We assess liquidity in terms of our ability to generate cash to fund working capital and investing and financing activities. Significant factors affecting liquidity include: cash flows generated from or used by operating activities, capital expenditures, investments in our business segments and their programs, acquisitions, divestitures, dividends, availability of future credit, adequacy of available bank lines of credit, and factors that might otherwise affect the company's business and operations generally, as described under the heading "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in Item 1A of Part I of this Form 10-K.
We continue to rely upon bank financing as an important source of liquidity for our business activities including acquisitions. We believe this, when combined with cash generated from operating activities, will be sufficient to support our anticipated cash requirements for the foreseeable future. However, we may decide to raise additional debt or equity capital to support other business activities including potential future acquisitions. We anticipate our capital expenditures will be approximately $30.0 to $35.0 million in 2012, primarily related to machinery and equipment and information technology infrastructure.
We anticipate a variety of items will have an impact on our liquidity during the next 12 months, aside from our working capital requirements. These include one or more of following:
However, we do not believe any of these matters will lead to a shortage of capital resources or liquidity that would prevent us from continuing with our business operations as expected.
We regularly monitor credit market conditions to identify potential issues that may adversely affect, or provide opportunities for, the securing and/or pricing of additional financing, if any, that may be necessary to continue with our growth strategy and finance working capital requirements. This is evidenced by the replacement of our Revolving Credit Agreement and amendment of our Term Loan Agreement during the third quarter of 2010, our $115.0 million issuance of convertible notes in November 2010 and the repricing of the Revolving Credit Agreement and Term Loan Agreement in June 2011.
Management regularly monitors its pension plan asset performance and the assumptions used in the determination of our benefit obligation, comparing them to actual performance. We continue to believe the assumptions selected are valid due to the long-term nature of our benefit obligation.
Pursuant to the terms of the revenue sharing agreement with the Commonwealth of Australia, we will share all proceeds from the resale of the SH-2G(I), formerly SH-2G(A), aircraft, spare parts, and equipment with the Commonwealth on a predetermined basis. Minimum payments of at least $39.5 million (AUD) must be made to the Commonwealth regardless of sales. Cumulative payments of $26.8 million (AUD) have been made through December 31, 2011. Additional payments of $6.4 million (AUD) each must be paid in March of 2012 and 2013 to the extent that cumulative payments have not yet reached $33.1 million (AUD) and $39.5 million (AUD) as of such dates, respectively.
To secure these payments, we have provided the Commonwealth with a $12.7 million (AUD) unconditional letter of credit, which is being reduced as such payments are made. As of December 31, 2011, the U.S. dollar value of the remaining $12.7 million (AUD) required payment was $13.1 million, of which $6.5 million is due no later than March 2012. In 2008, we entered into foreign currency exchange contracts that limit the foreign currency risks associated with these required payments. These contracts will enable us to purchase $9.8 million (AUD) for $6.3 million. See Note 6, Derivative Financial Instruments, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for further discussion of these instruments.
| 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 11 vs. 10 | 10 vs. 09 | |
| (in thousands) | |||||
| Total cash provided by (used in): | |||||
| Operating activities | $ 44,843 | $ 37,356 | $ 70,454 | $ 7,487 | $ (33,098 ) |
| Investing activities | (106,132 ) | (86,930 ) | (16,267 ) | (19,202 ) | (70,663 ) |
| Financing activities | 44,379 | 65,309 | (45,153 ) | (20,930 ) | 110,462 |
| Free Cash Flow (a): | |||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities | $ 44,843 | $ 37,356 | $ 70,454 | $ 7,487 | $ (33,098 ) |
| Expenditures for property, plant and equipment | (28,833 ) | (21,507 ) | (13,567 ) | (7,326 ) | (7,940 ) |
| Free cash flow | $ 16,010 | $ 15,849 | $ 56,887 | $ 161 | $ (41,038 ) |
Net cash provided by operating activities increased $7.5 million in 2011 compared to 2010, primarily due to increased net earnings, driven by increased operating income at both our segments and a reduction in the amount of our pension contribution, partially offset by the first guaranteed payment to the Commonwealth of Australia, which was reduced by the receipt of cash from our counterparties upon settlement of Australian dollar foreign currency exchange contracts.
Net cash used in investing activities increased $19.2 million due to an increase in cash used for acquisitions and an increase in cash used for the purchase of property, plant and equipment.
Net cash provided by financing activities decreased $20.9 million in 2011 compared to 2010, primarily due to a reduction in borrowing and the use of cash to repurchase stock under our stock repurchase program.
Net cash provided by operating activities decreased $33.1 million in 2010 compared to 2009, primarily due to the following:
Partially offsetting these was the receipt of $6.6 million of look-back interest, pre-tax, in the third quarter of 2010.
Net cash used in investing activities increased $70.7 million in 2010 compared to 2009, primarily due to cash used for the purchases of Fawick, Allied, Minarik and Global and an increase in capital expenditures to support our information technology infrastructure.
Net cash provided by financing activities increased $110.5 million in 2010 compared to 2009 primarily due to the issuance of the $115.0 million convertible notes in November 2010, offset by the purchase of call options on the convertible notes of $13.2 million. The proceeds from the convertible debt offering were used to purchase the call options, pay down $62.2 million of borrowing under the Revolving Credit Agreement and make a $25.0 million voluntary contribution to our qualified pension plan.