Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Debt

v3.24.1
Debt
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Debt Debt
Debt consisted of the following:
  December 31,
2023 2022
  (in thousands)
Senior Facility $ 269,395 $ 98,442
Subordinated Facility 48,132 42,500
Unamortized deferred financing costs (39,542) (21,128)
Total debt $ 277,985 $ 119,814

Agreements with Cargill Financial

On September 3, 2021, Local Bounti Operating Company LLC and certain subsidiaries entered into (a) a credit agreement (the "Senior Credit Agreement") with Cargill Financial for an up to $150.0 million multiple-advance term loan (the "Senior Facility") and (b) a subordinated credit agreement (the "Subordinated Credit Agreement" and, together with the Senior Credit Agreement, the "Original Credit Agreements") with Cargill Financial for an up to $50.0 million multiple-advance term loan (the "Subordinated Facility" and, together with the Senior Facility, the "Facilities").

As further described below, Local Bounti Operating Company LLC and certain subsidiaries entered into with Cargill Financial a First Amendment, a Second Amendment, a Third Amendment, Fourth Amendment, a Fifth Amendment, a Sixth Amendment, and a Seventh Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements (as so amended, collectively referred to as the "Amended Credit Agreements").

First Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements

On March 14, 2022, Local Bounti Operating Company LLC and the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a First Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements (the "First Amendment") with Cargill Financial to amend the Original Credit Agreements and the Facilities, effective on April 4, 2022 upon closing the Pete's Acquisition. The First Amendment provided (a) the Pete's Acquisition to be funded pursuant to the Facilities, (b) the aggregate amount of outstanding loans and undrawn commitments under the Facilities to be reduced to $170.0 million, (c) the minimum liquidity covenant to be reduced from $30.0 million to $20.0 million (inclusive of existing restricted cash on the Consolidated Balance Sheets), and (d) the interest rate of each of the Senior Facility and the Subordinated Facility to be increased by 2% to 12.5% per annum, among other matters. Pursuant to the First Amendment, in connection with the closing of the Pete's Acquisition, the Company (i) paid a $2.0 million amendment fee and (ii) issued 1,932,931 shares of common stock to Cargill Financial. As a result of reducing the Facilities from $200.0 million to $170.0 million, the Company wrote off $0.7 million of unamortized debt issuance costs in proportion to the decrease in borrowing capacity. The write-off amount was recorded as interest expense in the Consolidated Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2022. The First Amendment fee of $2.0 million and the issued 1,932,931 shares of common stock with a fair value at the time of issuance of $17.4 million was recorded as additional debt discount and is amortized to interest expense over the remaining term of the Amended Credit Agreements on a straight-line basis.

Second Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements

On August 11, 2022, Local Bounti Operating Company LLC and the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a Second Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements (the "Second Amendment") with Cargill Financial, effective on June 30, 2022. The Second Amendment provided that, until the earliest to occur of (x) the occurrence of any event of default, (y) the effective date of a qualified equity financing and (z) March 31, 2024, the
requirement for the minimum interest amount for the Senior Facility and the Subordinated Facility is reduced to an amount equal to the greater of (i) $0 and (ii) the sum of all interest payments due and payable under the Senior Facility and the Subordinated Facility in respect of term loans outstanding for a period of four calendar quarters.

Third Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements

On December 30, 2022, Local Bounti Operating Company LLC and the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a Third Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements (the "Third Amendment") with Cargill Financial. The Third Amendment provided for (i) the amount of cash required to be held in the debt service reserve account for the Credit Agreements to be reduced to $11.3 million through April 1, 2024; (ii) the payment date for regularly scheduled interest and principal payments and certain other payments under the Credit Agreements to be changed from the last business day of the applicable quarter to the first business day of the subsequent quarter; (iii) the payment in kind of the quarterly interest payment due and payable for the quarter ended December 31, 2022; and (iv) a capital expenditures covenant which limits capital expenditures to existing projects and restricts aggregate capital expenditures for existing projects in excess of amounts set forth in the applicable construction budget to $1,000,000 in any fiscal year.

Fourth Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements

On January 6, 2023, Local Bounti Operating Company LLC and the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a Fourth Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements (the "Fourth Amendment") with Cargill Financial. The Fourth Amendment reduced the minimum liquidity covenant in each of the Original Credit Agreements from $20.0 million to $11.0 million.

Fifth Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements

On March 13, 2023, Local Bounti Operating Company LLC and the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a Fifth Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements (the "Fifth Amendment") with Cargill Financial. The Fifth Amendment (i) reduced the amount of cash required to be held in the debt service reserve account by approximately $11.0 million until April 2, 2024, at which time the amount of cash required to be held in the debt service reserve account will be an amount equal to the sum of interest and principal payments that would be required under the Amended Credit Agreements for two calendar quarters; (ii) allowed for the payment in kind of the quarterly interest payment due and payable for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 and allowed for the payment in kind of the unused commitment fee payable for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 which amounted to $4.3 million; and (iii) reduced the minimum liquidity covenant in each of the Amended Credit Agreements from $11.0 million to $1.0 million. The aggregate amount of outstanding loans and undrawn commitments under the Amended Credit Agreements remained at $170.0 million (plus interest and fees paid in kind).

Sixth Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements

On March 28, 2023, Local Bounti Operating Company LLC and the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a Sixth Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements (the "Sixth Amendment") with Cargill Financial. The Sixth Amendment, among other things, (i) expanded the Facilities from $170.0 million to up to $280.0 million (plus, in each case, interest and fees paid in kind), including capital to fund construction at the Company’s facilities in Georgia, Texas, and Washington, subject to certain conditions and at Cargill Financial's discretion; (ii) allowed for the payment in kind of the quarterly interest payment due and payable for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 which amounted to $5.0 million; and (iii) added a minimum production covenant based on a projected production forecast. In consideration for the improved flexibility and the expanded size of the Facilities, Local Bounti issued Cargill Financial 5.4 million warrants with a per share exercise price of $13.00 per share (both number of warrants and per share exercise price adjusted for the Reverse Stock Split) and a 5-year term that expires on March 28, 2028 (the "March 2023 Cargill Warrant").

Seventh Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements

On October 2, 2023, Local Bounti Operating Company LLC and the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a Seventh Amendment to the Original Credit Agreements (the “Seventh Amendment”) with Cargill Financial. The Seventh Amendment allowed for the payment in kind of the quarterly interest payments due and payable for the quarters ended September 30, 2023, and December 31, 2023.

The Company evaluated the before and after cash flow changes resulting from the Fourth, Fifth Sixth, and Seventh Amendments and concluded the change in cash flows underlying these cumulative amendments were not significantly different from the cash flows underlying the terms in the Original Credit Agreements; therefore, the Company accounted for these amendments as a modification rather than as an extinguishment. Consequently, the $25.7 million fair value of the March 2023 Cargill Warrant was recorded as an additional debt discount that will be amortized to interest expense over the remaining term of the Amended Credit Agreements. Fees paid to non-lender third parties as a result of the modification have been expensed as incurred.
General provisions to the Original Credit Agreements (as Amended)

Subsequent to the Sixth Amendment, the interest rate on the Subordinated Facility is 12.5% per annum and the interest rate on the Senior Facility is equal to SOFR plus a margin (which varies between 7.5% to 8.5% depending on the Senior Facility net leverage ratio) per annum, with accrued interest paid quarterly in arrears on the first business day of the subsequent quarter through the maturity date on September 3, 2028. Principal payments under the Senior Facility are payable quarterly, beginning April 1, 2025, based on a 10-year straight line amortization schedule, with the remaining unpaid balance under both the Senior Facility and the Subordinated Facility due on the September 3, 2028 maturity date.

In accordance with the Original Credit Agreements, the Company is required to have a debt service reserve account which is shown as restricted cash on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment, taken together, reduced the minimum balance to maintain in the debt service reserve account to $0 through March 31, 2025. From and after April 1, 2025, the minimum balance to maintain in the debt service reserve account will be increased to two quarters of scheduled interest payments and two quarters of scheduled principal payments.

The Amended Credit Agreements also contain certain financial covenants that become measurable and effective beginning in the third quarter of 2025, including debt coverage, net leverage, and interest coverage ratios. Additional covenants and other provisions exist that may limit or affect the timing of the Company's ability, among other things, to undergo a merger or consolidation, sell certain assets, create liens, guarantee certain obligations of third parties, make certain investments or acquisitions, and declare dividends or make distributions. The Facilities are secured with a first-priority lien against substantially all of the assets of the Company and its subsidiaries, including their intellectual property. The Company was in compliance with all applicable covenants as of December 31, 2023 other than the financial covenant set forth in Section 6.8(g) of the Amended Credit Agreements.

On October 31, 2023, and March 26, 2024, the Company, along with certain subsidiaries of the Company, entered into a Limited Covenant Waiver with Cargill Financial pursuant to which Cargill Financial waived the financial covenant set forth in Section 6.8(g) of the Amended Credit Agreements for the calendar quarters ended September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2023, respectively.