Charter 2015 Annual Report Download - page 73

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58
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Introduction
This section contains a discussion of our liquidity and capital resources, including a discussion of our cash position, sources and
uses of cash, access to credit facilities and other financing sources, historical financing activities, cash needs, capital expenditures
and outstanding debt.
Recent Events
In February 2016, Charter's subsidiary, CCO Holdings, announced an offering of $1.7 billion aggregate principal amount of 5.875%
senior notes due 2024. We expect to close that offering in February 2016 and the net proceeds will be used to (i) repurchase or
redeem certain of CCO Holdings’ 7.000% senior notes due 2019 and 7.375% senior notes due 2020 and pay related fees and
expenses and (ii) for general corporate purposes including, for example, to fund a portion of the incremental cash proceeds to
TWC stockholders if they were to elect $115 per share in cash rather than $100 per share. Any redemption or repurchase of notes
would not take place until after such cash elections were determined.
Overview of Our Contractual Obligations and Liquidity
We have significant amounts of debt, including $21.8 billion of which proceeds are currently held in escrow pending consummation
of the TWC Transaction. The principal amount of our debt as of December 31, 2015 was $35.9 billion, consisting of $7.4 billion
of credit facility debt and $28.6 billion of senior notes. Our business requires significant cash to fund principal and interest payments
on our debt. As of December 31, 2015, $121 million of our long-term debt matures in 2016, $140 million in 2017, $844 million
in 2018, $665 million in 2019, $4.2 billion in 2020 and $29.9 billion thereafter. The maturities of the CCO Safari III credit facilities
assume the TWC Transaction closes in the second quarter of 2016. As of December 31, 2015, we had other contractual obligations,
including interest on our debt, totaling $22.9 billion.
Our projected cash needs and projected sources of liquidity depend upon, among other things, our actual results, and the timing
and amount of our expenditures. Free cash flow was $547 million, $171 million and $409 million for the years ended December 31,
2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. As of December 31, 2015, the amount available under our credit facilities was approximately
$961 million. We expect to utilize free cash flow and availability under our credit facilities as well as future refinancing transactions
to further extend the maturities of or reduce the principal on our obligations. The timing and terms of any refinancing transactions
will be subject to market conditions. Additionally, we may, from time to time, depending on market conditions and other factors,
use cash on hand and the proceeds from securities offerings or other borrowings, to retire our debt through open market purchases,
privately negotiated purchases, tender offers, or redemption provisions. We believe we have sufficient liquidity from cash on hand,
free cash flow and Charter Operating's revolving credit facility as well as access to the capital markets to fund our projected
operating cash needs.
We continue to evaluate the deployment of our anticipated future free cash flow including to reduce our leverage, and to invest
in our business growth and other strategic opportunities, including mergers and acquisitions as well as stock repurchases and
dividends. As possible acquisitions, swaps or dispositions arise in our industry, we actively review them against our objectives
including, among other considerations, improving the operational efficiency, clustering or technology capabilities of our business
and achieving appropriate return targets, and we may participate to the extent we believe these possibilities present attractive
opportunities. However, there can be no assurance that we will actually complete any acquisitions, including the TWC Transaction
and Bright House Transaction, dispositions or system swaps, or that any such transactions will be material to our operations or
results. See "Part I. Item 1A. Risk Factors - Our inability to successfully acquire and integrate other businesses, assets, products
or technologies could harm our operating results."