NOTE

–

BORROWINGS

Syndicated Credit Facility

August 7, 2018,

the Company amended and restated its Syndicated Credit Facility (the “Facility”) in connection with the nora acquisition. The purpose of the amended and restated Facility was to fund the nora purchase price and related fees and expenses of the acquisition, and to increase the credit available to the Company and its subsidiaries following the closing of the nora acquisition in view of the larger enterprise. At

December 30, 2018,

the amended and restated Facility provided to the Company and certain of its subsidiaries a multicurrency revolving loan facility up to

$300

million, as well as other U.S. denominated and multicurrency term loans.

Interest

ate

and

ees

Interest on base rate loans is charged at varying rates computed by applying a margin ranging from

0.25%

1.25%,

depending on the Company’s consolidated net leverage ratio as of the most recently completed fiscal quarter. Interest on LIBOR-based loans and fees for letters of credit are charged at varying rates computed by applying a margin over the applicable LIBOR rate, depending on the Company’s consolidated net leverage ratio as of the most recently completed fiscal quarter. Interest on multi-currency-based loans and fees for letters of credit are charged at varying rates computed by applying a margin ranging from

1.25%

2.25%

over the applicable Eurocurrency rate, depending on the Company’s consolidated net leverage ratio as of the most recently completed fiscal quarter. In addition, the Company pays a commitment fee ranging from

0.20%

0.35%

per annum (depending on the Company’s consolidated net leverage ratio as of the most recently completed fiscal quarter) on the unused portion of the Facility.

Covenants

The Facility contains standard and customary covenants for agreements of this type, including various reporting, affirmative and negative covenants. Among other things, these covenants limit the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ ability to:

	●	create or incur liens on assets;
	●	make acquisitions of or investments in businesses (in excess of certain specified amounts);
	●	engage in any material line of business substantially different from the Company’s current lines of business;
	●	incur indebtedness or contingent obligations;
	●	sell or dispose of assets (in excess of certain specified amounts);
	●	pay dividends or repurchase the Company’s stock (in excess of certain specified amounts);
	●	repay other indebtedness prior to maturity unless the Company meets certain conditions; and
	●	enter into sale and leaseback transactions.

The Facility also requires the Company to remain in compliance with the following financial covenants as of the end of each fiscal quarter, based on the Company’s consolidated results for the year then ended:

	●	Consolidated Net Leverage Ratio: Must be no greater than 4.50:1.00, subject to certain step-downs as described in the Facility agreement.
	●	Consolidated Interest Coverage Ratio: Must be no less than 2.25:1.00.

Events of Default

If the Company breaches or fails to perform any of the affirmative or negative covenants under the Facility, or if other specified events occur (such as a bankruptcy or similar event or a change of control of Interface, Inc. or certain subsidiaries, or if the Company breaches or fails to perform any covenant or agreement contained in any instrument relating to any of the Company’s other indebtedness exceeding

$20

million), after giving effect to any applicable notice and right to cure provisions, an event of default will exist. If an event of default exists and is continuing, the lenders’ Administrative Agent

may,

and upon the written request of a specified percentage of the lender group shall:

	●	declare all commitments of the lenders under the facility terminated;
	●	declare all amounts outstanding or accrued thereunder immediately due and payable; and
	●	exercise other rights and remedies available to them under the agreement and applicable law.

Collateral

Pursuant to an Amended and Restated Security and Pledge Agreement executed on the same date, the Facility is secured by substantially all of the assets of the Company and its domestic subsidiaries (subject to exceptions for certain immaterial subsidiaries), including all of the stock of the Company’s domestic subsidiaries and up to

65%

of the stock of its

first

-tier material foreign subsidiaries. If an event of default occurs under the Facility, the lenders’ Administrative Agent

may,

upon the request of a specified percentage of lenders, exercise remedies with respect to the collateral, including, in some instances, foreclosing mortgages on real estate assets, taking possession of or selling personal property assets, collecting accounts receivables, or exercising proxies to take control of the pledged stock of domestic and

first

-tier material foreign subsidiaries.

As of

December 30, 2018,

the Company had outstanding

$616.1

million of term loan borrowing and

$10.6

million of revolving loan borrowings under the Facility, and had

$3.6

million in letters of credit outstanding under the Facility. As of

December 30, 2018,

the weighted average interest rate on borrowings outstanding under the Facility was

3.50%.

Under the amended and restated Facility, the Company is required to make quarterly amortization payments of the term loan borrowings, which commenced in the

fourth

quarter of

2018.

The amortization payments are due on the last day of the calendar quarter.

The Company is currently in compliance with all covenants under the Facility and anticipates that it will remain in compliance with the covenants for the foreseeable future.

Interest Rate Risk Management

Shortly after entering into the Amended and Restated Facility Agreement, the Company entered into an interest rate swap transaction to fix the variable interest rate on a portion of its term loan borrowings in order to manage a portion of its exposure to interest rate fluctuations. The Company’s objective and strategy with respect to this interest rate swap is to protect the Company against adverse fluctuations in interest rates by reducing its exposure to variability to cash flows relating to interest payments on a portion of its outstanding debt. The Company is meeting its objective by hedging the risk of changes in its cash flows (interest payments) attributable to changes in LIBOR, the designated benchmark interest rate being hedged (the “hedged risk”), on an amount of the Company’s debt principal equal to the outstanding swap notional amount.

Cash Flow Interest Rate Swap

The Company’s interest rate swap is designated and qualifies as a cash flow hedge of forecasted interest payments. The Company reports the effective portion of the fair value gain or loss on the swap as a component of other comprehensive income (or other comprehensive loss). Gains or losses (if any) on any ineffective portion of derivative instruments in cash flow hedging relationships are recorded in the period in which they occur as a component of other expense (or other income) in the consolidated statement of operations. There were

such gains or losses in

2018.

The aggregate notional amount of the swap as of

December 30, 2018

was

$100

million.

As of

December 30, 2018,

the fair value of the cash flow interest rate swap asset was

$1.8

million and was recorded in other assets in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet. Gains and losses on the interest rate swap are

not

significant and are included in the operating activities section in the Company’s consolidated statement of cash flows.

Other Lines of Credit

Subsidiaries of the Company have an aggregate of the equivalent of

$9.5

million of other lines of credit available at interest rates ranging from

2.5%

6.5%.

As of

December 30, 2018,

and

December 31, 2017,

there were

borrowings outstanding under these lines of credit.

Borrowing Costs

In connection with the amended and restated Facility as discussed above, the Company recorded

$8.8

million of debt issuance costs associated with the new term loans that are reflected as a reduction of long-term debt in accordance with applicable accounting standards. As these fees are expensed over the life of the outstanding borrowing, the debt balance will increase by the same amount as the fees that are expensed. As of

December 30, 2018,

the unamortized debt costs recorded as a reduction of long-term debt was

$8.1

million.

Other deferred borrowing costs, which include underwriting, legal and other direct costs related to the issuance of revolving debt, net of accumulated amortization, were

$1.8

million and

$2.3

million, as of

December 30, 2018

and

December 31, 2017,

respectively. These amounts are included in other long term assets in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The Company amortizes these costs over the life of the related debt. Expenses related to such costs for the years

2018,

2017,

and

2016

amounted to

$0.5

million for each of those years.

Future Maturities

The aggregate maturities of borrowings for each of the

five

fiscal years subsequent to

2018

are as follows:

FISCAL YEAR	AMOUNT
	(in thousands)
2019	$	31,315
2020		31,315
2021		31,315
2022		31,315
2023		493,321
Thereafter		0
Total Debt	$	618,581