Liberty Broadband Corporation Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

(3) 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. As of March 31, 2017, the Company does not have any recurring assets or liabilities measured at fair value that would be considered Level 2 or Level 3.

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

March 31, 2017

December 31, 2016

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

241,185

—

198,011

—

Derivative instruments (1)

—

49,019

—

49,019

_________________________

(1)

As of December 31, 2016, the Company had an outstanding zero-strike call option on 704,908 shares of Liberty Broadband Series C common stock which expired in March 2017. The Company prepaid a premium of $47.9 million in December 2016. Liberty Broadband exercised its option to settle the contract in cash in March 2017. The Company accounted for the zero-strike call option as a financial instrument asset due to its settlement provisions. Subsequent to March 31, 2017, the Company entered into another zero-strike call option on 600,242 shares of Liberty Broadband Series C common stock. The Company prepaid a premium of $50.0 million in April 2017.

The fair value of Level 2 derivative instruments were derived from a Black-Scholes model using observable market data as the significant inputs. The inputs used in the model during the period outstanding (exclusive of the applicable trading price of Series C Liberty Broadband common stock and the strike prices associated with the call options) were as follows:


	Range
Volatility	21.1	%	—	21.5	%
Interest rate	1.0	%	—	1.0	%
Dividend yield	0.0	%	—	0.0	%

Other Financial Instruments

Other financial instruments not measured at fair value on a recurring basis include trade receivables, trade payables, accrued 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 condensed 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:


	Three months ended
	March 31,
	2017		2016
	(amounts in thousands)
Time Warner Cable investment (1)	$	—	45,005
Derivative instruments (2)		981	—
	$	981	45,005

(1)

As discussed in note 4, 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) As of December 31, 2016, the Company had an outstanding zero-strike call option on 704,908 shares of Liberty Broadband Series C common stock which expired in March 2017. Liberty Broadband exercised its option to settle the contract in cash in March 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.

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