Liberty Broadband Corporation Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

(4) Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

For assets and liabilities required to be reported at fair value, GAAP provides a hierarchy that prioritizes inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three broad levels. Level 1 inputs are quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the reporting entity has the ability to access at the measurement date. Level 2 inputs are inputs, other than quoted market prices included within Level 1, that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability. The Company does not have any recurring assets or liabilities measured at fair value that would be considered Level 3.

The Company’s assets and liabilities measured at fair value are as follows:

December 31, 2018

December 31, 2017

Quoted prices

Significant

Quoted prices

Significant

in active

other

in active

other

markets for

observable

markets for

observable

identical assets

inputs

identical assets

inputs

Description

Total

(Level 1)

(Level 2)

Total

(Level 1)

(Level 2)

amounts in thousands

Cash equivalents

67,329

—

76,304

—

Other Financial Instruments

Other financial instruments not measured at fair value on a recurring basis include trade receivables, trade payables, accrued and other current liabilities, current portion of debt and long-term debt. With the exception of long-term debt, the carrying amount approximates fair value due to the short maturity of these instruments as reported on our consolidated balance sheets. The carrying value of our long-term debt bears interest at a variable rate and therefore is also considered to approximate fair value.

Realized and Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Financial Instruments

Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on financial instruments are comprised of changes in the fair value of the following:


	Years ended December 31,
	2018		2017	2016
	(amounts in thousands)
Time Warner Cable investment (1)	$	—	—	92,990
Derivative instruments (2)		3,659	3,098	1,132
	$	3,659	3,098	94,122

(1)

As discussed in note 5, Time Warner Cable merged with Charter on May 18, 2016. Therefore the Company no longer has an investment in Time Warner Cable as of May 18, 2016, and the unrealized gain (loss) related to our investment in Time Warner Cable is recorded through this date. In connection with the merger, the Company exchanged, in a tax-free transaction, its shares of Time Warner Cable for shares of Charter Class A common stock.

(2)

During the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company entered into a zero-strike call option on Liberty Broadband Series C common stock and prepaid a premium of $47.9 million. During the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company entered into and settled additional zero-strike call options and paid an aggregate of $149.4 million and received an aggregate of $155.7 million from the counterparty. Additionally, in 2017, the Company physically settled one of the contracts (see note 8 in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements for additional discussion). During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company continued to enter into and settle zero-strike call options and paid an aggregate of $142.8 million and received an aggregate of $146.5 million from the counterparty. The Company had no outstanding zero-strike call options as of December 31, 2018 and 2017.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

+ References + Details