Variable Interest Entities |
3 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mar. 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Variable Interest Entity Disclosures [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Variable Interest Entities |
Variable Interest Entities
New Markets Tax Credit Entities
GCI entered into several arrangements under the New Markets Tax Credit ("NMTC") program with US Bancorp to help fund various projects that extended terrestrial broadband service for the first time to rural Northwestern Alaska communities via a high capacity hybrid fiber optic and microwave network. The NMTC program was provided for in the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 (the “Act”) to induce capital investment in qualified lower income communities. The Act permits taxpayers to claim credits against their federal income taxes for up to 39% of qualified investments in the equity of community development entities (“CDEs”). CDEs are privately managed investment institutions that are certified to make qualified low-income community investments.
Each of the transactions has an investment fund, which is a special purpose entity created to effect the financing arrangement. In each of the transactions, the Company loaned money to the investment fund and US Bancorp invested money in the investment fund. The investment fund would then contribute the funds from the Company's loan and US Bancorp's investment to a CDE. The CDE, in turn, would loan the funds to the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Unicom, Inc. ("Unicom") as partial financing for the projects.
US Bancorp is entitled to substantially all of the benefits derived from the NMTCs. All of the loan proceeds to Unicom, net of syndication and arrangement fees, were restricted for use on the projects. Restricted cash of $0.8 million was held by Unicom at March 31, 2019 and is included in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company completed construction of the projects partially funded by these transactions.
These transactions include put/call provisions whereby the Company may be obligated or entitled to repurchase US Bancorp’s interest in each investment fund for a nominal amount. The Company believes that US Bancorp will exercise the put options at the end of the compliance periods for each of the transactions. The NMTCs are subject to 100% recapture for a period of seven years as provided in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Company is required to be in compliance with various regulations and contractual provisions that apply to the NMTC arrangements. Non-compliance with applicable requirements could result in projected tax benefits not being realized by US Bancorp. The Company has agreed to indemnify US Bancorp for any loss or recapture of NMTCs until such time as its obligation to deliver tax benefits is relieved. There have been no credit recaptures as of March 31, 2019. The value attributed to the put/calls is nominal.
The Company has determined that each of the investment funds are variable interest entities ("VIEs"). The consolidated financial statements of each of the investment funds include the CDEs. The ongoing activities of the VIEs – collecting and remitting interest and fees and NMTC compliance – were all considered in the initial design and are not expected to significantly affect economic performance throughout the life of the VIEs. Management considered the contractual arrangements that obligate the Company to deliver tax benefits and provide various other guarantees to US Bancorp; US Bancorp’s lack of a material interest in the underlying economics of the project; and the fact that the Company is obligated to absorb losses of the VIEs. The Company concluded that it is the primary beneficiary of each and consolidated the VIEs in accordance with the accounting standard for consolidation.
The assets and liabilities of the consolidated VIEs were $89 million and $63 million, respectively, as of March 31, 2019.
The assets of the VIEs serve as the sole source of repayment for the debt issued by these entities. US Bank does not have recourse to us or our other assets, with the exception of customary representations and indemnities the Company has provided. The Company is not required and does not currently intend to provide additional financial support to these VIEs. While these subsidiaries are included in the Company's consolidated financial statements, these subsidiaries are separate legal entities and their assets are legally owned by them and not available to the Company's creditors.
The following table summarizes the key terms of each of the NMTC transactions:
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