The Company’s long-term debt consisted of the following:


	January 28,		January 29,
(In thousands)	2023		2022
2025 Notes principal	$	8,791	$	412,025
Less: unamortized discount		105		71,023
2025 Notes, net	$	8,686	$	341,002

2025 Notes - equity portion, net of tax		—		58,454

In April 2020, the Company issued $415 million aggregate principal amount of 2025 Notes in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933. The 2025 Notes have a stated interest rate of 3.75%, payable semi-annually. The Company may redeem the 2025 Notes, in whole or in part, at any time beginning April 17, 2023. The Company used the net proceeds from the issuance for general corporate purposes.

The Company does not have the right to redeem the 2025 Notes prior to April 17, 2023. On or after April 17, 2023 and prior to the fortieth scheduled trading day immediately preceding the maturity date, the Company may redeem all or any portion of the 2025 Notes, at its option, for cash, if the last reported sale price of AEO’s common stock has been at least 130% of the conversion price then in effect for at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive) during any 30 consecutive trading day period. Beginning January 2025, noteholders may convert their notes for approximately 120.9 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of the Notes, equivalent to a conversion price of approximately $8.27 per share.

Subsequent to January 28, 2023, on February 10, 2023, the Company issued a notice of optional redemption for all of its outstanding 2025 Notes, notifying holders that, among other things, it has elected to exercise its right to redeem any and all of the outstanding 2025 Notes on April 17, 2023.

In June and December 2022, the Company entered into separate privately negotiated exchange agreements with certain holders of the 2025 Notes, to exchange $403.2 million in aggregate principal amount of the 2025 Notes for a combination of cash and shares of the Company's common stock, plus payment of accrued and unpaid interest (together, the "Note Exchanges").

In June 2022, the Company exchanged $342.4 million in aggregate principal amount of the 2025 Notes. The Company paid cash of $136.1 million to redeem a principal amount of the 2025 Notes with a carrying value of $339.2 million and issued approximately 34.7 million shares of the Company's common stock. In connection with these transactions, the Company recognized a pre-tax inducement charge of approximately $55.7 million during the 13 weeks ended July 30, 2022, which was recorded within debt-related charges on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

In December 2022, the Company exchanged $60.8 million in aggregate principal amount of the 2025 Notes for shares of the Company's common stock, plus payment of accrued and unpaid interest. The Company issued approximately 7.6 million shares of the Company's common stock with a carrying value of $60.4 million. In connection with these transactions, the Company recognized a pre-tax inducement charge of approximately $4.7 million during the 13 weeks ending January 28, 2023, which was recorded within debt-related charges on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Following the Note Exchanges, approximately $8.8 million aggregate principal amount of the 2025 Notes remained outstanding at January 28, 2023.

The effective interest rate for the Notes is 4.3% and we calculated the effective yield using a market approach. The remaining amortization period of the discount was 2.25 years as of January 28, 2023.

Interest expense for the 2025 Notes was:


	January 28,		January 29,
(In thousands)	2023		2022
Accrued interest for interest payments	$	6,894	$	15,431
Amortization of discount		915		18,520
Total interest expense	$	7,809	$	33,951

Refer to Note 2 and Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding the impact of the adoption of ASU 2020-06.

The following table discloses conversion amounts if the 2025 Notes were all converted as of the end of the period:


	January 28,
(In thousands, except per share amounts)	2023
Number of shares convertible		1,063
Conversion price per share	$	8.27
Value in excess of principal if converted	$	6,448

In June 2022, the Company entered into an amended and restated Credit Agreement (the "Credit Agreement"). The Credit Agreement provides senior secured asset-based revolving credit for loans and letters of credit up to $700 million, subject to customary borrowing base limitations (the "Credit Facility"). The Credit Facility expires on June 24, 2027. Before amendment and restatement, the Company's previous credit agreement provided senior secured asset-based revolving credit for loans and letters of credit up to $400 million and was scheduled to expire on January 30, 2024.

All obligations under the Credit Facility are unconditionally guaranteed by certain subsidiaries. The obligations under the Credit Agreement are secured by certain assets of the Company and certain subsidiaries.

As of January 28, 2023, the Company was in compliance with the terms of the Credit Agreement and had $7.9 million outstanding in stand-by letters of credit. No loans were outstanding under the Credit Agreement as of both January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022.

Borrowings under the Credit Facility accrue interest at the election of the Company at an adjusted secured overnight financing rate ("SOFR") rate of SOFR plus 0.10% plus an applicable margin (ranging from 1.125% to 1.375%) or an alternate base rate plus an applicable margin (ranging from 0.125% to 0.375%), with each such applicable margin being based on average borrowing availability under the Credit Facility. Interest is payable quarterly and at the end of each applicable interest period. The weighted average interest rate for borrowings during Fiscal 2022 was 3.8%. The total interest expense related to the Credit Facility for Fiscal 2022 was $5.9 million. There was no interest related to the Credit Facility for Fiscal 2021.