Gray Television, now doing business under the Gray Media banner, announced following Wednesday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street that it has completed a series of transactions that collectively reduced the company’s principal amount of debt outstanding by $278 million since October 1 — bringing its total principal debt reduction to $519 million since the start of 2024.
As such, the Atlanta-headquartered company’s Board of Directors authorized an increase in its previously announced debt repurchase authorization, replenishing the authorization to a total of $250 million of available liquidity to repurchase its outstanding indebtedness.
“We anticipate that the meaningful reduction in our outstanding debt this year will result in a significant reduction of cash interest expense going forward,” the company said.
Through various recently completed transactions since November 8, Gray has used approximately $204 million of cash on hand to repurchase and retire approximately $239 million of principal amount of debt consisting of:
(a) $5 million of outstanding principal of Term Loan D due December 1, 2028,
(b) $143 million of outstanding principal of 2027 Notes,
(c) $10 million of outstanding principal of 2030 Notes, and
(d) $81 million of outstanding principal of 2031 Notes.
As a result of these transactions, the company currently has outstanding debt in the following principal amounts:
| Principal Amount Outstanding ($ in millions) |
December 31, 2023 Actual |
September 30, 2024 Actual |
November 20, 2024 Actual |
|||
| Revolving Credit Facility due 12/31/2027 ($680 million commitment) | – | – | ||||
| 2021 Term Loan due 12/1/2028 (S + 300) | $1,439 | $1,395 | ||||
| 2024 Term Loan due 6/4/2029 (S + 525) | 499 | 499 | ||||
| 10.5% Senior Secured Notes due 7/15/2029 | 1,250 | 1,250 | ||||
| Total outstanding principal secured by a first lien | $2,660 | $3,188 | $3,144 | |||
| 5.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 7/15/2026 | 10 | 10 | ||||
| 7.000% Senior Unsecured Notes due 5/15/2027 | 671 | 528 | ||||
| 4.750% Senior Unsecured Notes due 10/15/2030 | 800 | 790 | ||||
| 5.375% Senior Unsecured Notes due 11/15/2031 | 1,300 | 1,219 | ||||
| Total outstanding principal, including current portion | $6,210 | $5,969 | $5,691 | |||
Gray added that the extent of future repurchases, including the amount and timing of any repurchases, will depend on general market conditions, regulatory requirements, alternative investment opportunities and other considerations.
Further, Gray said the repurchase program supersedes any previous repurchase authorization, does not require us to repurchase a minimum amount of debt, and it may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time without prior notice.