Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Debt

v3.3.1.900
Debt
12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Debt
Debt
(in thousands)
 
 
 
 
September 30,
 
2015
 
2014
Long-term debt, net of current portion:
 
 
 
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and New England Life Insurance Company fixed rate term loans in the original principal amount of $125,000,000: the loans bear interest at the rate of 4.15% per annum as of September 30,2015. The loans are collateralized by real estate and mature in November 2029.
$
111,563

 
$

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and New England Life Insurance Company variable rate term loans in the original principal amounts of $57,500,000: the variable interest rate was approximately 1.80% per annum as of September 30, 2015. The loans are collateralized by real estate and mature in November 2029.
55,344

 

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company term loan: the loan bears interest at the rate of 5.30% per annum as of September 30, 2015. A final advance of $2,500,000 is scheduled for March 1, 2016 subject to certain performance conditions. The interest rate is subject to adjustment on the date of the final advance. The loan is collateralized by real estate and matures in February 2029.
2,500

 

Rabo Agrifinance, Inc. variable rate term loan. The loan was refinanced on December 3, 2014.

 
34,000

Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, LLC fixed rate term loans: the loans bear interest at the rate of 5.35% per annum as of June 30, 2015. The loans are collateralized by real estate and mature in June 2033.
25,640

 
27,550

Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, LLC fixed rate term loan: the loan bears interest at the rate of 3.85% per annum as of June 30, 2015. The loan is collateralized by real estate and matures in September 2021.
5,390

 

Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, LLC fixed rate term loan: the loan bears interest at the rate of 3.45% per annum as of June 30, 2015. The loan is collateralized by real estate and matures in September 2039.
5,390

 

Note payable to a financing company collateralized by equipment and maturing in December 2016.
54

 
90

 
205,881

 
61,640

Less current portion
4,511

 
3,196

Long-term debt
$
201,370

 
$
58,444


(in thousands)
 
 
 
 
September 30,
 
2015
 
2014
Lines of Credit:
 
 
 
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and New England Life Insurance Company revolving line of credit: this $25,000,000 line bears interest at a variable rate which was 1.80% per annum as of September 30, 2015. The line is collateralized by real estate and matures in November 2019.
$

 
$

Rabo Agrifinance, Inc. working capital line of credit: this $70,000,000 line bears interest at a variable rate which was 1.95% per annum as of September 30, 2015. The line is collateralized by personal property and matures in November 2016. Availability under the line was $52,500,000 of September 30, 2015.

 

Rabo Agrifinance, Inc. revolving line of credit which was a $60,000,000 line. The loan was refinanced on December 3, 2014.

 

Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, LLC revolving line of credit which was a $6,000,000 line that was paid in full and closed on April 28, 2015.

 
3,160

Lines of Credit
$

 
$
3,160




Future maturities of debt as of September 30, 2015 are as follows:

(in thousands)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Due within one year
 
 
 
$
4,511

Due between one and two years
 
 
 
8,243

Due between two and three years
 
 
 
10,800

Due between three and four years
 
 
 
10,900

Due between four and five years
 
 
 
10,963

Due beyond five years
 
 
 
160,464

 
 
 
 
 
Total future maturities
 
 
 
$
205,881



Debt Refinancing 

The Company refinanced its outstanding debt obligations on December 3, 2014 in connection with the Orange-Co acquisition (see Note 3 “Acquisitions and Dispositions”). The new credit facilities initially included $125,000,000 in fixed interest rate term loans, $57,500,000 in variable interest rate term loans and a $25,000,000 revolving line of credit (“RLOC”) with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and New England Life Insurance Company (collectively “Met”) and a $70,000,000 working capital line of credit (“WCLC”) with Rabo Agrifinance, Inc. (“Rabo”).

The new term loans and RLOC are secured by approximately 39,300 gross acres of citrus groves and 14,000 gross acres of farmland. The WCLC is secured by the Company’s current assets and certain other personal property owned by the Company.
The new term loans are subject to quarterly principal payments of $2,281,250 and mature November 1, 2029. The fixed rate term loans bear interest at 4.15% per annum, and the variable rate term loans bear interest at a rate equal to 90 day LIBOR plus 150 basis points (the “LIBOR spread”). The LIBOR spread is subject to adjustment by the lender on May 1, 2017 and every two years thereafter until maturity. Interest on the term loans is payable quarterly.
The interest rate on the variable rate term loan was 1.80% per annum as of September 30, 2015.  The loans are collateralized by certain real estate of the Company.
The Company may prepay up to $8,750,000 of the fixed rate term loan principal annually without penalty, and any such prepayments shall be applied to reduce subsequent mandatory principal payments. The maximum annual prepayment has been made for the current fiscal year. The variable rate term loans may be prepaid without penalty.
The RLOC bears interest at a floating rate equal to 90 day LIBOR plus 150 basis points payable quarterly. The LIBOR spread is subject to adjustment by the lender on May 1, 2017 and every two years thereafter. Outstanding principal, if any, is due at maturity on November 1, 2019. The RLOC is subject to an annual commitment fee of 25 basis points on the unused portion of the line of credit. The RLOC is available for funding general corporate needs. The variable interest rate was 1.80% per annum as of September 30, 2015. The RLOC was available as of December 3, 2014 but has remained undrawn as of September 30, 2015.
The WCLC is a revolving credit facility and is available for funding working capital and general corporate requirements. The interest rate on the WCLC is based on the one month LIBOR plus a spread. The spread is adjusted quarterly based on our debt service coverage ratio for the preceding quarter and can vary from 175 to 250 basis points. The rate is currently at LIBOR plus 175 basis points. The variable interest rate was 1.95% per annum as of September 30, 2015. The WCLC facility matures November 1, 2016. Availability under the line of credit was $52,501,500 as of September 30, 2015.
The WCLC is subject to a quarterly commitment fee on the daily unused availability under the line computed as the commitment amount less the aggregate of the outstanding loans and outstanding letters of credit. The commitment fee is adjusted quarterly based on our debt service coverage ratio for the preceding quarter and can vary from a minimum of 20 basis points to a maximum of 30 basis points.
The WCLC agreement provides for Rabo to issue up to $20,000,000 in letters of credit on the Company’s behalf. As of September 30, 2015, there was $17,498,500 in outstanding letters of credit which correspondingly reduced our availability under the line of credit. There was no outstanding balance on the WCLC as of September 30, 2015.
The Company capitalized approximately $2,834,000 of debt financing costs related to the refinancing. These costs will be amortized to interest expense over the applicable terms of the loans. The unamortized balance of deferred financing costs related to the financing was approximately $2,543,000 which includes approximately $318,000 of fees related to the old RLOC (see below) at September 30, 2015.
The Company recognized a loss on extinguishment of debt of approximately $1,051,000 for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015, related to the refinancing. The loss on extinguishment of debt is included in Other income (expense) in the Consolidated and Combined Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015.
The new credit facilities noted above are subject to various covenants including the following financial covenants: (i) minimum debt service coverage ratio of 1.10 to 1.00, (ii) tangible net worth of at least $160,000,000 increased annually by 10% of consolidated net income for the preceding year, (iii) minimum current ratio of 1.50 to 1.00, (iv) debt to total assets ratio not greater than .625 to 1.00, and, solely in the case of the WCLC, (v) a limit on capital expenditures of $30,000,000 per fiscal year. As of September 30, 2015, the Company was in compliance with all of the financial covenants.
The credit facilities also include a Met Life term loan secured by real estate owned by Citree Holdings 1, LLC. This is a $5,000,000 credit facility that initially bore interest at 5.49%. An initial advance of $500,000 was made at closing on March 4, 2014. The loan agreement was amended to provide for an interim advance of $2,000,000 on September 17, 2015, and the interest rate was adjusted to 5.30% at the time of the interim advance. The amendment extended the date of the final $2,500,000 advance from December 1, 2015 to March 1, 2016. The interest rate is subject to further adjustment at the time of the final advance. The loan matures in February 2029. The unamortized balance of deferred financing costs related to this loan was approximately $57,000 at September 30, 2015.

Debt Prior to Refinancing
 
Prior to the December 3, 2014 refinancing, the Company had a $33,500,000 term loan and a $60,000,000 revolving line of credit (“Old RLOC”) with Rabo.

     The variable rate term loan required quarterly payments of interest at a floating rate of one month LIBOR plus 225 basis points and quarterly principal payments of $500,000. The variable interest rate on this loan was 2.40% per annum as of September 30, 2014. The loan was secured by real estate and had a maturity date of October 2020. The term loan was refinanced in connection with the Orange-Co acquisition on December 3, 2014.
The Old RLOC had a variable interest rate based on one month LIBOR plus a spread. The spread was determined based upon our debt service coverage ratio for the preceding fiscal year and could vary from 195 to 295 basis points. The interest rate was LIBOR plus 195 basis points at the date of refinancing and as of September 30, 2014. Interest on the Old RLOC was payable quarterly. The Old RLOC was subject to a commitment fee of 20 basis points on the annual average unused availability. The Old RLOC had no outstanding balance at the date of refinancing or as of September 30, 2014.
The Company incurred debt financing costs of approximately $1,202,000 related to the Rabo variable rate term loan and Old RLOC. The debt financing costs were capitalized as deferred financing costs in fiscal year 2010, and were being amortized to interest expense over the term of the loan. The unamortized balance of deferred financing costs at the time of refinancing was approximately $697,000, of which approximately $379,000 was written-off and expensed as a loss on extinguishment of debt and approximately $318,000 will be amortized over the applicable terms of the new loans.
As of September 30, 2014, the Company was in compliance with the financial debt covenants and terms of the Rabo loan agreement.

 Silver Nip Citrus Debt
 
Silver Nip Citrus has various loans payable to Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, LLC (“Prudential”) as described below.
 
There are two fixed rate term loans with total outstanding balances of $25,640,000 and $27,550,000 as of June 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively. Principal of $290,000 is payable quarterly. Interest accrues at 5.35% per annum and is also payable quarterly. The Company may prepay up to $5,000,000 of principal without penalty. On February 15, 2015, Silver Nip Citrus made a prepayment of $750,000. The loans are collateralized by real estate in Collier, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Martin, Osceola and Polk Counties, Florida.
 
Silver Nip Citrus entered into two fixed rate term loans with Prudential to finance the acquisition of a 1,500 acre citrus grove on September 4, 2014 (see Note 3 “Acquisitions and Dispositions”). Each loan had an outstanding principal balance of $5,390,000 as of June 30, 2015. Principal of $55,000 per loan is payable quarterly together with accrued interest. One loan bears interest at 3.85% while the other bears interest at 3.45%. The note with an interest rate of 3.85% is subject to adjustment on September 1, 2019 and every year thereafter until maturity. Both loans are collateralized by real estate in Charlotte County, Florida.
 
Silver Nip Citrus had a $6,000,000 revolving line of credit with Prudential. This line of credit was paid in full and terminated on April 28, 2015. A loss on extinguishment of debt of approximately was $87,500 recognized when the loan was retired. The outstanding balance was $3,159,620 as of June 30, 2014.

The unamortized balance of deferred financing costs related to the Silver Nip Citrus debt was approximately $385,000 at September 30, 2015.

The Silver Nip Citrus facilities are subject to a financial debt covenant requiring a current ratio of at least 2.00 to 1.00 measured at the end of each fiscal year. Silver Nip Citrus was in compliance with this covenant as of June 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively.
 
The Silver Nip Citrus facilities are personally guaranteed by George Brokaw, Remy Trafelet and Clayton Wilson.
 

Modification of Credit Agreements
 
Rabo agreed, subject to certain conditions, that the Company may loan Silver Nip Citrus up to $7,000,000 on a revolving basis. These advances would be funded from either cash on hand or draws on the Company’s WCLC, for cash management purposes.

Silver Nip Citrus has provided a $7,000,000 limited guaranty and security agreement granting Rabo a security interest in crops, accounts receivable, inventory and certain other assets.
 
This modification required the amendment of various Prudential and Rabo loan documents and mortgages.

Interest costs expensed and capitalized were as follows:

(in thousands)
 
Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
 
 
2015
 
2014
 
2013
Interest expense
 
$
8,373

 
$
1,925

 
$
1,257

Interest capitalized
 
345

 
204

 
79

Total
 
$
8,718

 
$
2,129

 
$
1,336