Cheniere Energy, Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Debt

Debt

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Debt

DEBT

As of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, our debt consisted of the following (in millions):



	September 30,			December 31,
	2018			2017
Long-term debt:
SPL
5.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2021 (“2021 SPL Senior Notes”)	$	2,000		$	2,000
6.25% Senior Secured Notes due 2022 (“2022 SPL Senior Notes”)	1,000			1,000
5.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2023 (“2023 SPL Senior Notes”)	1,500			1,500
5.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2024 (“2024 SPL Senior Notes”)	2,000			2,000
5.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2025 (“2025 SPL Senior Notes”)	2,000			2,000
5.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2026 (“2026 SPL Senior Notes”)	1,500			1,500
5.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2027 (“2027 SPL Senior Notes”)	1,500			1,500
4.200% Senior Secured Notes due 2028 (“2028 SPL Senior Notes”)	1,350			1,350
5.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2037 (“2037 SPL Senior Notes”)	800			800
Cheniere Partners
5.250% Senior Notes due 2025 (“2025 CQP Senior Notes”)	1,500			1,500
5.625% Senior Notes due 2026 (“2026 CQP Senior Notes”)	1,100			—
CQP Credit Facilities	—			1,090
CCH
7.000% Senior Secured Notes due 2024 (“2024 CCH Senior Notes”)	1,250			1,250
5.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2025 (“2025 CCH Senior Notes”)	1,500			1,500
5.125% Senior Secured Notes due 2027 (“2027 CCH Senior Notes”)	1,500			1,500
CCH Credit Facility	4,492			2,485
CCH HoldCo II
11.0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2025 (“2025 CCH HoldCo II Convertible Senior Notes”)	1,416			1,305
Cheniere
4.875% Convertible Unsecured Notes due 2021 (“2021 Cheniere Convertible Unsecured Notes”)	1,189			1,161
4.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2045 (“2045 Cheniere Convertible Senior Notes”)	625			625
$750 million Cheniere Revolving Credit Facility (“Cheniere Revolving Credit Facility”)	—			—
Unamortized premium, discount and debt issuance costs, net	(784		)	(730		)
Total long-term debt, net	27,438			25,336

Current debt:
$1.2 billion SPL Working Capital Facility (“SPL Working Capital Facility”)	—			—
$1.2 billion CCH Working Capital Facility (“CCH Working Capital Facility”)	—			—
Cheniere Marketing trade finance facilities	66			—
Total current debt	66			—

Total debt, net	$	27,504		$	25,336

2018 Debt Issuances and Redemptions

2026 CQP Senior Notes

In September 2018, Cheniere Partners issued an aggregate principal amount of $1.1 billion of the 2026 CQP Senior Notes, which are jointly and severally guaranteed by each of Cheniere Partners’ subsidiaries other than SPL (the “CQP Guarantors”) and, subject to certain conditions governing its guarantee, Sabine Pass LP. Net proceeds of the offering of approximately $1.1 billion, after deducting the initial purchasers’ commissions and estimated fees and expenses, were used to prepay all of the outstanding indebtedness under the CQP Credit Facilities, resulting in the recognition of debt modification and extinguishment costs of $12 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 relating to the incurrence of third party fees and write off of unamortized debt issuance costs. As of September 30, 2018, only a $115 million revolving credit facility, all of which is undrawn, remains as part of the CQP Credit Facilities.

Borrowings under the 2026 CQP Senior Notes accrue interest at a fixed rate of 5.625%, and interest on the 2026 CQP Senior Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears. The 2026 CQP Senior Notes are governed by the same base indenture as the 2025 CQP Senior Notes (the “CQP Base Indenture”), and are further governed by the Second Supplemental Indenture (together with the CQP Base Indenture, the “2026 CQP Notes Indenture”), which contains customary terms and events of default and certain covenants that, among other things, limit the ability of Cheniere Partners and the CQP Guarantors to incur liens and sell assets, enter into transactions with affiliates, enter into sale-leaseback transactions and consolidate, merge or sell, lease or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of the applicable entity’s properties or assets.

At any time prior to October 1, 2021, Cheniere Partners may redeem all or a part of the 2026 CQP Senior Notes at a redemption price equal to 100% of the aggregate principal amount of the 2026 CQP Senior Notes redeemed, plus the “applicable premium” set forth in the 2026 CQP Notes Indenture, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption. In addition, at any time prior to October 1, 2021, Cheniere Partners may redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of the 2026 CQP Senior Notes with an amount of cash not greater than the net cash proceeds from certain equity offerings at a redemption price equal to 105.625% of the aggregate principal amount of the 2026 CQP Senior Notes redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption. At any time on or after October 1, 2021 through the maturity date of October 1, 2026, Cheniere Partners may redeem the 2026 CQP Senior Notes, in whole or in part, at the redemption prices set forth in the 2026 CQP Notes Indenture.

The 2026 CQP Senior Notes are Cheniere Partners’ senior obligations, ranking equally in right of payment with Cheniere Partners’ other existing and future unsubordinated debt and senior to any of its future subordinated debt. After applying the proceeds from the 2026 CQP Senior Notes, the 2026 CQP Senior Notes and the 2025 CQP Senior Notes (collectively, the “CQP Senior Notes”) became unsecured. In the event that the aggregate amount of Cheniere Partners’ secured indebtedness and the secured indebtedness of the CQP Guarantors (other than the CQP Senior Notes or any other series of notes issued under the CQP Base Indenture) outstanding at any one time exceeds the greater of (1) $1.5 billion and (2) 10% of net tangible assets, the CQP Senior Notes will be secured to the same extent as such obligations under the CQP Credit Facilities. The obligations under the CQP Credit Facilities are secured on a first-priority basis (subject to permitted encumbrances) with liens on (1) substantially all the existing and future tangible and intangible assets and rights of Cheniere Partners and the CQP Guarantors and equity interests in the CQP Guarantors (except, in each case, for certain excluded properties set forth in the CQP Credit Facilities) and (2) substantially all of the real property of SPLNG (except for excluded properties referenced in the CQP Credit Facilities).

In connection with the closing of the 2026 CQP Senior Notes offering, Cheniere Partners and the CQP Guarantors entered into a registration rights agreement (the “CQP Registration Rights Agreement”). Under the CQP Registration Rights Agreement, Cheniere Partners and the CQP Guarantors have agreed to file with the SEC and cause to become effective a registration statement relating to an offer to exchange any and all of the 2026 CQP Senior Notes for a like aggregate principal amount of debt securities of Cheniere Partners with terms identical in all material respects to the 2026 CQP Senior Notes sought to be exchanged (other than with respect to restrictions on transfer or to any increase in annual interest rate), within 360 days after the notes issuance date of September 11, 2018. Under specified circumstances, Cheniere Partners and the CQP Guarantors have also agreed to cause to become effective a shelf registration statement relating to resales of the 2026 CQP Senior Notes. Cheniere Partners will be obligated to pay additional interest on the 2026 CQP Senior Notes if it fails to comply with its obligation to register the 2026 CQP Senior Notes within the specified time period.

CCH Credit Facility

In May 2018, CCH amended and restated the CCH Credit Facility to increase total commitments under the credit facility to $6.1 billion. Borrowings are used to fund a portion of the costs of developing, constructing and placing into service the three Trains and the related facilities of the CCL Project and for related business purposes.

The CCH Credit Facility matures on June 30, 2024, with principal payments due quarterly commencing on the earlier of (1) the first quarterly payment date occurring more than three calendar months following the completion of the CCL Project as defined in the common terms agreement and (2) a set date determined by reference to the date under which a certain LNG buyer linked to the last Train of the CCL Project to become operational is entitled to terminate its SPA for failure to achieve the date of first commercial delivery for that agreement. Scheduled repayments will be based upon a 19-year tailored amortization, commencing the first full quarter after the completion of Trains 1 through 3 and designed to achieve a minimum projected fixed debt service coverage ratio of 1.50:1.

Loans under the CCH Credit Facility accrue interest at a variable rate per annum equal to, at CCH’s election, LIBOR or the base rate, plus the applicable margin. The applicable margin for LIBOR loans is 1.75% and for base rate loans is 0.75%. Interest on LIBOR loans is due and payable at the end of each applicable interest period and interest on base rate loans is due and payable at the end of each quarter. CCH was required to pay certain upfront fees to the agents and lenders under the CCH Credit Facility together with additional transaction fees and expenses in the aggregate amount of $53 million.

All other terms of the CCH Credit Facility substantially remained the same to those described in Note 12—Debt of our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017. The amendment and restatement of the CCH Credit Facility resulted in the recognition of $15 million of debt modification and extinguishment costs during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 relating to the incurrence of third party fees and write off of unamortized debt issuance costs.

CCH Working Capital Facility

In June 2018, CCH amended and restated the CCH Working Capital Facility to increase total commitments under the CCH Working Capital Facility to $1.2 billion. Borrowings will be used for certain working capital requirements related to developing and placing into operations the CCL Project and for related business purposes.

Loans under the CCH Working Capital Facility accrue interest at a variable rate per annum equal to LIBOR or the base rate plus the applicable margin. The applicable margin for LIBOR loans ranges from 1.25% to 1.75% per annum, and the applicable margin for base rate loans ranges from 0.25% to 0.75% per annum. CCH was required to pay certain upfront fees to the agents and lenders under the CCH Working Capital Facility together with additional transaction fees and expenses in the aggregate amount of $14 million.

The CCH Working Capital Facility matures on June 29, 2023. All other terms of the CCH Working Capital Facility substantially remained the same to those described in Note 12—Debt of our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

2025 CCH HoldCo II Convertible Senior Notes

In May 2018, the amended and restated note purchase agreement under which the 2025 CCH HoldCo II Convertible Senior Notes were issued was subsequently amended in connection with commercialization and financing of Train 3 of the CCL Project. All terms of the 2025 CCH HoldCo II Convertible Senior Notes substantially remained the same to those described in Note 12—Debt of our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Credit Facilities

Below is a summary of our credit facilities outstanding as of September 30, 2018 (in millions):



	SPL Working Capital Facility		CQP Credit Facilities		CCH Credit Facility		CCH Working Capital Facility		Cheniere Revolving Credit Facility
Original facility size	$	1,200	$	2,800	$	8,404	$	350	$	750
Incremental commitments	—		—		1,566		850		—
Less:
Outstanding balance	—		—		4,492		—		—
Commitments prepaid or terminated	—		2,685		3,832		—		—
Letters of credit issued	494		—		—		316		—
Available commitment	$	706	$	115	$	1,646	$	884	$	750

Interest rate	LIBOR plus 1.75% or base rate plus 0.75%		LIBOR plus 2.25% or base rate plus 1.25% (1)		LIBOR plus 1.75% or base rate plus 0.75%		LIBOR plus 1.25% - 1.75% or base rate plus 0.25% - 0.75%		LIBOR plus 3.25% or base rate plus 2.25%
Maturity date	December 31, 2020, with various terms for underlying loans		February 25, 2020		June 30, 2024		June 29, 2023		March 2, 2021


(1)	There is a 0.50% step-up for both LIBOR and base rate loans beginning on February 25, 2019.

Convertible Notes

Below is a summary of our convertible notes outstanding as of September 30, 2018 (in millions):



	2021 Cheniere Convertible Unsecured Notes			2025 CCH HoldCo II Convertible Senior Notes			2045 Cheniere Convertible Senior Notes
Aggregate original principal	$	1,000		$	1,000		$	625
Debt component, net of discount and debt issuance costs	$	1,090		$	1,390		$	310
Equity component	$	207		$	—		$	194
Interest payment method	Paid-in-kind			Paid-in-kind (1)			Cash
Conversion by us (2)	—			(3)			(4)
Conversion by holders (2)	(5)			(6)			(7)
Conversion basis	Cash and/or stock			Stock			Cash and/or stock
Conversion value in excess of principal	$	—		$	—		$	—
Maturity date	May 28, 2021			May 13, 2025			March 15, 2045
Contractual interest rate	4.875		%	11.0		%	4.25		%
Effective interest rate (8)	8.4		%	11.9		%	9.4		%
Remaining debt discount and debt issuance costs amortization period (9)	2.7 years			2.0 years			26.5 years


(1)	Prior to the substantial completion of Train 2 of the CCL Project, interest will be paid entirely in kind. Following this date, the interest generally must be paid in cash; however, a portion of the interest may be paid in kind under certain specified circumstances.


(2)	Conversion is subject to various limitations and conditions.

(3)

Convertible on or after the later of March 1, 2020 and the substantial completion of Train 2 of the CCL Project, provided that our market capitalization is not less than $10.0 billion (“Eligible Conversion Date”). The conversion price is the lower of (1) a 10% discount to the average of the daily volume-weighted average price (“VWAP”) of our common stock for the 90 trading day period prior to the date notice is provided, and (2) a 10% discount to the closing price of our common stock on the trading day preceding the date notice is provided.


(4)	Redeemable at any time after March 15, 2020 at a redemption price payable in cash equal to the accreted amount of the 2045 Cheniere Convertible Senior Notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to such redemption date.


(5)	Initially convertible at $93.64 (subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain specified events), provided that the closing price of our common stock is greater than or equal to the conversion price on the conversion date.


(6)	Convertible on or after the six-month anniversary of the Eligible Conversion Date, provided that our total market capitalization is not less than $10.0 billion, at a price equal to the average of the daily VWAP of our common stock for the 90 trading day period prior to the date on which notice of conversion is provided.

(7)

Prior to December 15, 2044, convertible only under certain circumstances as specified in the indenture; thereafter, holders may convert their notes regardless of these circumstances. The conversion rate will initially equal 7.2265 shares of our common stock per $1,000 principal amount of the 2045 Cheniere Convertible Senior Notes, which corresponds to an initial conversion price of approximately $138.38 per share of our common stock (subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain specified events).


(8)	Rate to accrete the discounted carrying value of the convertible notes to the face value over the remaining amortization period.


(9)	We amortize any debt discount and debt issuance costs using the effective interest over the period through contractual maturity except for the 2025 CCH HoldCo II Convertible Senior Notes, which are amortized through the date they are first convertible by holders into our common stock.

Restrictive Debt Covenants

As of September 30, 2018, each of our issuers was in compliance with all covenants related to their respective debt agreements.

Interest Expense

Total interest expense, including interest expense related to our convertible notes, consisted of the following (in millions):



	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2018			2017			2018			2017
Interest cost on convertible notes:
Interest per contractual rate	$	60		$	55		$	176		$	162
Amortization of debt discount	9			8			25			22
Amortization of debt issuance costs	3			2			7			5
Total interest cost related to convertible notes	72			65			208			189
Interest cost on debt excluding convertible notes	354			324			1,034			931
Total interest cost	426			389			1,242			1,120
Capitalized interest	(205		)	(203		)	(589		)	(581		)
Total interest expense, net	$	221		$	186		$	653		$	539

Fair Value Disclosures

The following table shows the carrying amount, which is net of unamortized premium, discount and debt issuance costs, and estimated fair value of our debt (in millions):



	September 30, 2018				December 31, 2017
	Carrying Amount		Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Estimated Fair Value
Senior notes (1)	$	19,457	$	20,552	$	18,350	$	20,075
2037 SPL Senior Notes (2)	791		831		790		871
Credit facilities (3)	4,466		4,466		3,574		3,574
2021 Cheniere Convertible Unsecured Notes (2)	1,090		1,267		1,040		1,136
2025 CCH HoldCo II Convertible Senior Notes (2)	1,390		1,597		1,273		1,535
2045 Cheniere Convertible Senior Notes (4)	310		497		309		447

(1)

Includes 2021 SPL Senior Notes, 2022 SPL Senior Notes, 2023 SPL Senior Notes, 2024 SPL Senior Notes, 2025 SPL Senior Notes, 2026 SPL Senior Notes, 2027 SPL Senior Notes, 2028 SPL Senior Notes, 2025 CQP Senior Notes, 2026 CQP Senior Notes, 2024 CCH Senior Notes, 2025 CCH Senior Notes and 2027 CCH Senior Notes. The Level 2 estimated fair value was based on quotes obtained from broker-dealers or market makers of these senior notes and other similar instruments.


(2)	The Level 3 estimated fair value was calculated based on inputs that are observable in the market or that could be derived from, or corroborated with, observable market data, including our stock price and interest rates based on debt issued by parties with comparable credit ratings to us and inputs that are not observable in the market.

(3)

Includes SPL Working Capital Facility, CQP Credit Facilities, CCH Credit Facility, CCH Working Capital Facility, Cheniere Revolving Credit Facility and Cheniere Marketing trade finance facilities. The Level 3 estimated fair value approximates the principal amount because the interest rates are variable and reflective of market rates and the debt may be repaid, in full or in part, at any time without penalty.


(4)	The Level 1 estimated fair value was based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical liabilities that we had the ability to access at the measurement date.