Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Basis of Presentation

v3.23.1
Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
Basis of Presentation  
Basis of Presentation

(1) Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Liberty Broadband Corporation and its controlled subsidiaries (collectively, "Liberty Broadband," the "Company," “us,” “we,” or “our” unless the context otherwise requires). Liberty Broadband Corporation is primarily comprised of GCI Holdings, LLC (“GCI Holdings” or “GCI”), a wholly owned subsidiary, and an equity method investment in Charter Communications, Inc. (“Charter”).

On December 18, 2020, GCI Liberty, Inc. (“GCI Liberty”) was merged with Liberty Broadband (the “Combination”) and Liberty Broadband acquired GCI Holdings.

The accompanying (a) condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2022, which has been derived from audited financial statements, and (b) interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation of the results for such periods have been included. The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year. Additionally, certain prior period amounts have been reclassified for comparability with current period presentation. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in Liberty Broadband's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the condensed consolidated financial statements.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The Company considers (i) the application of the equity method of accounting for its affiliate, (ii) non-recurring fair value measurements of non-financial instruments and (iii) accounting for income taxes to be its most significant estimates.

Through a number of prior years’ transactions, including the Combination, Liberty Broadband has acquired an interest in Charter. The investment in Charter is accounted for using the equity method. Liberty Broadband does not control the decision making process or business management practices of this affiliate. Accordingly, Liberty Broadband relies on the management of this affiliate to provide it with accurate financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP that the Company uses in the application of the equity method. In addition, Liberty Broadband relies on audit reports that are provided by the affiliate's independent auditor on the financial statements of such affiliate. The Company is not aware, however, of any errors in or possible misstatements of the financial information provided by its equity affiliate that would have a material effect on Liberty Broadband's condensed consolidated financial statements.

Skyhook Holdings, Inc. (“Skyhook”) was a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Broadband until its sale on May 2, 2022 for aggregate consideration of approximately $194 million, including amounts held in escrow of approximately $23 million. Liberty Broadband recognized a gain on the sale of $179 million, net of closing fees, in the second quarter of 2022. Skyhook is included in Corporate and other through April 30, 2022 and is not presented as a discontinued operation as the sale did not represent a strategic shift that had a major effect on Liberty Broadband’s operations and financial results. Included in Revenue in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations is $5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, related to Skyhook. Included in Net earnings (loss) in the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations are earnings of $3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, related to Skyhook.

As described in note 4, we are currently participating in Charter’s share buyback program in order to maintain our fully diluted ownership percentage of 26%. The primary use of those proceeds has been to repurchase Liberty Broadband

Series A and Series C common stock pursuant to our authorized share repurchase programs. In addition, some of the proceeds were used for debt repayments.

During the three months ended March 31, 2023, we repurchased 459 thousand shares of Liberty Broadband Series A and Series C common stock for a total purchase price of $40 million. During the three months ended March 31, 2022, we repurchased 5.7 million shares of Liberty Broadband Series A and Series C common stock for a total purchase price of $843 million. As of March 31, 2023, the amount remaining under the authorized repurchase program is approximately $1,962 million.

Exchange Agreement with Chairman

On June 13, 2022, Liberty Broadband entered into an Exchange Agreement with its Chairman of the board of directors, John C. Malone, and a revocable trust of which Mr. Malone is the sole trustee and beneficiary (the “JM Trust”) (the “Exchange Agreement”). Under the Exchange Agreement, the JM trust exchanged 215,647 shares of Liberty Broadband Series B common stock for the same number of Liberty Broadband Series C common stock on June 13, 2022, and exchanged 211,255 shares of Liberty Broadband Series B common stock for the same number of Liberty Broadband Series C common stock on July 19, 2022. Additionally, the JM Trust exchanged 54,247 shares of Liberty Broadband Series B common stock for the same number of Liberty Broadband Series C common stock on January 23, 2023.

Spin-Off Arrangements

During May 2014, the board of directors of Liberty Media Corporation and its subsidiaries (“Liberty”) authorized management to pursue a plan to spin-off to its stockholders common stock of a wholly owned subsidiary, Liberty Broadband, and to distribute subscription rights to acquire shares of Liberty Broadband’s common stock (the “Broadband Spin-Off”). In connection with the Broadband Spin-Off, Liberty (for accounting purposes a related party of the Company) and Liberty Broadband entered into certain agreements in order to govern certain of the ongoing relationships between the two companies and to provide for an orderly transition, including a services agreement and a facilities sharing agreement. Under the facilities sharing agreement, Liberty Broadband shares office space with Liberty and related amenities at Liberty’s corporate headquarters. Liberty Broadband reimburses Liberty for direct, out-of-pocket expenses incurred by Liberty in providing these services which are negotiated semi-annually.

Pursuant to the services agreement, Liberty provides Liberty Broadband with general and administrative services including legal, tax, accounting, treasury and investor relations support. In December 2019, the Company entered into an amendment to the services agreement with Liberty in connection with Liberty’s entry into a new employment arrangement with Gregory B. Maffei, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Under the amended services agreement, components of his compensation would either be paid directly to him by each of the Company, Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. and Qurate Retail, Inc. (“Qurate Retail”) (collectively, the “Service Companies”) or reimbursed to Liberty, in each case, based on allocations among Liberty and the Service Companies set forth in the amended services agreement, currently set at 23% for the Company but subject to adjustment on an annual basis upon the occurrence of certain events.

Additionally, in connection with a prior transaction, GCI Liberty and Qurate Retail (for accounting purposes a related party of the Company) entered into a tax sharing agreement, which was assumed by Liberty Broadband as a result of the Combination. The tax sharing agreement provides for the allocation and indemnification of tax liabilities and benefits between Qurate Retail and Liberty Broadband and other agreements related to tax matters.

Under these various agreements, amounts reimbursable to Liberty were approximately $2 million and $3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Liberty Broadband had a tax sharing receivable with Qurate Retail of $15 million and $7 million as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively, of which $1 million was in Other current assets as of both March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, with the remaining receivable in Other assets, net.