Long-Term Debt

Long-term debt consisted of the following:



	December 26, 2012		December 28, 2011
	(In thousands)
Term loans due April 12, 2017	$	170,000	$	—
Term loans due September 30, 2016	—		198,000
Other note payable, maturing 1/1/2013, payable in monthly installments with an interest rate of 9.17%	—		99
Capital lease obligations	20,134		22,457
Total long-term debt	190,134		220,556
Unamortized discount	—		(2,251		)
Total long-term debt, net	190,134		218,305
Less current maturities and mandatory prepayments	12,681		6,971
Noncurrent portion of long-term debt	$	177,453	$	211,334

Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, excluding capital lease obligations (see Note 9), at December 26, 2012 are as follows:



	(In thousands)
2013	$	8,500
2014	23,750
2015	14,250
2016	19,000
2017 and thereafter	104,500
Total long-term debt, excluding capital lease obligations	$	170,000

The differences in the annual maturities for 2014 and 2015 result from the payment falling due during the 53rd week of fiscal 2014.

On April 12, 2012, Denny's Corporation and certain of its subsidiaries refinanced our credit facility (the "Old Credit Facility") and entered into a new five-year senior secured credit agreement in an aggregate principal of $250 million (the “New Credit Facility”). The New Credit Facility is comprised of a $190 million senior secured term loan and a $60 million senior secured revolver (with a $30 million letter of credit sublimit). A commitment fee of 50 basis points was initially paid on the unused portion of the revolving credit facility. Borrowings for the term loan bear a tiered interest rate based on the company's consolidated leverage ratio and was initially set at LIBOR plus 300 basis points. The New Credit Facility does not contain an interest rate floor for either the term loan or the revolver. It includes an accordion feature that would allow us to increase the size of the facility to $300 million. The maturity date for the New Credit Facility is April 12, 2017.

The New Credit Facility was used to refinance the Old Credit Facility and is available for working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes. The New Credit Facility is guaranteed by Denny's Corporation and its material subsidiaries and is secured by substantially all of the assets of Denny's Corporation and its subsidiaries, including the stock of the company's subsidiaries. It includes negative covenants that are usual for facilities and transactions of this type. The New Credit Facility also includes certain financial covenants with respect to a maximum consolidated leverage ratio, a minimum consolidated fixed charged coverage ratio and maximum capital expenditures.

The term loan under the New Credit Facility amortizes $19.0 million annually, payable in quarterly installments, with all remaining amounts due on the maturity date. We will be required to make certain mandatory prepayments under certain circumstances and will have the option to make certain prepayments under the New Credit Facility. The optional prepayments can be applied against future amortization. The New Credit Facility includes events of default (and related remedies, including acceleration and increased interest rates following an event of default) that are usual for facilities and transactions of this type.

On April 13, 2012, we entered into interest rate hedges that cap the LIBOR rate on borrowings for the term loan under the New Credit Facility during the first two years of the term loan. The 200 basis point LIBOR cap applies to $150 million of term loan borrowings during the first year and $125 million of term loan borrowings during the second year.

As a result of the debt refinancing, we recorded $7.9 million of losses on early extinguishment of debt, consisting of $1.2 million of transaction costs, $4.7 million from the write-off of deferred financing costs and $2.0 million from the write-off of an original issue discount ("OID") related to the Old Credit Facility. These losses are included as a component of other nonoperating expense in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

As of December 26, 2012, we had outstanding term loan borrowings under the New Credit Facility of $170.0 million and outstanding letters of credit under the revolving letter of credit facility of $25.2 million. There were no revolving loans outstanding at December 26, 2012. These balances resulted in availability of $34.8 million under the revolving facility. The weighted-average interest rate under the term loan was 2.97% and 5.25%, as of December 26, 2012 and December 28, 2011.

In March 2012, prior to the April 12, 2012 refinancing, we paid $8.0 million (consisting of $7.4 million of prepayments and $0.6 million of scheduled payments) on the term loan under the Old Credit Facility. As a result of these prepayments, during the year ended December 26, 2012, we recorded $0.2 million of losses on early extinguishment of debt resulting from the write-off of $0.1 million in deferred financing costs and $0.1 million in OID related to the Old Credit Facility. These losses are included as a component of other nonoperating expense in our Consolidated Statements of Income.

Subsequent to the April 12, 2012 refinancing, we paid $20.0 million (consisting of $5.8 million of prepayments and $14.3 million of scheduled payments, including the $4.7 million payment due December 31, 2012, subsequent to our fiscal year-end) on the term loan under the New Credit Facility. In accordance with the debt covenants, the reduction in term loan debt resulted in a decrease in the interest rate and the commitment fee rate. The interest rate is currently set at LIBOR plus 275 basis points and the commitment fee was reduced to 37.5 basis points.