Financing Arrangements



	Sep 28, 2013		Dec 29, 2012
	(in thousands)
Senior secured revolving credit line	$	535,000	$	256,500
Foreign loans	2,060		3,220
Other debt arrangement	326		350
Total debt	$	537,386	$	260,070
Less: Current maturities of long-term debt	778		1,850
Long-term debt	$	536,608	$	258,220

On August 7, 2012, the company entered into a new senior secured multi-currency credit facility. Terms of the company’s senior credit agreement provide for $1.0 billion of availability under a revolving credit line. As of September 28, 2013, the company had $535.0 million of borrowings outstanding under this facility. The company also had $13.0 million in outstanding letters of credit as of September 28, 2013, which reduces the borrowing availability under the revolving credit line. Remaining borrowing availability under this facility was $452.0 million at September 28, 2013.

At September 28, 2013, borrowings under the senior secured credit facility are assessed at an interest rate of 1.75% above LIBOR for long-term borrowings or at the higher of the Prime rate and the Federal Funds Rate. At September 28, 2013 the average interest rate on the senior debt amounted to 1.95%. The interest rates on borrowings under the senior secured credit facility may be adjusted quarterly based on the company’s indebtedness ratio on a rolling four-quarter basis. Additionally, a commitment fee based upon the indebtedness ratio is charged on the unused portion of the revolving credit line. This variable commitment fee amounted to 0.28% as of September 28, 2013.

In August 2006, the company completed its acquisition of Houno A/S in Denmark. This acquisition was funded in part with locally established debt facilities with borrowings in Danish Krone. These facilities included a revolving credit facility and term loan. At September 28, 2013 these facilities amounted to $1.6 million in U.S. dollars, including $0.2 million outstanding under a revolving credit facility and $1.4 million under a term loan. The interest rate on the revolving credit facility is assessed at 1.25% above Euro LIBOR, which amounted to 2.70% on September 28, 2013. The term loan matures in 2022 and the interest rate is assessed at 4.55%.

In April 2008, the company completed its acquisition of Giga Grandi Cucine S.r.l in Italy. This acquisition was funded in part with locally established debt facilities with borrowings denominated in Euro. At September 28, 2013 these facilities amounted to $0.4 million in U.S. dollars. The interest rate on the credit facilities is variable based on the three-month Euro LIBOR. At September 28, 2013, the average interest rate on these facilities was approximately 4.26%. The facilities are secured by outstanding accounts receivable collectible within six months.

The company’s debt is reflected on the balance sheet at cost. Based on current market conditions, the company believes its interest rate margins on its existing debt are consistent with current market conditions and therefore the carrying value of debt approximates fair value. However, as the interest rate margin is based upon numerous factors, including but not limited to the credit rating of the borrower, the duration of the loan, the structure and restrictions under the debt agreement, current lending policies of the counterparty, and the company’s relationships with its lenders, there is no readily available market data to ascertain the current market rate for an equivalent debt instrument. As a result, the current interest rate margin is based upon the company’s best estimate based upon discussions with its lenders.

The company estimated the fair value of its loans by calculating the upfront cash payment a market participant would require to assume the company’s obligations. The upfront cash payment is the amount that a market participant would be able to lend at September 28, 2013 to achieve sufficient cash inflows to cover the cash outflows under the company’s senior revolving credit facility assuming the facility was outstanding in its entirety until maturity. Since the company maintains its borrowings under a revolving credit facility and there is no predetermined borrowing or repayment schedule, for purposes of this calculation the company calculated the fair value of its obligations assuming the current amount of debt at the end of the period was outstanding until the maturity of the company’s senior revolving credit facility in August 2017. Although borrowings could be materially greater or less than the current amount of borrowings outstanding at the end of the period, it is not practical to estimate the amounts that may be outstanding during future periods. The carrying value and estimated aggregate fair value, a level 2 measurement, based primarily on market prices, of debt is as follows (in thousands):



	Sep 28, 2013				Dec 29, 2012
	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
Total debt	$	537,386	$	537,386	$	260,070	$	260,070

The company believes that its current capital resources, including cash and cash equivalents, cash expected to be generated from operations, funds available from its current lenders and access to the credit and capital markets will be sufficient to finance its operations, debt service obligations, capital expenditures, product development and expenditures for the foreseeable future.

The company has historically entered into interest rate swap agreements to effectively fix the interest rate on a portion of its outstanding debt. The agreements swap one-month LIBOR for fixed rates. As of September 28, 2013 the company had the following interest rate swaps in effect:



	Fixed
Notional	Interest	Effective	Maturity
Amount	Rate	Date	Date
$25,000,000	1.610%	2/23/2011	2/24/2014
$25,000,000	2.520%	2/23/2011	2/23/2016
$25,000,000	0.975%	7/18/2011	7/18/2014
$15,000,000	1.185%	9/12/2011	9/12/2016
$15,000,000	0.620%	9/12/2011	9/11/2014
$10,000,000	0.498%	2/11/2013	7/11/2015
$15,000,000	0.458%	2/11/2013	10/11/2015
$25,000,000	0.635%	2/11/2013	8/11/2016
$25,000,000	0.789%	2/11/2013	3/11/2017
$25,000,000	0.803%	2/11/2013	5/11/2017
$35,000,000	0.880%	2/11/2013	7/11/2017
$10,000,000	1.480%	9/11/2013	7/11/2017

The terms of the senior secured credit facility limit the ability of the company and its subsidiaries to, with certain exceptions: incur indebtedness; grant liens; engage in certain mergers, consolidations, acquisitions and dispositions; make restricted payments; and enter into certain transactions with affiliates; and require, among other things, a maximum ratio of indebtedness to EBITDA of 3.5 and a fixed charge coverage ratio (as defined in the senior secured credit facility) of 1.25. The senior secured credit facility is secured by substantially all of the assets of Middleby Marshall, the company and the company's domestic subsidiaries and is unconditionally guaranteed by, subject to certain exceptions, the company and certain of the company's direct and indirect material domestic subsidiaries. The senior secured credit facility contains certain customary events of default, including, but not limited to, the failure to make required payments; bankruptcy and other insolvency events; the failure to perform certain covenants; the material breach of a representation or warranty; non-payment of certain other indebtedness; the entry of undischarged judgments against the company or any subsidiary for the payment of material uninsured amounts; the invalidity of the Company guarantee or any subsidiary guaranty; and a change of control of the company. The credit agreement also provides that if a material adverse change in the company’s business operations or conditions occurs, the lender could declare an event of default. Under terms of the agreement, a material adverse effect is defined as (a) a material adverse change in, or a material adverse effect upon, the operations, business properties, condition (financial and otherwise) or prospects of the company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole; (b) a material impairment of the ability of the company to perform under the loan agreements and to avoid any event of default; or (c) a material adverse effect upon the legality, validity, binding effect or enforceability against the company of any loan document. A material adverse effect is determined on a subjective basis by the company's creditors. At September 28, 2013, the company was in compliance with all covenants pursuant to its borrowing agreements.