LONG-TERM DEBT |
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| Debt Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LONG-TERM DEBT |
LONG-TERM DEBT
The Company’s borrowings as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (in thousands):
The Company’s scheduled long-term debt maturities as of December 31, 2019 were as follows (in thousands):
7.750% Senior Notes. On December 7, 2012, Era Group issued $200.0 million in aggregate principal amount of its 7.750% senior unsecured notes due December 15, 2022 (the “7.750% Senior Notes”) and received net proceeds of $191.9 million. Interest on the 7.750% Senior Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears on June 15 and December 15 of each year. The 7.750% Senior Notes may be redeemed at any time and from time to time at the applicable redemption prices set forth in the indenture governing the 7.750% Senior Notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date. The indenture governing the 7.750% Senior Notes contains covenants that restrict Era Group’s ability to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness, pay dividends or make other distributions or repurchase or redeem its capital stock, prepay, redeem or repurchase certain debt, make loans and investments, sell assets, incur liens, enter into transactions with affiliates, enter into agreements restricting its subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends, and consolidate, merge or sell all or substantially all of the Company’s assets. In addition, upon a specified change of control trigger event or specified asset sale, Era Group may be required to repurchase the 7.750% Senior Notes.
Era Group’s payment obligations under the 7.750% Senior Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by all of its wholly-owned existing U.S. subsidiaries that are guarantors under the Revolving Credit Facility. The net proceeds of the offering were used to repay $190.0 million of borrowings outstanding under the Company’s prior $200.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Prior Credit Facility”).
During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company repurchased $0.7 million of the 7.750% Senior Notes at par for total cash of $0.7 million, including accrued interest of less than $0.1 million, and recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of less than $0.1 million.
Revolving Credit Facility. On March 31, 2014, Era Group entered into the Revolving Credit Facility through an amendment to the Prior Credit Facility. Advances under the Revolving Credit Facility at the closing were used to refinance indebtedness incurred under the Prior Credit Facility. On March 7, 2018, Era Group entered into a Consent and Amendment No. 4 to the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility Agreement (the “Amendment No. 4” and the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility, as amended by Amendment No. 4, is referred to herein as the “Revolving Credit Facility”) that, among other things, (a) reduced the aggregate principal amount of revolving loan commitments from $200.0 million to $125.0 million, (b) extended the agreement’s maturity until March 31, 2021, (c) revised the definition of EBITDA to permit an add-back for certain litigation expenses related to the H225 helicopters, and (d) adjusted the maintenance covenant requirements to maintain an interest coverage ratio of not less than 1.75:1.00 and a senior secured leverage ratio of not more than 3.25:1.00. The applicable margin is based on the Company’s ratio of funded debt to EBITDA and increased by 50 basis points at each tier from the previous amendment.
The Revolving Credit Facility provides the Company with the ability to borrow up to $125.0 million with a sub-limit of up to $50.0 million for letters of credit and includes an “accordion” feature which, if exercised and subject to agreement by the lenders and the satisfaction of certain conditions, would increase total commitments by up to $50.0 million. Availability under the Revolving Credit Facility may be limited by the terms of the 7.750% Senior Notes. The Revolving Credit Facility matures in March 2021.
Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility bear interest at a rate per annum equal to, at Era Group’s election, either a base rate or LIBOR, each as defined, plus an applicable margin. The applicable margin is based on the Company’s ratio of funded debt to EBITDA, as defined, and ranges from 1.25% to 2.5% on the base rate margin and 2.25% to 3.5% on the LIBOR margin. The applicable margin as of December 31, 2019 was 1.75% on the “base rate” margin and 2.75% on the LIBOR margin. In addition, Era Group is required to pay a quarterly commitment fee based on the average unfunded portion of the committed amount at a rate based on the Company’s ratio of funded debt to EBITDA, as defined, that ranges from 0.375% to 0.5%. As of December 31, 2019, the commitment fee was 0.5%.
The obligations under the Revolving Credit Facility are secured by a portion of the Company’s helicopter fleet and other tangible assets and are guaranteed by Era Group’s wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries. The Revolving Credit Facility contains various restrictive covenants including that the Company maintains a maximum senior secured leverage ratio, as defined, a minimum interest coverage ratio and a minimum ratio of the sum of the fair market value of mortgaged helicopters, accounts receivable and inventory to committed amounts under the Revolving Credit Facility as well as other customary covenants including certain restrictions on the Company’s ability to enter into certain transactions, including those that could result in the incurrence of additional indebtedness and liens, the making of loans, guarantees or investments, sales of assets, payments of dividends or repurchases of capital stock, and entering into transactions with affiliates. As of December 31, 2019, the Company is in compliance with all debt covenants.
As of December 31, 2019, Era Group had no outstanding borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility, and the remaining availability was $124.3 million based on the borrowing base of such date, net of issued letters of credit of $0.7 million. The availability under the Revolving Credit Facility is subject to the Company’s ability to maintain compliance with the financial ratios discussed above. In connection with Amendment No. 4 to the Revolving Credit Facility, which reduced the total commitment amount of the facility to $125.0 million, Era Group wrote off previously incurred debt issuance costs of $0.4 million and incurred additional debt issuance costs of $1.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2018. The additional debt issuance costs are included in other assets on the consolidated balance sheets and are amortized to interest expense in the consolidated statements of operations over the life of the Revolving Credit Facility.
Promissory Notes. On December 23, 2010, the Company entered into a promissory note for $27.0 million to purchase a heavy helicopter. Upon maturity of the note on December 20, 2015, the Company refinanced the then outstanding balance of $19.0 million. The new note is secured by a helicopter and bears interest at the one-month LIBOR rate plus 1.81%. The interest rate resets monthly and at December 31, 2019 was 3.50%. The note requires monthly principal and interest payments of $0.1 million with a final payment of $12.8 million due in December 2020.
On November 24, 2010, the Company entered into a promissory note for $11.7 million to purchase a medium helicopter. Upon maturity of the note on December 1, 2015, the Company refinanced the then outstanding balance of $5.9 million. The new note is secured by a helicopter and bears interest at the one-month LIBOR rate plus 1.81%. The interest rate resets monthly and at December 31, 2019 was 3.50%. The note requires monthly principal and interest payments of less than $0.1 million with a final payment of $4.0 million due in December 2020.
During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company amended the promissory notes to remove one helicopter and add two helicopters for a total of three helicopters providing cross-collateralization such that each helicopter now secures both promissory notes.
Aeróleo Debt. During the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company settled certain tax disputes in Brazil totaling $3.0 million under the PERT Program and has agreed to make installment payments on the amounts due to the applicable taxing authorities. The installments were payable in Brazilian reals and bore interest at a rate equal to the overnight rate as published by the Central Bank of Brazil and concluded in the year ended December 31, 2019.
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