Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator instructions) Our first question comes from Jeff Stein. Jeff, go ahead. Your line is open.
Jeff Stein – Stein Research
Sure. Thank you. Good morning, Steve. Just a couple of questions. First, given the pressures in the vendor community, do you guys have any interest in purchasing any brands that you would basically own and have on an exclusive basis?
Steve Fishman
We take a look at that Jeff all the time. We've done it before in the past and clearly whenever there is a brand available, we take a look at it, the question is, is there value in that to us? But we are constantly looking and chasing that, because that's our strategy, brand strategies, and if there were good brands available for purchase, we absolutely will look at them.
Jeff Stein – Stein Research
Okay. And just a couple of cash flow questions. I'm wondering, have you started negotiating your new credit line yet, which expires, I guess in October, and secondly, if you can comment on perhaps an expected pension fund contribution for 2009?
Joe Cooper
I'll speak to the pension fund contribution first. We did fund about $11 million in 2008. We do not have a required contribution in '09 based on that funding. However, we look at that annually. Right now on our cash flow, we do not have a funding, but as the year goes on, we will look at the return performance in the fund, as well as the tax deductibility of a contribution. And then we will make that decision later in the year, Jeff.
Regarding the bank facility, we have been in consistent dialogue with our banks through last year. So that's an ongoing process. At this point, we've had very good support from our lead banks. Of course the merging of some of the banks has dropped some of our capacity, so we are in dialogue with some new banks. Consistent with what we talked about on our last call, we are still confident in being able to execute a new bank facility. Our facility expires at the end of October.
We are looking for a goal of completing this somewhere in the second quarter. We don’t anticipate moving it in to the third quarter. And currently we are in unsecured line of $500 million, we might pair that down somewhat, part of that is capacity in the marketplace, but part of it is, our debt is about $100 million down than a year ago. And now we can operate very effectively on a lower line. Of course the cost of that debt and the tenure of that will be shorter tenure probably a three year deal instead of five that might have a 365 component in it, and the spread will be higher than our current spread.
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