(11) Stock-Based Compensation

Included in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations are the following amounts of stock-based compensation for the years ended December 31, 2016,  2015 and 2014 (amounts in thousands).

Liberty Broadband - Incentive Plans

In connection with the Broadband Spin-Off, the holder of an outstanding option or stock appreciation right (collectively, “Award”) to purchase shares of Liberty common stock on the record date (an “original Liberty Award”) received an Award to purchase shares of the corresponding series of our Liberty Broadband common stock (a “Liberty Broadband Award”) and an adjustment to the exercise price and number of shares subject to the original Liberty Award (as so adjusted, an “adjusted Liberty Award”). Following the Broadband Spin-Off, employees of Liberty hold Awards in both Liberty common stock and Liberty Broadband common stock.  The compensation expense relating to employees of Liberty is recorded at Liberty. Therefore, compensation expense related to options resulting from the Broadband Spin-Off will not be recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Except as described above, all other terms of an adjusted Liberty Award and a new Liberty Broadband Award (including, for example, the vesting terms thereof) are in all material respects, the same as those of the corresponding original Liberty Award.

Pursuant to the Liberty Broadband 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended, the Company may grant Awards to be made in respect of a maximum of 8.4 million shares of Liberty Broadband common stock.  Awards generally vest over 4-5 years and have a term of 7-10 years.  Liberty Broadband issues new shares upon exercise of equity awards.

Liberty Broadband – Grants of Stock Options

During the year ended December 31, 2016, Liberty Broadband granted 17 thousand options to purchase shares of Series C common stock to its non-employee directors with a weighted average grant-date fair value of $18.64 per share which cliff vest over a one year vesting period. There were no options to purchase shares of Series A common stock granted during the period.

The Company has calculated the grant-date fair value for all of its equity classified awards and any subsequent remeasurement of its liability classified awards using the Black-Scholes Model.  The Company estimates the expected term of the Awards based on historical exercise and forfeiture data.  For grants made in 2016, 2015 and 2014, the range of expected terms was 4.6 to 7.3 years.  Since Liberty Broadband common stock has not traded on the stock market for a significant length of time, the volatility used in the calculation for Awards is based on a blend of the historical volatility of Liberty Broadband and Charter common stock and the implied volatility of publicly traded Liberty Broadband and Charter options; as the most significant asset within Liberty Broadband, the volatility of Charter was considered in the overall volatility of Liberty Broadband.  For grants made in 2016, 2015 and 2014, the range of volatilities was 26.2% to 28.5%.  The Company uses a zero dividend rate and the risk-free rate for Treasury Bonds with a term similar to that of the subject option.

Liberty Broadband – Outstanding Awards

The following table presents the number and weighted average exercise price (“WAEP”) of Awards to purchase Liberty Broadband common stock granted to certain officers, employees and directors of the Company, as well as the weighted average remaining life and aggregate intrinsic value of the Awards.

 

The Company had no outstanding Series B options during 2016.

As of December 31, 2016, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested Liberty Broadband Awards was approximately $15.0 million.  Such amount will be recognized in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations over a weighted average period of approximately 2 years.

As of December 31, 2016, Liberty Broadband reserved 2.9 million shares of Series A and Series C common stock for issuance under exercise privileges of outstanding stock Awards.

Liberty Broadband – Exercises

The aggregate intrinsic value of all options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2016,  2015 and 2014 was $14.4 million, $11.2 million, and $1.8 million, respectively.

Liberty Broadband – Restricted Shares

The aggregate fair value of all Series A and Series C restricted shares of Liberty Broadband common stock that vested during the years ended December 31, 2016,  2015 and 2014 was $674 thousand, $5.8 million, and $172 thousand, respectively.

As of December 31, 2016, the Company had approximately 27,000 unvested restricted shares of Series A and Series C Liberty Broadband common stock held by certain directors, officers and employees of the Company with a weighted average grant-date fair value of $15.30 per share.

Skyhook equity incentive plans

Long-Term Incentive Plans

Skyhook has granted PARs and PSUs to employees, directors, and consultants of Skyhook, pursuant to the LTIPs. PAR grants under the LTIPs vest over a four or five-year period. On June 30 of each of the fiscal years following the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth anniversaries of the date of a grant, 25% of the original grant is deemed to have been exercised and canceled. Upon such date, the holders of such grants receive the appreciation in the value of the grant, if any, from the value of the grant on the date of its issuance. PSUs, unless otherwise indicated, have the same vesting, exercise, and cancellation provisions as PARs granted under the plan. Certain of the PARs and the majority of the outstanding PSU grants contain modifications to the standard vesting, exercise and cancellation provisions. On July 29, 2016, all Skyhook PARs were converted into PARs granted under the TruePosition LTIP and future awards under the Skyhook LTIP were suspended. Concurrent with the conversion, Skyhook made certain adjustments to the outstanding TruePosition PARs and PSUs to standardize and simplify the valuation of awards granted under the TruePosition LTIP. As a result of the name change of TruePosition, Inc. to Skyhook Holding, Inc., it is expected that the TruePosition Long Term Incentive Plan will be renamed the Skyhook Holdings Long Term Incentive Plan.

Upon separation from Skyhook, holders of grants are eligible, assuming all conditions are met under the LTIPs, to receive the appreciation in value of their vested PAR grants and the value of their vested PSU grants as of the date of their separation that have not been deemed exercised and canceled.

The following summarizes the PAR and PSU activities under the LTIPs during 2016 (in thousands):

 

Grants that are exercised and paid and grants that are forfeited, canceled, or otherwise not paid are available for grant under the LTIPs.

Grants under the LTIPs may be settled in cash, publicly traded stock of the companies or an affiliate of the companies, or a combination thereof. Skyhook accounts for grants under the LTIPs as liability instruments. Accordingly, Skyhook measures the cost of employee services received in exchange for grants based on the current fair value of the grants and records a liability at the end of each reporting period equivalent to the vested portion of such current fair value.

Skyhook calculates the grant-date fair value and subsequent remeasurement of its liability classified awards using the Black-Scholes model. Skyhook estimates the expected term of the awards based on historical exercise and forfeiture data. The expected term for grants made to during 2016 ranged from 0.5 - 7.5 years. The volatility used by Skyhook in the Black-Scholes model for grants made during 2016 was 30%. Skyhook uses a zero dividend rate and the risk-free rate for Treasury Bonds with a term similar to that of the subject options, which ranged from 0.6% - 2.3% for grants made in 2016.

As of December 31, 2016 and 2015,  $1.7 million and $2.0 million, respectively, are included in other liabilities for the fair value (Level 2) of the Company's LTIP obligations.