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Basis of Presentation
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3 Months Ended |
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Mar. 31, 2014
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| Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |
| Basis of Presentation |
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include all the accounts of Liberty Media Corporation and its controlled subsidiaries (formerly named Liberty Spinco, Inc.) ("Liberty" or the "Company" unless the context otherwise requires). All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
Liberty, through its ownership of interests in subsidiaries and other companies, is primarily engaged in the media, communications and entertainment industries primarily in North America. The significant subsidiaries include Sirius XM Holdings, Inc. ("SIRIUS XM"), the Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. ("ANLBC") and TruePosition, Inc. ("TruePosition"). Our significant investments accounted for under the equity method include Charter Communications, Inc. ("Charter") and Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. ("Live Nation").
The accompanying (a) condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2013, which has been derived from audited financial statements, and (b) the interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("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. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in Liberty's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013.
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) fair value measurement, (ii) accounting for income taxes, (iii) assessments of other-than-temporary declines in fair value of its investments and (iv) the expected depreciable lives of satellites and spacecraft control facilities to be its most significant estimates.
Liberty holds investments that are accounted for using the equity method. Liberty does not control the decision making process or business management practices of these affiliates. Accordingly, Liberty relies on management of these affiliates 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 relies on audit reports that are provided by the affiliates' independent auditors on the financial statements of such affiliates. The Company is not aware, however, of any errors in or possible misstatements of the financial information provided by its equity affiliates that would have a material effect on Liberty's condensed consolidated financial statements.
Liberty has entered into certain agreements with Liberty Interactive and Starz, both of which are separate publicly traded companies and none of these entities has any stock ownership, beneficial or otherwise, in the other, in order to govern relationships between the companies. These agreements include Reorganization Agreements, Services Agreements, Facilities Sharing Agreements, a Lease Agreement (in the case of Starz only) and Tax Sharing Agreements.
The Reorganization Agreements provide for, among other things, provisions governing the relationships between Liberty and each of Liberty Interactive and Starz, respectively, including certain cross-indemnities. Pursuant to the Services Agreements, Liberty provides Liberty Interactive and Starz with general and administrative services including legal, tax, accounting, treasury and investor relations support. Liberty Interactive and Starz reimburse Liberty for direct, out-of-pocket expenses incurred by Liberty in providing these services and for Liberty Interactive's and Starz's respective allocable portion of costs associated with any shared services or personnel based on an estimated percentage of time spent providing services to each respective company. Under the Facilities Sharing Agreements, Liberty shares office space and related amenities at its corporate headquarters with Liberty Interactive and Starz. Under these various agreements approximately $2 million and $4 million of these allocated expenses were reimbursed to Liberty during the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013. Under the Lease Agreement, Starz leases its corporate headquarters from Liberty. The Lease Agreement with Starz for their corporate headquarters requires a payment of approximately $3 million annually, subject to certain increases based on the Consumer Price Index.
On January 18, 2013, Liberty settled a block transaction with a financial institution taking possession of an additional 50,000,000 common shares of SIRIUS XM as well as converting its remaining SIRIUS XM Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series B-1, into 1,293,509,076 shares of SIRIUS XM Common Stock. As a result of these transactions Liberty holds more than 50% of the capital stock of SIRIUS XM entitled to vote on any matter, including the election of directors. This resulted in the application of purchase accounting and the consolidation of SIRIUS XM in the first quarter of 2013 and the recognition of a $7.5 billion gain on the transaction. We note that in periods prior to a controlling interest SIRIUS XM was treated as an equity method affiliate.
On October 9, 2013, Liberty entered into a share repurchase agreement with SIRIUS XM pursuant to which SIRIUS XM agreed to acquire 136,600,826 SIRIUS XM shares for $500 million, in three separate tranches between the fourth quarter of 2013 and second quarter of 2014, at a price of $3.6603 per share (which was based on a 1.5% discount to the average of the daily volume weighted average price (VWAP) per share of SIRIUS XM common stock over a period of ten days beginning on the third trading day following the date of the public release of SIRIUS XM's third quarter 2013 earnings subject to a cap on the average VWAP of $4.18 and a floor on the average VWAP of $3.64). The repurchase of shares approximates 2% of the outstanding shares of SIRIUS XM on an as adjusted basis as the shares will be retired at the SIRIUS XM level. The first tranche of shares in the amount of 43,712,265 was repurchased on November 14, 2013. The second tranche was delayed and the final two tranches were settled on April 25, 2014 for total proceeds of $340 million. The retirement of SIRIUS XM shares on a consolidated basis does not significantly impact the consolidated results as it only requires an adjustment to noncontrolling interest as the shares are repurchased and retired. Liberty still retains a controlling interest in SIRIUS XM following the completion of the share repurchases.
Liberty’s board has approved the issuance of shares of its Series C common stock to holders of its Series A and Series B common stock, to be effected by means of a dividend. Holders of Series A and Series B common stock as of 5:00 p.m. New York City time on July 7, 2014, the record date for the dividend, will receive on July 10, 2014 a dividend of two shares of Series C common stock for each share of Series A or Series B common stock held by them as of the record date.
Liberty’s board has authorized management to pursue a plan to spin-off to its stockholders common stock of a newly formed company to be called Liberty Broadband and to distribute subscription rights to acquire shares of Liberty Broadband’s common stock. Liberty Broadband would be comprised of, among other things, Liberty’s (i) interest in Charter Communications, (ii) subsidiary TruePosition and (iii) minority equity investment in Time Warner Cable and (iv) certain deferred tax and deferred revenue liabilities, as well as liabilities related to the Time Warner call option. In the spin-off, record holders of Series A, Series B and Series C common stock would receive one-fourth of a share of the corresponding series of Liberty Broadband common stock for each share of common stock held by them as of the record date for the spin-off, with cash in lieu of fractional shares. In addition, stockholders will also receive a subscription right to acquire one share of Series C Liberty Broadband common stock for every five shares of Liberty Broadband common stock they receive in the spin-off (irrespective of the series of common stock received).
The subscription rights are being issued to raise capital for general corporate purposes of Liberty Broadband and will enable the holders to acquire shares of Series C Liberty Broadband common stock at a 20% discount to the 20-trading day volume weighted average trading price of the Series C Liberty Broadband common stock following the completion of the spin-off. We expect the subscription rights to become publicly traded once the exercise price has been established and the rights offering to expire forty trading days following the completion of the spin-off.
The spin-off and rights offering are intended to be tax-free to stockholders of Liberty Media and the completion of the spin-off and commencement of the rights offering will be subject to various conditions, including the receipt of an opinion of tax counsel. Subject to the satisfaction of these conditions, the completion of the spin-off and the commencement of the rights offering is expected to occur in the second half of 2014.
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