notes to consolidated financial statements ( dollars in millions , except per share amounts ) long-term debt maturing over the next five years and thereafter is as follows: .

$ 244.5: 2005: 523.8
2006: 338.5
2007: 0.9
2008: 0.9
2009 and thereafter: 1327.6

on march 7 , 2003 , standard & poor's ratings services downgraded the company's senior secured credit rating to bb+ with negative outlook from bbb- . on may 14 , 2003 , fitch ratings downgraded the company's senior unsecured credit rating to bb+ with negative outlook from bbb- . on may 9 , 2003 , moody's investor services , inc . ( "moody's" ) placed the company's senior unsecured and subordinated credit ratings on review for possible downgrade from baa3 and ba1 , respectively . as of march 12 , 2004 , the company's credit ratings continued to be on review for a possible downgrade . since july 2001 , the company has not repurchased its common stock in the open market . in october 2003 , the company received a federal tax refund of approximately $ 90 as a result of its carryback of its 2002 loss for us federal income tax purposes and certain capital losses , to earlier periods . through december 2002 , the company had paid cash dividends quarterly with the most recent quarterly dividend paid in december 2002 at a rate of $ 0.095 per share . on a quarterly basis , the company's board of directors makes determinations regarding the payment of dividends . as previously discussed , the company's ability to declare or pay dividends is currently restricted by the terms of its revolving credit facilities . the company did not declare or pay any dividends in 2003 . however , in 2004 , the company expects to pay any dividends accruing on the series a mandatory convertible preferred stock in cash , which is expressly permitted by the revolving credit facilities . see note 14 for discussion of fair market value of the company's long-term debt . note 9 : equity offering on december 16 , 2003 , the company sold 25.8 million shares of common stock and issued 7.5 million shares of 3- year series a mandatory convertible preferred stock ( the "preferred stock" ) . the total net proceeds received from the concurrent offerings was approximately $ 693 . the preferred stock carries a dividend yield of 5.375% ( 5.375 % ) . on maturity , each share of the preferred stock will convert , subject to adjustment , to between 3.0358 and 3.7037 shares of common stock , depending on the then-current market price of the company's common stock , representing a conversion premium of approximately 22% ( 22 % ) over the stock offering price of $ 13.50 per share . under certain circumstances , the preferred stock may be converted prior to maturity at the option of the holders or the company . the common and preferred stock were issued under the company's existing shelf registration statement . in january 2004 , the company used approximately $ 246 of the net proceeds from the offerings to redeem the 1.80% ( 1.80 % ) convertible subordinated notes due 2004 . the remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and to further strengthen the company's balance sheet and financial condition . the company will pay annual dividends on each share of the series a mandatory convertible preferred stock in the amount of $ 2.6875 . dividends will be cumulative from the date of issuance and will be payable on each payment date to the extent that dividends are not restricted under the company's credit facilities and assets are legally available to pay dividends . the first dividend payment , which was declared on february 24 , 2004 , will be made on march 15 , 2004. .

Questions:
what was the value of long-term debt in 2004?
and in 2008?
by how much did this value go down between these years?
and the specific value for 2004 again?
and the percentage decrease during this time?

Answers:
244.5
0.9
243.6
244.5
99.6%