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Long-term debt: | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2025
Long-term debt: |
Long-term debt: | 3. Long-term debt: As of March 31, 2025, the Company had outstanding $300.0 million aggregate principal amount of 2027 Mirror Notes, $450.0 million aggregate principal amount of 2027 Notes, $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 2026 Notes and $206.0 million aggregate principal amount of IPv4 Notes. As discussed in Note 10, on April 11, 2025 the Company issued an additional $174.4 million of IPv4 notes (the “New IPv4 Notes”). The IPv4 Notes were issued in May 2024 and bear interest at a rate of 7.924%, with an anticipated term ending in May 2029 (such anticipated repayment date, the “ARD”). Interest on the IPv4 Notes is paid monthly. The 2027 Mirror Notes were issued in June 2024, are due on June 15, 2027, and bear interest at a rate of 7.00% per year. The 2027 Notes were issued in June 2022, are due on June 15, 2027, and bear interest at a rate of 7.00% per year. Interest on the 2027 Mirror Notes and 2027 Notes is paid semi-annually on June 15 and December 15 of each year. The 2026 Notes were issued in May 2021, are due on May 1, 2026, and bear interest at a rate of 3.50% per year. Interest on the 2026 Notes is paid semi-annually on May 1 and November 1 of each year. Issuance of $300.0 Million Principal Amount of 2027 Mirror Notes On June 11, 2024, Group and Cogent Finance, Inc. (the “Co-Issuer” and, together with Group, the “Issuers”), two wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company, completed an offering of $300.0 million aggregate principal amount of 7.00% senior unsecured notes due 2027 (the “2027 Mirror Notes”) for issuance in a private placement not registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The 2027 Mirror Notes were offered and sold only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in an unregistered offering pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act and to certain non-U.S. persons in transactions outside the United States in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. The 2027 Mirror Notes have the same maturity date and call protection, bear interest at the same rate and otherwise have substantially the same terms as the 2027 Notes; however, the 2027 Mirror Notes are not fungible (from a trading or tax perspective) with the 2027 Notes and are a separate series of notes from the 2027 Notes. The 2027 Mirror Notes were issued at a price equal to 98.50% of their face value. The net proceeds from the offering were approximately $291.9 million after deducting the discount and offering expenses. Group used $114.6 million of the net proceeds from the offering to exercise a contractual option to prepay in full an IRU lease, at a discount. Group expects to use the remainder of the net proceeds for general corporate purposes and/or to make special or recurring dividends to the Company. The 2027 Mirror Notes were issued pursuant to, and are governed by, an indenture, dated June 11, 2024 (the “2027 Mirror Notes Indenture”), among the Issuers, the Company, the other guarantors named therein and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as trustee (the “2027 Notes Trustee”). The 2027 Mirror Notes are jointly and severally guaranteed (the “Guarantees”) on a senior unsecured basis by each of Group’s existing and future material domestic subsidiaries (other than the Co-Issuer), subject to certain exceptions (collectively, the “Subsidiary Guarantors”), and by the Company (together with the Subsidiary Guarantors, the “Guarantors”). However, the Company is not subject to the covenants under the 2027 Mirror Notes Indenture. Under certain circumstances, the Guarantors may be released from these Guarantees without the consent of the holders of the 2027 Mirror Notes. The 2027 Mirror Notes and the Guarantees are the Issuers’ and the Guarantors’ senior unsecured obligations. The 2027 Mirror Notes and the Guarantees are effectively subordinated to all of the Issuers’ and the Guarantors’ existing and future secured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the collateral securing such indebtedness, and are structurally subordinated to all indebtedness and other liabilities of subsidiaries that are not Subsidiary Guarantors. Without giving effect to collateral arrangements, the 2027 Mirror Notes and the Guarantees rank pari passu in right of payment with all of the Issuers’ and the Guarantors’ existing and future senior indebtedness, including the Issuers’ 2026 Notes and the 2027 Notes. The 2027 Mirror Notes and the Guarantees rank contractually senior in right of payment to all of the Issuers’ and the Guarantors’ subordinated indebtedness and are structurally subordinated to any existing and future indebtedness and other liabilities of the Issuers’ non-guarantor subsidiaries. The 2027 Mirror Notes bear interest at a rate of 7.00% per annum. Interest began to accrue on the 2027 Mirror Notes on June 11, 2024 and will be paid semi-annually in arrears on June 15 and December 15 of each year, commencing December 15, 2024. Unless earlier redeemed or repurchased, the 2027 Mirror Notes will mature on June 15, 2027. After June 15, 2024, the Issuers may redeem the 2027 Mirror Notes, in whole or in part, at a redemption price ranging from 103.5% of the aggregate principal amount of the 2027 Mirror Notes redeemed to par (depending on the year), in each case, as set forth in the 2027 Mirror Notes Indenture, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but not including, the date of redemption. If Group undergoes specific kinds of change in control accompanied by certain ratings events, the Issuers will be required to offer to repurchase the 2027 Mirror Notes from holders at a price equal to 101% of the aggregate principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but not including, the date of repurchase. Additionally, if Group or any of its restricted subsidiaries sells assets and does not apply the proceeds from such sale in a certain manner or certain other events have not occurred, under certain circumstances, the Issuers will be required to use the net proceeds to make an offer to purchase the 2027 Mirror Notes at an offer price in cash equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2027 Mirror Notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but not including, the repurchase date. In connection with any offer to purchase all or any of the 2027 Mirror Notes (including a change of control offer, asset sale offer or any tender offer), if holders of no less than 90% of the aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 2027 Mirror Notes validly tender their 2027 Mirror Notes, the Issuers or a third party are entitled to redeem any remaining 2027 Mirror Notes at the price paid to each holder. The 2027 Mirror Notes Indenture includes covenants that restrict Group and its restricted subsidiaries’ (including the Co-Issuer’s) ability to, among other things; incur indebtedness; issue certain preferred stock or similar equity securities; pay dividends or make other distributions in respect of, or repurchase or redeem, capital stock; make certain investments and other restricted payments, such as prepayment, redemption or repurchase of certain indebtedness; create liens; consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of the properties and assets of Group and its restricted subsidiaries taken as a whole; incur restrictions on the ability of a subsidiary to pay dividends or make other payments; or to enter into transactions with affiliates. The covenants provide for certain exceptions to these restrictions, and the Company is not subject to the covenants under the 2027 Mirror Notes Indenture. Certain covenants will cease to apply to the 2027 Mirror Notes if, and for so long as, the 2027 Mirror Notes have investment grade ratings from any two of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., Fitch Ratings, Inc. and S&P Global Ratings and so long as no default or event of default under the 2027 Mirror Notes Indenture has occurred and is continuing. Upon suspension of the covenants, the Guarantees will be released until such time as the covenants are no longer suspended. The principal amount of the 2027 Mirror Notes would become immediately due and payable upon the occurrence of certain bankruptcy or insolvency events involving Group, the Co-Issuer or certain of Group’s subsidiaries, and may be declared immediately due and payable by the 2027 Notes Trustee or the holders of at least 25% of the aggregate principal amount of the then-outstanding 2027 Mirror Notes upon the occurrence of certain events of default under the 2027 Mirror Notes Indenture. Events of default include the following with respect to the Issuers and Group’s significant subsidiaries: (i) failure to pay principal, premium or interest at required times; (ii) failure to comply with any other agreements in the 2027 Mirror Notes Indenture; (iii) default on certain material indebtedness that is caused by a failure to make a payment within any applicable grace period when due at maturity or results in the acceleration of such indebtedness prior to its express maturity; (iv) failure to pay certain material judgments; (v) a Guarantee being held unenforceable or invalid or ceasing for any reason to be in full force and effect or a Guarantor denying or disaffirming its obligations under its Guarantee; and (vi) certain events of bankruptcy or insolvency. Issuance of $206.0 Million Principal Amount of IPv4 Notes On May 2, 2024, Cogent IPv4 LLC (the “IPv4 Issuer”), a special-purpose, bankruptcy remote, indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, issued $206.0 million aggregate principal amount of 7.924% IPv4 Notes (the “IPv4 Notes”), with an anticipated term ending in May 2029 (such anticipated repayment date, the “ARD”), in an offering exempt from registration under the Securities Act. The net proceeds from the offering, after debt offering costs, were $198.4 million and are expected to be used for general corporate purposes. The IPv4 Notes were issued pursuant to an indenture, dated as of May 2, 2024 (the “IPv4 Base Indenture”), as supplemented by the Series 2024-1 Supplement thereto, dated as of May 2, 2024 (the “Series 2024-1 Supplement”), in each case entered into by and between the IPv4 Issuer and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as the trustee for the IPv4 Notes (the “IPv4 Trustee”). The IPv4 Base Indenture allows the IPv4 Issuer to issue additional series of notes subject to certain conditions set forth therein, and the IPv4 Base Indenture, together with the Series 2024-1 Supplement, and any other series supplements to the IPv4 Base Indenture, is referred to herein as the “IPv4 Indenture.” The IPv4 Notes were issued as part of a securitization transaction, pursuant to which certain IPv4 addresses, customer IPv4 address leases, customer accounts receivable and other IPv4 address assets (collectively, “IPv4 Address Assets”) were contributed to the IPv4 Issuer and are included as collateral for the IPv4 Notes. While the IPv4 Notes are outstanding, scheduled payments of interest are required to be made on a monthly basis. From and after the ARD, principal payments will also be required to be made on the IPv4 Notes on a monthly basis. No principal payments will be due on the IPv4 Notes prior to the ARD, unless certain rapid amortization or acceleration triggers are activated. Cogent Communications LLC (in such capacity, the “Manager”) performs certain monthly services related to the IPv4 Address Assets and IPv4 Notes including billing customers, collecting amounts paid by customers, forwarding payments to the IPv4 Trustee related to the IPv4 Address Assets and other administrative services. Amounts paid by the Manager to the IPv4 Trustee are reconciled on a monthly basis and the IPv4 Trustee pays the monthly interest on the IPv4 Notes and other expenses from the accumulated customer payments on the IPv4 Address Assets. Amounts held by the IPv4 Trustee before the monthly reconciliation is completed are considered restricted cash. After the IPv4 Trustee pays the monthly interest and other IPv4 Address Assets related costs, including monthly fees paid to the Manager for its services, the residual cash is paid to the Company and is unrestricted. The legal final maturity date of the IPv4 Notes is in May of 2054. If the IPv4 Issuer has not repaid or refinanced the IPv4 Notes prior to the monthly payment date in May of 2029, additional interest will accrue thereon in an amount equal to the greater of (i) 5.0% per annum and (ii) the excess amount, if any, by which the sum of the following exceeds the interest rate for such IPv4 Note: (A) the yield to maturity (adjusted to a “mortgage-equivalent basis” pursuant to the standards and practices of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association) on the ARD for such IPv4 Note of the United States Treasury Security having a remaining term closest to 10 years; plus (B) 5.0%; plus (C) the post-ARD note spread of 3.400% applicable to such IPv4 Note. The IPv4 Notes are obligations only of the IPv4 Issuer pursuant to the indenture (the “IPv4 Indenture”), and are secured by a security interest in substantially all of the IPv4 Address Assets pursuant to the IPv4 Indenture. The IPv4 Notes are guaranteed by Cogent IPv4 Holdco LLC, a special-purpose entity and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, as the guarantor (in such capacity, the “IPv4 Guarantor”), pursuant to a guaranty, dated as of May 2, 2024 (the “Guaranty”) by the IPv4 Guarantor in favor of the IPv4 Trustee pursuant to which the IPv4 Guarantor has granted a security interest in the equity interests of the IPv4 Issuer as collateral security for its obligations under the Guaranty. Except as described below, neither the Company nor any subsidiary of the Company, other than the IPv4 Issuer and the IPv4 Guarantor, will guarantee or in any way be liable for the obligations of the IPv4 Issuer under the IPv4 Indenture or the IPv4 Notes. The IPv4 Notes are subject to a series of covenants and restrictions customary for transactions of this type. These covenants and restrictions include (i) that the IPv4 Issuer maintains a liquidity reserve account to be used to make required payments in respect of the IPv4 Notes with such funds considered restricted cash, (ii) provisions relating to optional and mandatory prepayments, including specified make-whole payments in the case of certain optional prepayments of the IPv4 Notes prior to the monthly payment date in May of 2029, (iii) certain indemnification payments in the event, among other things, that the transfers of the assets pledged as collateral for the IPv4 Notes are in stated ways defective or ineffective and (iv) covenants relating to recordkeeping, access to information and similar matters. As provided in the IPv4 Base Indenture, the IPv4 Notes are also subject to rapid amortization in the event of a failure to maintain a stated debt service coverage ratio as defined in the IPv4 Indenture. A rapid amortization may be cured if the debt service coverage ratio exceeds a certain threshold for a certain period of time, upon which cure, regular amortization, if any, will resume. In addition, if certain utilization thresholds are not met (i.e., the proportion of IP addresses which are leased to the total number of IP addresses owned by the IPv4 Issuer falls below certain thresholds), the IPv4 Issuer will be required to apply collections to the repayment of the IPv4 Notes and in certain circumstances, the noteholders will have the ability to direct a sale of the IP Address Assets, in whole or in part, pursuant to the terms set forth in the IPv4 Indenture. The IPv4 Notes are also subject to certain customary events of default, including events relating to non-payment of required interest, principal or other amounts due on or with respect to the IPv4 Notes, failure to comply with covenants within certain time frames, certain bankruptcy events, breaches of specified representations and warranties, failure of security interests to be effective and certain judgments. ​ Limitations Under the Indentures The indentures governing the 2027 Notes, the 2027 Mirror Notes and the 2026 Notes (the “Indentures”), among other things, limit the ability of Group and its restricted subsidiaries to incur indebtedness; to pay dividends or make other distributions; to make certain investments and other restricted payments; to create liens; to consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets; to incur restrictions on the ability of a subsidiary to pay dividends or make other payments; and to enter into certain transactions with its affiliates. There are certain exceptions to the limitations on the ability to incur indebtedness under the Indentures, including IRU agreements incurred in the normal course of business and any additional indebtedness if Group’s consolidated leverage ratio, as defined in the Indentures, is less than 6.0 to 1.0 or Group’s fixed charge coverage ratio, as defined in the Indentures, is 2.0 to 1.0 or greater. Group and its subsidiaries can also incur unlimited liens (which can be used, together with capacity under the debt covenant, to incur additional secured indebtedness) if Group’s consolidated secured leverage ratio, as defined in the Indentures, is less than 4.0 to 1.0. Under the Indentures, Group and its restricted subsidiaries can pay dividends, make other distributions, make certain investments and make other restricted payments under certain circumstances, including if, after giving pro forma effect to such restricted payment, Group could still incur $1 of “Ratio Debt,” as defined (i.e., either its consolidated leverage ratio is less than 6.0 to 1.0 or its fixed charge coverage ratio is 2.0 to 1.0 or greater). As of March 31, 2025, Group’s consolidated leverage ratio was below 6.0, Group’s consolidated secured leverage ratio was below 4.0 and Group’s fixed charge coverage ratio was above 2.0. As of March 31, 2025, a total of $187.2 million was unrestricted and permitted for restricted payments, including dividends and stock purchases. Interest Rate Swap Agreement As of March 31, 2025, the Company was party to an interest rate swap agreement (the “Swap Agreement”) that has the economic effect of modifying the fixed interest rate obligation associated with its 2026 Notes to a variable interest rate obligation based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) so that the interest payable on the 2026 Notes effectively became variable based on overnight SOFR. The critical terms of the Swap Agreement match the terms of the 2026 Notes, including the notional amount and the optional redemption date on February 1, 2026. The Company did not elect hedge accounting for the Swap Agreement. The Swap Agreement is recorded at its fair value at each reporting period, and the Company incurs gains and losses due to changes in market interest rates. By entering into the Swap Agreement, the Company has assumed the risk associated with variable interest rates. Changes in interest rates affect the valuation of the Swap Agreement that the Company recognizes in its condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income. The values that the Company reports for the Swap Agreement as of each reporting date are recognized as “interest expense including change in valuation – interest rate swap agreement” with the corresponding amounts included in assets or liabilities in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of March 31, 2025, the fair value of the Swap Agreement was a net liability of $22.5 million, of which $18.6 million is presented with accrued and other current liabilities and $3.9 million is presented with other long-term liabilities. As of December 31, 2024, the fair value of the Swap Agreement was a net liability of $22.3 million, of which $18.3 million is presented with accrued and other current liabilities and $4.0 million is presented with other long-term liabilities. Unrealized gains (losses) related to the Swap Agreement are included in interest expense. As of March 31, 2025, the Company has made a $23.6 million deposit with the counterparty to the Swap Agreement. If the fair value of the Swap Agreement exceeds a net liability of $23.6 million, the Company will be required to deposit additional funds with the counterparty equal to the net liability fair value. As of March 31, 2025, $22.5 million of the deposit was restricted and $1.1 million was unrestricted. Under the Swap Agreement, the Company pays the counterparty a semi-annual payment based upon overnight SOFR plus a contractual interest rate spread, and the counterparty pays the Company a semi-annual fixed 3.50% interest payment. The settlement payment is made each November and May until the Swap Agreement expires in February 2026. Under the settlement for May 2024, the Company paid $12.1 million to the counterparty for a net cash interest cost of $12.1 million for the period from November 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024. Under the settlement for November 2024, the Company paid $12.1 million to the counterparty for a net cash interest cost of $12.1 million for the period from May 1, 2024 to October 31, 2024.

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