7. DEBT

 

Outstanding debt, net of debt issuance costs, consisted of the following (dollars in millions):

 

Huntsman Corporation

 

 

Huntsman International

 

 

DIRECT AND SUBSIDIARY DEBT

 

Huntsman Corporation’s direct debt and guarantee obligations consist of a guarantee of certain indebtedness incurred from time to time to finance certain insurance premiums. Substantially all of our other debt, including the facilities described below, has been incurred by our subsidiaries (primarily Huntsman International). Huntsman Corporation is not a guarantor of such subsidiary debt.

 

Certain of our subsidiaries are designated as nonguarantor subsidiaries (“Nonguarantors”) and have third‑party debt agreements. These debt agreements contain certain restrictions with regard to dividends, distributions, loans or advances. In certain circumstances, the consent of a third party would be required prior to the transfer of any cash or assets from these subsidiaries to us.

 

Debt Issuance Costs

 

We record debt issuance costs related to a debt liability on the balance sheet as a reduction in the face amount of that debt liability. As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the amount of debt issuance costs directly reducing the debt liability was $54 million and $57 million, respectively. We record the amortization of debt issuance costs as interest expense.

 

Senior Credit Facilities

 

As of June 30, 2017, our senior credit facilities (“Senior Credit Facilities”) consisted of our revolving facility (“Revolving Facility”), our 2015 Extended Term Loan B, our term loan B facility due 2021 (“2021 Term Loan B”) and our term loan B facility due 2023 (“2023 Term Loan B”) as follows (dollars in millions):

 

 

 

Our obligations under the Senior Credit Facilities are guaranteed by substantially all of our domestic subsidiaries and certain of our foreign subsidiaries (collectively, the “Guarantors”), and are secured by a first priority lien on substantially all of our domestic property, plant and equipment, the stock of all of our material domestic subsidiaries and certain foreign subsidiaries, and pledges of intercompany notes between certain of our subsidiaries.

 

On both April 25, 2017 and July 26, 2017,  we made early prepayments of $100 million each on our 2015 Extended Term Loan B from existing cash.

 

Seventeenth Amendment to Credit Agreement

 

On June 15, 2017, Huntsman International entered into a seventeenth amendment to the agreement governing the Senior Credit Facilities. The amendment allows us to enter into certain transactions in connection with the Separation and to consummate the previously announced merger of Huntsman Corporation with Clariant.

 

In connection with the Separation, the amendment allows for the incurrence of certain indebtedness of Venator to be held in escrow and permits the internal restructuring of the Pigments and Additives assets. In connection with the Separation, Venator and its subsidiaries will be designated as unrestricted subsidiaries and we will be required to repay $450 million of existing term loan indebtedness.

 

A/R Programs

 

Our U.S. accounts receivable securitization program (“U.S. A/R Program”) and our European accounts receivable securitization program (“EU A/R Program” and collectively with the U.S. A/R Program, “A/R Programs”) are structured so that we transfer certain of our trade receivables to the U.S. special purpose entity (“U.S. SPE”) and the European special purpose entity (“EU SPE”) in transactions intended to be true sales or true contributions. The receivables collateralize debt incurred by the U.S. SPE and the EU SPE. Information regarding our A/R Programs as of June 30, 2017 was as follows (monetary amounts in millions):

 

 

 

 

On April 21, 2017, we entered into amendments to our A/R Programs that, among other things, extend the scheduled termination dates to April 2020. As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, $369 million and $437 million, respectively, of accounts receivable were pledged as collateral under our A/R Programs.

 

Venator Unsecured Notes

 

On July 14, 2017, our subsidiaries Venator Finance S.à r.l. and Venator Materials LLC (the “Venator Issuers”) entered into an indenture in connection with the issuance of $375 million in aggregate principal amount of 5.75% Senior Notes due 2025 (the “Venator Notes”). The Venator Notes were sold pursuant to a purchase agreement and were funded into escrow pending completion of the Separation. When released from escrow, the Venator Issuers intend to use the net proceeds of the notes offering to repay intercompany debt to us, to pay a dividend to us (to the extent net proceeds exceed the net intercompany amounts owed to us) and to pay related fees and expenses.

 

The Venator Notes are general unsecured senior obligations of the Venator Issuers and, upon completion of the Separation, will be guaranteed on a general unsecured senior basis by Venator and certain of Venator’s subsidiaries.

 

The indenture imposes certain limitations on the ability of Venator and certain of its subsidiaries to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness secured by any principal properties, incur indebtedness of non-guarantor subsidiaries, enter into sale and leaseback transactions with respect to any principal properties and consolidate or merge with or into any other person or lease, sell or transfer all or substantially all of its properties and assets.

 

The Venator Notes bear interest of 5.75% per year payable semi-annually and will mature on July 15, 2025. The Venator Issuers may redeem the Venator Notes in whole or in part at any time prior to July 15, 2020 at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount thereof plus a “make-whole” premium and accrued and unpaid interest, if any. The Venator Notes will be redeemable in whole or in part at any time on or after July 15, 2020 at the redemption prices in the Venator Indenture, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but not including, the redemption date. In addition, at any time prior to July 15, 2020, the Venator Issuers may redeem up to 40% of the aggregate principal amount of the Venator Notes with an amount not greater than the net cash proceeds of certain equity offerings or contributions to Venator’s equity at 105.75% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but not including, the redemption date. Upon the occurrence of certain change of control events (other than the Separation), holders of the Venator Notes will have the right to require that the Venator Issuers purchase all or a portion of such holder’s Venator Notes in cash at a purchase price equal to 101% of the principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of repurchase.

 

Venator Credit Facilities

 

Venator intends to enter into new senior credit facilities ("Venator Credit Facilities") that will provide for first lien senior secured financing of up to $675 million, consisting of:

 

 

The Venator Term Loan will amortize in aggregate annual amounts equal to 1% of the original principal amount of the Venator Term Loan, payable quarterly commencing with the first full fiscal quarter ended after the date the term loan is funded.

 

Availability to borrow under the $300 million of commitments is subject to a borrowing base calculation comprised of accounts receivable and inventory in United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and accounts receivable in France and Spain, that fluctuate from time to time and may be further impacted by the lenders’ discretionary ability to impose reserves and availability blocks that might otherwise incrementally increase borrowing availability. As a result, the aggregate amount available for extensions of credit under the Venator ABL Facility at any time will be the lesser of $300 million and the borrowing base calculated according to the formula described above minus the aggregate amount of extensions of credit outstanding under the Venator ABL Facility at such time. 

 

Borrowings under the term loan facility will bear interest at a rate equal to, at Venator’s option, either (a) a LIBOR rate determined by reference to the costs of funds for Eurodollar deposits for the interest period relevant to such borrowing, adjusted for certain additional costs subject to an interest rate floor to be agreed or (b) a base rate determined by reference to the highest of (i) the rate of interest per annum determined from time to time by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as its prime rate in effect at its principal office in New York City, (ii) the federal funds rate plus 0.50% per annum and (iii) the one-month adjusted LIBOR plus 1.00% per annum, in each case plus an applicable margin to be agreed upon. Borrowings under the Venator ABL Facility will bear interest at a variable rate equal to an applicable margin based on the applicable quarterly average excess availability under the Venator ABL Facility plus either a LIBOR or a base rate. Thereafter, the applicable margin percentage will be calculated and established once every three calendar months and will vary from 150 to 200 basis points for LIBOR loans depending on the quarterly average excess availability under the Venator ABL Facility for the immediately preceding three month period.

 

Following the Separation and subject to customary exceptions, all obligations under the Venator Senior Credit Facilities will be unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior secured basis by Venator and each existing and subsequently acquired or organized direct or indirect material wholly-owned restricted subsidiary of Venator. The obligations of the loan parties will be secured by a pledge of Venator’s capital stock directly held by Venator and any domestic loan parties and substantially all of Venator’s assets and those of each subsidiary guarantor, including capital stock of the subsidiary guarantors and 65% of the capital stock of the first-tier foreign subsidiaries that are not subsidiary guarantors, in each case subject to exceptions. Lien priority as between the term loan facility and the Venator ABL Facility with respect to the collateral will be governed by an intercreditor agreement.

 

Note Payable from Huntsman International to Huntsman Corporation

 

As of June 30, 2017, we had a loan of $814 million to our subsidiary, Huntsman International (the “Intercompany Note”). The Intercompany Note is unsecured and $100 million of the outstanding amount is classified as current as of June 30, 2017 on our condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of June 30, 2017, under the terms of the Intercompany Note, Huntsman International promises to pay us interest on the unpaid principal amount at a rate per annum based on the previous monthly average borrowing rate obtained under our U.S. A/R Program, less 10 basis points (provided that the rate shall not exceed an amount that is 25 basis points less than the monthly average borrowing rate obtained for the U.S. LIBOR-based borrowings under our Revolving Facility).

 

COMPLIANCE WITH COVENANTS

 

We believe that we are in compliance with the covenants contained in the agreements governing our material debt instruments, including our Senior Credit Facilities, our A/R Programs and our notes.

 

Our material financing arrangements contain certain covenants with which we must comply. A failure to comply with a covenant could result in a default under a financing arrangement unless we obtained an appropriate waiver or forbearance (as to which we can provide no assurance). A default under these material financing arrangements generally allows debt holders the option to declare the underlying debt obligations immediately due and payable. Furthermore, certain of our material financing arrangements contain cross-default and cross-acceleration provisions under which a failure to comply with the covenants in one financing arrangement may result in an event of default under another financing arrangement.

 

Our Senior Credit Facilities are subject to a single financial covenant (the “Leverage Covenant”), which applies only to the Revolving Facility and is calculated at the Huntsman International level. The Leverage Covenant is applicable only if borrowings, letters of credit or guarantees are outstanding under the Revolving Facility (cash collateralized letters of credit or guarantees are not deemed outstanding). The Leverage Covenant is a net senior secured leverage ratio covenant, which requires that Huntsman International’s ratio of senior secured debt to EBITDA (as defined in the applicable agreement) is not more than 3.75 to 1.

 

If in the future Huntsman International fails to comply with the Leverage Covenant, then we may not have access to liquidity under our Revolving Facility. If Huntsman International failed to comply with the Leverage Covenant at a time when we had uncollateralized loans or letters of credit outstanding under the Revolving Facility, Huntsman International would be in default under the Senior Credit Facilities, and, unless Huntsman International obtained a waiver or forbearance with respect to such default (as to which we can provide no assurance), Huntsman International could be required to pay off the balance of the Senior Credit Facilities in full, and we may not have further access to such facilities.

 

The agreements governing our A/R Programs also contain certain receivable performance metrics. Any material failure to meet the applicable A/R Programs’ metrics in the future could lead to an early termination event under the A/R Programs, which could require us to cease our use of such facilities, prohibiting us from additional borrowings against our receivables or, at the discretion of the lenders, requiring that we repay the A/R Programs in full. An early termination event under the A/R Programs would also constitute an event of default under our Senior Credit Facilities, which could require us to pay off the balance of the Senior Credit Facilities in full and could result in the loss of our Senior Credit Facilities.