Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Debt

v3.23.2
Debt
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2023
Debt  
Debt

(6) Debt

Debt is summarized as follows:

    

Outstanding

    

    

    

    

 

principal

Carrying value

 

June 30,

June 30,

December 31,

 

        

2023

    

2023

        

2022

 

 

amounts in millions

Margin Loan Facility

$

1,475

 

1,475

 

1,400

3.125% Exchangeable Senior Debentures due 2053

1,265

1,233

1.25% Exchangeable Senior Debentures due 2050

2

2

798

2.75% Exchangeable Senior Debentures due 2050

 

 

 

560

1.75% Exchangeable Senior Debentures due 2046

15

Senior notes

 

600

 

625

 

628

Senior credit facility

 

396

 

396

 

397

Wells Fargo note payable

 

5

 

5

 

5

Deferred financing costs

 

 

(2)

 

(2)

Total debt

$

3,743

 

3,734

 

3,801

Debt classified as current

 

 

(5)

 

(1,376)

Total long-term debt

$

3,729

 

2,425

Margin Loan Facility

On May 17, 2023, a bankruptcy remote wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“SPV”) entered into Amendment No. 7 to Margin Loan Agreement (the “Seventh Amendment”), which amends SPV’s margin loan agreement, dated as of August 31, 2017 (as amended by the Seventh Amendment, the “Margin Loan Agreement”), with a group of lenders. The Margin Loan Agreement provides for (x) a term loan credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of $1.15 billion (the “Term Loan Facility” and proceeds of such facility, the “Term Loans”), (y) a revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of $1.15 billion (the “Revolving Loan Facility” and proceeds of such facility, the “Revolving Loans”; the Revolving Loans, collectively with the Term Loans, the “Loans”) and (z) an uncommitted incremental term loan facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $200 million (collectively, the “Margin Loan Facility”). No additional borrowings under the Margin Loan Agreement were made in connection with the Seventh Amendment. SPV’s obligations under the Margin Loan Facility are secured by shares of Charter owned by SPV. The Seventh Amendment provided for, among other things, (i) the extension of the scheduled maturity dates to May 12, 2026, (ii) the interest under the Margin Loan Agreement to be determined by reference to SOFR instead of LIBOR, (iii) an increase in the Base Spread (as defined below) applicable to all loans funded under the Margin Loan Agreement and (iv) the removal of certain conditions precedent to the release of pledged shares.

Outstanding borrowings under the Margin Loan Agreement were $1.5 billion and $1.4 billion as of June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. As of June 30, 2023, SPV was permitted to borrow an additional $825 million under the Margin Loan Agreement, subject to certain funding conditions, which may be drawn until five business days prior to the maturity date. The maturity date of the loans under the Margin Loan Agreement is May 12, 2026 (except for any additional loans incurred thereunder to the extent SPV and the incremental lenders agree to a later maturity date). Pursuant to the Seventh Amendment, the borrowings under the Margin Loan Agreement will accrue interest at a rate equal to the three-month SOFR rate plus a per annum spread of 1.875% (the “Base Spread”) (unless and until the replacement of such rate as provided for under the Margin Loan Agreement). Borrowings under the Margin Loan Agreement prior to the Seventh Amendment bore interest at the three-month LIBOR rate plus a per annum spread of 1.5%.

The Margin Loan Agreement contains various affirmative and negative covenants that restrict the activities of SPV (and, in some cases, the Company and its subsidiaries with respect to shares of Charter owned by the Company and its

subsidiaries). The Margin Loan Agreement does not include any financial covenants. The Margin Loan Agreement does contain restrictions related to additional indebtedness and events of default customary for margin loans of this type.

SPV’s obligations under the Margin Loan Agreement are secured by first priority liens on a portion of the Company’s ownership interest in Charter, sufficient for SPV to meet the loan to value requirements under the Margin Loan Agreement. The Margin Loan Agreement indicates that no lender party shall have any voting rights with respect to the shares pledged as collateral, except to the extent that a lender party buys any shares in a sale or other disposition made pursuant to the terms of the loan agreement. As of June 30, 2023, 37.3 million shares of Charter common stock with a value of $13.7 billion were held in collateral accounts related to the Margin Loan Agreement.

Exchangeable Senior Debentures

On February 28, 2023, the Company closed a private offering of $1,265 million aggregate original principal amount of its 3.125% Exchangeable Senior Debentures due 2053 (the “3.125% Debentures”), including debentures with an aggregate original principal amount of $165 million issued pursuant to the exercise of an option granted to the initial purchasers. Upon an exchange of the 3.125% Debentures, the Company, at its election, may deliver shares of Charter Class A common stock, the value thereof in cash, or any combination of shares of Charter Class A common stock and cash. Initially, 1.8901 shares of Charter Class A common stock are attributable to each $1,000 original principal amount of 3.125% Debentures, representing an initial exchange price of approximately $529.07 for each share of Charter Class A common stock. A total of 2,390,977 shares of Charter Class A common stock are attributable to the 3.125% Debentures. Interest is payable quarterly on March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 of each year, commencing June 30, 2023. The 3.125% Debentures may be redeemed by the Company, in whole or in part, on or after April 6, 2026. Holders of the 3.125% Debentures also have the right to require the Company to purchase their 3.125% Debentures on April 6, 2026. The redemption and purchase price will generally equal 100% of the adjusted principal amount of the 3.125% Debentures plus accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date, plus any final period distribution. As of June 30, 2023, a holder of the 3.125% Debentures does not have the ability to exchange their debentures and, accordingly, the 3.125% Debentures have been classified as long-term debt within the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2023.

The Company used the net proceeds of the offering, together with existing cash on hand, to repurchase all of the outstanding 1.75% exchangeable senior debentures due 2046 (the “1.75% Debentures”), all of the outstanding 2.75% Exchangeable Senior Debentures due 2050 (the “2.75% Debentures”) and a significant portion of the outstanding 1.25% Exchangeable Senior Debentures due 2050 (the “1.25% Debentures”). Upon exchange of the remaining portion of the 1.25% Debentures, pursuant to a supplemental indenture entered into in February 2023, the Company will deliver solely cash to satisfy its exchange obligations.

The Company has elected to account for all of its exchangeable senior debentures at fair value in its condensed consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, changes in the fair value of these instruments are recognized in unrealized gains (losses) in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations. See note 3 for information related to unrealized gains (losses) on debt measured at fair value. As of June 30, 2023, a holder of the 1.25% Debentures has the ability to put their debentures to the Company on October 5, 2023 and, accordingly, the 1.25% Debentures have been classified as current within the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2023. The Company reviews the terms of all the debentures on a quarterly basis to determine whether an event has occurred to require current classification on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Senior Notes

In connection with the closing of the Combination on December 18, 2020, GCI, LLC became an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. GCI, LLC is the issuer of $600 million aggregate principal amount of 4.75% senior notes due 2028 (the “Senior Notes”). The Senior Notes were issued by GCI, LLC on October 7, 2020 and are unsecured. Interest on the Senior Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears. The Senior Notes are redeemable at the Company’s option, in whole

or in part, at a redemption price defined in the indenture, and accrued and unpaid interest (if any) to the date of redemption. The Senior Notes are stated net of an aggregate unamortized premium of $25 million at June 30, 2023. Such premium is being amortized to interest expense in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Senior Credit Facility

In connection with the closing of the Combination on December 18, 2020, GCI, LLC became an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. GCI, LLC is the borrower under the Senior Credit Facility (as defined below).

On October 15, 2021, GCI, LLC entered into an Eighth Amended and Restated Credit Agreement which includes a $550 million revolving credit facility, with a $25 million sublimit for standby letters of credit, that matures on October 15, 2026 and a $250 million Term Loan A (the “Term Loan A”) that matures on October 15, 2027. On June 12, 2023, GCI, LLC entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Eighth Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (as amended, the “Senior Credit Facility”) which modified the interest rates to reference SOFR instead of LIBOR.

Following the amendment, the revolving credit facility borrowings under the Senior Credit Facility that are alternate base rate loans bear interest at a per annum rate equal to the alternate base rate plus a margin that varies between 0.50% and 1.75% depending on GCI, LLC’s total leverage ratio. The revolving credit facility borrowings under the Senior Credit Facility that are SOFR loans bear interest at a per annum rate equal to the applicable SOFR plus a Credit Spread Adjustment plus a margin that varies between 1.50% and 2.75% depending on GCI, LLC’s total leverage ratio. Term Loan A borrowings that are alternate base rate loans bear interest at a per annum rate equal to the alternate base rate plus a margin that varies between 1.00% and 2.25% depending on GCI, LLC’s total leverage ratio. Term Loan A borrowings that are SOFR loans bear interest at a per annum rate equal to the applicable SOFR plus a margin that varies between 2.00% and 3.25% depending on GCI, LLC’s total leverage ratio. Principal payments are due quarterly on the Term Loan A equal to 0.25% of the original principal amount, which may step up to 1.25% of the original principal amount of the Term Loan A depending on GCI, LLC’s secured leverage ratio. Each loan may be prepaid at any time and from time to time without penalty other than customary breakage costs. Any amounts prepaid on the revolving credit facility may be reborrowed. Prior to the amendment, all rates indexed to SOFR were previously indexed to LIBOR.

GCI, LLC’s First Lien Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Senior Credit Facility) may not exceed 4.00 to 1.00.

The terms of the Senior Credit Facility include customary representations and warranties, customary affirmative and negative covenants and customary events of default. At any time after the occurrence of an event of default under the Senior Credit Facility, the lenders may, among other options, declare any amounts outstanding under the Senior Credit Facility immediately due and payable and terminate any commitment to make further loans under the Senior Credit Facility. The obligations under the Senior Credit Facility are secured by a security interest on substantially all of the assets of GCI, LLC and the subsidiary guarantors, as defined in the Senior Credit Facility, and on the stock of GCI Holdings.

As of June 30, 2023, there was $246 million outstanding under the Term Loan A, $150 million outstanding under the revolving portion of the Senior Credit Facility and $3 million in letters of credit under the Senior Credit Facility, leaving $397 million available for borrowing.

Wells Fargo Note Payable

In connection with the closing of the Combination on December 18, 2020, the Company assumed GCI Holdings’ outstanding $6 million under its Wells Fargo Note Payable (as defined below). Outstanding borrowings on the Wells Fargo Note Payable were $5 million as of both June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

GCI Holdings issued a note to Wells Fargo that matures on July 15, 2029 and is payable in monthly installments of principal and interest (the "Wells Fargo Note Payable"). On May 1, 2023, the Wells Fargo Note Payable was amended to

update the interest rate to reference SOFR instead of LIBOR. After this amendment, the interest rate is variable at SOFR plus 1.75%. Prior to the amendment, the interest rate was variable at one month LIBOR plus 2.25%.

The note is subject to similar affirmative and negative covenants as the Senior Credit Facility. The obligations under the note are secured by a security interest and lien on the building purchased with the note.

Debt Covenants

GCI, LLC is subject to covenants and restrictions under its Senior Notes and Senior Credit Facility. The Company and GCI, LLC are in compliance with all debt maintenance covenants as of June 30, 2023.

Fair Value of Debt

The fair value of the Senior Notes was $515 million at June 30, 2023 (Level 2).

Due to the variable rate nature of the Margin Loan, Senior Credit Facility and Wells Fargo Note Payable, the Company believes that the carrying amount approximates fair value at June 30, 2023.