contribution in the third quarter of fiscal 2005. In the current fiscal year, the purchase price increased by $3.6 million due to the final valuation of property, plant and equipment received in the acquisition.
On April 20, 2004, FCI Trading Corp. (“FCI Trading”), an affiliate of the Company, acquired all of the outstanding common stock of Blue Rhino Corporation in an all-cash merger. Pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated February 8, 2004, a subsidiary of FCI Trading merged with and into Blue Rhino Corporation whereby the then current stockholders of Blue Rhino Corporation were granted the right to receive a payment from FCI Trading of $17.00 in cash for each share of Blue Rhino Corporation common stock outstanding on April 20, 2004. FCI Trading thereafter became the sole stockholder of Blue Rhino Corporation and immediately after the merger, FCI Trading converted Blue Rhino Corporation into a limited liability company, Blue Rhino LLC.
In a non-cash contribution, pursuant to a Contribution Agreement dated February 8, 2004, FCI Trading contributed on April 21, 2004 all of the membership interests in Blue Rhino LLC to the operating partnership through a series of transactions and the operating partnership assumed FCI Trading’s obligation under the Agreement and Plan Of Merger to pay the $17.00 per share to the former stockholders of Blue Rhino Corporation together with other specific obligations, as detailed in the following table:
Also on April 21, 2004, subsequent to the contribution described above, Blue Rhino LLC merged with and into the operating partnership. The former operations of Blue Rhino LLC will hereafter be referred to as “Blue Rhino.”
The Company’s valuation of the tangible and intangible assets of the Blue Rhino acquisition resulted in the recognition of goodwill of $132.4 million. This valuation of goodwill was based on the Company’s belief that the contributions of Blue Rhino will be beneficial to the Company’s and Blue Rhino’s operations as Blue Rhino’s counter-seasonal business activities and anticipated future growth is expected to provide the Company with the ability to better utilize its seasonal resources to complement Ferrellgas’ retail distribution locations with Blue Rhino’s existing distributor network.
The Company transfers certain of its trade accounts receivable to Ferrellgas Receivables, LLC (“Ferrellgas Receivables”), its wholly-owned unconsolidated, special purpose entity, and retains an interest in a portion of these transferred receivables. As these transferred receivables are
Other current liabilities consist of:
| April 30, | | July 31, |
| 2005 | | 2004 |
Accrued interest | $27,747 | | $28,990 |
Accrued payroll | 16,513 | | 16,989 |
Accrued insurance | 8,738 | | 6,942 |
Note payable | - | | 1,546 |
Other | 33,412 | | 38,453 |
| $86,410 | | $92,920 |
On April 22, 2005, the Company entered into a $330.0 million bank credit facility. This new bank credit facility replaces the $307.5 million bank credit facility that was to expire on April 28, 2006. The $330.0 million bank credit facility is available for working capital, acquisitions, capital expenditures, long-term debt repayments, and general partnership purposes and will terminate on April 22, 2010, unless extended or renewed. The new bank credit facility has a letter of credit sub-facility with availability of $90.0 million.As of April 30, 2005, the Company had borrowings of $87.3 million outstanding on the $330.0 million bank credit facility.
The borrowings under the $330.0 million bank credit facility bear interest, at the Company’s option, at a rate equal to either:
•a base rate, which is defined as the higher of the federal funds rate plus 0.50% or Bank of America’s prime rate (as of April 30, 2005, the federal funds rate and Bank of America’s prime rate were 2.97% and 5.75%, respectively); or
•the Eurodollar Rate plus a margin varying from 1.50% to 2.50% (as of April 30, 2005, the one-month Eurodollar Rate was 3.02%).
In addition, an annual commitment fee is payable on the daily unused portion of the Company’s $330.0 million bank credit facility at a per annum rate varying from 0.375% to 0.500% (as of April 30, 2005, the commitment fee per annum rate was 0.375%).
H. Contingencies and commitments
The Company’s operations are subject to all operating hazards and risks normally incidental to handling, storing, transporting and otherwise providing for use by consumers of combustible liquids such as propane. As a result, at any given time, the Company is threatened with or named as a defendant in various lawsuits arising in the ordinary course of business. Currently, the Company is not a party to any legal proceedings other than various claims and lawsuits arising in the ordinary course of business. It is not possible to determine the ultimate disposition of these matters; however, management is of the opinion that there are no known claims or contingent claims that are reasonably expected to have a material adverse effect on the condensed consolidated financial condition of the Company.
I. Adoption of new accounting standards
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) recently issued SFAS No. 123 (revised 2004), “Share-Based Payment” SFAS No. 151, “Inventory Costs – an amendment of ARB No. 43, Chapter 4 (issued 11/04)” SFAS No. 153, “Exchanges of Nonmonetary Assets, an amendment of APB Opinion
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No. 29” EITF No. 04-1, “Accounting for Preexisting Relationships between the Parties to a Business Combination” and FASB Financial Interpretation No. 47, “Accounting for Conditional Asset Retirement Obligations”.
SFAS No. 123 (revised 2004) requires that the compensation cost relating to share-based payment transactions be recognized in financial statements. That cost will be measured based on the fair value, as of the grant date, of the equity or liability instruments issued. This statement is effective for public entities and for non-public entities as of the beginning of the first interim or annual reporting period that begins after June 15, 2005, or December 15, 2005, respectively. Currently, the Company accounts for the Ferrellgas Unit Option Plan and the Ferrell Companies, Inc. Incentive Compensation Plan using the intrinsic value method under the provisions of Accounting Principles Board No. 25, “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees,” for all periods presented and makes the fair value method pro forma disclosures required under the provisions of SFAS No. 123, “Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation,” as amended by SFAS No. 148, “Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation – Transition and Disclosure.” The Company is currently studying SFAS No. 123R and assessing its effect on the Company’s financial position.
SFAS No. 151 amends the guidance in ARB No. 43, Chapter 4, “Inventory Pricing”, to clarify the accounting for abnormal amounts of idle facility expense, freight, handling costs, and wasted material (spoilage). This Statement requires that those items be recognized as current-period charges. This statement is effective for inventory cost incurred during fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2005. Consequently, the Company will implement SFAS No. 151 during the quarter ended October 31, 2005. The Company has studied SFAS No. 151 and believes it will not have a material effect on its financial position.
SFAS No. 153 amends APB Opinion No. 29 which required that exchanges of nonmonetary assets be measured based on the fair value of the assets exchanged. This Statement amends APB Opinion 29 to eliminate the exception for nonmonetary exchanges of similar productive assets and replaces it with a general exception for exchanges of nonmonetary assets that do not have commercial substance. This statement is effective for nonmonetary asset exchanges occurring in fiscal periods beginning after June 15, 2005. Consequently, the Company will implement SFAS No. 153 during the quarter ended October 31, 2005. The Company has studied SFAS No. 153 and believes it will not have a material effect on its financial position.
EITF 04-1 requires that pre-existing contractual relationships between two parties involved in a business combination be evaluated to determine if a settlement of the pre-existing contracts is required separately from the accounting for the business combination. This consensus is effective for business combinations consummated and goodwill impairment tests performed in reporting periods beginning after October 13, 2004. Consequently, the Company implemented EITF 04-1 during the quarter ended January 31, 2005, without a material effect on its financial position.
FASB Financial Interpretation No. 47 clarifies the term conditional asset retirement obligation as used in SFAS No. 143, “Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations”, implemented by the Company in fiscal year 2003. A conditional asset obligation is a legal obligation to retire an asset when the timing and (or) method of settlement are conditional on a future event, that may or may not be within the control of the entity. The interpretation also requires an entity to recognize a liability for the fair value of the asset retirement obligation when incurred if fair value can be reasonably estimated. The measurement of the liability may factor in any uncertainty about timing and(or) method. The Interpretation is effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2005. The Company is currently studying this interpretation and whether it will have a material effect on its financial position.
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J. Transactions with related parties
JEF Capital Management, Inc. (“JEF Capital”) is beneficially owned by James E. Ferrell (“Mr. Ferrell”), Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company, and thus is an affiliate. JEF Capital directly owns 100% of Ferrellgas Partners’ senior units. See Note K – Subsequent event - for discussion about the conversion of Ferrellgas Partners senior units into Ferrellgas Partners common units. Ferrellgas Partners paid senior unit distributions of $2.0 million to JEF Capital on September 14, 2004, December 15, 2004, and March 15, 2005. On April 30, 2005, Ferrellgas Partners accrued a senior unit distribution of $2.0 million that Ferrellgas Partners paid to JEF Capital on June 14, 2005. Ferrell Companies is the sole shareholder of the Company and beneficially owns 18.0 million common units of Ferrellgas Partners as of April 30, 2005.
Ferrellgas Partners has paid the following common unit distributions to related parties:
| For the three months ended April 30, | | For the nine months ended April 30, |
| 2005 | | 2004 | | 2005 | | 2004 |
Ferrell Companies | $8,902 | | $8,902 | | $26,706 | | $26,706 |
FCI Trading | 98 | | - | | 294 | | - |
Ferrell Propane | 26 | | 26 | | 77 | | 77 |
On May 23, 2005, Ferrellgas Partners declared distributions to Ferrell Companies, FCI Trading and Ferrell Propane of $8.9 million, $0.1 million and $26 thousand, respectively, that were paid on June 14, 2005.
Operations
Ferrell International Limited (“Ferrell International”) is beneficially owned by Mr. Ferrell and thus is an affiliate. The Company enters into transactions with Ferrell International in connection with the Company’s risk management activities and does so at market prices in accordance with the Company’s affiliate trading policy approved by the Company’s Board of Directors. These transactions include forward, option and swap contracts and are all reviewed for compliance with the policy. The Company also provides limited accounting services for Ferrell International.
K. Subsequent events
On June 23, 2005 the Company announced an agreement to sell certain non-strategic storage and terminal assets from the operating partnership to Enterprise Products Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPD) of Houston, Texas. The sale price for the assets is $144 million in cash, plus a post-closing payment for, among other things, accounts receivable and inventories. Completion of the proposed sale is subject to customary conditions and is scheduled to close by July 31, 2005.
During June 2005, Ferrellgas Partners received proceeds of $43.3 million, net of issuance costs, pursuant to the issuance of 2.1 million Ferrellgas Partners common units, including Ferrell Companies acquisition of 0.4 million of these common units for $7.9 million in cash and contribution of $0.9 million to the Company.
On June 30, 2005, the remaining outstanding senior units of Ferrellgas Partners owned by JEF Capital were converted to common units in a non-cash transaction. The 2.0 million outstanding of Ferrellgas Partners senior units, and the $1.3 million of accumulated and unpaid distributions on those senior units, were together converted into 3.9 million of Ferrellgas Partners common units.
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