Quarterly report pursuant to sections 13 or 15(d)

5. DEBT

v2.4.0.8
5. DEBT
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
5. DEBT

Long-term borrowings are summarized as follows (in thousands):

 

    September 30,
2013
   

December 31,

2012

 
Kinergy operating line of credit   $ 19,112     $ 19,711  
Senior unsecured notes     16,889        
Subordinated convertible notes     2,525        
Plant Owners’ term debt and accrued interest     59,565       54,821  
Plant Owners’ operating lines of credit     42,378       46,000  
Note payable to related party     750       750  
      141,219       121,282  
Less: Parent purchased Plant Owners’ term debt     (27,088 )      
Less: Unamortized discount on senior unsecured notes     (2,022 )      
Less: Unamortized discount on convertible notes     (1,142 )      
      110,967       121,282  
Less short-term portion     (2,133 )     (4,029 )
Long-term debt   $ 108,834     $ 117,253  

 

Kinergy Operating Line of Credit – For the nine months ended September 30, 2013, Kinergy repaid $599,000, net of borrowings, on its operating line of credit. As of September 30, 2013, Kinergy had an available borrowing base under the credit facility of $5,451,000 and an outstanding principal balance of $19,112,000. At September 30, 2013, the interest rate was approximately 2.75%.

 

Senior Unsecured Notes – On January 11, 2013, under the terms of a securities purchase agreement dated December 19, 2012 among the Company and five accredited investors, the Company issued and sold to the investors in a private offering $22,192,000 in aggregate principal amount of its senior unsecured notes (“January 2013 Notes”) and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,708,700 shares of the Company’s common stock (“January 2013 Financing Transaction”) for aggregate net proceeds of $22,072,000. The warrants have an exercise price of $6.60 per share and expire in January 2018.

 

Upon closing of the January 2013 Financing Transaction, the Company recorded a debt discount of $2,657,000, associated with the value of the warrants issued in connection with the financing. The debt discount will be amortized over the life of the January 2013 Notes to approximate a yield adjustment.

 

If at any time the Company receives net cash proceeds from an issuance of equity or equity-linked securities of the Company, interest received from any purchased and outstanding Plant Owners’ term debt, certain sales of assets or as a result of incurring certain indebtedness, then the Company will be obligated to prepay the January 2013 Notes using 100% of all such net cash proceeds, provided that any net proceeds received in connection with an equity-linked issuance must be used to either prepay the January 2013 Notes or purchase certain outstanding debt issued by the Plant Owners. During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, the Company made principal payments on the January 2013 Notes in the aggregate amount of $5,303,000. In addition, the Company purchased $3,500,000 in certain outstanding debt issued by the Plant Owners.

 

The January 2013 Notes mature on March 30, 2016 and bear interest at a rate of 5% per annum, subject to adjustment. As of the filing of this report, the Company has repaid certain amounts and purchased outstanding debt issued by the Plant Owners in the aggregate principal amount of $8,803,000. If, by January 15, 2014, the principal balance of the January 2013 Notes is not less than $14,269,000, the interest rate will increase commencing on January 15, 2014 by 1% per annum on each of January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15 until the aggregate outstanding principal balance is less than $14,269,000. Payments due under the January 2013 Notes rank senior to all other indebtedness of the Company and its subsidiaries, other than certain permitted senior indebtedness.

 

Interest on the January 2013 Notes is payable in cash in arrears on the fifteenth calendar day of each month beginning on March 15, 2013 (each, an “Interest Payment Date”). Subject to the satisfaction of certain equity conditions, at the option of the Company, the Company may elect to pay interest due and payable in shares of its common stock, provided that the interest rate applicable to any outstanding amounts the Company pays in shares will increase by 2% per annum from the then applicable interest rate for the period for which such interest is paid. The number of shares to be issued on any particular Interest Payment Date equals the quotient of (x) the amount of interest payable (assuming payment in shares) on such Interest Payment Date, divided by (y) the product of (i) the weighted average price of the Company’s common stock for the thirty trading days immediately preceding (but excluding) the Interest Payment Date, and (ii) 0.95. As of September 30, 2013, the Company had not made any interest payments in shares of its common stock.

 

As of September 30, 2013, the aggregate outstanding principal balance of the January 2013 Notes was $16,889,000.

 

Restrictive Covenants

 

The January 2013 Notes prohibit the Company from engaging in various activities, including the following: (i) the Company and its subsidiaries may not incur other indebtedness, except for certain permitted indebtedness; (ii) the Company and its subsidiaries may not incur any liens, except for certain permitted liens; (iii) the Company and its subsidiaries may not, directly or indirectly, redeem or repay all or any portion of any indebtedness (except for certain permitted indebtedness) if at the time such payment is due or is made or, after giving effect to such payment, an event constituting, or that with the passage of time and without being cured would constitute, an event of default has occurred and is continuing; (iv) the Company and its subsidiaries may not redeem, repurchase or pay any dividend or distribution on its respective capital stock without the prior consent of the holders of the January 2013 Notes, other than certain permitted distributions; and (v) the Company and its subsidiaries may not sell, lease, assign, transfer or otherwise dispose of any assets of the Company or any subsidiary, except for certain permitted dispositions (including the sales of inventory or receivables in the ordinary course of business).

 

Registration Rights Agreement

 

The January 2013 Notes include registration rights which required that the Company file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 30 days of the closing date for the resale by the January 2013 Note holders of up to 2,200,000 shares of common stock underlying the warrants and 491,300 shares of common stock that may be issued as interest shares under the January 2013 Notes. The Company filed the initial registration statement by the 30 day deadline. As part of the Company’s issuance of subordinated convertible notes in March 2013, the initial registration statement was withdrawn with the permission of the January 2013 Note holders. The Company filed another registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission covering the warrant shares and interest shares on June 28, 2013, which has been declared effective.

 

Subordinated Convertible Notes – On March 28, 2013, the Company issued $6,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of its Series A Subordinated Convertible Notes (“Series A Notes”), and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,839,600 shares of common stock for aggregate gross proceeds of $6,000,000. On June 21, 2013, the Company issued $8,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of its Series B Subordinated Convertible Notes (“Series B Notes”) for aggregate gross proceeds of $8,000,000. The warrants have an exercise price of $7.70 per share. Of the warrants issued in the transaction, warrants to purchase 788,400 shares of common stock expire in March 2015 and warrants to purchase 1,051,200 shares of common stock expire in June 2015. The net proceeds of these offerings of $12,560,000 were used to (i) purchase $6,665,000 of the Plant Owners’ debt maturing in June 2013, the maturity of which was also extended at the time from June 2013 to June 2016, and of which the Company immediately retired $1,122,000; (ii) acquire an additional 5% ownership interest in New PE Holdco; and (iii) purchase and immediately retire an additional $3,500,000 of the Plant Owners’ term debt.

 

Unless converted or redeemed earlier, the Series A and B Notes will mature on March 28, 2014. The Series A and B Notes bear interest at 5% per annum, compounded monthly. All amounts due under the Series A and B Notes are convertible at any time, in whole or in part, at the option of the holders into shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion price (“Fixed Conversion Price”), which is subject to adjustment as described below.

 

The Series A and B Notes were initially convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock at the initial Fixed Conversion Price of $15.00 per share. If the Company sells or issues any securities with “floating” conversion prices based on the market price of its common stock, the holder of a Series A or B Note will have the right thereafter to substitute the “floating” conversion price for the Fixed Conversion Price upon conversion of all or part of the Series A or B Note.

 

Amortization payments, together with accrued and unpaid interest on the Series A and B Notes, are payable on monthly installment dates. On or prior to the tenth calendar day before each installment date, the Company is required to deliver a notice electing to effect a redemption in cash or a conversion of the installment amount due on the installment date into shares of its common stock. The Company’s ability to pay an installment amount in shares of its common stock is subject to numerous equity conditions, the failure of any of which, unless waived, will require that the Company pay an installment amount solely in cash. On the applicable installment date, the Company is required to deliver to the holders of Series A and B Notes an amount of shares of common stock equal to that portion of the installment amount being converted divided by the lesser of the then existing Fixed Conversion Price and 85% of the Market Price on the installment date (“Company Conversion Price”). The “Market Price” on any given date is equal to the lesser of (i) the volume weighted average price on the trading day immediately preceding the date of determination, and (ii) the average of the three lowest volume weighted average prices during the ten trading day period ending on the trading day immediately prior to the date of determination.

 

The holder of a Series A or B Note may, at the holder’s election by giving notice to the Company, defer the payment of the installment amount due on any installment date to another installment date, in which case the amount deferred will become part of the subsequent installment date and will continue to accrue interest.

 

On any day during the period commencing on an installment date and ending on the trading day prior to the next installment date, the holder of a Series A or B Note may, at its election, convert the installment amounts due on up to four future installment dates at the Company Conversion Price in effect on the current installment date, provided that if the Company had elected to convert the installment amount due on the current installment date, the holder may only convert up to three future installment amounts. Upon the occurrence of certain events of default, there will be no limitation on the number of installment amounts that the holder may accelerate and the Company Conversion Price applicable to conversions made pursuant to this acceleration feature will equal the lesser of (i) the Company Conversion Price on the current installment date, (ii) 85% of the Market Price, and (iii) the Fixed Conversion Price then in effect. At September 30, 2013, based on the Company’s most recent conversion price of $3.07, the Series B Notes were convertible into an aggregate of 888,000 shares of the Company’s common stock.

 

The Company has determined that the conversion feature in the Series A and B Notes and the related warrants require bifurcation and liability classification and measurement, at fair value, and require evaluation at each reporting period. The initial fair values of the conversion feature of the Series A Notes of $1,400,800 and the warrants of $882,500 are accounted for as a debt discount and will be amortized into interest expense as a yield adjustment over the term of the Series A Notes. The initial fair values of the conversion feature of the Series B Notes of $2,928,500 and the warrants of $689,300 are accounted for as a debt discount and will be amortized into interest expense as a yield adjustment over the term of the Series B Notes.

 

From April 1, 2013 through September 30, 2013, the Company made two installment payments and processed a number of conversions. In the aggregate, the Company issued 3,557,000 shares of its common stock in payment of principal and interest in an aggregate amount of $11,554,000 in respect of the Series A and B Notes. In connection with these installment payments and conversions, the Company recorded losses on extinguishments of debt of $2,573,000 and $3,611,000 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively.

 

As of September 30, 2013, the Series A Notes were fully retired and the aggregate outstanding principal balance of the Series B Notes was $2,525,000. See Note 11 - Subsequent Events.

 

Plant Owners’ Term Debt and Operating Lines of Credit – The Plant Owners’ debt as of September 30, 2013 consisted of a $33,286,000 tranche A-1 term loan, a $26,279,000 tranche A-2 term loan and a $42,378,000 revolving credit facility. The term and revolving debt require monthly interest payments at a floating rate equal to the three-month LIBOR or the Prime Rate of interest, at the Plant Owners’ election, plus 10.0%. At September 30, 2013, the interest rate was approximately 13.25%. Repayments of principal are based on available free cash flow of the Plant Owners, until maturity, when all principal amounts are due.

 

From July 13, 2012 through June 30, 2013, the Plant Owners entered into transactions which amended the term and revolving debt and extended the maturity dates in respect of the combined term loans and revolving debt from June 25, 2013 to June 30, 2016.

 

Monthly interest payments due to certain lenders on both the term and revolving debt was deferred and added to the principal amount of the loans. As of September 30, 2013, the extended principal balances above included $8,279,000 of accrued interest that was deferred by the Plant Owners.

 

Acquisitions of Plant Debt – On January 11, 2013, the Company used $21,500,000 of the proceeds of the January 2013 Financing Transaction to purchase from certain lenders an aggregate amount of $21,500,000 of the Plant Owners’ tranche A-2 term loans. The Company determined that the acquisition of the plant debt was a modification of terms because the lenders who held the acquired plant debt were the lenders under the January 2013 Notes. Based on the Company’s review of the present value of cash flows of the January 2013 Notes compared to the older plant debt, which resulted in a less than 10% change, the modification was not significant and the Company did not record a gain or loss associated with the modification. The Company expensed certain legal costs associated with the debt modification of approximately $408,000, rather than amortizing those expenses over the life of the debt. Because the plant debt acquired is now held by Pacific Ethanol, this specific debt is eliminated in consolidation.

 

On March 28, 2013, the Company used proceeds from the issuance of its Series A Notes and warrants to purchase $3,500,000 of revolving credit facility debt, at par, from a lender. Under the terms of the amended credit facility, the Company was obligated to immediately forgive the purchased amount of revolving credit facility debt and has permanently reduced the maximum commitment on this facility to $36,500,000.

 

On March 28, 2013, the Company also used proceeds from the issuance of its Series A Notes and warrants to purchase $2,636,000 of tranche A-2 term loans and an additional 3% ownership interest in New PE Holdco for a combined purchase price of $2,150,000. The Company first allocated $331,000 of this payment to the New PE Holdco ownership interest and the remainder was allocated to the tranche A-2 term loans. The $817,000 difference between the amount the Company allocated to the term loans and the face amount of $2,636,000 was recorded as a gain on extinguishment of debt.

 

On June 21, 2013, the Company used proceeds from the issuance of its Series B Notes to purchase $1,122,000 of revolving credit facility debt at a discount. Under the terms of the amended credit facility, the Company was obligated to immediately forgive the purchased amount of revolving credit facility debt and has permanently reduced the maximum commitment on this facility to $35,378,000.

 

On June 21, 2013, the Company also used proceeds from the issuance of its Series B Notes to purchase $2,907,000 of tranche A-1 and A-2 term loans at a discount and an additional 2% ownership interest in New PE Holdco for $197,000.

 

The Company recorded a gain on extinguishment of debt of $998,000 related to the discount it paid for the revolving and term loans.

  

New Operating Line of Credit – On October 29, 2012, the Plant Owners entered into a new revolving credit facility that initially provided for up to an additional $10,000,000. The Plant Owners may request increases in the amount of the facility in increments of not less than $1,000,000, up to a maximum additional credit limit of $5,000,000. The Plant Owners have the right at any time, and from time to time, but subject to limitations imposed by an intercreditor agreement, to prepay in whole or in part the revolving loans and tranche A-1 loans (and the tranche A-2 loans following the payment in full of the revolving loans and tranche A-1 loans). However, in the event of any prepayment of the tranche A-1 loans that have a maturity date of June 30, 2016, the Plant Owners must pay a premium equal to the present value of all interest payments that would have accrued from the date of such payment through June 30, 2016, calculated using a discount rate, applied quarterly, equal to the Treasury Rate as of such prepayment date plus 50 basis points. The credit agreement also provides for mandatory prepayments in connection with certain customary events, including any sale of material assets; however, certain mandatory prepayments are not subject to the prepayment premium. On January 4, 2013, the Plant Owners entered into an amendment to the new revolving credit facility and extended the maturity date of the facility from June 25, 2013 to June 25, 2015. On March 28, 2013, the lenders approved $5,000,000 in additional availability for a maximum total credit limit of $15,000,000 under the facility. At September 30, 2013, the interest rate was approximately 8.75%. As of September 30, 2013, the Plant Owners had unused availability under the new revolving credit facility of $8,000,000.

 

All of the term loans and revolving credit facilities represent permanent financing and are secured by a perfected, first-priority security interest in all of the assets, including inventories and all rights, title and interest in all tangible and intangible assets, of the Plant Owners. The Plant Owners’ creditors do not have recourse to Pacific Ethanol, Inc.

 

Note Payable to Related Party – The Company had a note payable to its Chief Executive Officer totaling $750,000 as of September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012. Interest on the unpaid principal amount accrues at a rate of 8.00% per annum. On February 7, 2013, the maturity date was extended to March 31, 2014.