscal 2016 and are not expected to be remeasured in subsequent reporting periods.

The Company recorded an initial deferred tax liability of $43.4 million in connection with the debt discount associated with the Notes and recorded an initial deferred tax asset of $43.2 million in connection with the convertible note hedge transactions. Both the deferred tax liability and deferred tax asset are included in non-current deferred tax liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets. See Note 12, Income Taxes, for additional information regarding the Company’s deferred tax liabilities and assets with respect to Tax Reform.

7.125% Senior Subordinated Notes - Loss on Debt Extinguishment

As of July 25, 2015, Dycom Investments, Inc. (the “Issuer”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, had outstanding an aggregate principal amount of $277.5 million of 7.125% senior subordinated notes due 2021 (the “7.125% Notes”). The outstanding 7.125% Notes were redeemed on October 15, 2015 (the “Redemption Date”) with a portion of the proceeds from the Notes offering described above. The aggregate amount paid in connection with the redemption was $296.6 million and was comprised of the $277.5 million principal amount of the outstanding 7.125% Notes, $4.9 million for accrued and unpaid interest to the Redemption Date, and approximately $14.2 million for the applicable call premium as defined in the indenture governing the 7.125% Notes. The call premium amount consisted of: (a) the present value as defined under the indenture of the sum of (i) approximately $4.9 million representing interest for the period from the Redemption Date through January 15, 2016, and (ii) the redemption price of 103.563% (expressed as a percentage of the principal amount) of the 7.125% Notes at January 15, 2016, minus (b) the principal amount of the 7.125% Notes.

In connection with the redemption of the 7.125% Notes, the Company incurred a pre-tax charge for early extinguishment of debt of approximately $16.3 million during fiscal 2016. This charge is comprised of: (i) $4.9 million for the present value of the interest payments for the period from the Redemption Date through January 15, 2016, (ii) $6.5 million for the excess of the present value of the redemption price over the carrying value of the 7.125% Notes, and (iii) $4.9 million for the write-off of deferred financing charges related to the fees incurred in connection with the issuance of the 7.125% Notes.