Quarterly report [Sections 13 or 15(d)]

Basis of Presentation

v3.25.1
Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
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 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, the original GCI Liberty, Inc. (“prior GCI Liberty”), the previous parent company of GCI Holdings, was acquired by Liberty Broadband.

The accompanying (a) condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2024, 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, 2024. 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, 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.

Recent Events

On November 12, 2024, the Company entered into a definitive agreement (the “Merger Agreement”) under which Charter has agreed to acquire Liberty Broadband (the “Combination”, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the “Transactions”). At the special meeting held on February 26, 2025, the requisite holders of Liberty Broadband’s Series A common stock (“LBRDA”), Series B common stock (“LBRDB”) and Series A cumulative redeemable preferred stock (“Liberty Broadband preferred stock”) approved the adoption of the Merger Agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, Liberty Broadband will combine with Charter and divest the business of GCI (the “GCI business”). The companies currently expect the Combination to close on June 30, 2027 unless otherwise agreed, subject to the completion of the GCI Divestiture (as defined below) and other customary closing conditions.

As discussed above, as a condition to closing the Combination, Liberty Broadband has agreed to divest the GCI business by way of a distribution to the holders of Liberty Broadband common stock prior to the closing of the Combination (the “GCI Divestiture”). The GCI Divestiture is expected to be taxable to Liberty Broadband and its stockholders, with Charter bearing the corporate level tax liability upon completion of the Combination. However, to the extent such corporate level tax liability exceeds $420 million, Liberty Broadband (and Charter upon completion of the Combination) will be entitled under a tax receivables agreement to the portion of the tax benefits realized by GCI corresponding to such excess.

In addition, in connection with the entry into the Merger Agreement, Charter, Liberty Broadband and Advance/Newhouse Partnership (“A/N”) entered into an amendment (the “Stockholders and Letter Agreement Amendment”) to (i) that certain Second Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement, dated as of May 23, 2015 (as amended, the “Stockholders Agreement”), by and among Charter, Liberty Broadband, and A/N, and (ii) that certain Letter Agreement, dated as of February 23, 2021 (the “Letter Agreement”), by and between Charter and Liberty Broadband. Details of this agreement are further described in note 4.

During the three months ended March 31, 2025, we did not repurchase any shares of Liberty Broadband common stock, which is currently restricted by the Merger Agreement. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, we repurchased 1.1 million shares of Liberty Broadband Series C common stock (“LBRDK”) for a total purchase price of $89 million. As of March 31, 2025, the amount remaining under the authorized repurchase program is approximately $1,685 million, which is currently restricted by the Merger Agreement.

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 has exchanged 481,149 total shares of LBRDB for the same number of LBRDK as of March 31, 2025.

On November 12, 2024, in connection with the entry into the Merger Agreement, Liberty Broadband entered into the Malone exchange side letter with Mr. Malone and certain trusts related to Mr. Malone (collectively, the “Malone Exchange Holders”), whereby, among other things, the Malone Exchange Holders agreed to an arrangement under which Liberty Broadband will have the right, in connection with the GCI Divestiture, to exchange certain shares of LBRDB held by such Malone Exchange Holders for shares of LBRDK on a one-for-one basis (the “Malone exchange”) to avoid the application of certain related party rules that otherwise could limit the availability of certain tax benefits to the divested GCI entity following the GCI Divestiture. If the Merger Agreement is terminated without the completion of the Combination having occurred but following the consummation of the Malone exchange (the “Malone exchange closing”), and unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the Malone Exchange Holders and Liberty Broadband, the Malone exchange will be automatically rescinded and treated as if neither the Malone exchange nor the Malone exchange closing had ever occurred.

Further, pursuant to the terms of the Malone exchange side letter, the parties thereto agreed to amend certain provisions of the Exchange Agreement to provide that (i) solely in connection with the GCI Divestiture, Malone Series C Exchangeable Shares (as defined in the Exchange Agreement) will not be exchanged for shares of LBRDB and the holders of such Malone Series C Exchangeable Shares will receive the same per share consideration received by holders of shares of LBRDK, (ii) Liberty Broadband waives its right to obligate the Malone Exchange Holders to enter into an exchange agreement with the divested GCI entity in connection with the GCI Divestiture, (iii) the Exchange Agreement would not be terminated as a result of the Malone Exchange Holders falling below 20% voting power in connection with the GCI Divestiture, and (iv) following the Malone exchange and prior to any termination of the Merger Agreement, none of the Malone Series C Exchangeable Shares will be exchanged for shares of LBRDB.

Historical 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 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 tax sharing agreement, services agreement and a facilities sharing agreement. Additionally, in connection with a prior transaction, prior GCI Liberty and QVC Group, Inc., formerly Qurate Retail, Inc. (“QVC Group”) entered into a tax sharing agreement, which was assumed by Liberty Broadband as a result of the combination of prior GCI Liberty and Liberty Broadband. The tax sharing agreement provides for the allocation and indemnification of tax liabilities and benefits between QVC Group and Liberty Broadband and other agreements related to tax matters. Under the facilities sharing agreement, Liberty Broadband shares office space with Liberty and related amenities at Liberty’s corporate headquarters.

Pursuant to the services agreement, Liberty provides Liberty Broadband with general and administrative services including legal, tax, accounting, treasury, information technology, cybersecurity and investor relations support. Liberty Broadband reimburses Liberty for direct, out-of-pocket expenses incurred by Liberty in providing these services which are negotiated semi-annually, as necessary.

Under these various agreements, amounts reimbursable to Liberty were approximately $3 million and $2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Liberty Broadband had a tax sharing receivable with QVC Group of approximately $16 million and $20 million as of  March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively, included in Other assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheets.