Long-term Debt |
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| Debt Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long-term Debt |
16. Long-term Debt:
The summary of long-term debt is as follows:
Term Loan Facility
On June 9, 2021, PQ Corp and Ecovyst Catalyst Technologies LLC (“Ecovyst LLC” and, following the closing of the sale of the Performance Chemicals business, the “Borrower”), an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into an agreement (the “2021 Credit Agreement”) for the 2021 Term Loan Facility in an aggregate principal amount of $900,000 with an original issue discount of 0.25% and interest at a floating rate of LIBOR (with a 0.50% minimum LIBOR floor) plus 2.75% per annum (or, depending on the Borrower’s first lien net leverage ratio, 2.50%). The 2021 Term Loan Facility required scheduled quarterly amortization payments, each equal to 0.25% of the original principal amount of the loans under the 2021 Term Loan Facility. The proceeds of the 2021 Term Loan Facility were used to pay in full the senior secured term loan facility we entered into an agreement in 2020, partially pay the senior secured term loan facility the Company entered into an agreement in 2018 and pay the associated fees and expenses.
On February 9, 2023, the Company amended the 2021 Term Loan Facility to replace LIBOR with a Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) as the benchmark interest rate. Following this amendment, the 2021 Term Loan Facility bear interest at an adjusted SOFR rate (with a 0.50% minimum floor) plus 2.75% per annum (or, depending on the Borrower’s first lien net leverage ratio, 2.50%).
On June 12, 2024, the Company amended the 2021 Term Loan Facility to, among other things, (a) reduce the interest rate applicable to all outstanding SOFR term loans to term SOFR plus 2.25% per annum from a maximum of adjusted term SOFR plus 2.75% per annum, (b) reduce the interest rate applicable to all outstanding base rate term loans to the alternate base rate plus 1.25% per annum from a maximum of the alternate base rate plus 1.75% per annum and (c) extend the maturity date of all outstanding term loans to June 12, 2031 (the amended term loans, the “2024 Term Loan Facility”). As a result of the amendment, there is no longer a credit spread adjustment of 10 basis points.
On January 30, 2025, the Company amended the 2024 Term Loan Facility to, among other things, (a) reduce the interest rate applicable to all outstanding SOFR term loans to term SOFR plus 2.00% per annum from a maximum of term SOFR plus 2.25% per annum and (b) reduce the interest rate applicable to all outstanding base rate term loans to the alternate base rate plus 1.00% per annum from a maximum of the alternate base rate plus 1.25% per annum.
The interest rate on the 2024 Term Loan Facility was 6.84% as of December 31, 2024.
The 2024 Term Loan Facility is guaranteed by Ecovyst Catalyst Technologies LLC and Ecoservices Operations Corp, as well as other material U.S. subsidiaries of the Company. The obligations under the 2024 Term Facility are secured (i) by a first-priority security interest in, among other things, a pledge of substantially all of the Borrower’s and the guarantors’ assets (other than collateral securing the ABL Facility on a first-priority basis) and (ii) by a second-priority security interest in receivables, inventory, deposit accounts and other collateral of the Borrower and the U.S. subsidiary guarantors securing the ABL Facility.
The Company may at any time voluntarily prepay loans under the 2024 Term Loan Facility in whole or in part without premium or penalty (other than a premium that would be payable in the event of a repricing of the 2024 Term Loan Facility occurring on or prior to July 30, 2025).
Debt extinguishment costs resulting from Term Loan amendments
In June 2024, the Company evaluated the terms of the amendment in accordance with ASC 470-50 Debt - Modification and Extinguishment and determined that the amendment was primarily a modification of debt. As a result, the Company recorded $4,471 of third-party financing costs as debt extinguishment costs in the consolidated income statement for the year ended December 31, 2024 and capitalized $2,183 of original issued discount within long-term debt, excluding current portion on the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2024. In addition, previous unamortized deferred financing costs of $30 and original issue discount of $59 associated with the previously outstanding debt were written off as debt extinguishment costs for the year ended December 31, 2024.
In January 2025, the Company re-priced the 2024 Term Loan Facility to reduce the applicable interest rate. The terms of the facility were substantially consistent following the re-pricing, except that borrowings under the facility will bear interest at a rate equal to term SOFR plus 2.00% per annum.
ABL Facility
On May 4, 2016, PQ Corporation (“PQ Corp”), an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of the Company prior to the closing of the sale of the Performance Chemical business entered into a $200,000 senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility (the “ABL Facility”), which provided for $200,000 revolving credit commitments.
On March 20, 2020, PQ Corp amended its existing ABL Facility to increase the aggregate amount of the revolving loan commitments available by $50,000 to $250,000, consisting of up to $195,000 in U.S. commitments, up to $15,000 in Canadian commitments and up to $40,000 in European commitments. The maturity of the facility was extended to March 20, 2025. In addition, there was an annual commitment fee equal to 0.375%, with a step-down to 0.25% based on average usage of the revolving credit borrowings available
Following the amendment, the borrowings under the amended ABL Facility bear interest at a rate equal to the LIBOR rate or the base rate plus a margin of between 1.25% to 1.75% or 0.25% to 0.75%, respectively.
On June 9, 2021, PQ Corp and Ecovyst LLC (as defined below) entered into a third amendment agreement (the “ABL Amendment”), which amended its ABL Credit Agreement, dated as of May 4, 2016 (the “ABL Credit Agreement” and, as amended by the ABL Amendment, the “Amended ABL Credit Agreement”). The ABL Amendment, among other things, following the sale of Performance Chemicals, decreased the aggregate amount of revolving loan commitments available to the borrowers thereunder by an aggregate amount of $150,000 to $100,000, consisting of $90,000 in U.S. commitments and $10,000 in European commitments and extended the maturity date with respect to borrowings under the Amended ABL Credit Agreement to August 2, 2026.
On February 17, 2023, the Company amended the ABL Facility to replace LIBOR with SOFR as the benchmark interest rate. Following this amendment, the borrowings under the ABL Facility bears interest at a rate equal to an adjusted term SOFR, which includes a credit spread adjustment of 10 basis points or the base rate plus a margin of between 1.25% to 1.75% or 0.25% to 0.75%, respectively. The interest rate on the ABL Facility was 7.75% as of December 31, 2024.
As of December 31, 2024, there were no revolving credit borrowings outstanding under the ABL Facility. Revolving credit borrowings are payable at the option of the Borrower throughout the term of the ABL Facility with the balance due August 2, 2026. The Company has the ability to request letters of credit under the ABL Facility. The Company had $3,330 of letters of credit outstanding as of December 31, 2024, which reduce available borrowings under the ABL Facility by such amounts.
The obligations of the Borrower under the ABL Facility are guaranteed by the same U.S. subsidiary guarantors that guarantee the 2024 Term Loan Facility (as described below) and the obligations of the European Borrowers under the ABL Facility are guaranteed by a certain European subsidiary of the Borrower. The obligations of the borrowers and guarantors under the ABL Facility are secured (i) by a first-priority security interest in, among other things, substantially all of their receivables, inventory, deposit accounts and other collateral securing the ABL Facility on a first-priority basis and (ii) by a second-priority security interest in the property and assets of the Borrower and the U.S. subsidiary guarantors that secure the 2024 Term Loan Facility. In addition, the ABL Facility is secured by the equity interests in, and substantially all of the assets of, certain foreign guarantors in connection with the Euro-denominated availability.
The ABL Facility and the 2024 Term Loan Facility contain various restrictive covenants. Each limits the ability of the Borrower and its restricted subsidiaries to incur certain indebtedness or liens, merge, consolidate or liquidate, dispose of certain property, make investments or declare or pay dividends, make optional payments, modify certain debt instruments, enter into certain transactions with affiliates, enter into certain sales and leasebacks, and certain other non-financial restrictive covenants. The ABL Facility also contains one financial covenant which applies when minimum availability under the ABL Facility exceeds a certain threshold. During such time, the Company is required to maintain a fixed-charge coverage ratio of at least 1.0 to 1.0. The Company was in compliance with all debt covenants as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Fair Value of Debt
The fair value of a financial instrument is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the fair value of the Company’s term loan facility was $874,083 and $876,403, respectively. The fair value is classified as Level 2 based upon the fair value hierarchy (see Note 6 to these consolidated financial statements for further information on fair value measurements).
Aggregate Long-term Debt Maturities
The aggregate long-term debt maturities are:
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