QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | ||
For the quarterly period ended |
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |
For the transition period from to |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Page Number | ||
PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION | ||
ITEM 1. | FINANCIAL STATEMENTS | |
ITEM 2. | ||
ITEM 3. | ||
ITEM 4. | ||
PART II — OTHER INFORMATION | ||
ITEM 1A. | ||
ITEM 2. | ||
ITEM 6. |
September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
ASSETS | |||||||
Current assets: | |||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | |||||
Trade receivables, net | |||||||
Short-term investments (measured at fair value on a recurring basis) (note 5) | |||||||
Derivative instruments (note 6) | |||||||
Other current assets (notes 3, 4 and 5) | |||||||
Total current assets | |||||||
Investments and related notes receivable (including $1,380.6 million and $1,289.2 million, respectively, measured at fair value on a recurring basis) (note 5) | |||||||
Property and equipment, net (notes 8 and 10) | |||||||
Goodwill (note 8) | |||||||
Deferred tax assets (note 11) | |||||||
Assets held for sale (note 4) | |||||||
Other assets, net (notes 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10) | |||||||
Total assets | $ | $ |
September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY | |||||||
Current liabilities: | |||||||
Accounts payable | $ | $ | |||||
Deferred revenue (note 3) | |||||||
Current portion of debt and finance lease obligations (notes 9 and 10) | |||||||
Accrued capital expenditures | |||||||
Other accrued and current liabilities (notes 6, 10 and 14) | |||||||
Total current liabilities | |||||||
Long-term debt and finance lease obligations (notes 9 and 10) | |||||||
Liabilities associated with assets held for sale (note 4) | |||||||
Other long-term liabilities (notes 3, 6, 10, 11 and 14) | |||||||
Total liabilities | |||||||
Commitments and contingencies (notes 6, 9, 11 and 16) | |||||||
Equity (note 12): | |||||||
Liberty Global shareholders: | |||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.01 nominal value. Issued and outstanding 180,998,492 shares and 181,560,735 shares, respectively | |||||||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.01 nominal value. Issued and outstanding 12,561,444 shares and 12,151,526 shares, respectively | |||||||
Class C ordinary shares, $0.01 nominal value. Issued and outstanding 390,198,924 shares and 438,867,447 shares, respectively | |||||||
Additional paid-in capital | |||||||
Accumulated earnings | |||||||
Accumulated other comprehensive earnings, net of taxes | |||||||
Treasury shares, at cost | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Total Liberty Global shareholders | |||||||
Noncontrolling interests | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Total equity | |||||||
Total liabilities and equity | $ | $ |
Three months ended | Nine months ended | ||||||||||||||
September 30, | September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions, except per share amounts | |||||||||||||||
Revenue (notes 3, 4, 5 and 17) | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Operating costs and expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization, shown separately below): | |||||||||||||||
Programming and other direct costs of services | |||||||||||||||
Other operating (note 13) | |||||||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) (note 13) | |||||||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | |||||||||||||||
Impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net (note 14) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Operating income | |||||||||||||||
Non-operating income (expense): | |||||||||||||||
Interest expense | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net (note 6) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Foreign currency transaction gains (losses), net | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) due to changes in fair values of certain investments and debt, net (notes 5, 7 and 9) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
Losses on debt extinguishment, net (note 9) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Share of results of affiliates, net (note 5) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Other income, net | |||||||||||||||
( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
Income tax benefit (note 11) | |||||||||||||||
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
Discontinued operations (note 4): | |||||||||||||||
Earnings from discontinued operations, net of taxes | |||||||||||||||
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations, net of taxes | |||||||||||||||
Net earnings (loss) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Liberty Global shareholders | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
Basic and diluted earnings (loss) from continuing operations attributable to Liberty Global shareholders per share (note 15) | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
Three months ended | Nine months ended | ||||||||||||||
September 30, | September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Net earnings (loss) | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
Other comprehensive earnings (loss), net of taxes: | |||||||||||||||
Continuing operations: | |||||||||||||||
Foreign currency translation adjustments | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Pension-related adjustments and other | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Other comprehensive earnings (loss) from continuing operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Other comprehensive earnings from discontinued operations (note 4) | |||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive earnings (loss) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Comprehensive earnings | |||||||||||||||
Comprehensive earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Comprehensive earnings attributable to Liberty Global shareholders | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Liberty Global shareholders | Non-controlling interests | Total equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ordinary shares | Additional paid-in capital | Accumulated earnings (deficit) | Accumulated other comprehensive earnings (loss), net of taxes | Treasury shares, at cost | Total Liberty Global shareholders | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Class C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at January 1, 2019, before effect of accounting change | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Impact of ASU No. 2016-02, Leases | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at January 1, 2019, as adjusted for accounting change | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net earnings | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive loss, net of taxes | — | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchases and cancellations of Liberty Global ordinary shares | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchases by Telenet of its outstanding shares | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation (note 13) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjustments due to changes in subsidiaries’ equity and other, net | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at March 31, 2019 | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net earnings | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive loss, net of taxes | — | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchases and cancellations of Liberty Global ordinary shares | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation (note 13) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchases by Telenet of its outstanding shares | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjustments due to changes in subsidiaries’ equity and other, net | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at June 30, 2019 | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net earnings | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive loss, net of taxes | — | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchases and cancellations of Liberty Global ordinary shares | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation (note 13) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjustments due to changes in subsidiaries’ equity and other, net | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at September 30, 2019 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ |
Liberty Global shareholders | Non-controlling interests | Total equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ordinary shares | Additional paid-in capital | Accumulated earnings | Accumulated other comprehensive earnings, net of taxes | Treasury shares, at cost | Total Liberty Global shareholders | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Class C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at January 1, 2020, before effect of accounting change | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Impact of ASU No. 2016-13 (note 2) | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at January 1, 2020, as adjusted for accounting change | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net earnings | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive loss, net of taxes | — | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchases and cancellations of Liberty Global ordinary shares (note 12) | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation (note 13) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchases by Telenet of its outstanding shares | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjustments due to changes in subsidiaries’ equity and other, net | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at March 31, 2020 | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive earnings, net of taxes | — | — | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchases and cancellations of Liberty Global ordinary shares (note 12) | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation (note 13) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjustments due to changes in subsidiaries’ equity and other, net | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at June 30, 2020 | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive earnings, net of taxes | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchases and cancellations of Liberty Global ordinary shares (note 12) | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | — | — | — | ( | ) | — | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation (note 13) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjustments due to changes in subsidiaries’ equity and other, net | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at September 30, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ |
Nine months ended | |||||||
September 30, | |||||||
2020 | 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
Cash flows from operating activities: | |||||||
Net earnings (loss) | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||
Earnings from discontinued operations | |||||||
Loss from continuing operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Adjustments to reconcile loss from continuing operations to net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations: | |||||||
Share-based compensation expense | |||||||
Depreciation and amortization | |||||||
Impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net | |||||||
Amortization of deferred financing costs and non-cash interest | |||||||
Realized and unrealized gains on derivative instruments, net | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Foreign currency transaction losses (gains), net | ( | ) | |||||
Realized and unrealized losses due to changes in fair values of certain investments and debt, net | |||||||
Losses on debt extinguishment, net | |||||||
Share of results of affiliates, net | |||||||
Deferred income tax benefit | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of the effects of acquisitions and dispositions | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Dividends from affiliates and others | |||||||
Net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations | |||||||
Net cash provided by operating activities of discontinued operations | |||||||
Net cash provided by operating activities | |||||||
Cash flows from investing activities: | |||||||
Cash paid for investments | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Cash received from sale of investments | |||||||
Capital expenditures, net | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Cash released from (used to fund) the Vodafone Escrow Accounts, net | ( | ) | |||||
Proceeds received upon disposition of discontinued operations, net | |||||||
Other investing activities, net | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Net cash provided (used) by investing activities of continuing operations | ( | ) | |||||
Net cash used by investing activities of discontinued operations | ( | ) | |||||
Net cash provided (used) by investing activities | $ | ( | ) | $ |
Nine months ended | |||||||
September 30, | |||||||
2020 | 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
Cash flows from financing activities: | |||||||
Borrowings of debt | $ | $ | |||||
Repayments and repurchases of debt and finance lease obligations | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Repurchases of Liberty Global ordinary shares | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Payment of financing costs and debt premiums | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Net cash received related to derivative instruments | |||||||
Repurchases by Telenet of its outstanding shares | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Other financing activities, net | ( | ) | |||||
Net cash provided (used) by financing activities of continuing operations | ( | ) | |||||
Net cash used by financing activities of discontinued operations | ( | ) | |||||
Net cash provided (used) by financing activities | ( | ) | |||||
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash: | |||||||
Continuing operations | ( | ) | |||||
Discontinued operations | ( | ) | |||||
Total | ( | ) | |||||
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash: | |||||||
Continuing operations | ( | ) | |||||
Discontinued operations | |||||||
Total | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash: | |||||||
Beginning of period | $ | $ | |||||
Net increase (decrease) | ( | ) | |||||
End of period | $ | $ | |||||
Cash paid for interest: | |||||||
Continuing operations | $ | $ | |||||
Discontinued operations | |||||||
Total | $ | $ | |||||
Net cash paid for taxes: | |||||||
Continuing operations | $ | $ | |||||
Discontinued operations | |||||||
Total | $ | $ | |||||
Details of end of period cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash: | |||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | |||||
Restricted cash included in assets held for sale | |||||||
Restricted cash included in other current assets and other assets, net | |||||||
Total cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash | $ | $ |
Assets: | |||
Current assets (a) | $ | ||
Property and equipment, net | |||
Goodwill | |||
Other assets, net | |||
Total assets | $ | ||
Liabilities: | |||
Current portion of debt and finance lease obligations | $ | ||
Other accrued and current liabilities | |||
Long-term debt and finance lease obligations | |||
Other long-term liabilities | |||
Total liabilities | $ |
(a) | Amount includes restricted cash, but excludes cash and cash equivalents, as the cash and cash equivalents of the U.K. JV Entities will be retained by Liberty Global upon the formation of the U.K. JV and are therefore not classified as held for sale. |
Vodafone Disposal Group (a) | |||
in millions, except per share amount | |||
Three months ended September 30, 2019 | |||
Revenue | $ | ||
Operating income | $ | ||
Earnings before income taxes | $ | ||
Income tax expense | ( | ) | |
Net earnings attributable to Liberty Global shareholders | $ | ||
Basic and diluted earnings from discontinued operations attributable to Liberty Global shareholders per share | $ |
(a) | Includes the operating results of the Vodafone Disposal Group through July 31, 2019, the date the Vodafone Disposal Group was sold. |
Vodafone Disposal Group (a) | UPC DTH (b) | Total | |||||||||
in millions, except per share amount | |||||||||||
Nine months ended September 30, 2019 | |||||||||||
Revenue | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||
Operating income | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||
Earnings before income taxes | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||
Income tax expense | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Net earnings attributable to Liberty Global shareholders | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||
Basic and diluted earnings from discontinued operations attributable to Liberty Global shareholders per share | $ |
(a) | Includes the operating results of the Vodafone Disposal Group through July 31, 2019, the date the Vodafone Disposal Group was sold. |
(b) | Includes the operating results of UPC DTH through May 2, 2019, the date UPC DTH was sold. |
Accounting Method | September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||
in millions | ||||||||
Equity (a): | ||||||||
Long-term: | ||||||||
VodafoneZiggo JV (b) | $ | $ | ||||||
All3Media Group (All3Media) | ||||||||
Formula E Holdings Ltd (Formula E) | ||||||||
Other | ||||||||
Total — equity | ||||||||
Fair value: | ||||||||
Short-term: | ||||||||
Separately-managed accounts (SMAs) (c) | ||||||||
Long-term: | ||||||||
SMAs (c) | ||||||||
ITV plc (ITV) — subject to re-use rights (d) | ||||||||
ITI Neovision S.A. (ITI Neovision) | ||||||||
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (Lionsgate) (e) | ||||||||
Other (f) | ||||||||
Total — fair value | ||||||||
Total investments (g) | $ | $ | ||||||
Short-term investments | $ | $ | ||||||
Long-term investments | $ | $ |
(a) | Our equity method investments are originally recorded at cost and are adjusted to recognize our share of net earnings or losses of the affiliates as they occur rather than as dividends or other distributions are received, with our recognition of losses generally limited to the extent of our investment in, and advances and commitments to, the investee. At September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the aggregate carrying amounts of our equity method investments exceeded our proportionate share of the respective investee’s net assets by $ |
(b) | Amounts include certain notes receivable due from a subsidiary of the VodafoneZiggo JV to a subsidiary of Liberty Global comprising (i) a euro-denominated note receivable with a principal amount of $ |
(c) | Represents investments held under SMAs, which are maintained by investment managers acting as agents on our behalf. We classify, measure and report these investments, the composition of which may change from time to time, based on the underlying nature and characteristics of each security held under the SMAs. As of September 30, 2020, all of our investments held under SMAs were classified as available-for-sale debt securities, as further described under Fair Value Investments — Debt Securities below. |
(d) | In connection with our investment in ITV, we entered into a share collar (the ITV Collar) with respect to the ITV shares held by our company. The aggregate purchase price paid to acquire our investment in ITV was financed through borrowings under a secured borrowing agreement (the ITV Collar Loan). We may elect to use cash or the collective value of the related shares and equity-related derivative instrument to settle the ITV Collar Loan. During the third quarter of 2020, we cash settled a portion of the ITV Collar Loan and unwound the associated portion of the ITV Collar. As of September 30, 2020, (i) certain of the ITV shares our company holds remain subject to the ITV Collar and are pledged as collateral under the ITV Collar Loan and (ii) the fair value of the ITV Collar was a net asset of $ |
(e) | In connection with our investment in Lionsgate, we previously entered into (i) the Lionsgate Forward (as defined in note 6) and (ii) a related borrowing agreement (the Lionsgate Loan), each of which were fully settled during the third quarter of 2020, as further described in note 6. |
(f) | As of September 30, 2020, we hold a $ |
(g) | The purchase and sale of investments are presented on a gross basis in our statement of cash flows, including those made by investment managers acting as agents on our behalf. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
ITV | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||||
Lionsgate | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
SMAs | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
ITI Neovision | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Other, net | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Total | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
Amortized cost basis | Unrealized gains | Fair value | |||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||
Government bonds | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||
Corporate debt securities | |||||||||||
Commercial paper | |||||||||||
Certificates of deposit | |||||||||||
Other debt securities | |||||||||||
Total debt securities | $ | $ | $ |
Due in one year or less | $ | ||
Due in one to five years | |||
Due in five to ten years | |||
Total (a) | $ |
(a) | The weighted average life of our total debt securities was |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
All3Media | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||
VodafoneZiggo JV (a) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Formula E | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
Other | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Total | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
(a) | Amounts include the net effect of (i) |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Revenue | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Loss before income taxes | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||
Net loss | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Current | Long-term | Total | Current | Long-term | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Assets (a): | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts (b) | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||
Equity-related derivative instruments (c) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Foreign currency forward and option contracts | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Other | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||
Liabilities (a): | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts (b) | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||
Foreign currency forward and option contracts | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Other | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ |
(a) | Our current derivative liabilities, long-term derivative assets and long-term derivative liabilities are included in other current and accrued liabilities, other assets, net, and other long-term liabilities, respectively, on our condensed consolidated balance sheets. |
(b) | We consider credit risk relating to our and our counterparties’ nonperformance in the fair value assessment of our derivative instruments. In all cases, the adjustments take into account offsetting liability or asset positions within each of our subsidiary borrowing groups (as defined and described in note 9). The changes in the credit risk valuation adjustments associated with our cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts resulted in a net gain (loss) of $ |
(c) | Our equity-related derivative instruments primarily include the ITV Collar and, as of December 31, 2019, the Lionsgate Forward, as defined and described below. The fair value of the ITV Collar does not include credit risk valuation adjustments as we assume that any losses incurred by our company in the event of nonperformance by the respective counterparty would be, subject to relevant insolvency laws, fully offset against amounts we owe to such counterparty pursuant to the related secured borrowing arrangement. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
Equity-related derivative instruments: | |||||||||||||||
ITV Collar | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Lionsgate Forward | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Other | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Total equity-related derivative instruments | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Foreign currency forward and option contracts | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Other | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
Total | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | $ |
Nine months ended September 30, | |||||||
2020 | 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
Operating activities | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |
Investing activities | ( | ) | |||||
Financing activities | |||||||
Total | $ | ( | ) | $ |
Notional amount due from counterparty | Notional amount due to counterparty | Weighted average remaining life | |||||||||
in millions | in years | ||||||||||
UPC Holding | $ | € | |||||||||
$ | CHF | (a) | |||||||||
€ | CHF | (a) | |||||||||
€ | PLN | ||||||||||
CHF | € | ||||||||||
Telenet | $ | € | (a) | ||||||||
€ | $ | (b) |
(a) | Includes certain derivative instruments that are “forward-starting,” such that the initial exchange occurs at a date subsequent to September 30, 2020. These instruments are typically entered into in order to extend existing hedges without the need to amend existing contracts. |
(b) | Includes certain derivative instruments that do not involve the exchange of notional amounts at the inception and maturity of the instruments. Accordingly, the only cash flows associated with these derivative instruments are coupon-related payments and receipts. At September 30, 2020, the total U.S. dollar equivalent of the notional amount of these derivative instruments was $ |
Pays fixed rate | Receives fixed rate | |||||||||||||
Notional amount | Weighted average remaining life | Notional amount | Weighted average remaining life | |||||||||||
in millions | in years | in millions | in years | |||||||||||
UPC Holding | $ | (a) | $ | |||||||||||
Telenet | $ | (a) | $ | |||||||||||
Other | $ | $ | — | — |
(a) | Includes forward-starting derivative instruments. |
Notional amount due from counterparty | Weighted average remaining life | |||||
in millions | in years | |||||
UPC Holding | $ | |||||
Telenet | $ | |||||
Other | $ |
Increase to borrowing costs at September 30, 2020 (a) | |||
UPC Holding | % | ||
Telenet | % | ||
Total increase to borrowing costs | % |
(a) | Represents the effect of derivative instruments in effect at September 30, 2020 and does not include forward-starting derivative instruments. |
Fair value measurements at September 30, 2020 using: | ||||||||||||||||
Description | September 30, 2020 | Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1) | Significant other observable inputs (Level 2) | Significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) | ||||||||||||
in millions | ||||||||||||||||
Assets: | ||||||||||||||||
Derivative instruments: | ||||||||||||||||
Cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
Equity-related derivative instruments | ||||||||||||||||
Foreign currency forward and option contracts | ||||||||||||||||
Other | ||||||||||||||||
Total derivative instruments | ||||||||||||||||
Investments: | ||||||||||||||||
SMAs | ||||||||||||||||
Other investments | ||||||||||||||||
Total investments | ||||||||||||||||
Total assets | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
Derivative instruments: | ||||||||||||||||
Cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
Foreign currency forward and option contracts | ||||||||||||||||
Other | ||||||||||||||||
Total liabilities | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Fair value measurements at December 31, 2019 using: | ||||||||||||||||
Description | December 31, 2019 | Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1) | Significant other observable inputs (Level 2) | Significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) | ||||||||||||
in millions | ||||||||||||||||
Assets: | ||||||||||||||||
Derivative instruments: | ||||||||||||||||
Cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
Equity-related derivative instruments | ||||||||||||||||
Foreign currency forward and option contracts | ||||||||||||||||
Other | ||||||||||||||||
Total derivative instruments | ||||||||||||||||
Investments | ||||||||||||||||
Total assets | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
Derivative instruments: | ||||||||||||||||
Cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
Foreign currency forward and option contracts | ||||||||||||||||
Total derivative instruments | ||||||||||||||||
Debt | ||||||||||||||||
Total liabilities | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Investments | Cross-currency, interest rate and foreign currency derivative contracts | Equity-related derivative instruments | Total | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Balance of net assets (liabilities) at January 1, 2020 | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | |||||||||
Gains included in loss from continuing operations (a): | |||||||||||||||
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Realized and unrealized gains due to changes in fair values of certain investments and debt, net | |||||||||||||||
Partial settlement of ITV collar (b) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Settlement of Lionsgate Forward (c) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Additions | |||||||||||||||
Reclassification of liability to held for sale (d) | |||||||||||||||
Transfers out of Level 3 | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other, net | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Balance of net assets (liabilities) at September 30, 2020 | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ |
(a) | Most of these net gains relate to assets and liabilities that we continue to carry on our condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2020. |
(b) | For additional information regarding the ITV Collar, see note 5. |
(c) | For additional information regarding the Lionsgate Forward, see note 6. |
(d) | Represents the reclassification of the derivative liabilities associated with the U.K. JV Entities as of September 30, 2020 to liabilities associated with assets held for sale. For information regarding the held-for-sale presentation of the U.K. JV Entities, see note 4. |
September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
Distribution systems | $ | $ | |||||
Customer premises equipment | |||||||
Support equipment, buildings and land | |||||||
Total property and equipment, gross | |||||||
Accumulated depreciation | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Total property and equipment, net | $ | $ |
January 1, 2020 | Acquisitions and related adjustments | Reclassification to assets held for sale (a) | Foreign currency translation adjustments and other | September 30, 2020 | |||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||
Switzerland | |||||||||||||||||||
Belgium | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ |
(a) | Represents goodwill of the U.K. JV Entities. For additional information regarding the held-for-sale presentation of the U.K. JV Entities, see note 4. |
September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Gross carrying amount | Accumulated amortization | Net carrying amount | Gross carrying amount | Accumulated amortization | Net carrying amount | ||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Customer relationships | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||
Other | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ |
September 30, 2020 | Principal amount | |||||||||||||||||
Weighted average interest rate (a) | Unused borrowing capacity (b) | |||||||||||||||||
Borrowing currency | U.S. $ equivalent | September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||
in millions | ||||||||||||||||||
Telenet Credit Facility (c) | % | € | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||
Telenet Senior Secured Notes | % | |||||||||||||||||
UPCB SPE Notes | % | |||||||||||||||||
UPC Holding Bank Facility (d) | % | € | ||||||||||||||||
UPC Holding Senior Notes | % | |||||||||||||||||
Vendor financing (e)(f) | % | |||||||||||||||||
ITV Collar Loan | % | |||||||||||||||||
Virgin Media debt (g) | (f) | (f) | (f) | |||||||||||||||
Other (f)(h) | % | |||||||||||||||||
Total debt before deferred financing costs, discounts and premiums (i) | % | $ | $ | $ |
September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||
in millions | ||||||||||||||||
Total debt before deferred financing costs, discounts and premiums | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
Deferred financing costs, discounts and premiums, net | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||
Total carrying amount of debt | ||||||||||||||||
Finance lease obligations (f) (note 10) | ||||||||||||||||
Total debt and finance lease obligations | ||||||||||||||||
Current maturities of debt and finance lease obligations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||
Long-term debt and finance lease obligations | $ | $ |
(a) | Represents the weighted average interest rate in effect at September 30, 2020 for all borrowings outstanding (excluding those of the U.K. JV Entities) pursuant to each debt instrument, including any applicable margin. The interest rates presented represent stated rates and do not include the impact of derivative instruments, deferred financing costs, original issue premiums or discounts and commitment fees, all of which affect our overall cost of borrowing. Including the effects of derivative instruments, original issue premiums or discounts and commitment fees, but excluding the impact of deferred financing costs, our weighted average interest rate on our aggregate variable- and fixed-rate indebtedness was |
(b) | Unused borrowing capacity represents the maximum availability under the applicable facility at September 30, 2020 without regard to covenant compliance calculations or other conditions precedent to borrowing. At September 30, 2020, based on the most restrictive applicable leverage covenants, the full amount of unused borrowing capacity was available to be borrowed under each of the respective subsidiary facilities, and based on the most restrictive applicable leverage-based restricted payment tests, there were no restrictions on the respective subsidiary's ability to make loans or distributions from this availability to Liberty Global or its subsidiaries or other equity holders. Upon completion of the relevant September 30, 2020 compliance reporting requirements, we expect the full amount of unused borrowing capacity will continue to be available under each of the respective subsidiary facilities, with no additional restriction to loan or distribute. Our above expectations do not consider any actual or potential changes to our borrowing levels or any amounts loaned or distributed subsequent to September 30, 2020, or the impact of additional amounts that may be available to borrow, loan or distribute under certain defined baskets within each respective facility. |
(c) | Unused borrowing capacity under the Telenet Credit Facility comprises (i) € |
(d) | Unused borrowing capacity under the UPC Holding Bank Facility relates to € |
(e) | Represents amounts owed to various creditors pursuant to interest-bearing vendor financing arrangements that are used to finance certain of our property and equipment additions and operating expenses. These arrangements extend our repayment terms beyond a vendor’s original due dates (e.g. extension beyond a vendor’s customary payment terms, which are generally 90 days or less) and as such are classified outside of accounts payable on our condensed consolidated balance sheet. These |
(f) | In connection with the pending formation of the U.K. JV, the outstanding third-party debt of the U.K. JV Entities has been classified as liabilities associated with assets held for sale on our September 30, 2020 condensed consolidated balance sheet. For information regarding the pending formation of the U.K. JV and the held-for-sale presentation of the U.K. JV Entities, see note 4. |
(g) | The December 31, 2019 amount includes $ |
(h) | The December 31, 2019 amount includes $ |
(i) | As of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, our debt had an estimated fair value of $ |
UPC Holding (a) | Telenet | Other (b) | Total | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Year ending December 31: | |||||||||||||||
2020 (remainder of year) | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
2021 | |||||||||||||||
2022 | |||||||||||||||
2023 | |||||||||||||||
2024 | |||||||||||||||
2025 | |||||||||||||||
Thereafter | |||||||||||||||
Total debt maturities (c) | |||||||||||||||
Deferred financing costs, discounts and premiums, net | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Total debt | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Current portion | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Noncurrent portion | $ | $ | $ | $ |
(a) | Amounts include certain senior secured notes issued by special purpose financing entities that are consolidated by UPC Holding and Liberty Global. |
(b) | Amounts include $ |
(c) | Amounts include vendor financing obligations of $ |
UPC Holding | Telenet | Other | Total | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Year ending December 31: | |||||||||||||||
2020 (remainder of year) | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
2021 | |||||||||||||||
2022 | |||||||||||||||
2023 | |||||||||||||||
2024 | |||||||||||||||
2025 | |||||||||||||||
Total vendor financing maturities | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Current portion | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Noncurrent portion | $ | $ | $ | $ |
September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
ROU assets: | |||||||
Finance leases (a) | $ | $ | |||||
Operating leases (b) | |||||||
Total ROU assets | $ | $ | |||||
Lease liabilities: | |||||||
Finance leases (c) | $ | $ | |||||
Operating leases (d) | |||||||
Total lease liabilities | $ | $ |
(a) | Our finance lease ROU assets are included in property and equipment, net, on our condensed consolidated balance sheets. At September 30, 2020, the weighted average remaining lease term for finance leases was |
(b) | Our operating lease ROU assets are included in other assets, net, on our condensed consolidated balance sheets. At September 30, 2020, the weighted average remaining lease term for operating leases was |
(c) | The current and long-term portions of our finance lease liabilities are included within current portion of debt and finance lease liabilities and long-term debt and finance lease liabilities, respectively, on our condensed consolidated balance sheets. |
(d) | The current and long-term portions of our operating lease liabilities are included within other accrued and current liabilities and other long-term liabilities, respectively, on our condensed consolidated balance sheets. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Finance lease expense: | |||||||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Interest expense | |||||||||||||||
Total finance lease expense | |||||||||||||||
Operating lease expense (a) | |||||||||||||||
Short-term lease expense (a) | |||||||||||||||
Variable lease expense (b) | |||||||||||||||
Total lease expense | $ | $ | $ | $ |
(a) | Our operating lease expense and short-term lease expense are included in other operating expenses, SG&A expenses and impairment, restructuring and other operating items in our condensed consolidated statements of operations. |
(b) | Variable lease expense represents payments made to a lessor during the lease term that vary because of a change in circumstance that occurred after the lease commencement date. Variable lease payments are expensed as incurred and are included in other operating expenses in our condensed consolidated statements of operations. |
Nine months ended September 30, | |||||||
2020 | 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities: | |||||||
Operating cash outflows from operating leases | $ | $ | |||||
Operating cash outflows from finance leases | |||||||
Financing cash outflows from finance leases | |||||||
Total cash outflows from operating and finance leases | $ | $ |
Operating leases | Finance leases | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
Year ending December 31: | |||||||
2020 (remainder of year) | $ | $ | |||||
2021 | |||||||
2022 | |||||||
2023 | |||||||
2024 | |||||||
2025 | |||||||
Thereafter | |||||||
Total payments | |||||||
Less: present value discount | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Present value of lease payments | $ | $ | |||||
Current portion | $ | $ | |||||
Noncurrent portion | $ | $ |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Computed “expected” tax benefit (expense) (a) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | |||||||||
Enacted tax law and rate changes (b) | |||||||||||||||
Change in valuation allowances | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Recognition of previously unrecognized tax benefits | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Non-deductible or non-taxable foreign currency exchange results | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Tax benefit associated with technology innovation (c) | |||||||||||||||
Basis and other differences in the treatment of items associated with investments in subsidiaries and affiliates (d) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Non-deductible or non-taxable interest and other items | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
International rate differences (e) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
Other, net | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Total income tax benefit | $ | $ | $ | $ |
(a) | The statutory or “expected” tax rate is the U.K. rate of 19.0%. |
(b) | On July 22, 2020, legislation was enacted in the U.K. to maintain the corporate income tax rate at 19.0%, reversing previous legislation that had reduced the U.K. rate to 17.0% from April 1, 2020. The impact of this rate change on our deferred balances was recorded during the third quarter of 2020. |
(c) | Amount reflects the recognition of the innovation income tax deduction in Belgium, including the one-time effect of deductions related to prior periods. |
(d) | These amounts reflect the net impact of differences in the treatment of income and loss items between financial reporting and tax accounting related to investments in subsidiaries and affiliates including the effects of foreign earnings. |
(e) | Amounts reflect adjustments (either a benefit or expense) to the “expected” tax benefit (expense) for statutory rates in jurisdictions in which we operate outside of the U.K. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Liberty Global: | |||||||||||||||
Performance-based incentive awards (a) | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Non-performance based incentive awards (b) | |||||||||||||||
Other (c) | |||||||||||||||
Total Liberty Global | |||||||||||||||
Other | |||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Included in: | |||||||||||||||
Other operating expense | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
SG&A expense | |||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ |
(a) | Includes share-based compensation expense related to (i) performance-based restricted share units (PSUs), (ii) a challenge performance award plan for certain executive officers and key employees (the 2019 Challenge Performance Awards), which included performance-based share appreciation rights (PSARs) and PSUs granted in March 2019, and (iii) the performance-based portion of a performance award granted to our Chief Executive Officer in May 2019 (the 2019 CEO Performance Award). |
(b) | In 2019, we changed our policy to provide that all new equity grants would have ten-year contractual terms in order to more closely align with common market practice. In April 2020, the compensation committee of our board of directors approved the extension of the expiration dates of outstanding share appreciation rights (SARs) and director options granted in 2013 from a seven-year term to a ten-year term in order to align with this new policy. Accordingly, the Black-Scholes fair values of the outstanding awards increased, resulting in the recognition of an aggregate incremental share-based compensation expense of $ |
(c) | Represents annual incentive compensation and defined contribution plan liabilities that have been or are expected to be settled with Liberty Global ordinary shares. In the case of the annual incentive compensation, shares have been or will be issued to senior management and key employees pursuant to a shareholding incentive program. The shareholding incentive program allows these employees to elect to receive up to |
Class A | Class C | ||||||||||||
Gross number of shares underlying option, SAR and PSAR awards (a) | Weighted Average exercise or base price | Gross number of shares underlying option, SAR and PSAR awards (a) | Weighted Average exercise or base price | ||||||||||
Held by Liberty Global employees: | |||||||||||||
Outstanding | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Exercisable | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Held by former Liberty Global employees (b): | |||||||||||||
Outstanding | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Exercisable | $ | $ |
(a) | Amounts represent the gross number of shares associated with option, SAR and PSAR awards issued to our current and former employees and our directors. Our company settles SARs and PSARs on a net basis when exercised by the award holder, whereby the number of shares issued represents the excess value of the award based on the market price of the respective Liberty Global shares at the time of exercise relative to the award’s exercise price. In addition, the number of shares issued is further reduced by the amount of the employee’s required income tax withholding. |
(b) | Amounts represent certain share-based awards that continue to be held by former employees of Liberty Global subsequent to certain split-off or disposal transactions. Although we do not recognize share-based compensation expense with respect to these awards, any future exercises of these SARs and PSARs by such former employees will increase the number of our outstanding ordinary shares. |
Class A | Class B | Class C | ||||||
Held by Liberty Global employees: | ||||||||
RSUs | ||||||||
PSUs | ||||||||
Held by former Liberty Global employees (a): | ||||||||
RSUs | ||||||||
PSUs |
(a) | Amounts represent certain share-based awards that continue to be held by former employees of Liberty Global subsequent to certain split-off or disposal transactions. Although we do not recognize share-based compensation expense with respect to these awards, the future vesting of these RSUs and PSUs will increase the number of our outstanding ordinary shares. |
Employee severance and termination | Office closures | Contract termination | Total | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Restructuring liability as of January 1, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Restructuring charges | |||||||||||||||
Cash paid | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Reclassification to held for sale (a) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Restructuring liability as of September 30, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Current portion | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Noncurrent portion | |||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ |
(a) | Represents the reclassification of the restructuring liabilities associated with the U.K. JV Entities as of September 30, 2020 to liabilities associated with assets held for sale. For information regarding the held-for-sale presentation of the U.K. JV Entities, see note 4. |
Three months ended | Nine months ended | ||||||||||
September 30, | September 30, | ||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||
Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding (basic EPS computation) | |||||||||||
Incremental shares attributable to the assumed exercise of outstanding options and SARs and the release of RSUs and PSUs upon vesting (treasury stock method) | |||||||||||
Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding (diluted EPS computation) |
Payments due during: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Remainder of 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Thereafter | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Network and connectivity commitments | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Programming commitments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Purchase commitments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other commitments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
U.K. JV Entities | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) to Adjusted EBITDA: | |||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||
Switzerland | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Central and Corporate | |||||||||||||||
Total Liberty Global | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Revenue | |||||||||||||||
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Belgium | |||||||||||||||
Switzerland | |||||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | |||||||||||||||
Central and Corporate | |||||||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
VodafoneZiggo JV | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Adjusted EBITDA | |||||||||||||||
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 (a) | 2020 | 2019 (a) | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Belgium | |||||||||||||||
Switzerland | |||||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | |||||||||||||||
Central and Corporate | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Intersegment eliminations (b) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
VodafoneZiggo JV | $ | $ | $ | $ |
(a) | Amounts have been revised to reflect the retrospective impact of the Centrally-held Cost Allocation, as described above. |
(b) | Amounts for the 2019 periods are related to transactions between our continuing and discontinued operations prior to the disposal dates of such discontinued operations. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||||
Income tax benefit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Other income, net | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||
Share of results of affiliates, net | |||||||||||||||
Losses on debt extinguishment, net | |||||||||||||||
Realized and unrealized losses (gains) due to changes in fair values of certain investments and debt, net | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Foreign currency transaction losses (gains), net | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||
Realized and unrealized losses (gains) on derivative instruments, net | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||
Interest expense | |||||||||||||||
Operating income | |||||||||||||||
Impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net | ( | ) | |||||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | |||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation expense | |||||||||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Nine months ended September 30, | |||||||
2020 | 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | $ | |||||
Belgium | |||||||
Switzerland | |||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | |||||||
Central and Corporate (a) | |||||||
Total property and equipment additions | |||||||
Assets acquired under capital-related vendor financing arrangements | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Assets acquired under finance leases | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Changes in current liabilities related to capital expenditures | |||||||
Total capital expenditures, net | $ | $ | |||||
Capital expenditures, net: | |||||||
Third-party payments | $ | $ | |||||
Proceeds received for transfers to related parties (b) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||
Total capital expenditures, net | $ | $ | |||||
Property and equipment additions - VodafoneZiggo JV | $ | $ |
(a) | Includes (i) property and equipment additions representing centrally-owned assets that benefit our operating segments and (ii) the net impact of certain centrally-procured network equipment that is ultimately transferred to our operating segments. |
(b) | Primarily relates to transfers of centrally-procured property and equipment to the VodafoneZiggo JV and, for the 2019 period, our discontinued operations. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Residential revenue: | |||||||||||||||
Residential cable revenue (a): | |||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue (b): | |||||||||||||||
Broadband internet | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Video | |||||||||||||||
Fixed-line telephony | |||||||||||||||
Total subscription revenue | |||||||||||||||
Non-subscription revenue | |||||||||||||||
Total residential cable revenue | |||||||||||||||
Residential mobile revenue (c): | |||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue (b) | |||||||||||||||
Non-subscription revenue | |||||||||||||||
Total residential mobile revenue | |||||||||||||||
Total residential revenue | |||||||||||||||
B2B revenue (d): | |||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue | |||||||||||||||
Non-subscription revenue | |||||||||||||||
Total B2B revenue | |||||||||||||||
Other revenue (e) | |||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ |
(a) | Residential cable subscription revenue includes amounts received from subscribers for ongoing services and the recognition of deferred installation revenue over the associated contract period. Residential cable non-subscription revenue includes, among other items, channel carriage fees, late fees and revenue from the sale of equipment. |
(b) | Residential subscription revenue from subscribers who purchase bundled services at a discounted rate is generally allocated proportionally to each service based on the standalone price for each individual service. As a result, changes in the standalone pricing of our cable and mobile products or the composition of bundles can contribute to changes in our product revenue categories from period to period. |
(c) | Residential mobile subscription revenue includes amounts received from subscribers for ongoing services. Residential mobile non-subscription revenue includes, among other items, interconnect revenue and revenue from sales of mobile handsets and other devices. |
(d) | B2B subscription revenue represents revenue from services to certain small or home office (SOHO) subscribers. SOHO subscribers pay a premium price to receive expanded service levels along with broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony or mobile services that are the same or similar to the mass marketed products offered to our residential subscribers. B2B non-subscription revenue includes (i) revenue from business broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, mobile and data services offered to medium to large enterprises and, on a wholesale basis, to other operators and (ii) revenue from long-term leases of portions of our network. |
(e) | Other revenue includes, among other items, (i) revenue earned from transitional and other services provided to various third parties, (ii) revenue earned from the JV Services and the sale of customer premises equipment to the VodafoneZiggo JV and (iii) broadcasting revenue in Belgium and Ireland. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
U.K. | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Belgium | |||||||||||||||
Switzerland | |||||||||||||||
Ireland | |||||||||||||||
Poland | |||||||||||||||
Slovakia | |||||||||||||||
Other, including intersegment eliminations | |||||||||||||||
Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
VodafoneZiggo JV (the Netherlands) | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Item 2. | MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS |
• | Forward-looking Statements. This section provides a description of certain factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from anticipated results or events. |
• | Overview. This section provides a general description of our business and recent events. |
• | Material Changes in Results of Operations. This section provides an analysis of our results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019. |
• | Material Changes in Financial Condition. This section provides an analysis of our corporate and subsidiary liquidity, condensed consolidated statements of cash flows and contractual commitments. |
• | economic and business conditions and industry trends in the countries in which we or our affiliates operate; |
• | the competitive environment in the industries in the countries in which we or our affiliates operate, including competitor responses to our products and services; |
• | fluctuations in currency exchange rates and interest rates; |
• | instability in global financial markets, including sovereign debt issues and related fiscal reforms; |
• | consumer disposable income and spending levels, including the availability and amount of individual consumer debt; |
• | changes in consumer television viewing and broadband usage preferences and habits; |
• | consumer acceptance of our existing service offerings, including our cable television, broadband internet, fixed-line telephony, mobile and business service offerings, and of new technology, programming alternatives and other products and services that we may offer in the future; |
• | our ability to manage rapid technological changes; |
• | our ability to maintain or increase the number of subscriptions to our broadband internet, cable television, fixed-line telephony and mobile service offerings and our average revenue per household; |
• | our ability to provide satisfactory customer service, including support for new and evolving products and services; |
• | our ability to maintain or increase rates to our subscribers or to pass through increased costs to our subscribers; |
• | the impact of our future financial performance, or market conditions generally, on the availability, terms and deployment of capital; |
• | changes in, or failure or inability to comply with, government regulations in the countries in which we or our affiliates operate and adverse outcomes from regulatory proceedings; |
• | government intervention that requires opening our broadband distribution networks to competitors, such as the obligations imposed in Belgium; |
• | our ability to obtain regulatory approval and satisfy other conditions necessary to close acquisitions and dispositions and the impact of conditions imposed by competition and other regulatory authorities in connection with acquisitions; |
• | our ability to successfully acquire new businesses and, if acquired, to integrate, realize anticipated efficiencies from, and implement our business plan with respect to, the businesses we have acquired or that we expect to acquire; |
• | changes in laws or treaties relating to taxation, or the interpretation thereof, in the U.K., the U.S. or in other countries in which we or our affiliates operate; |
• | changes in laws and government regulations that may impact the availability and cost of capital and the derivative instruments that hedge certain of our financial risks; |
• | our ability to navigate the potential impacts on our business of the U.K.’s departure from the E.U.; |
• | the ability of suppliers and vendors (including our third-party wireless network providers under our MVNO arrangements) to timely deliver quality products, equipment, software, services and access; |
• | the availability of attractive programming for our video services and the costs associated with such programming, including retransmission and copyright fees payable to public and private broadcasters; |
• | uncertainties inherent in the development and integration of new business lines and business strategies; |
• | our ability to adequately forecast and plan future network requirements, including the costs and benefits associated with our network extension programs; |
• | the availability of capital for the acquisition and/or development of telecommunications networks and services; |
• | problems we may discover post-closing with the operations, including the internal controls and financial reporting process, of businesses we acquire; |
• | the leakage of sensitive customer data; |
• | the outcome of any pending or threatened litigation; |
• | the loss of key employees and the availability of qualified personnel; |
• | changes in the nature of key strategic relationships with partners and joint venturers; |
• | our equity capital structure; and |
• | events that are outside of our control, such as political unrest in international markets, terrorist attacks, malicious human acts, natural disasters, pandemics or epidemics (such as COVID-19) and other similar events. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations | $ | (973.6 | ) | $ | 587.2 | $ | (459.7 | ) | $ | (59.3 | ) | ||||
Income tax benefit | (161.2 | ) | (70.8 | ) | (239.1 | ) | (16.2 | ) | |||||||
Other income, net | (5.3 | ) | (36.3 | ) | (67.2 | ) | (75.3 | ) | |||||||
Share of results of affiliates, net | 27.1 | 32.8 | 99.1 | 173.0 | |||||||||||
Losses on debt extinguishment, net | 0.3 | 48.5 | 220.4 | 97.3 | |||||||||||
Realized and unrealized losses (gains) due to changes in fair values of certain investments and debt, net | 21.5 | (56.4 | ) | 399.0 | 90.5 | ||||||||||
Foreign currency transaction losses (gains), net | 755.7 | (54.2 | ) | 842.0 | (165.8 | ) | |||||||||
Realized and unrealized losses (gains) on derivative instruments, net | 717.8 | (582.1 | ) | (199.8 | ) | (652.2 | ) | ||||||||
Interest expense | 279.8 | 340.1 | 874.8 | 1,071.0 | |||||||||||
Operating income | 662.1 | 208.8 | 1,469.5 | 463.0 | |||||||||||
Impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net | (15.8 | ) | 36.0 | 47.4 | 140.1 | ||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 458.5 | 892.9 | 1,787.7 | 2,754.3 | |||||||||||
Share-based compensation expense | 104.4 | 74.0 | 243.4 | 228.3 | |||||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 1,209.2 | $ | 1,211.7 | $ | 3,548.0 | $ | 3,585.7 |
Three months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 1,669.5 | $ | 1,579.9 | $ | 89.6 | 5.7 | $ | 11.6 | 0.7 | |||||||||||
Belgium | 746.6 | 721.9 | 24.7 | 3.4 | (9.9 | ) | (1.3 | ) | |||||||||||||
Switzerland | 315.0 | 311.7 | 3.3 | 1.1 | (18.0 | ) | (5.8 | ) | |||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 124.2 | 117.2 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 3.8 | 3.2 | |||||||||||||||
Central and Corporate (a) | 101.9 | 110.5 | (8.6 | ) | (7.8 | ) | (20.9 | ) | (17.8 | ) | |||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations | (2.7 | ) | (0.3 | ) | (2.4 | ) | N.M. | (2.4 | ) | N.M. | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 2,954.5 | $ | 2,840.9 | $ | 113.6 | 4.0 | $ | (35.8 | ) | (1.3 | ) |
Nine months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 4,821.9 | $ | 4,885.2 | $ | (63.3 | ) | (1.3 | ) | $ | (57.5 | ) | (1.2 | ) | |||||||
Belgium | 2,147.2 | 2,147.0 | 0.2 | — | (38.9 | ) | (1.8 | ) | |||||||||||||
Switzerland | 930.9 | 942.7 | (11.8 | ) | (1.3 | ) | (53.8 | ) | (5.7 | ) | |||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 359.5 | 355.4 | 4.1 | 1.2 | 12.9 | 3.6 | |||||||||||||||
Central and Corporate (a) | 296.8 | 231.4 | 65.4 | 28.3 | (19.4 | ) | (6.2 | ) | |||||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations | (3.1 | ) | (2.4 | ) | (0.7 | ) | N.M. | (0.7 | ) | N.M. | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 8,553.2 | $ | 8,559.3 | $ | (6.1 | ) | (0.1 | ) | $ | (157.4 | ) | (1.8 | ) |
(a) | Amounts primarily include revenue earned from transition and other services provided to the VodafoneZiggo JV and various third parties and the sale of customer premises equipment to the VodafoneZiggo JV. For additional information, see notes 4 and 5 to our condensed consolidated financial statements. |
Three-month period | Nine-month period | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue | Non-subscription revenue | Total | Subscription revenue | Non-subscription revenue | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) in residential cable subscription revenue due to change in: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Average number of customers | $ | 3.2 | $ | — | $ | 3.2 | $ | (3.7 | ) | $ | — | $ | (3.7 | ) | |||||||||
ARPU (a) | (10.4 | ) | — | (10.4 | ) | (19.4 | ) | — | (19.4 | ) | |||||||||||||
Increase in residential cable non-subscription revenue (b) | — | 4.7 | 4.7 | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | |||||||||||||||||
Total increase (decrease) in residential cable revenue | (7.2 | ) | 4.7 | (2.5 | ) | (23.1 | ) | 1.0 | (22.1 | ) | |||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) in residential mobile revenue (c) | (0.7 | ) | 8.0 | 7.3 | 0.6 | (20.6 | ) | (20.0 | ) | ||||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) in B2B revenue (d) | 3.2 | 9.1 | 12.3 | 9.2 | (10.0 | ) | (0.8 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Decrease in other revenue (e) | — | (5.5 | ) | (5.5 | ) | — | (14.6 | ) | (14.6 | ) | |||||||||||||
Total organic increase (decrease) | (4.7 | ) | 16.3 | 11.6 | (13.3 | ) | (44.2 | ) | (57.5 | ) | |||||||||||||
Impact of FX | 60.7 | 17.3 | 78.0 | (5.3 | ) | (0.5 | ) | (5.8 | ) | ||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 56.0 | $ | 33.6 | $ | 89.6 | $ | (18.6 | ) | $ | (44.7 | ) | $ | (63.3 | ) |
(a) | The decreases in cable subscription revenue related to changes in ARPU were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, most notably with respect to video services, including, for the nine-month comparison, lower revenue of approximately $28 million associated with the loss of exclusive programming content, comprising (i) credits that were given to certain customers and (ii) the estimated impact of certain customers canceling their premium sports subscriptions. |
(b) | The increases in residential cable non-subscription revenue are primarily attributable to (i) lower revenue from late fees in the U.K., including, for the nine-month comparison, the impact of a temporary suspension of late payment charges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, (ii) increases in installation revenue, primarily in the U.K., and (iii) increases in early termination fees in the U.K. |
(c) | The changes in residential mobile non-subscription revenue are primarily attributable to the net effect of (i) an increase for the three-month comparison and a decrease for the nine-month comparison in revenue from mobile handset sales in the U.K. and (ii) lower interconnect and mobile roaming revenue driven by stay-at-home behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes in revenue from mobile handset sales in the U.K. include (a) the positive impact of $20.3 million of revenue recognized in the third quarter of 2020 in connection with the completion of the VM Receivables Financing Sale and (b) for the nine-month comparison, the adverse impact of retail store closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decrease in residential mobile non-subscription revenue for the nine-month comparison also includes the unfavorable impact of $5.3 million of revenue recognized during the second quarter of 2019 in connection with the sale of rights to future commission payments on customer handset insurance arrangements in the U.K. |
(d) | The increases in B2B subscription revenue are primarily due to increases in the average number of SOHO customers in the U.K. The changes in B2B non-subscription revenue are primarily attributable to our operations in the U.K., including the net effect of (i) decreases in lower margin revenue related to business network services, (ii) increases in revenue associated with long-term leases of a portion of our network and (iii) lower installation revenue. |
(e) | The decreases in other revenue are attributable to lower broadcasting revenue in Ireland, largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Three-month period | Nine-month period | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue | Non-subscription revenue | Total | Subscription revenue | Non-subscription revenue | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) in residential cable subscription revenue due to change in: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Average number of customers | $ | (9.3 | ) | $ | — | $ | (9.3 | ) | $ | (29.9 | ) | $ | — | $ | (29.9 | ) | |||||||
ARPU | 2.7 | — | 2.7 | 11.9 | — | 11.9 | |||||||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) in residential cable non-subscription revenue | — | 1.4 | 1.4 | — | (1.6 | ) | (1.6 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Total increase (decrease) in residential cable revenue | (6.6 | ) | 1.4 | (5.2 | ) | (18.0 | ) | (1.6 | ) | (19.6 | ) | ||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) in residential mobile revenue (a) | (0.3 | ) | (4.1 | ) | (4.4 | ) | 3.8 | (26.5 | ) | (22.7 | ) | ||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) in B2B revenue (b) | 3.6 | 0.1 | 3.7 | 21.0 | (11.9 | ) | 9.1 | ||||||||||||||||
Decrease in other revenue (c) | — | (4.0 | ) | (4.0 | ) | — | (5.7 | ) | (5.7 | ) | |||||||||||||
Total organic increase (decrease) | (3.3 | ) | (6.6 | ) | (9.9 | ) | 6.8 | (45.7 | ) | (38.9 | ) | ||||||||||||
Impact of acquisitions | — | — | — | — | 42.6 | 42.6 | |||||||||||||||||
Impact of dispositions | (1.8 | ) | (0.6 | ) | (2.4 | ) | (4.0 | ) | (1.3 | ) | (5.3 | ) | |||||||||||
Impact of FX | 26.9 | 10.1 | 37.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.8 | |||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 21.8 | $ | 2.9 | $ | 24.7 | $ | 3.5 | $ | (3.3 | ) | $ | 0.2 |
(a) | The decreases in residential mobile non-subscription revenue are primarily attributable to (i) lower interconnect and mobile roaming revenue, largely driven by stay-at-home behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (ii) for the nine-month comparison, a decrease in revenue from mobile handset sales, due in large part to the impact of retail store closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
(b) | The increases in B2B subscription revenue are primarily due to increases in the average number of SOHO customers. The decrease in B2B non-subscription revenue for the nine-month comparison is primarily attributable to lower interconnect revenue, due in part to stay-at-home behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
(c) | The decreases in other revenue are attributable to lower broadcasting revenue, due in part to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Three-month period | Nine-month period | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue | Non-subscription revenue | Total | Subscription revenue | Non-subscription revenue | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Decrease in residential cable subscription revenue due to change in: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Average number of customers | $ | (15.4 | ) | $ | — | $ | (15.4 | ) | $ | (46.7 | ) | $ | — | $ | (46.7 | ) | |||||||
ARPU | (2.1 | ) | — | (2.1 | ) | (14.5 | ) | — | (14.5 | ) | |||||||||||||
Decrease in residential cable non-subscription revenue (a) | — | (3.9 | ) | (3.9 | ) | — | (5.7 | ) | (5.7 | ) | |||||||||||||
Total decrease in residential cable revenue | (17.5 | ) | (3.9 | ) | (21.4 | ) | (61.2 | ) | (5.7 | ) | (66.9 | ) | |||||||||||
Increase in residential mobile revenue (b) | 4.5 | 0.7 | 5.2 | 12.1 | 2.8 | 14.9 | |||||||||||||||||
Decrease in B2B revenue | (0.2 | ) | (1.6 | ) | (1.8 | ) | (0.8 | ) | (1.0 | ) | (1.8 | ) | |||||||||||
Total organic decrease | (13.2 | ) | (4.8 | ) | (18.0 | ) | (49.9 | ) | (3.9 | ) | (53.8 | ) | |||||||||||
Impact of FX | 16.6 | 4.7 | 21.3 | 32.7 | 9.3 | 42.0 | |||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 3.4 | $ | (0.1 | ) | $ | 3.3 | $ | (17.2 | ) | $ | 5.4 | $ | (11.8 | ) |
(a) | The decreases in residential cable non-subscription are primarily attributable to (i) decreases in revenue associated with our Swiss sports channels and (ii) lower revenue from late fees. |
(b) | The increases in residential mobile subscription revenue are primarily due to increases in the average number of mobile subscribers. |
Three-month period | Nine-month period | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue | Non-subscription revenue | Total | Subscription revenue | Non-subscription revenue | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Increase in residential cable subscription revenue due to change in: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Average number of customers | $ | 1.4 | $ | — | $ | 1.4 | $ | 4.3 | $ | — | $ | 4.3 | |||||||||||
ARPU | 1.2 | — | 1.2 | 3.9 | — | 3.9 | |||||||||||||||||
Decrease in residential cable non-subscription revenue | — | (0.1 | ) | (0.1 | ) | — | (0.3 | ) | (0.3 | ) | |||||||||||||
Total increase (decrease) in residential cable revenue | 2.6 | (0.1 | ) | 2.5 | 8.2 | (0.3 | ) | 7.9 | |||||||||||||||
Increase in residential mobile revenue | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 1.8 | |||||||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) in B2B revenue | 1.2 | (0.4 | ) | 0.8 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 2.3 | ||||||||||||||||
Increase (decrease) in other revenue | — | (0.2 | ) | (0.2 | ) | — | 0.9 | 0.9 | |||||||||||||||
Total organic increase (decrease) | 4.2 | (0.4 | ) | 3.8 | 11.4 | 1.5 | 12.9 | ||||||||||||||||
Impact of FX | 3.2 | — | 3.2 | (8.5 | ) | (0.3 | ) | (8.8 | ) | ||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 7.4 | $ | (0.4 | ) | $ | 7.0 | $ | 2.9 | $ | 1.2 | $ | 4.1 |
Three months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 (a) | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 665.0 | $ | 657.8 | $ | 7.2 | 1.1 | $ | (23.7 | ) | (3.4 | ) | |||||||||
Belgium | 367.4 | 358.6 | 8.8 | 2.5 | (8.0 | ) | (2.2 | ) | |||||||||||||
Switzerland | 154.4 | 160.2 | (5.8 | ) | (3.6 | ) | (16.1 | ) | (9.9 | ) | |||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 54.0 | 54.6 | (0.6 | ) | (1.1 | ) | (2.1 | ) | (4.0 | ) | |||||||||||
Central and Corporate | (31.6 | ) | (19.2 | ) | (12.4 | ) | (64.6 | ) | (16.2 | ) | (115.7 | ) | |||||||||
Intersegment eliminations (b) | — | (0.3 | ) | 0.3 | N.M. | 0.3 | N.M. | ||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 1,209.2 | $ | 1,211.7 | $ | (2.5 | ) | (0.2 | ) | $ | (65.8 | ) | (5.4 | ) |
Nine months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 (a) | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 1,975.3 | $ | 2,037.5 | $ | (62.2 | ) | (3.1 | ) | $ | (58.8 | ) | (2.8 | ) | |||||||
Belgium | 1,053.1 | 1,047.0 | 6.1 | 0.6 | 16.2 | 1.6 | |||||||||||||||
Switzerland | 439.4 | 476.3 | (36.9 | ) | (7.7 | ) | (56.9 | ) | (11.9 | ) | |||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 161.0 | 162.4 | (1.4 | ) | (0.9 | ) | 2.5 | 1.6 | |||||||||||||
Central and Corporate | (80.8 | ) | (138.6 | ) | 57.8 | 41.7 | (22.2 | ) | (38.5 | ) | |||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations (b) | — | 1.1 | (1.1 | ) | N.M. | (1.1 | ) | N.M. | |||||||||||||
Total | $ | 3,548.0 | $ | 3,585.7 | $ | (37.7 | ) | (1.1 | ) | $ | (120.3 | ) | (3.3 | ) |
(a) | Amounts have been revised to reflect the retrospective impact of the Centrally-held Cost Allocation, as further described in note 17 to our condensed consolidated financial statements. |
(b) | Amounts for the 2019 periods are related to transactions between our continuing and discontinued operations prior to the disposal dates of such discontinued operations. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||
2020 | 2019 (a) | 2020 | 2019 (a) | ||||||||
U.K./Ireland | 39.8 | % | 41.6 | % | 41.0 | % | 41.7 | % | |||
Belgium | 49.2 | % | 49.7 | % | 49.0 | % | 48.8 | % | |||
Switzerland | 49.0 | % | 51.4 | % | 47.2 | % | 50.5 | % | |||
Central and Eastern Europe | 43.5 | % | 46.6 | % | 44.8 | % | 45.7 | % |
(a) | Amounts have been revised to reflect the retrospective impact of the Centrally-held Cost Allocation, as further described in note 17 to our condensed consolidated financial statements. |
Three months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
Residential revenue: | |||||||||||||||||||||
Residential cable revenue (a): | |||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue (b): | |||||||||||||||||||||
Broadband internet | $ | 822.8 | $ | 776.6 | $ | 46.2 | 5.9 | $ | 6.6 | 0.9 | |||||||||||
Video | 680.8 | 660.5 | 20.3 | 3.1 | (11.2 | ) | (1.7 | ) | |||||||||||||
Fixed-line telephony | 332.4 | 341.1 | (8.7 | ) | (2.6 | ) | (24.1 | ) | (7.1 | ) | |||||||||||
Total subscription revenue | 1,836.0 | 1,778.2 | 57.8 | 3.3 | (28.7 | ) | (1.6 | ) | |||||||||||||
Non-subscription revenue | 48.6 | 43.6 | 5.0 | 11.5 | 2.1 | 4.8 | |||||||||||||||
Total residential cable revenue | 1,884.6 | 1,821.8 | 62.8 | 3.4 | (26.6 | ) | (1.5 | ) | |||||||||||||
Residential mobile revenue (c): | |||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue (b) | 251.1 | 235.0 | 16.1 | 6.9 | 3.9 | 1.7 | |||||||||||||||
Non-subscription revenue | 179.6 | 166.0 | 13.6 | 8.2 | 4.7 | 2.8 | |||||||||||||||
Total residential mobile revenue | 430.7 | 401.0 | 29.7 | 7.4 | 8.6 | 2.1 | |||||||||||||||
Total residential revenue | 2,315.3 | 2,222.8 | 92.5 | 4.2 | (18.0 | ) | (0.8 | ) | |||||||||||||
B2B revenue (d): | |||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue | 134.5 | 119.8 | 14.7 | 12.3 | 7.8 | 6.5 | |||||||||||||||
Non-subscription revenue | 367.4 | 343.5 | 23.9 | 7.0 | 5.5 | 1.6 | |||||||||||||||
Total B2B revenue | 501.9 | 463.3 | 38.6 | 8.3 | 13.3 | 2.9 | |||||||||||||||
Other revenue (e) | 137.3 | 154.8 | (17.5 | ) | (11.3 | ) | (31.1 | ) | (19.2 | ) | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 2,954.5 | $ | 2,840.9 | $ | 113.6 | 4.0 | $ | (35.8 | ) | (1.3 | ) |
Nine months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
Residential revenue: | |||||||||||||||||||||
Residential cable revenue (a): | |||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue (b): | |||||||||||||||||||||
Broadband internet | $ | 2,400.6 | $ | 2,378.9 | $ | 21.7 | 0.9 | $ | 15.2 | 0.6 | |||||||||||
Video | 1,997.5 | 2,029.2 | (31.7 | ) | (1.6 | ) | (37.4 | ) | (1.8 | ) | |||||||||||
Fixed-line telephony | 998.9 | 1,070.3 | (71.4 | ) | (6.7 | ) | (71.9 | ) | (6.7 | ) | |||||||||||
Total subscription revenue | 5,397.0 | 5,478.4 | (81.4 | ) | (1.5 | ) | (94.1 | ) | (1.7 | ) | |||||||||||
Non-subscription revenue | 137.2 | 142.1 | (4.9 | ) | (3.4 | ) | (6.6 | ) | (4.7 | ) | |||||||||||
Total residential cable revenue | 5,534.2 | 5,620.5 | (86.3 | ) | (1.5 | ) | (100.7 | ) | (1.8 | ) | |||||||||||
Residential mobile revenue (c): | |||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue (b) | 714.3 | 694.4 | 19.9 | 2.9 | 17.6 | 2.5 | |||||||||||||||
Non-subscription revenue | 454.6 | 496.0 | (41.4 | ) | (8.3 | ) | (43.5 | ) | (8.8 | ) | |||||||||||
Total residential mobile revenue | 1,168.9 | 1,190.4 | (21.5 | ) | (1.8 | ) | (25.9 | ) | (2.2 | ) | |||||||||||
Total residential revenue | 6,703.1 | 6,810.9 | (107.8 | ) | (1.6 | ) | (126.6 | ) | (1.9 | ) | |||||||||||
B2B revenue (d): | |||||||||||||||||||||
Subscription revenue | 382.5 | 350.4 | 32.1 | 9.2 | 31.5 | 9.0 | |||||||||||||||
Non-subscription revenue | 1,055.1 | 1,072.7 | (17.6 | ) | (1.6 | ) | (22.3 | ) | (2.1 | ) | |||||||||||
Total B2B revenue | 1,437.6 | 1,423.1 | 14.5 | 1.0 | 9.2 | 0.6 | |||||||||||||||
Other revenue (e) | 412.5 | 325.3 | 87.2 | 26.8 | (40.0 | ) | (8.8 | ) | |||||||||||||
Total | $ | 8,553.2 | $ | 8,559.3 | $ | (6.1 | ) | (0.1 | ) | $ | (157.4 | ) | (1.8 | ) |
(a) | Residential cable subscription revenue includes amounts received from subscribers for ongoing services and the recognition of deferred installation revenue over the associated contract period. Residential cable non-subscription revenue includes, among other items, channel carriage fees, late fees and revenue from the sale of equipment. |
(b) | Residential subscription revenue from subscribers who purchase bundled services at a discounted rate is generally allocated proportionally to each service based on the standalone price for each individual service. As a result, changes in the standalone pricing of our cable and mobile products or the composition of bundles can contribute to changes in our product revenue categories from period to period. |
(c) | Residential mobile subscription revenue includes amounts received from subscribers for ongoing services. Residential mobile non-subscription revenue includes, among other items, interconnect revenue and revenue from sales of mobile handsets and other devices. Residential mobile interconnect revenue was $58.4 million and $61.7 million during the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and $166.9 million and $187.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. |
(d) | B2B subscription revenue represents revenue from SOHO subscribers. SOHO subscribers pay a premium price to receive expanded service levels along with broadband internet, video fixed-line telephony or mobile services that are the same or similar to the mass marketed products offered to our residential subscribers. A portion of the increase in our B2B subscription revenue is attributable to the conversion of certain residential subscribers to SOHO subscribers. B2B non-subscription revenue includes (i) revenue from business broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, mobile and data services offered to medium to large enterprises and, on a wholesale basis, to other operators and (ii) revenue from long-term leases of portions of our network. |
(e) | Other revenue includes, among other items, (i) revenue earned from transitional and other services provided to various third parties, (ii) revenue earned from the JV Services and the sale of customer premises equipment to the VodafoneZiggo JV and (iii) broadcasting revenue in Belgium and Ireland. |
Three-month period | Nine-month period | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
Decrease in residential cable subscription revenue due to change in: | |||||||
Average number of customers | $ | (14.4 | ) | $ | (59.0 | ) | |
ARPU | (14.3 | ) | (35.1 | ) | |||
Increase (decrease) in residential cable non-subscription revenue | 2.1 | (6.6 | ) | ||||
Total decrease in residential cable revenue | (26.6 | ) | (100.7 | ) | |||
Increase in residential mobile subscription revenue | 3.9 | 17.6 | |||||
Increase (decrease) in residential mobile non-subscription revenue | 4.7 | (43.5 | ) | ||||
Total organic decrease in residential revenue | (18.0 | ) | (126.6 | ) | |||
Impact of acquisitions and dispositions | (1.9 | ) | (4.9 | ) | |||
Impact of FX | 112.4 | 23.7 | |||||
Total increase (decrease) in residential revenue | $ | 92.5 | $ | (107.8 | ) |
Three months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | ||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | |||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | ||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 512.3 | $ | 500.6 | $ | 11.7 | 2.3 | $ | (12.2 | ) | (2.4 | ) | ||||||||
Belgium | 167.2 | 167.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | (7.9 | ) | (4.7 | ) | ||||||||||||
Switzerland | 63.9 | 61.5 | 2.4 | 3.9 | (1.9 | ) | (3.1 | ) | ||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 31.5 | 27.0 | 4.5 | 16.7 | 3.9 | 14.4 | ||||||||||||||
Central and Corporate | 46.0 | 45.5 | 0.5 | 1.1 | (6.3 | ) | (12.6 | ) | ||||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations | (0.6 | ) | 0.1 | (0.7 | ) | N.M. | (0.7 | ) | N.M. | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 820.3 | $ | 801.8 | $ | 18.5 | 2.3 | $ | (25.1 | ) | (3.1 | ) |
Nine months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 1,485.5 | $ | 1,525.0 | $ | (39.5 | ) | (2.6 | ) | $ | (38.2 | ) | (2.5 | ) | |||||||
Belgium | 498.5 | 500.5 | (2.0 | ) | (0.4 | ) | (34.4 | ) | (6.5 | ) | |||||||||||
Switzerland | 204.8 | 189.6 | 15.2 | 8.0 | 6.2 | 3.3 | |||||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 91.7 | 87.2 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 7.1 | 8.1 | |||||||||||||||
Central and Corporate | 111.6 | 86.7 | 24.9 | 28.7 | 17.5 | 18.8 | |||||||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations | (1.7 | ) | (0.5 | ) | (1.2 | ) | N.M. | (1.2 | ) | N.M. | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 2,390.4 | $ | 2,388.5 | $ | 1.9 | 0.1 | $ | (43.0 | ) | (1.8 | ) |
• | Decreases in programming and copyright costs of $15.0 million or 3.8% and $42.1 million or 3.4%, respectively, primarily due to decreases in U.K./Ireland and Switzerland attributable to certain premium and/or basic content. The decreases in U.K./Ireland are due to credits or rebates aggregating $17.2 million and $46.1 million, respectively, received in connection with the loss of exclusive programming content due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which generally offset the adverse revenue impacts in U.K./Ireland resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
• | Decreases in mobile handset and other device costs of $8.1 million or 8.9% and $20.9 million or 8.0%, respectively, primarily due to the net effect of (i) lower sales volumes in U.K./Ireland, largely due to temporary retail store closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (ii) a higher average cost per handset sold in U.K./Ireland; |
• | The impact of the classification of costs associated with the delivery of certain transitional services provided by Central and Corporate to various third parties in connection with our recent dispositions. Beginning on the effective dates of the underlying agreements, these costs became direct costs of services, which resulted in direct cost increases of $8.9 million and $19.9 million, respectively, that were fully offset by corresponding decreases, primarily in various other operating expenses within Central and Corporate; and |
• | Decreases in interconnect and access costs of $5.1 million or 2.4% and $4.5 million or 0.7%, respectively, primarily due to the net effect of (i) higher MVNO costs in Switzerland and U.K./Ireland and (ii) lower interconnect and mobile roaming costs. The lower interconnect and mobile roaming costs are primarily attributable to the net effect of (a) decreases in Belgium and (b) for the nine-month comparison, an increase in U.K./Ireland. Across all of our markets, interconnect and mobile roaming costs have been impacted by changes in mobile usage associated with factors such as lower travel and the use of WiFi alternatives during stay-at-home mandates or recommendations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Three months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 276.7 | $ | 220.0 | $ | 56.7 | 25.8 | $ | 43.7 | 19.9 | |||||||||||
Belgium | 115.0 | 95.8 | 19.2 | 20.0 | 14.1 | 14.8 | |||||||||||||||
Switzerland | 45.7 | 43.0 | 2.7 | 6.3 | (0.6 | ) | (1.4 | ) | |||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 18.1 | 17.5 | 0.6 | 3.4 | (0.4 | ) | (2.3 | ) | |||||||||||||
Central and Corporate | 15.0 | 21.9 | (6.9 | ) | (31.5 | ) | (6.1 | ) | (31.6 | ) | |||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations | (1.3 | ) | 0.4 | (1.7 | ) | N.M. | (1.7 | ) | N.M. | ||||||||||||
Total other operating expenses excluding share-based compensation expense | 469.2 | 398.6 | 70.6 | 17.7 | $ | 49.0 | 11.9 | ||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation expense | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.4 | N.M. | |||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 471.7 | $ | 399.7 | $ | 72.0 | 18.0 |
Nine months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 746.4 | $ | 682.5 | $ | 63.9 | 9.4 | $ | 64.4 | 9.4 | |||||||||||
Belgium | 303.1 | 294.6 | 8.5 | 2.9 | 4.8 | 1.6 | |||||||||||||||
Switzerland | 137.6 | 135.1 | 2.5 | 1.9 | (3.7 | ) | (2.7 | ) | |||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 50.2 | 51.8 | (1.6 | ) | (3.1 | ) | (0.8 | ) | (1.5 | ) | |||||||||||
Central and Corporate | 50.0 | 77.2 | (27.2 | ) | (35.2 | ) | (24.6 | ) | (33.4 | ) | |||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations | 0.8 | (7.3 | ) | 8.1 | N.M. | 8.1 | N.M. | ||||||||||||||
Total other operating expenses excluding share-based compensation expense | 1,288.1 | 1,233.9 | 54.2 | 4.4 | $ | 48.2 | 3.9 | ||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation expense | 4.8 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 60.0 | |||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 1,292.9 | $ | 1,236.9 | $ | 56.0 | 4.5 |
• | Increases in other operating expenses due to $19.5 million recognized during the third quarter of 2020 in U.K./Ireland associated with the completion of the VM Receivables Financing Sale, representing the difference between the carrying amount of the associated receivables and the amount received pursuant to the sale; |
• | Decreases in customer service costs of $5.8 million or 8.9% and $19.3 million or 10.1%, respectively, primarily due to lower call center costs in U.K./Ireland. The lower call center costs in U.K./Ireland include the impact of lockdowns during the second and, to a lesser extent, third quarter of 2020 associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented certain outsourced contract services from being performed; |
• | The aforementioned impact of the classification of costs associated with the delivery of certain transitional services provided by Central and Corporate to various third parties in connection with our recent dispositions. Beginning on the effective dates of the underlying agreements, these costs became direct costs of services, which resulted in decreases in various other operating expenses of $8.6 million and $19.3 million, respectively, within Central and Corporate; |
• | Increases in personnel costs of $11.9 million or 10.5% and $16.9 million or 4.6%, respectively, primarily due to the net effect of (i) higher staffing levels in U.K./Ireland and Belgium that were only partially offset by decreases in Central and Corporate and Switzerland, and (ii) decreases in temporary personnel costs, primarily in U.K./Ireland; |
• | Increases in network infrastructure charges in U.K./Ireland of $2.2 million and $16.6 million, respectively, following an increase in the rateable value of certain of Virgin Media’s assets. For additional information, see “Other Regulatory Issues” in note 16 to our condensed consolidated financial statements; |
• | Higher costs in U.K./Ireland associated with a $15.9 million charge recorded during the third quarter of 2020 in connection with the reassessment of certain items related to prior years; and |
• | Increases in core network and information technology-related costs of $3.6 million or 5.5% and $8.2 million or 4.0%, respectively, primarily due to the net effect of (i) higher information technology-related expenses, primarily due to increases in Central and Corporate that were only partially offset by decreases in Switzerland, (ii) lower network maintenance costs, primarily due to decreases in Central and Corporate that were only partially offset by increases in Switzerland, and (iii) for the nine-month comparison, an increase in leased bandwidth and outsourced data center costs in Central and Corporate. |
Three months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 215.5 | $ | 201.5 | $ | 14.0 | 6.9 | $ | 3.8 | 1.9 | |||||||||||
Belgium | 97.0 | 100.4 | (3.4 | ) | (3.4 | ) | (8.1 | ) | (8.1 | ) | |||||||||||
Switzerland | 51.0 | 47.0 | 4.0 | 8.5 | 0.6 | 1.3 | |||||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 20.6 | 18.1 | 2.5 | 13.8 | 2.4 | 13.3 | |||||||||||||||
Central and Corporate | 72.5 | 62.3 | 10.2 | 16.4 | 7.7 | 12.4 | |||||||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations | (0.8 | ) | (0.5 | ) | (0.3 | ) | N.M. | (0.3 | ) | N.M. | |||||||||||
Total SG&A expenses excluding share-based compensation expense | 455.8 | 428.8 | 27.0 | 6.3 | $ | 6.1 | 1.4 | ||||||||||||||
Share-based compensation expense | 101.9 | 72.9 | 29.0 | 39.8 | |||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 557.7 | $ | 501.7 | $ | 56.0 | 11.2 |
Nine months ended September 30, | Increase (decrease) | Organic increase (decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
U.K./Ireland | $ | 614.7 | $ | 640.2 | $ | (25.5 | ) | (4.0 | ) | $ | (24.9 | ) | (3.9 | ) | |||||||
Belgium | 292.5 | 304.9 | (12.4 | ) | (4.1 | ) | (25.5 | ) | (8.0 | ) | |||||||||||
Switzerland | 149.1 | 141.7 | 7.4 | 5.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||
Central and Eastern Europe | 56.6 | 54.0 | 2.6 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 7.6 | |||||||||||||||
Central and Corporate | 216.0 | 206.1 | 9.9 | 4.8 | 9.9 | 4.8 | |||||||||||||||
Intersegment eliminations | (2.2 | ) | 4.3 | (6.5 | ) | N.M. | (6.5 | ) | N.M. | ||||||||||||
Total SG&A expenses excluding share-based compensation expense | 1,326.7 | 1,351.2 | (24.5 | ) | (1.8 | ) | $ | (42.3 | ) | (3.1 | ) | ||||||||||
Share-based compensation expense | 238.6 | 225.3 | 13.3 | 5.9 | |||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 1,565.3 | $ | 1,576.5 | $ | (11.2 | ) | (0.7 | ) |
Three months ended September 30, | Increase | Organic increase | |||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||
General and administrative (a) | $ | 347.2 | $ | 329.6 | $ | 17.6 | 5.3 | $ | 1.5 | 0.5 | |||||||||
External sales and marketing | 108.6 | 99.2 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 4.6 | 4.6 | |||||||||||||
Total | $ | 455.8 | $ | 428.8 | $ | 27.0 | 6.3 | $ | 6.1 | 1.4 |
Nine months ended September 30, | Decrease | Organic decrease | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | $ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||||||||
in millions, except percentages | |||||||||||||||||||||
General and administrative (a) | $ | 1,038.5 | $ | 1,046.2 | $ | (7.7 | ) | (0.7 | ) | $ | (19.6 | ) | (1.9 | ) | |||||||
External sales and marketing | 288.2 | 305.0 | (16.8 | ) | (5.5 | ) | (22.7 | ) | (7.3 | ) | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 1,326.7 | $ | 1,351.2 | $ | (24.5 | ) | (1.8 | ) | $ | (42.3 | ) | (3.1 | ) |
(a) | General and administrative expenses include all personnel-related costs within our SG&A expenses, including personnel-related costs associated with our sales and marketing function. |
• | An increase (decrease) in external sales and marketing costs of $4.6 million or 4.6% and ($22.7 million) or (7.3%), respectively, primarily due to the net effect of changes associated with advertising campaigns, as advertising costs were (i) higher for the three-month comparison, primarily in Belgium and U.K./Ireland, and (ii) lower for the nine-month comparison, primarily in U.K./Ireland, Belgium and Switzerland; |
• | Decreases in customer service costs of $3.4 million or 32.4% and $7.9 million or 27.4%, respectively, primarily due to lower call center costs in Belgium and U.K./Ireland; |
• | Increases in personnel costs of $11.0 million or 6.0% and $4.9 million or 0.8%, respectively, primarily due to the net effect of (i) lower staffing levels, primarily in U.K./Ireland and Belgium, (ii) higher average costs per employee, primarily due to increases in U.K./Ireland and, for the nine-month comparison, Belgium, that were only partially offset by decreases in Central and Corporate and, for the three-month comparison, Belgium, (iii) higher incentive compensation costs, primarily in Central and Corporate and U.K./Ireland, and (iv) decreases in temporary personnel costs, primarily due to decreases in U.K./Ireland that were only partially offset by increases in Belgium. The higher average cost per employee for the nine-month comparison includes the impact of (a) lower severance costs in U.K./Ireland of $6.3 million associated with revisions to our operating model and decreases in senior management personnel during the second quarter of 2019 and (b) decreases in Central and Corporate related to a $5.0 million cash bonus associated with the renewal of an existing executive employment contract on similar terms paid in the second quarter of 2019; and |
• | Decreases in business service costs of $3.6 million or 7.7% and $2.3 million or 1.7%, respectively, primarily due to the net effect of (i) higher consulting costs, primarily due to increases in Central and Corporate and U.K./Ireland that were only partially offset by decreases in Belgium, (ii) decreases in travel and entertainment expenses and (iii) decreases in vehicle expenses, primarily in U.K./Ireland and Belgium. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Liberty Global: | |||||||||||||||
Performance-based incentive awards (a) | $ | 57.0 | $ | 28.9 | $ | 106.3 | $ | 96.8 | |||||||
Non-performance based incentive awards (b) | 27.8 | 31.6 | 93.9 | 82.6 | |||||||||||
Other (c) | 6.9 | 8.0 | 19.1 | 30.5 | |||||||||||
Total Liberty Global | 91.7 | 68.5 | 219.3 | 209.9 | |||||||||||
Other | 12.7 | 5.5 | 24.1 | 18.4 | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 104.4 | $ | 74.0 | $ | 243.4 | $ | 228.3 | |||||||
Included in: | |||||||||||||||
Other operating expense | $ | 2.5 | $ | 1.1 | $ | 4.8 | $ | 3.0 | |||||||
SG&A expense | 101.9 | 72.9 | 238.6 | 225.3 | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 104.4 | $ | 74.0 | $ | 243.4 | $ | 228.3 |
(a) | Includes share-based compensation expense related to (i) PSUs, (ii) the 2019 Challenge Performance Awards, which were granted in March 2019 and included PSARs and PSUs, and (iii) the performance-based portion of the 2019 CEO Performance Award, which was granted in May 2019. |
(b) | In 2019, we changed our policy to provide that all new equity grants would have ten-year contractual terms in order to more closely align with common market practice. In April 2020, the compensation committee of our board of directors approved the extension of the expiration dates of outstanding SARs and director options granted in 2013 from a seven-year term to a ten-year term in order to align with this new policy. Accordingly, the Black-Scholes fair values of the outstanding awards increased, resulting in the recognition of an aggregate incremental share-based compensation expense of $18.9 million during the second quarter of 2020. The 2019 amounts include share-based compensation expense related to the RSAs issued under the 2019 CEO Performance Award. |
(c) | Represents annual incentive compensation and defined contribution plan liabilities that have been or are expected to be settled with Liberty Global ordinary shares. In the case of the annual incentive compensation, shares have been or will be issued to senior management and key employees pursuant to a shareholding incentive program. The shareholding incentive program allows these employees to elect to receive up to 100% of their annual incentive compensation in ordinary shares of Liberty Global in lieu of cash. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts (a) | $ | (755.4 | ) | $ | 567.3 | $ | (222.5 | ) | $ | 549.1 | |||||
Equity-related derivative instruments: | |||||||||||||||
ITV Collar | 82.9 | (106.8 | ) | 433.2 | (7.0 | ) | |||||||||
Lionsgate Forward | (5.7 | ) | 5.5 | 0.8 | 15.1 | ||||||||||
Other | (0.1 | ) | 0.5 | 20.7 | 0.9 | ||||||||||
Total equity-related derivative instruments (b) | 77.1 | (100.8 | ) | 454.7 | 9.0 | ||||||||||
Foreign currency forward and option contracts | (39.2 | ) | 116.3 | (31.8 | ) | 94.1 | |||||||||
Other | (0.3 | ) | (0.7 | ) | (0.6 | ) | — | ||||||||
Total | $ | (717.8 | ) | $ | 582.1 | $ | 199.8 | $ | 652.2 |
(a) | The results for the 2020 periods are primarily attributable to the net effect of (i) net losses associated with changes in the relative value of certain currencies and (ii) a net loss for the three-month period and a net gain for the nine-month period associated with changes in certain market interest rates. In addition, the results for the 2020 periods include net gains of $222.6 million and $294.3 million, respectively, resulting from changes in our credit risk valuation adjustments. The results for the 2019 periods are primarily attributable to the net effect of (a) net gains associated with changes in the relative value of certain currencies and (b) net losses associated with changes in certain market interest rates. In addition, the results for the 2019 periods include net losses of $14.1 million and $84.8 million, respectively, resulting from changes in our credit risk valuation adjustments. |
(b) | The recurring fair value measurements of our equity-related derivative instruments are based on Black-Scholes pricing models. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Intercompany payables and receivables denominated in a currency other than the entity’s functional currency (a) | (1,033.9 | ) | 309.0 | (870.8 | ) | 482.8 | |||||||||
U.S. dollar-denominated debt issued by British pound sterling functional currency entities | 160.2 | (126.1 | ) | (189.2 | ) | (141.7 | ) | ||||||||
U.S. dollar-denominated debt issued by euro functional currency entities | 132.5 | (168.8 | ) | 161.4 | (205.6 | ) | |||||||||
British pound sterling-denominated debt issued by a U.S. dollar functional currency entity | — | 40.5 | 88.9 | 46.1 | |||||||||||
Cash and restricted cash denominated in a currency other than the entity’s functional currency | (31.3 | ) | 11.4 | (50.3 | ) | 3.3 | |||||||||
Euro-denominated debt issued by British pound sterling functional currency entities | — | (4.1 | ) | 30.5 | (6.5 | ) | |||||||||
Other | 16.8 | (7.7 | ) | (12.5 | ) | (12.6 | ) | ||||||||
Total | $ | (755.7 | ) | $ | 54.2 | $ | (842.0 | ) | $ | 165.8 |
(a) | Amounts primarily relate to (i) loans between certain of our non-operating and operating subsidiaries in Europe, which generally are denominated in the currency of the applicable operating subsidiary and (ii) loans between certain of our non-operating subsidiaries in the U.S. and Europe. |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Investments: | |||||||||||||||
ITV | $ | (20.5 | ) | $ | 70.2 | $ | (450.2 | ) | $ | (17.6 | ) | ||||
Lionsgate | 13.1 | (15.9 | ) | (7.8 | ) | (33.7 | ) | ||||||||
SMAs | (0.3 | ) | — | 5.6 | — | ||||||||||
ITI Neovision | (2.2 | ) | 0.2 | (4.1 | ) | 0.7 | |||||||||
Other, net | (12.7 | ) | 4.5 | 47.5 | (14.6 | ) | |||||||||
Total investments | (22.6 | ) | 59.0 | (409.0 | ) | (65.2 | ) | ||||||||
Debt | 1.1 | (2.6 | ) | 10.0 | (25.3 | ) | |||||||||
Total | $ | (21.5 | ) | $ | 56.4 | $ | (399.0 | ) | $ | (90.5 | ) |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
All3Media | $ | (0.3 | ) | $ | (11.5 | ) | $ | (40.1 | ) | $ | (34.2 | ) | |||
VodafoneZiggo JV (a) | (6.8 | ) | (21.8 | ) | (34.9 | ) | (124.1 | ) | |||||||
Formula E | (17.4 | ) | 1.2 | (16.7 | ) | (8.7 | ) | ||||||||
Other | (2.6 | ) | (0.7 | ) | (7.4 | ) | (6.0 | ) | |||||||
Total | $ | (27.1 | ) | $ | (32.8 | ) | $ | (99.1 | ) | $ | (173.0 | ) |
(a) | Amounts include the net effect of (i) interest income of $12.8 million, $12.6 million, $34.4 million and $37.8 million, respectively, representing 100% of the interest earned on the VodafoneZiggo JV Receivables and (ii) our 50% share of the results of operations of the VodafoneZiggo JV. The summarized results of operations of the VodafoneZiggo JV are set forth below: |
Three months ended September 30, | Nine months ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||
Revenue | $ | 1,166.7 | $ | 1,096.9 | $ | 3,345.4 | $ | 3,275.3 | |||||||
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 559.1 | $ | 500.1 | $ | 1,593.4 | $ | 1,481.5 | |||||||
Operating income | $ | 124.2 | $ | 42.1 | $ | 275.4 | $ | 130.7 | |||||||
Non-operating expense (1) | $ | (155.8 | ) | $ | (125.8 | ) | $ | (333.9 | ) | $ | (537.7 | ) | |||
Net loss | $ | (25.6 | ) | $ | (68.0 | ) | $ | (111.3 | ) | $ | (322.3 | ) |
(1) | Includes interest expense of $150.2 million, $159.6 million, $445.2 million and $488.5 million, respectively. |
Cash and cash equivalents held by: | |||
Liberty Global and unrestricted subsidiaries: | |||
Liberty Global (a) | $ | 29.7 | |
Unrestricted subsidiaries (b) | 3,346.0 | ||
Total Liberty Global and unrestricted subsidiaries | 3,375.7 | ||
Borrowing groups (c): | |||
Telenet | 98.7 | ||
Virgin Media (d) | 280.5 | ||
UPC Holding | 22.3 | ||
Total borrowing groups | 401.5 | ||
Total cash and cash equivalents | $ | 3,777.2 |
(a) | Represents the amount held by Liberty Global on a standalone basis. |
(b) | Represents the aggregate amount held by subsidiaries that are outside of our borrowing groups. |
(c) | Except as otherwise noted, represents the aggregate amounts held by the parent entity and restricted subsidiaries of our borrowing groups. |
(d) | Represents the cash and cash equivalents of the Virgin Media borrowing group, which includes (i) certain subsidiaries of Virgin Media, but excludes the parent entity, Virgin Media Inc., and (ii) the cash and cash equivalents of the U.K. JV Entities, as such cash and cash equivalents will be retained by Liberty Global upon the formation of the U.K. JV and are therefore not classified as held for sale. Amount also excludes the Escrowed Proceeds associated with the VM O2 Notes. For information regarding the held-for-sale presentation of the U.K. JV Entities and the Escrowed Proceeds, see notes 4 and 9, respectively, to our condensed consolidated financial statements. |
Nine months ended | |||||||||||
September 30, | |||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | Change | |||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||
Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 2,692.3 | $ | 2,220.2 | $ | 472.1 | |||||
Net cash provided (used) by investing activities | (4,172.5 | ) | 9,809.3 | (13,981.8 | ) | ||||||
Net cash provided (used) by financing activities | 348.2 | (6,434.8 | ) | 6,783.0 | |||||||
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash | 20.2 | (32.6 | ) | 52.8 | |||||||
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash | $ | (1,111.8 | ) | $ | 5,562.1 | $ | (6,673.9 | ) |
Nine months ended September 30, | |||||||
2020 | 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
Property and equipment additions | $ | 1,900.1 | $ | 2,040.1 | |||
Assets acquired under capital-related vendor financing arrangements | (1,033.6 | ) | (1,303.2 | ) | |||
Assets acquired under finance leases | (31.2 | ) | (47.2 | ) | |||
Changes in current liabilities related to capital expenditures | 125.2 | 210.4 | |||||
Capital expenditures, net | $ | 960.5 | $ | 900.1 | |||
Capital expenditures, net: | |||||||
Third-party payments | $ | 963.0 | $ | 976.0 | |||
Proceeds received for transfers to related parties (a) | (2.5 | ) | (75.9 | ) | |||
Total capital expenditures, net | $ | 960.5 | $ | 900.1 |
(a) | Primarily relates to transfers of centrally-procured property and equipment to the VodafoneZiggo JV and our discontinued operations, as applicable. |
Nine months ended September 30, | |||||||
2020 | 2019 | ||||||
in millions | |||||||
Net cash provided by operating activities of our continuing operations (a) | $ | 2,692.3 | $ | 2,220.2 | |||
Cash payments for direct acquisition and disposition costs | 15.9 | 23.5 | |||||
Expenses financed by an intermediary (b) | 2,005.6 | 1,639.2 | |||||
Capital expenditures, net | (960.5 | ) | (900.1 | ) | |||
Principal payments on amounts financed by vendors and intermediaries | (3,162.7 | ) | (3,069.2 | ) | |||
Principal payments on certain finance leases | (48.9 | ) | (57.0 | ) | |||
Adjusted free cash flow | $ | 541.7 | $ | (143.4 | ) |
(a) | The 2019 amount includes interest payments related to debt that was repaid in connection with the completion of the disposition of the Vodafone Disposal Group. These interest payments were not allocated to discontinued operations. |
(b) | For purposes of our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows, expenses financed by an intermediary are treated as hypothetical operating cash outflows and hypothetical financing cash inflows when the expenses are incurred. When we pay the financing intermediary, we record financing cash outflows in our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. For purposes of our adjusted free cash flow definition, we add back the hypothetical operating cash outflow when these financed expenses are incurred and deduct the financing cash outflows when we pay the financing intermediary. |
Payments due during: | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Remainder of 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Thereafter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Debt (excluding interest) | $ | 478.3 | $ | 1,471.3 | $ | 290.7 | $ | 172.7 | $ | 29.3 | $ | 13.4 | $ | 9,053.6 | $ | 11,509.3 | |||||||||||||||
Finance leases (excluding interest) | 20.2 | 69.7 | 70.0 | 75.0 | 40.3 | 38.8 | 218.7 | 532.7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating leases | 20.0 | 72.5 | 58.8 | 50.6 | 42.4 | 35.7 | 115.7 | 395.7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Network and connectivity commitments | 45.5 | 99.8 | 70.3 | 44.9 | 38.5 | 37.0 | 714.7 | 1,050.7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Programming commitments | 108.9 | 233.9 | 139.7 | 47.5 | 14.9 | 14.5 | 16.8 | 576.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Purchase commitments | 147.8 | 227.8 | 49.6 | 33.6 | 18.2 | 15.0 | 11.2 | 503.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Other commitments | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 12.7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Total (a) | $ | 822.7 | $ | 2,178.0 | $ | 682.1 | $ | 426.1 | $ | 185.0 | $ | 154.8 | $ | 10,131.8 | $ | 14,580.5 | |||||||||||||||
Projected cash interest payments on debt and finance lease obligations (b) | $ | 38.5 | $ | 359.0 | $ | 387.3 | $ | 381.9 | $ | 372.3 | $ | 369.6 | $ | 1,051.4 | $ | 2,960.0 |
(a) | The commitments included in this table do not reflect any liabilities that are included in our September 30, 2020 condensed consolidated balance sheet other than debt and lease obligations. Our liability for uncertain tax positions in the various jurisdictions in which we operate ($367.7 million at September 30, 2020) has been excluded from the table as the amount and timing of any related payments are not subject to reasonable estimation. |
(b) | Amounts are based on interest rates, interest payment dates, commitment fees and contractual maturities in effect as of September 30, 2020. These amounts are presented for illustrative purposes only and will likely differ from the actual cash payments required in future periods. In addition, the amounts presented do not include the impact of our interest rate derivative contracts, deferred financing costs, original issue premiums or discounts. |
Item 3. | QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK |
September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||
Spot rates: | |||||
Euro | 0.8531 | 0.8906 | |||
British pound sterling | 0.7745 | 0.7540 | |||
Swiss franc | 0.9214 | 0.9664 | |||
Polish zloty | 3.8617 | 3.7906 |
Three months ended | Nine months ended | ||||||||||
September 30, | September 30, | ||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||
Average rates: | |||||||||||
Euro | 0.8551 | 0.8996 | 0.8904 | 0.8900 | |||||||
British pound sterling | 0.7737 | 0.8114 | 0.7871 | 0.7858 | |||||||
Swiss franc | 0.9195 | 0.9858 | 0.9506 | 0.9951 | |||||||
Polish zloty | 3.7977 | 3.8869 | 3.9381 | 3.8284 |
(i) | an instantaneous increase (decrease) of 10% in the value of the Swiss franc and Polish zloty relative to the euro would have decreased (increased) the aggregate fair value of the UPC Holding cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts by approximately €398 million ($466 million); |
(ii) | an instantaneous increase (decrease) of 10% in the value of the Swiss franc relative to the U.S. dollar would have decreased (increased) the aggregate fair value of the UPC Holding cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts by approximately €177 million ($207 million); and |
(iii) | an instantaneous increase (decrease) in the relevant base rate of 50 basis points (0.50%) would have increased (decreased) the aggregate fair value of the UPC Holding cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts by approximately €106 million ($125 million). |
(i) | an instantaneous increase (decrease) of 10% in the value of the euro relative to the U.S. dollar would have decreased (increased) the aggregate fair value of the Telenet cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts by approximately €362 million ($424 million); and |
(ii) | an instantaneous increase (decrease) in the relevant base rate of 50 basis points (0.50%) would have increased (decreased) the aggregate fair value of the Telenet cross-currency and interest rate derivative contracts by approximately €98 million ($115 million). |
Payments (receipts) due during: | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Remainder of 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Thereafter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
in millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Projected derivative cash payments (receipts), net: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interest-related (a) | $ | (20.4 | ) | $ | 56.8 | $ | 29.0 | $ | 16.1 | $ | (8.1 | ) | $ | (17.9 | ) | $ | (27.7 | ) | $ | 27.8 | |||||||||||
Principal-related (b) | — | (11.8 | ) | — | 67.0 | (35.8 | ) | 41.4 | 102.2 | 163.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other (c) | — | (474.2 | ) | (200.9 | ) | (0.2 | ) | — | — | — | (675.3 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | (20.4 | ) | $ | (429.2 | ) | $ | (171.9 | ) | $ | 82.9 | $ | (43.9 | ) | $ | 23.5 | $ | 74.5 | $ | (484.5 | ) |
(a) | Includes (i) the cash flows of our interest rate cap, floor and swap contracts and (ii) the interest-related cash flows of our cross-currency and interest rate swap contracts. |
(b) | Includes the principal-related cash flows of our cross-currency swap contracts. |
(c) | Includes amounts related to our equity-related derivative instruments and foreign currency forward contracts. We may elect to use cash or the collective value of the related shares and equity-related derivative instrument to settle the ITV Collar Loan. |
Item 4. | CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES |
Item 2. | UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS |
(c) | Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities |
Period | Total number of shares purchased | Average price paid per share (a) | Total number of shares purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs | Approximate dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs | ||||||||
July 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020: | ||||||||||||
Class C | 3,331,223 | $ | 22.65 | 3,331,223 | (b) | |||||||
August 1, 2020 through August 31, 2020: | ||||||||||||
Class C | 3,727,400 | $ | 22.10 | 3,727,400 | (b) | |||||||
September 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020: | ||||||||||||
Class A | 1,300,000 | $ | 22.43 | 1,300,000 | (b) | |||||||
Class C | 4,282,700 | $ | 21.47 | 4,282,700 | (b) | |||||||
Total — July 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020: | ||||||||||||
Class A | 1,300,000 | $ | 22.43 | 1,300,000 | (b) | |||||||
Class C | 11,341,323 | $ | 22.02 | 11,341,323 | (b) |
(a) | Average price paid per share includes direct acquisition costs. |
(b) | At September 30, 2020, the remaining amount authorized for share repurchases was $92.6 million. In November 2020, our board of directors authorized an additional $1.0 billion for share repurchases. |
Item 6. | EXHIBITS |
2 — Plan of Acquisition, Reorganization, Arrangement, Liquidation or Succession | ||
2.1 | ||
4 — Instruments Defining the Rights of Securities Holders, including Indentures | ||
4.1 | ||
4.2 | ||
4.3 | ||
4.4 | ||
4.5 | ||
4.6 | ||
4.7 | ||
31 — Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification: | ||
31.1 | ||
31.2 | ||
101.SCH | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document* | |
101.CAL | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document* | |
101.DEF | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase* | |
101.LAB | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document* | |
101.PRE | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document* | |
104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)* |
* | Filed herewith |
** | Furnished herewith |
LIBERTY GLOBAL PLC | |||
Dated: | November 4, 2020 | /s/ MICHAEL T. FRIES | |
Michael T. Fries President and Chief Executive Officer | |||
Dated: | November 4, 2020 | /s/ CHARLES H.R. BRACKEN | |
Charles H.R. Bracken Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
Execution Version | |
Transaction Agreement | |
dated as of August 12, 2020 | |
by and between | |
Liberty Global plc Griffin House, 161 Hammersmith Road, London W6 8BS United Kingdom | (hereinafter the Bidder) |
and | |
Sunrise Communications Group AG Thurgauerstrasse 101B, 8152 Glattpark (Opfikon) Switzerland | (hereinafter the Company) |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 2 | 39 |
Table of Contents | ||||
1. | Definitions | 5 | ||
2. | Offer | 5 | ||
2.1 | Offer and Offer Terms | 5 | ||
2.2 | Submission of the Offer | 5 | ||
3. | Support of the Offer by the Company | 6 | ||
3.1 | Company Board Approvals | 6 | ||
3.2 | General Support and Cooperation | 6 | ||
3.3 | Restricted Transactions and Non-Solicitation | 7 | ||
3.4 | Alternative Transaction Proposal or Competing Offer | 8 | ||
3.5 | Press Release | 9 | ||
3.6 | Report of the Company Board | 9 | ||
3.7 | Fairness Opinion | 9 | ||
3.8 | Fulfillment of Offer Conditions | 10 | ||
3.9 | Tender of Shares | 10 | ||
3.10 | Consultation on Communication | 11 | ||
4. | Further Covenants | 11 | ||
4.1 | Regulatory Approval Condition | 11 | ||
4.2 | Trading and Other Restrictions | 13 | ||
4.3 | Registration in the Share Register of the Company | 13 | ||
4.4 | Shareholders' Meetings | 13 | ||
4.5 | Company Board and Directors | 14 | ||
4.6 | Conduct of Business | 14 | ||
4.7 | Financial Statements | 17 | ||
4.8 | Acquisition Financing | 17 | ||
4.9 | Integration Planning | 18 |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 3 | 39 |
5. | Representations and Warranties of the Company | 18 | |
6. | Incentive Plans and Share Compensation of the Company Board | 18 | |
6.1 | Equity Plans | 18 | |
6.2 | Short Term Incentive Plan | 20 | |
6.3 | Share Compensation of the Company Board | 20 | |
7. | Going Private | 20 | |
8. | Protection of Company Board and Executive Leadership Team | 20 | |
9. | Costs and Expenses | 21 | |
10. | Press Releases and Confidentiality | 21 | |
11. | Termination | 22 | |
12. | General Provisions | 23 | |
12.1 | Notices | 23 | |
12.2 | Entire Agreement | 25 | |
12.3 | Amendments and Waivers | 25 | |
12.4 | Effect on Third Parties | No Assignment | 25 | |
12.5 | Severability | 25 | |
12.6 | Interpretative Provisions | 25 | |
12.7 | Governing Law | 25 | |
12.8 | Dispute Resolution | 25 |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 4 | 39 |
Number of Annex | Name of Annex |
1 | Definitions |
2.2(a) | Draft Pre-Announcement |
3.5 | Draft Press Release |
3.9(b) | Form of Tender Undertaking |
4.5(a) | Form of Resignation Declaration |
5(a) | Representations and Warranties of the Company |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 5 | 39 |
A. | The Company is a Swiss corporation (Aktiengesellschaft) with registered office in Glattpark (Opfikon), Switzerland, whose share capital amounts to CHF 45,265,446 and is divided into 45,265,446 registered shares with a nominal value of CHF 1.00 each (each share of the Company, a Share), which are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX) (ISIN CH0267291224). The Company has (1) an authorized share capital allowing for the issuance of 4,200,000 additional Shares and (2) an authorized share capital for employee participations allowing for the issuance of 84,554 additional Shares. The Company does not have a conditional share capital. The Company has a total of 55,920 Performance Share Units, a total of 9,279 Performance Share Awards and a total of 5,043 Matching Share Awards outstanding that, subject to the Company meeting certain performance criteria, would upon expiry of the relevant blocking or vesting period entitle the holders of such awards to receive up to 128,019 additional Shares. The Company holds no Shares in treasury. The Company has no other shares, options, share purchase rights or conversion rights issued or outstanding or promised or owed now or for the future to directors, managers, employees or otherwise. |
B. | The Bidder is a public limited company organized under the United Kingdom Companies Act 2006, with registered office in London, United Kingdom. |
C. | Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the board of directors of the Bidder has resolved to submit a public tender offer for all publicly held Shares (the Offer), and the Company Board has unanimously resolved to support the Offer and, among other things, to publish a report of the Company Board unanimously and unconditionally recommending that the Company's shareholders accept the Offer. |
D. | Simultaneously with the signing of this Agreement, Freenet AG (Freenet]) has entered into a tender undertaking with the Bidder. |
(a) | Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Bidder shall, or shall procure that one of its Affiliates will (the Bidder or its offering Affiliate hereinafter, the Offeror), submit the Offer, consistent with Legal Requirements. |
(b) | Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the terms of the Offer, including the scope of the Offer, the offer restrictions, the offer price of CHF 110.00 net in cash for each Share (the Offer Price) and the dilution effects, and the conditions to which the Offer is subject (the Offer Conditions) shall be as set forth in the draft Pre-Announcement (as defined below). |
(a) | The Bidder shall procure that the Offeror makes, before the opening of SIX immediately after signing of this Agreement, a pre-announcement (Voranmeldung) (the Pre-Announcement) of the Offer in German, French and English in accordance with article 7 Takeover Ordinance, consistent with the draft attached hereto as Annex 2.2(a). |
(b) | The Parties contemplate that the Offeror will publish, within six weeks of the publication of the Pre-Announcement, after receipt of a decree from the TOB that confirms compliance of the Offer with Swiss takeover Legal Requirements, the offer prospectus in German, French and English in accordance with article 7 Takeover Ordinance and otherwise in accordance with Legal Requirements and the decree of the TOB (the Offer Prospectus). The Offeror shall prepare the Offer Prospectus |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 6 | 39 |
(c) | The Offer shall remain open for acceptance for at least twenty (20) Trading Days (the Main Offer Period). The Offeror, in its sole discretion, may extend the Main Offer Period to up to forty (40) Trading Days in the aggregate or such longer period as may be approved by the Swiss Takeover Board (the TOB). |
(d) | Upon publication of the Pre-Announcement, the Bidder or the Offeror shall keep the Company regularly informed of the status of the Offer. |
(e) | The Offeror shall comply with all disclosure obligations in accordance with the Legal Requirements, including the FMIA and its implementing ordinances, especially in the event of transactions in Shares outside the Offer. |
(f) | The Parties acknowledge that the Offer will be subject to Regulation 14E under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), except to the extent of any exemption therefrom pursuant to (i) Rule 14d-1(c) or Rule 14d-1(d)(2) under the Exchange Act, (ii) Rule 14e-5(b)(10) or Rule 14e-5(b)(11) under the Exchange Act (in each case, as applicable and assuming that the relevant conditions set forth in Rule 14d-1(c) or Rule 14d-1(d) are satisfied with respect to the Offer) or (iii) by action of the staff of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). Prior to the publication of the Offer Prospectus, the Company and the Bidder will, and the Bidder will cause the Offeror to, as applicable, cooperate in good faith with each other to determine if any additional no-action or exemptive relief from the staff of the SEC will be necessary or reasonable with respect to any aspects of the Offer. If the Parties determine that such additional no-action or exemptive relief is required or reasonable, the Parties will cooperate in good faith to promptly prepare and submit the relevant documentation seeking confirmation from the staff of the SEC that it will grant no-action or exemptive relief with respect to any aspects of the Offer that would conflict with any provisions of the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder that are applicable to the Offer. The Offeror undertakes to pay to the Company all third party costs reasonably incurred by the Company as from the date of this Agreement in connection with any action that the Bidder or one of its Affiliates requires the Company to take under this Section 2.2(f) if (i) the Offer is not settled and (ii) Reimbursement Amount is not payable. For the avoidance of doubt, the Parties agree that the process of seeking any no-action or exemptive relief from the staff of the SEC will be subject to Section 3.10. |
(g) | The Bidder shall, and shall use reasonable efforts to procure that its Affiliates (including the Offeror) and the Bidder's and its Affiliates' respective Representatives will, make all notifications and filings and take all other commercially reasonable efforts and actions, including those set forth elsewhere in this Agreement, which may be necessary to procure or support the satisfaction of the Offer Conditions as expeditiously as practicable. |
(a) | approved this Agreement and the transactions hereby contemplated and determined that this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby are in the best interest of the Company, its shareholders and other stakeholders, and that the Offer Price is fair from a financial perspective based on the preliminary results of an analysis performed by ValueTrust Financial Advisors SE, an independent financial advisor who has been retained by the Company Board to provide a fairness opinion on the Offer in accordance with article 30(5) Takeover Ordinance (the Fairness Opinion) fair from a financial perspective; |
(b) | approved the cost compensation pursuant to Section 9(b); and |
(c) | resolved to recommend acceptance of the Offer, as set forth in further detail in Section 3.6(a). |
(a) | the Company shall, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries will, support the Offer; |
(b) | the Company shall refrain, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries and the Company's and its Subsidiaries' Representatives will, refrain, from any acts, filings or statements that are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Offer or its success; |
(c) | the Company shall, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries will, reasonably cooperate with the Bidder and any of its Affiliates (including the Offeror) and give each of them and their respective |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 7 | 39 |
(i) | evaluate, prepare or support any notifications, filings or communications with the TOB, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (the FINMA), the SIX or any other Governmental Entity, including post-Offer actions such as those contemplated in Section 7; |
(ii) | after the expiration of the Main Offer Period, discuss employment terms with the Company's officers and employees; |
(iii) | obtain any necessary third party consents or approvals (and make any necessary notifications) in connection with the Offer and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; |
(iv) | implement and settle the Offer; |
(v) | enable a smooth transition and preparation of integration; and |
(vi) | obtain all Tax rulings relating to this Agreement and the transactions contemplated therein (including the Acquisition Financing) from the competent Governmental Entities (the Tax Rulings). |
(d) | the Company shall, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries will, give prompt notice to the Bidder of: |
(i) | any event, change, fact or occurrence that is reasonably likely to cause (1) any of the Company's representations and warranties contained in this Agreement to become untrue or inaccurate or (2) any of the Offer Conditions not to be satisfied; |
(ii) | any event, change, fact or occurrence that is reasonably likely to affect the Tax Rulings or the Tax Rulings process, to the extent the content of such Tax Rulings is known to the Company; |
(iii) | any material failure of the Company to comply with any covenant or agreement contained in this Agreement; |
(iv) | any Action commenced or threatened relating to the consummation of the Offer or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; and |
(v) | any notice or inquiry from any Governmental Entity in connection with the Offer or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement. |
(a) | The Company shall, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries and the Company's and its Subsidiaries' Representatives will, immediately, in relation to a Restricted Transaction or any inquiry or proposal that could reasonably be expected to lead to a Restricted Transaction: |
(i) | cease and cause to be terminated any and all existing discussions or negotiations with any Person; |
(ii) | request the prompt return or destruction of all information previously furnished to any such Person or its Subsidiaries or its or their Representatives; and |
(iii) | terminate all access (including through any data room or similar medium) previously granted to any such Person or its Subsidiaries or its or their Representatives. |
(b) | Subject to Section 3.4, the Company shall not, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries and the Company's and its Subsidiaries' Representatives will not, directly or indirectly: |
(i) | solicit, initiate, encourage or facilitate any inquiries or proposals from, or discuss or negotiate, or continue discussions or negotiations with, any third party relating to a (potential) Restricted Transaction, or take any other action which may solicit, initiate, encourage or facilitate a Restricted Transaction; or |
(ii) | provide any information to any third party (or any of such third party's Affiliates) that may be considering a Restricted Transaction or grant access to any such third party (or any of its Affiliates) to the Target Group's businesses, properties, assets, books or records; or |
(iii) | approve or enter into any binding or non-binding letter of intent, agreement or other arrangement relating to a Restricted Transaction (each, a Restricted Transaction Agreement); or |
(iv) | waive, terminate, modify or release any third party (other than the Bidder and its Affiliates, including the Offeror, and its and their respective Representatives) from any provision of, or |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 8 | 39 |
(a) | The Company shall promptly (but no later than twenty-four (24) hours after receipt) notify the Bidder and the Offeror in writing of any Alternative Transaction Proposal or Competing Offer or any proposal or inquiry for or in relation to any Restricted Transaction, or of any request for information relating to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or for access to the business, properties, assets, books or records of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries by any Person for or in relation to any Restricted Transaction. In such notification, the Company shall identify the Person making any such proposal, offer, inquiry or request and, to the extent specified, the terms and conditions of such Person's proposal, offer, inquiry or request and of any Restricted Transaction, Alternative Transaction Proposal or Competing Offer, and shall provide all documentation available to it in respect thereof, including any agreements proposed in relation thereto. Further, the Company shall keep the Bidder and the Offeror fully informed of any material development with respect thereto (including providing all material correspondence, draft documentation or other written material, and any change to the material terms thereof), within twenty-four (24) hours after receipt thereof. |
(b) | If the Company has received a Alternative Transaction Proposal before the expiration of the Main Offer Period, the Company may in response to such Alternative Transaction Proposal (A) provide information with respect to the Company to the Proposing Party pursuant to a customary confidentiality and standstill agreement, which confidentiality and standstill agreement shall, however, be on terms no less restrictive than the Confidentiality Agreement and shall not contain any terms that impair the Company's ability to comply with its obligations to the Bidder and the Offeror under this Agreement; and (B) participate in discussions or negotiations with the Proposing Party regarding such Alternative Transaction Proposal, in each case of (A) and (B) if, once and for as long as all of the following prerequisites are met: |
(i) | the Company has discharged its notification obligations under Section 3.4(a); and |
(ii) | the Company Board has Properly Determined that (1) the transaction proposed in the Alternative Transaction Proposal is likely to be more favorable to the holders of Shares than the Offer, taking into account all the terms and conditions of the Alternative Transaction Proposal, including any expense reimbursement provisions, execution risks, conditions to the consummation of the Alternative Transaction Proposal and regulatory, financing and other aspects of the proposal (such a transaction, a Superior Transaction); (2) the Proposing Party is reasonably capable of expeditiously making, financing and consummating the Superior Transaction proposed in such Alternative Transaction Proposal; and (3) the Company Board's failure to take the contemplated action in relation to such Alternative Transaction Proposal would violate Legal Requirements. |
(c) | If the Company provides information to the Proposing Party in accordance with Section 3.4(b) that it has not previously shared with the Bidder and the Offeror, the Company shall notify the Bidder and the Offeror that such information is available for review, and provide access to such information to the Bidder, its Affiliates (including the Offeror) and its and their Representatives at substantially the same time, in the same manner and otherwise on terms no less favorable than those afforded to the Proposing Party. |
(d) | The Company shall procure that neither the Company Board nor any committee thereof nor any other Person on the Company's Board behalf or on behalf of any committee of the Company Board will, unless permitted by Section 3.4(e): |
(i) | withdraw, modify or qualify the unanimous recommendation of the Offer; |
(ii) | approve or enter into any Restricted Transaction Agreement; |
(iii) | approve or recommend any Restricted Transaction; or |
(iv) | make any announcement to that effect |
(e) | The Company is permitted to take Restricted Actions in relation to a Competing Offer that was submitted in accordance with Swiss takeover Legal Requirements before the expiration of the Main Offer Period if, once and for as long as all of the following prerequisites are met: |
(i) | the Company has discharged its notification obligations under Section 3.4(a); |
(ii) | the Company Board has Properly Determined that (1) the transaction proposed in the Competing Offer is a Superior Transaction; (2) the Proposing Party is reasonably capable of expeditiously making, financing and consummating the Superior Transaction; and (3) the Company Board's failure to take the contemplated action in relation to such Competing Offer would violate Legal Requirements |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 9 | 39 |
(iii) | the Company has notified the Bidder and the Offeror in writing of its intention to take Restricted Actions, specifying such Restricted Actions and the reasons therefor and has given the Bidder and the Offeror five (5) Trading Days (the Matching Period) following such notification to submit to the Company a binding proposal for an improved Offer, so that the improved Offer will be at least as favorable to the holders of Shares as such Superior Transaction (the Matching Right); |
(iv) | the Matching Period has expired and the Bidder or the Offeror has failed to exercise its Matching Right within such Matching Period; and |
(v) | the terms and conditions of, and with respect to, such Competing Offer correspond, and continue to correspond, to the terms and conditions as the Company has notified them to the Bidder and the Offeror in accordance with Section 3.4(a). |
(f) | The Company shall, and shall instruct its Representatives to, negotiate in good faith with the Bidder or the Offeror and its Representatives during any Matching Period regarding any revisions to the terms of this Agreement or the Offer that the Bidder may propose in its sole discretion. |
(g) | Without limiting the Company's obligations under Section 3.3 and this Section 3.4, the Company may only approve or enter into a definitive agreement for a Superior Transaction if it concurrently terminates this Agreement pursuant to and in accordance with Section 11(a)(vii). |
(a) | Subject to the Company Board's right to withdraw, modify or qualify its unanimous recommendation of the Offer in accordance with Section 3.4(d) and 3.4(e), the Company Board shall issue a report to all shareholders of the Company in accordance with article 132(1) FMIA and article 30 et seq. Takeover Ordinance and consistent with market practice (the Board Report), such Board Report unanimously recommending that the shareholders of the Company accept the Offer. |
(b) | The Company Board shall issue the Board Report in German, French and English and make the Board Report available to the Offeror in due time so as to enable the Offeror to include and publish it as part of the Offer Prospectus. |
(a) | The Company shall consult in good faith with the Bidder and the Offeror in relation to the content of the Fairness Opinion and shall provide, on a non-reliance basis, a draft of the Fairness Opinion to the Bidder and the Offeror sufficiently in advance of publication with a view to facilitating such consultation. |
(b) | The Company shall procure that the final Fairness Opinion will be published in German, French and English as an integral part of and concurrently with the Board Report in accordance with article 30(5) Takeover Ordinance. |
(a) | The Company shall, and shall use reasonable efforts to procure that its Subsidiaries and shall instruct the Company's and its Subsidiaries' respective Representatives to, make all notifications and filings and take all other commercially reasonable efforts and actions, including those set forth elsewhere in this Agreement, which may be reasonably necessary or appropriate to procure (in the case of Offer Condition (e) and (h)) or support (in the case of Offer Conditions (b), (c),(f) and (g)) the satisfaction of the following Offer Conditions as expeditiously as practicable: |
(i) | as contemplated by Section 4.1, Condition (b) (Merger Clearances and Other Approvals) (the Regulatory Approval Condition); |
(ii) | Condition (c) (No Injunction or Prohibition); |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 10 | 39 |
(iii) | Condition (e) (Registration in the Share Register of the Company); |
(iv) | Condition (f) (Resignation and Appointment of Members of the Board of Directors of the Company); |
(v) | Condition (g) (No Adverse Resolutions by the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company); and |
(vi) | Condition (h) (No Acquisition or Sale of Material Assets, No Incurrence or Repayment of Material Indebtedness). |
(b) | The Company shall, in relation to the Offer Conditions (e) (Registration in the Share Register of the Company) and (f) (Resignation and Appointment of Members of the Board of Directors of the Company), keep the Bidder and the Offeror reasonably and on a regular basis informed of the progress of the satisfaction of such Offer Conditions and promptly upon satisfaction of any such Offer Condition deliver to the Bidder and the Offeror appropriate evidence thereof. |
(c) | The Company shall deliver to the Bidder and the Offeror certificates by the Chairman of the Company Board and the CEO of the Company as set forth below, dated the day on which the respective certificate is due, where the Chairman of the Company Board and the CEO of the Company confirm in writing, to the best of their knowledge, as follows: |
(i) | on the first (1st) Trading Day after the end of the Main Offer Period, that each of the Offer Conditions (c) (No Injunction or Prohibition), (d) (No Material Adverse Effect), (g) (No Adverse Resolutions by the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company) and (h) (No Acquisition or Sale of Material Assets, No Incurrence or Repayment of Material Indebtedness) is satisfied; |
(ii) | on the first (1st) Trading Day after the end of the additional acceptance period of the Offer, that each of the Offer Conditions (c) (No Injunction or Prohibition), (e) (Registration in the Share Register of the Company), (f) (Resignation and Appointment of Members of the Board of Directors of the Company), (g) (No Adverse Resolutions by the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company) and (h) (No Acquisition or Sale of Material Assets, No Incurrence or Repayment of Material Indebtedness) is satisfied; and |
(iii) | on the Trading Day immediately prior to the anticipated settlement date of the Offer, that each of the Offer Conditions referenced in Section 3.8(a) is satisfied. |
(c) | The Bidder and the Offeror agree that the Chairman of the Company Board and the CEO of the Company shall not be held personally liable for the issuance of these certificates and the confirmations contained therein, provided that the Chairman of the Company Board and the CEO of the Company did not knowingly provide false or misleading confirmations. |
(a) | The Company shall, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries will and shall instruct the Company's and its Subsidiaries' Representatives to, use its and their respective commercially reasonable efforts to support the tender of the Shares into the Offer by its shareholders, including (A) by assisting in the preparation of marketing materials for the Offer and in the preparation of road shows and marketing events in relation to the Offer and (B) upon reasonable request by the Bidder or the Offeror and if deemed reasonably necessary or useful by the Bidder or the Offeror (after consultation with the Company) to achieve a tender of more than 98% of the Shares into the Offer; |
(i) | directly liaising with shareholders and approaching them together with the Bidder and the Offeror as reasonably requested by the Bidder or the Offeror to cause them to tender their Shares or the Shares represented by them (or to sell their Shares if offer restrictions apply to them); |
(ii) | encouraging the Company's retail shareholder base and the Company's employees to tender their Shares; and |
(iii) | subject to Legal Requirements, disclosing such information regarding the Company's shareholder base to the Bidder, the Offeror, the tender agent, the proxy agent and any persons acting on their behalf, and providing such other assistance as to enable them to plan and engage in efforts at procuring tenders of Shares from shareholders of the Company. |
(b) | The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to procure that each member of the Company Board and of the Executive Leadership Team enters into an undertaking with the Offeror in the form attached as Annex 3.93.9(b) before publication of the Offer Prospectus to the effect that each such individual will tender the Shares owned or controlled by him/her into the Offer. The Offeror acknowledges and agrees that prior to the date of this Agreement and in order to enable the members of the Executive Leadership Team to tender the Shares held by them, the Company Board has subject to the conditions that (i) the Offer is not terminated by the Offeror upon the expiration of the Main Offer Period and (ii) more than 50% of all the Shares have been tendered under the Offer during the Main Offer Period resolved to release all members of the Executive Leadership Team from their obligation to hold a minimum number of Shares as further specified in their respective employment contracts. |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 11 | 39 |
(c) | The Company shall procure that no Treasury Shares are tendered into the Offer. |
(a) | Save where the communication is purely administrative, the Parties agree to consult with each other sufficiently in advance of any notification, filing or communication (whether in writing or orally) in connection with the Offer which they, their Subsidiaries or their or their Subsidiaries' Representatives propose to make or submit to the TOB, the FINMA, the SIX, any Tax Governmental Entity or any other Governmental Entity (other than in relation to the Regulatory Approval Condition, which is governed by Section 4.1) related to the Offer. The Parties undertakes to consider and take into account any reasonable comments that the other Party may have or may make prior to making any such notification, filing or communication, and to invite the other Party duly in advance to attend any meetings or other personal or oral communications. |
(b) | The Parties will keep each other promptly informed on any material development in the proceedings with, and provide the other Party with copies of any of its notifications, filings or other communications to, the TOB, the FINMA, the SIX, any Tax Governmental Entity or any other Governmental Entity related to the Offer. |
(a) | The Bidder shall procure that the Offeror, as soon as reasonably practicable after the date hereof but subject to the Company's compliance with its obligation to provide information to and support the Offeror in connection with any such filing, shall make all necessary filings with and submissions and notifications to the competent Governmental Entities with a view of satisfying the Regulatory Approval Condition as promptly as practicable. The Bidder shall not have any obligation to, and shall not have any obligation to procure that any of its Affiliates, (i) take any action to procure the satisfaction of the Regulatory Approval Condition that is not conditioned on the settlement of the Offer or (ii) offer or accept any undertakings, restrictions or conditions in order to obtain any regulatory approval, if such undertakings, restrictions or conditions would permit the Offeror to terminate the Offer. |
(b) | Without limiting the generality of Section 3.2 and Section 3.8, the Company shall, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries will: |
(i) | cooperate with the Bidder and any of its Affiliates (including the Offeror) and give each of them and their respective Representatives reasonable access to the management, personnel and Representatives of the Company or its Subsidiaries, and provide the Bidder and its Affiliates and their respective Representatives with all documents and information reasonably requested by the Bidder or any of its Affiliates or their respective Representatives, all as necessary or useful to procure the satisfaction of the Regulatory Approval Condition; |
(ii) | initiate any communication with Governmental Entities or Representatives of Governmental Entities (including holders of elected office) related to the Regulatory Approval Condition or its satisfaction only with the prior written consent of the Bidder or the Offeror; |
(iii) | promptly notify the Bidder and the Offeror of any communication related to the Regulatory Approval Condition or its satisfaction initiated by a Governmental Entity and subject to any Legal Requirements take direction from the Bidder as to how to address such communication; and |
(iv) | subject to Section 4.1(d) and at the request of the Bidder, prepare and make all filings that may be necessary or useful to procure the satisfaction of the Regulatory Approval Condition. |
(c) | The Bidder shall consult with the Company as regards the strategic approach to be taken with regard to the Regulatory Approval Condition and shall take into consideration the Company's view before devising and implementing the strategy for obtaining any necessary approvals or clearances under the Regulatory Approval Condition and shall take the lead in all meetings and communications with any Governmental Entity in connection therewith. |
(d) | The Company (i) shall not agree to any action or obligation to procure the satisfaction of the Regulatory Approval Condition, whether or not conditioned on the settlement of the Offer, without the prior written consent of the Bidder or the Offeror, and (ii) shall agree to any action or obligation to procure the satisfaction of the Regulatory Approval Condition at the direction of the Bidder or the Offeror so long as such action or obligation is conditioned on the settlement of the Offer. |
(e) | The Bidder or the Offeror shall: |
(i) | prior to making any written filings with and submissions and notifications to Governmental Entities, provide drafts thereof, including any supporting documentation (in each case with the redactions necessary to comply with Legal Requirements), to the Company and its Representatives, give the Company and its Representatives the reasonable opportunity to comment thereon within a reasonable time period not less than three (3) Business Days or, given the circumstances, any shorter time period reasonably practicable, and give reasonable considerations to those comments; |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 12 | 39 |
(ii) | promptly provide to the Company and its Representatives copies of all filings, submissions and notifications in the form submitted or sent (with the redactions necessary to comply with Legal Requirements); |
(iii) | promptly notify the Company and provide copies (with the redactions necessary to comply with Legal Requirements) of any material communication to and from any Governmental Entity in relation to such filings, submissions or notifications (including any requests by Governmental Entities for additional information) or any other material developments in connection with the regulatory clearance process; |
(iv) | give two Representatives of the Company the opportunity, to the extent reasonably practicable, to attend all meetings and telephone calls with any Governmental Entity in relation to such filings, submissions or notifications that are not purely administrative (except where the Governmental Entity expressly requests that the Company should not attend all or part of the meeting or the telephone call). Such Representatives shall have the opportunity to speak at such meetings in accordance with the overall strategy for obtaining the relevant approval or clearance as per Section 4.1(c); |
(v) | keep the Company otherwise promptly and fully informed (including openly copying the Company on all written communications with any Governmental Entity) on any significant development in relation to any such filings, submissions and notifications; and |
(vi) | give notice to the Company as soon as practicable, and in any event within one Business Day, in writing once an approval from a Governmental Entity has been obtained (including by providing a copy of such approval with redactions as necessary to comply with Legal Requirements). |
(f) | Each of the Company and the Offeror shall be responsible for determining, based on advice by external legal counsel, what information to be provided under this Section 4.1 is information that is to be shared among regulatory clean teams only and, in discharge of its respective obligations under this Section 4.1, shall provide any such information to the other Party only in accordance with a regulatory clean team agreement to be entered into between the Parties or their respective Affiliates. |
(g) | The Bidder and any members of the Bidder Group shall be permitted to act through internal regulatory and legal counsel who are Regulatory Clean Team Members for the purposes of the regulatory clearance process as if they were external counsels. |
(h) | Each of the Offeror and the Company shall be responsible for the accuracy of the information provided by it for any filings, submissions and notifications. |
(a) | The Company is aware and acknowledges that, as from the execution of this Agreement, it and all other members of the Target Group and other Affiliates are deemed to be acting in concert with the Bidder and any of its Affiliates (including the Offeror) with respect to the Offer in accordance with article 11 Takeover Ordinance. |
(b) | The Company agrees, at all times from (and including) the date of execution of this Agreement until (and including) the day falling six (6) months after the end of the additional acceptance period of the Offer (such period, the Restricted Period), to comply, and to procure that all of its Affiliates comply, with the obligations set forth in article 12(1) Takeover Ordinance, including the best price rule pursuant to article 12(1)(b) and article 10 Takeover Ordinance. The Company shall, and shall procure that its Affiliates will and shall instruct the Company's and its Affiliates' Representatives to, refrain from doing anything which may result in an obligation of the Bidder, the Offeror or any other Person, including the Company and its Affiliates, to increase the Offer Price. |
(c) | Without limiting the generality of Section 4.2(b), the Company shall not, and shall procure that neither its Affiliates nor any Person on its or their behalf will, during the Restricted Period, without the prior written consent of the Bidder: |
(i) | acquire, or agree to acquire, any shares (including Shares), other equity or equity-linked securities, options, warrants, conversion rights or other securities or rights for securities in the Company (including, for the avoidance of doubt, derivatives, financial instruments or rights providing for cash settlement only); or |
(ii) | change or amend or agree to change or amend any of the terms and conditions of the Incentive Plans or the rights or awards granted thereunder or under any other participation plan or arrangement, or establish or agree to any new option, share or other participation plan or arrangement, or agree to or perform any cash settlement or repurchase of any rights or awards, except as set forth in Section 6. |
(d) | Effective as of the execution of this Agreement, the Company shall procure that any share buy-back programs and any market making or similar arrangements are suspended. At all times during the Restricted Period, the Company shall not permit any share buy-back programs or similar arrangements to be reactivated, nor initiate, resolve on, enter into or communicate any new share buy-back program or similar arrangement without the prior written consent of the Bidder or the Offeror. |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 13 | 39 |
(a) | Except (i) for the shareholders' meeting pursuant to Section 4.5(b) or (ii) if requested by a shareholder or shareholders holding at least 3% of the share capital of the Company, the Company Board shall not convene any shareholders' meeting of the Company in the period from the date of this Agreement through the settlement of the Offer without the prior written consent of the Bidder or the Offeror. |
(b) | The Company Board shall recommend the rejection of any items put on the agenda of any shareholders' meeting of the Company on request of a shareholder and of any additional or amending proposals or requests submitted by a shareholder with respect to any agenda items for any shareholders' meeting of the Company unless such recommendation to reject would be inconsistent with its statutory fiduciary duties or such item or proposal or request could not reasonably be expected to adversely affect the Offer. |
(c) | Subject to any Legal Requirements that prevent shareholders and guests to physically attend shareholders' meetings, the Bidder and the Offeror shall have the right to attend, and shall be invited by the Company to, any shareholders' meeting of the Company as a guest, including the shareholders' meeting pursuant to Section 4.5(b), in the period from the date of this Agreement through the settlement of the Offer. |
(a) | The Company shall procure that all Company Board members (the Resigning Company Board Members) will, subject to the condition that the Offer will be settled and the Offeror will hold more than 50% of the Shares immediately after the settlement of the Offer, resign as members of the Company Board and the board of directors or equivalent corporate body of any of the Company's Subsidiaries, if applicable, no later than by the end of the Main Offer Period and with effect as of the settlement date of the Offer, by signing a resignation declaration substantially in the form attached hereto as Annex 4.5(a). |
(b) | The Company Board shall call a shareholders' meeting of the Company to be held during the additional acceptance period of the Offer in accordance with applicable Legal Requirements and the Articles of Association, and put to a vote of such meeting the election of each individual designated by the Bidder or the Offeror as members of the Company Board (the Bidder Nominees) as well as one individual as chairman of the Company Board and certain individuals as members of the nomination and compensation committee, in each case as designated by the Bidder or the Offeror, and all with effect as per the settlement date of the Offer and subject to the condition that the Offeror will hold more than 50% of the Shares immediately after the settlement of the Offer. |
(c) | The Company shall procure that the Bidder and the Offeror and their respective Representatives are given due opportunity to review, and comment on, the invitation to the shareholders' meeting pursuant to Section 4.5(b), and the resolutions submitted for its approval, and consult with the Bidder and the Offeror on all other relevant matters in connection with such shareholders' meeting. |
(d) | If the Bidder Nominees are not validly elected to the Company Board on or by the settlement date of the Offer, the Bidder Nominees shall, subject to any Legal Requirements, be entitled to receive, as of such date, all information provided to members of the Company Board and to attend all meetings of the Company Board with a consulting vote. |
(e) | If not all Resigning Company Board Members resign in accordance with Section 4.5(a), or if not all Bidder Nominees are elected at the shareholders' meeting in accordance with Section 4.5(b), the Company shall upon the Bidder's or the Offeror's request use commercially reasonable efforts to procure that such number of members of the Company Board as is necessary for the Bidder and the Offeror to control a majority of the members of the Company Board as of the settlement of the Offer will enter into a mandate agreement with the Bidder or the Offeror reasonably satisfactory to the Bidder and the Offeror. In any event, the Bidder and the Offeror shall have the right to request that the Company Board call another shareholders' meeting for the election to the Company Board of the Bidder Nominees and of additional nominees proposed by the Bidder or the Offeror. |
(a) | The Company shall, and shall procure that each of its Subsidiaries will, (i) continue to operate its business as a going concern, in the ordinary course and consistent with past practice and the current |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 14 | 39 |
(b) | Without limiting the generality of Section 4.6(a), unless required by merger control Legal Requirements or expressly provided otherwise in this Agreement, the Company shall not, and shall procure that none of its Subsidiaries nor any Person on the Company's or any of its Subsidiaries' behalf will, without the prior consent of the Bidder (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) or, if merger control Legal Requirements do not so permit, prior consultation of the Bidder, in each case in accordance with Section 4.6(c), do or agree to do or announce any of the following from the date of this Agreement through the settlement of the Offer: |
(i) | do anything that is reasonably likely to interfere with, inhibit or impair, hinder or delay the consummation of the Offer or any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; |
(ii) | make any change in the terms of service or employment of any director, officer or employee of the Target, or hire any director, officer or employee with an individual aggregate compensation in excess of CHF 250,000 per year, in each case other than (1) increases in compensation in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (2) in accordance with existing agreements or (3) in the case of employees, in accordance with existing collective bargaining arrangements; |
(iii) | other than as required by the terms of an Incentive Plan as in existence on the date of this Agreement or in accordance with Section 6, (1) grant or pay any change-of-control, retention, severance or termination pay to, or increase in any manner the change-of-control, retention, severance or termination pay of any director, officer or employee of any member of the Target Group, (2) grant any awards (including grants of any stock or stock-based awards or the removal of existing restrictions in any Incentive Plans or awards made thereunder) other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (3) take any action to fund or in any other way secure the payment of compensation or benefits, or (4) take any action to accelerate the vesting or payment of any compensation or benefit under any Incentive Plan or awards made thereunder; |
(iv) | materially change any actuarial or other assumption used to calculate funding obligations with respect to any Equity Plan, employee benefit or pension plan, or change the manner in which contributions to any such plan are made or the basis on which such contributions are determined; |
(v) | enter into, amend, modify or terminate any collective bargaining arrangements; |
(vi) | form, enter into, amend, modify, terminate or withdraw from any material partnership, consortium, (contractual or incorporated) joint venture or other incorporated association or agree to make or make any capital expenditure or equity commitments in connection therewith; |
(vii) | amend or otherwise alter in any manner the articles of association or organizational regulations or similar governing documents of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries; |
(viii) | issue, sell, grant, split, subdivide, encumber, redeem, repurchase or otherwise dispose of or acquire any shares (including Shares), other equity or equity-linked securities, options, warrants, conversion rights or other securities or rights for securities in the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or increase, reduce or otherwise change the share capital or capital structure of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries; |
(ix) | directly or indirectly offer, sell, write options, assign, encumber or otherwise dispose of or transfer the legal or beneficial ownership of all or a part of the Treasury Shares or other securities that are directly or indirectly held by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or solicit any offers to purchase or otherwise acquire or make a pledge of any such Treasury Shares or such other securities; |
(x) | authorize, apply for, or cause to be approved, the listing of equity securities (including Shares) on any stock exchange; |
(xi) | sell, lease, license, transfer or otherwise dispose of any material assets of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to a third party, other than the sale of passive mobile infrastructure in accordance with the built-to-suit-agreement between Sunrise Communications AG and Swiss Towers AG dated July 19, 2017 and the sale of inventory and used equipment in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; |
(xii) | acquire, whether by means of merger, share exchange, consolidation, tender offer, asset purchase or otherwise, (1) any shares or other equity or equity-linked securities, options, conversion rights or other securities or rights for securities of any Business Association or (2) any assets (other than the acquisition of supplies and inventory in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice) from a third party; |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 15 | 39 |
(xiii) | (1) refinance, terminate, cancel, prepay, assign (other than giving its consent to the sale by Huawei of receivables from Sunrise Communications AG to DNB in accordance with the terms of such contracts with Huawei and DNB as are in effect as at the date of this Agreement and consistent with past practice), waive or materially amend the terms of any financing arrangements of the Target Group, (2) enter into any new financing arrangements (including vendor financing or vendor financing-like arrangements) or draw down funds under any existing financing arrangements of the Target Group in excess of CHF 10,000,000 in the aggregate other than a draw down of the existing CHF 200 million revolving credit facility with Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AG and other lenders pursuant to the senior facilities agreement dated January 13, 2015 (as amended and restated on February 9, 2015, December 23, 2016 and June 15, 2018), (3) enter into or materially amend any derivative instrument of the Target Group, or (4) enter into or materially amend any capital lease of the Target Group; |
(xiv) | enter into, increase or extend any liability under, any guarantee, indemnity or similar arrangement other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; |
(xv) | make, increase or extend any loan or advance or grant any credit to any third Person other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; |
(xvi) | grant, create or allow to be created any Lien over any of its assets or Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or its Subsidiaries other than as arising by operation of Legal Requirements or in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; |
(xvii) | (1) abandon, disclaim, dedicate to the public, sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of any material Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or its Subsidiaries, (2) grant to any third party any license, or enter into any covenant not to sue, with respect to any material Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or its Subsidiaries (other than the grant of non-exclusive licenses of such Intellectual Property Rights to business partners in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice), (3) disclose or allow to be disclosed any material confidential information to any Person, other than to Persons that are subject to a customary confidentiality or non-disclosure undertaking protecting against further disclosure thereof or (4) adversely amend or modify any material Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or its Subsidiaries in any material respect; |
(xviii) | liquidate any member of the Target Group or incorporate any new subsidiary or initiate or effect any insolvency or similar proceedings, mergers, demergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, consolidations, purchases or divestitures of securities or businesses or material assets or Intellectual Property Rights or similar transactions involving or with respect to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries; |
(xix) | (1) initiate, discontinue or settle any Actions other than any settlements involving only the payment of sums of money not higher than CHF 5,000,000 per Action in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (2) or discontinue or settle, or otherwise fail to further pursue, the Action against Swisscom (and any related actions) announced by the Company on May 15, 2020; |
(xx) | declare, make or pay any dividend or other distribution, payable in cash, stock, property or otherwise, except for dividends to another direct or indirect wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company or to the Company, or resolve, declare or make any capital reduction or repayments on shares or other securities; |
(xxi) | enter into, amend, modify or terminate or consent to the termination (including via the failure to exercise a right to renew on commercially reasonable terms) of, or amend, modify, terminate or consent to the termination of any rights under, any distribution, customer, manufacturer, marketing or supply agreement other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; |
(xxii) | (A) enter into, amend, modify or terminate or consent to the termination (including via the failure to exercise a right to renew on commercially reasonable terms) of, or amend, modify, terminate or consent to the termination of any rights under, any (1) agreement purporting to limit the ability of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or Representatives to compete in any line of business or with any Person or entity or in any geographic area or during any period of time or in any customer segment, (2) agreement providing for "exclusivity" or any similar requirement or "most favored nation" or similar rights, in each case in favor of any Person other than the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, (3) agreement to the extent the consummation of the Offer or any of the other transactions contemplated under this Agreement would reasonably be expected to trigger, conflict with or result in a violation of any "change of control" or similar provision of such agreement, (4) agreement with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., or any of its Affiliates, or (5) agreement with any member of the Target Group or any current or former director, officer or employee of any member of the Target Group or (B) enter into any new whole-sale fixed network access agreement; |
(xxiii) | do, or, to the extent within the powers of the Company, fail to prevent, anything that could have a Material Adverse Effect (as defined in the Pre-Announcement) or cause any of the representations set forth in Annex 5(a) to be breached, untrue or inaccurate when given as of |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 16 | 39 |
(xxiv) | change the accounting procedures, principles or practices of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries in effect at the date of this Agreement; |
(xxv) | make any change (or file any such change) in any material method of Tax accounting, make, change or rescind any material Tax election, file any amended Tax return, file any claim for refund of a material amount of Taxes, enter into any closing agreement relating to a material amount of Taxes or waive or extend the statute of limitations in respect of material Taxes, in each case outside of the ordinary course of business and, to the extent applicable, consistent with past practice; |
(xxvi) | take any action that is reasonably likely to interfere with, inhibit or impair, hinder or delay the obtainment and implementation of the Tax Rulings (to the extent known to the Company); |
(xxvii) | cancel, compromise, waive or release any right or claim or series of related rights and claims or any indebtedness outside the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; or |
(xxviii) | enter into any commitments to pay, or pay, any fees, costs and expenses in relation to the Offer and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement to any brokers, financial advisers, finders, other intermediaries or professional advisers over or above what has been fairly disclosed to the Bidder prior to the date of this Agreement. |
(c) | Any notification of a planned action under this Section 4.6 shall be made in writing (e-mail sufficient) to a Designated Individual, and any consent thereto shall only be valid if given in writing (e-mail sufficient) by a Designated Individual. |
(a) | Without limiting the generality of Section 3.2(c) and provided that the Company and the Company's Subsidiaries may refrain from any action that would divert material resources from or lead to a disruption of the operations of the Company's or the Company's day-to-day business and subject to any constraints under mandatory Legal Requirements, the Company shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries and the Company's and its Subsidiaries' Representatives to, provide such cooperation in connection with the evaluation, preparation and arrangement of debt financing to fund certain of the consideration in connection with the Offer, the refinancing of existing debt of the Target Group or any associated derivatives (together, the Acquisition Financing) as may be reasonably required and requested by the Bidder or the Offeror, including without limitation: |
(i) | participation of senior management (including the chief financial officer) in meetings, drafting sessions, due diligence sessions and|or presentations to prospective lenders and investors and sessions with rating agencies needed to rate and to market the Acquisition Financing; |
(ii) | furnishing, or using commercially reasonable efforts to cause third parties to furnish, the Bidder and the Offeror and its financing sources with financial information regarding the Company and its Subsidiaries; |
(iii) | providing due diligence materials and other information required by any financing sources or their Representatives in connection with their due diligence investigation of the Company and its Subsidiaries, and providing access during normal business hours and on at least 1 Trading Day's prior notice to the premises, Representatives (including senior management), books, records and accounts of the Company and its Subsidiaries; |
(iv) | providing all information and documents reasonably necessary in connection with obtaining the Tax Rulings (including any pre-existing Tax rulings relating to the financing of the Company and its Subsidiaries as well as any relevant correspondence with Tax Governmental Entities); |
(v) | providing all information and documents reasonably necessary in connection with the preparation of customary confidential information memoranda and other customary marketing materials to be used in connection with any syndication reasonably deemed necessary by any lead arranger or equivalent Person; |
(vi) | providing all information and documents reasonably necessary in connection with the procurement of public corporate credit ratings, public corporate family ratings and public ratings (as applicable) from each of Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch, reasonably requested by the Bidder or the Offeror, in respect of relevant issuers, borrowers and guarantors and facilities and other instruments issued; |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 17 | 39 |
(vii) | providing all information and documents reasonably necessary in connection with the preparation of any credit agreements, security agreements and other financing and security documents, filings and other certificates and documents, and otherwise reasonably facilitating the granting of security interests; |
(viii) | providing all documents and other information about the Company and its Subsidiaries as are reasonably required by the relevant underwriters, lenders, agents and other finance parties and their counsel with respect to (i) applicable "know your customer" and Anti-Money Laundering Laws and (ii) obtaining all reasonably necessary internal approvals and satisfying all other relevant conditions precedent; |
(ix) | arranging for change of control, repayment or redemption related notices and other steps in connection with the existing indebtedness of the Company and its Subsidiaries and using commercially reasonable efforts to obtain customary pay-off letters, releases, lien terminations, title transfers, and instruments of discharge or transfer relating to any collateral to be delivered; |
(x) | consenting to the use of logos of the Company and its Subsidiaries; |
(xi) | obtaining the assistance of the Target Group's auditors to provide consents for the use of their reports in materials related to the Acquisition Financing, and procuring their participation in drafting sessions and due diligence sessions (to the extent permissible under Legal Requirements and their professional standards); and |
(xii) | providing reasonable assistance in relation to any syndication of the debt facilities contemplated by the Acquisition Financing. |
(b) | Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall be required to agree to any commitment or obligation pursuant to this Section 4.8 unless such commitment or obligation is conditional on the closing of the Offer. |
(c) | The Offeror undertakes to pay to the Company all third party costs reasonably incurred by the Company after the date of this Agreement in connection with any action that the Bidder or one of its Affiliates requires the Company to take under this Section 4.8 if (i) the Offer is not settled and (ii) the Reimbursement Amount is not payable. |
(a) | The Company hereby represents and warrants that, except as fairly disclosed (i) in the annual report 2019 of the Company, (ii) in any ad hoc statement or press release of the Company published in the period between January 1, 2020 and the date of this Agreement or (iii) to the Bidder prior to the date of this Agreement, the statements set forth in Annex 5(a) are true and correct as of the date of this Agreement. |
(b) | The Company shall, irrespective of any fault, indemnify the Bidder, the Offeror and their Affiliates and hold each of them harmless from and against any and all damages, losses, liabilities (whether accrued, contingent or otherwise), claims, penalties, judgments, settlements, fines, interest and costs and expenses suffered, incurred or payable by, or brought against, any of them as result of, or arising from or based upon, any misrepresentation or breach of any of the warranties set forth in Annex 5(a) in each case which are proximately caused by the misrepresentation or breach of any of the warranties set forth in Annex 5(a). For the avoidance of doubt, under no circumstances shall punitive damages, exemplary damages or any multiple portion of any multiplied damages, lost profit, loss of profit and loss of goodwill be indemnifiable. |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 18 | 39 |
(a) | The Company has the following types of restricted Shares issued or equity awards in relation to Shares granted to employees under the following share-based remuneration plans (together, the Equity Plans) |
(i) | performance share units (the Performance Share Units) granted under the Sunrise Performance Share Unit Plan dated January 13, 2020 (the PSUP); |
(ii) | investment shares (the Investment Shares), awards for performance shares (the Performance Share Awards ) and awards for matching shares (the Matching Share Awards) granted under the Sunrise Management Long Term Investment Programme – Revised dated March 1, 2017 (the MLTIP); and |
(iii) | restricted shares (the Restricted Shares) granted under the Sunrise 2020 Employee Share Participation Plan of February 2020 (the ESPP). |
(b) | Pursuant to the terms of MLTIP and the ESPP, respectively, the Investment Shares and the Restricted Shares are blocked and may not be sold or otherwise transferred by any holder thereof for a period of three years from the date on which they were delivered to such holder (the Blocking Period). As of the date of this Agreement, an aggregate of 210,740 blocked Investment Shares and blocked Restricted Shares is outstanding under the MLTIP and the ESPP. |
(c) | Pursuant to the terms of the PSUP and the MLTIP, respectively, (i) each Performance Share Unit, Performance Share Award and Matching Share Award has a vesting period of three years from the grant date (the Vesting Period), and (ii) upon expiration of the Vesting Period, each Performance Share Unit entitles its holder to receive zero to two (0-2) Shares, each Performance Share Award entitles its holder to receive zero to one point two (0-1.2) Shares, and each Matching Share Award entitles its holder to receive one (1) Share, in each case free of charge. As of the date of this Agreement, the Company has granted and outstanding 55,920 Performance Share Units, 808 Performance Share Awards granted in 2017 (the 2017 Performance Share Awards), 8,471 Performance Share Awards granted in 2018 (the 2018 Performance Share Awards) and 5,043 Matching Share Awards, entitling their holders to receive an aggregate of up to 128,019 Shares upon expiration of the Vesting Period. |
(d) | Pursuant to the Equity Plans, the Company Board may, in the event of a change of control of the Company, amend or adjust the Equity Plans in its discretion. |
(a) | From the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the settlement of the Offer or the date on which the Bidder or the Offeror has terminated the Offer, the Company shall not, and shall procure that none of its Subsidiaries will, issue any (restricted) Shares or grant any awards relating to Shares, except as set forth in Section 6.1.2(c). |
(b) | Provided that all Offer Conditions are satisfied, the Company shall terminate all Equity Plans which have not been terminated prior to the settlement of the Offer effective as of the settlement date of the Offer. |
(c) | Provided that (i) the Offer is not terminated by the Offeror upon the expiration of the Main Offer Period, (ii) more than 50% of all the Shares have been tendered under the Offer during the Main Offer Period, (iii) the TOB or any other Governmental Entity has issued a decision or decree that the following adjustments do not trigger the best price rule or violate the principle of equal treatment of offerees under Swiss takeover Legal Requirements and (iv) the review body has not determined that the following adjustments infringe or trigger the best price rule or any other Legal Requirements, the Company shall, and shall have the right to, adjust the Equity Plans and make the determinations as set forth below: |
(i) | the applicable Blocking Period in relation to the Investment Shares and the Restricted Shares will be accelerated to terminate on the first day of the additional acceptance period of the Offer, and all Investment Shares and Restricted Shares will be tendered under the Offer during the additional acceptance period on behalf and on the account of the holders thereof; |
(ii) | the applicable Vesting Period in relation to each Performance Share Unit, Performance Share Award and Matching Share Award will be accelerated to terminate no later than on the last Trading Day prior to the settlement of the Offer, and all entitlements of the holders of Performance Share Units, Performance Share Awards and Matching Share Awards will vest in full on such date (such date, the Accelerated Vesting Date ); |
(iii) | based on the determination of the Company Board, each Performance Share Unit will convert into the right to receive two (2) Shares and each 2017 Performance Share will convert into the right to receive zero point nine three nine eight (0.9398) Shares and each 2018 Performance |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 19 | 39 |
(iv) | the Performance Share Units, Performance Share Awards and Matching Share Awards will be settled in cash in lieu of Shares, and to that effect each right to receive Share(s) under the Performance Share Units, Performance Share Awards and Matching Share Awards will be converted into the right to receive an amount in cash corresponding to the Offer Price per Share, payable, together with the dividend equivalents pursuant to PSUP and the MLTIP accrued until the Accelerated Vesting Date, to the holders thereof with value as of the settlement date of the Offer. |
(d) | If and to the extent that the review body under the Offer or the TOB or any other Governmental Entity should determine that any of the adjustments or determinations set forth in Section 6.1.2(c) triggers the best price rule or violates the principle of equal treatment of offerees under Swiss takeover Legal Requirements and would require the Bidder to increase the Offer Price or otherwise change the terms of the Offer, the Company shall, and shall have the right to, after prior consultation with the Offeror, amend such adjustment or determination in such a way to make it compliant with the best price rule or any other Legal Requirement and, to the extent deemed reasonably necessary by the Parties, obtain an advance ruling from the TOB confirming such compliance if the contemplated adjustment is made by the Company; provided, however, that such amended adjustments and determinations shall overall not be more beneficial to the participants under the Equity Plans than the adjustments and determinations specified in Section 6.1.2(c). |
(a) | Under the Sunrise Bonus Plan (the Short Term Incentive Plan , and together with the Equity Plans the Incentive Plans), Sunrise employees are, subject to reaching certain pre-defined performance targets, entitled to receive a variable bonus payment of up to 200% of their annual base salary. |
(b) | Provided that (i) the Offer is not terminated by the Offeror upon the expiration of the Main Offer Period, (ii) more than 50% of all the Shares have been tendered under the Offer during the Main Offer Period, (iii) the TOB or any other Governmental Entity has issued a decision or decree that the following adjustments do not trigger the best price rule or violate the principle of equal treatment of offerees under Swiss takeover Legal Requirements and (iv) the review body has not determined that the following adjustments infringe or trigger the best price rule or any other Legal Requirements, the Company shall, and shall have the right to, adjust the Short Term Incentive Plan so that so that the target achievement under the Short Term Incentive Plan for the financial year 2020 will be measured at settlement of the Offer, such target achievement rate will be linearly extrapolated to December 31, 2020 and the bonus calculated on the basis of this target achievement rate for the entire financial year 2020 will be paid out on a pro-rated basis, i.e. the pro-rated portion of the bonus for the period between January 1, 2020 and the settlement of the Offer, will be paid at settlement of the Offer. |
(a) | Prior to the date of this Agreement, part of the base compensation of the members of the Company Board has been paid in Shares which are blocked for a period of three years from the date on which they were delivered to the relevant Company Board member. As of the date of this Agreement 17,632 Shares held by members of the Company Board are blocked. |
(b) | Provided that (i) the Offer is not terminated by the Offeror upon expiration of the Main Offer Period and (ii) more than 50% of all the Shares have been tendered under the Offer during the Main Offer Period, the applicable blocking period in relation to the blocked Shares held by the Company Board members will be accelerated to terminate on the first day of the additional acceptance period of the Offer, and such Shares will be tendered under the Offer during the additional acceptance period on behalf and on the account of the Company Board members. |
(c) | From the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the settlement of the Offer or the date on which the Bidder or the Offeror has terminated the Offer, the Company shall not, and shall procure that none of its Subsidiaries will, issue any Shares or grant any awards to any Company Board members. To the extent not yet paid, the members of the Company Board shall be compensated for the current term of office (on a pro rata basis if applicable) solely in cash, and no blocked Shares shall be issued or otherwise delivered to the Company Board members as from the date of this Agreement. |
(a) | The Company acknowledges that the Bidder currently contemplates that, following the settlement of the Offer, depending on the acceptance rate, any remaining minority shareholders of the Company shall be excluded and indemnified by any legal means available, including by way of a squeeze-out in accordance with article 137 FMIA and the respective implementing ordinance or a squeeze-out merger in accordance with the Swiss Merger Act (as the case may be), and that the Shares shall be de-listed from the SIX. |
(b) | Without limiting the generality of Section 3.2(c), following the settlement of the Offer, the Company shall, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries will, support any such action proposed by the Bidder or the Offeror in order for the Offeror to achieve control of 100% of the Shares of the Company, to request |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 20 | 39 |
(a) | Except as expressly provided otherwise herein, each Party shall bear its own costs and expenses (including advisory fees) incurred in the negotiation, preparation and completion of this Agreement and in connection with the Offer. |
(b) | The Company agrees to pay to the Bidder or, at the election of the Bidder, to the Offeror or any other Affiliate of the Bidder an amount of CHF 50 million (the Reimbursement Amount) as lump sum reimbursement of costs that the Bidder, the Offeror and their respective Representatives have incurred or will incur for preparing and making the Offer, |
(i) | if (A) the Offer is not successful (nicht zustande gekommen) or (B) the Offer has not become unconditional and is no longer required by the TOB to remain open or (C) this Agreement is terminated, in each case for a reason attributable to: |
(1) | a material breach by the Company of this Agreement or of any of its representations or warranties; or |
(2) | a material breach by the Company of any Legal Requirements in connection with the Offer; or |
(ii) | (1) if the Company Board fails to unanimously recommend the Offer to the shareholders of the Company as contemplated in this Agreement; (2) if the Company Board or any committee thereof withdraws, modifies or qualifies its unanimous recommendation of the Offer; (3) if the Company or any other Person on behalf of the Company recommends, approves or enters into an agreement or arrangement with a third party for a Restricted Transaction (including a Superior Transaction); or (4) in each case of (1), (2) or (3), if the Company or the Company Board makes an announcement to that effect; or |
(iii) | if a competing offer has been declared successful. |
(c) | The cost reimbursement obligation pursuant to Section 9(b) shall become due and payable by the Company at the later of the fifth (5th) Trading Day after (i) any of the events contemplated under Section 9(b) has occurred and (ii) the point in time the Offer can no longer be declared successful or become unconditional. |
(d) | The right to request specific performance and claim damages beyond the Reimbursement Amount shall be preserved. |
(a) | Following the date of this Agreement, any press release issued by a Party or any of its Subsidiaries or its or their Representatives in relation to the Offer shall only be published after a draft of such press release has been provided to the Company (in case of a press release by the Bidder or any of its Subsidiaries or its or their Representatives) or the Bidder and the Offeror (in case of a press release by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or its or their Representatives). Nothing in this Agreement shall restrict or prohibit: |
(i) | any announcement or disclosure required by Legal Requirements; or |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 21 | 39 |
(ii) | any disclosure to any Representatives who are required to receive such information to carry out their duties (conditional upon any such Person agreeing to keep such information confidential for so long as the disclosing Party is obligated to do so). |
(b) | The confidentiality agreement between the Company and Liberty Global Europe Limited dated as of August 3, 2020 (the Confidentiality Agreement), and all rights and obligations thereunder are hereby terminated. |
(c) | Subject to Section 10(d) from the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the settlement of the Offer or twenty-four (24) months from the date of this Agreement, each Party shall, and shall procure that its Affiliates and its and their Representatives will, except with prior written consent of the respective other Party: |
(i) | keep Confidential Information and any part thereof in strict confidence and not disclose the same to any Person other than to those of its Representatives who need to know the same for the purposes of, or as set forth in, this Agreement and the Offer (including its financing) and who are bound, by law, agreement or otherwise, by appropriate confidentiality obligations and have been made aware of the terms of this Section 10(c); and |
(ii) | not use Confidential Information or any part thereof for any purpose other than for the purposes of, or as set forth in, this Agreement and the Offer (including its financing). |
(d) | Nothing in this Agreement shall preclude either Party from, or restrict either Party in, disclosing any Evaluation Information or any Transaction Information to any Person (whether publicly or not) in compliance with its obligations under applicable laws and regulations or upon request from any competent governmental authority, stock exchange or other regulatory body; provided that, if a Party elects to make any such disclosure, it shall, if reasonably practicable and lawfully permitted and possible under applicable laws and regulations, inform and, as regards timing, content and other details of such disclosure, consult with the other Party as early as possible prior to making any such disclosure; and further provided that either Party shall make any such disclosure only to the extent to which and in the form and manner in which it is obliged under applicable laws and regulations or has been requested by a competent governmental authority, stock exchange or other regulatory body. |
(e) | If this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 11(a) and upon a Party's subsequent request the other Party shall, and shall procure that all other Receiving Parties will, promptly destroy all Confidential Information and confirm to the requesting Party in writing compliance with this Section 10(e). The obligation to return or destroy Confidential Information shall not apply to (i) computer records and files which have been created pursuant to automatic electronic archiving, IT back-up or internal disaster recovery procedures, or (ii) any Confidential Information that is included or has been filed in the minutes or other records of the board of directors or management committees of the other Party (or any of its respective Affiliates), or (iii) any Confidential Information which a Receiving Party is required to retain in order to comply with applicable laws or regulations. Such retained Confidential Information shall be held in confidence in accordance with Section 10(c) and Section 10(d). |
(a) | This Agreement may be terminated with immediate effect by giving notice in writing to the other Party: |
(i) | by either Party, if (1) the Offer has not become unconditional and (2) the TOB no longer requires the Offer to remain open; |
(ii) | by either Party, if (1) the Offeror publicly declares that the Offer will not be further pursued or has failed or otherwise withdraws from launching, continuing or settling the Offer and (2) the TOB permits the Offer not to be launched, no longer to remain open or not to be settled and (3) the Party seeking to terminate is not in breach of any provision under this Agreement that causes any such non-pursuance, failure or withdrawal; |
(iii) | by either Party, if the other Party (1) materially breaches its obligations or its representations or warranties under this Agreement and (2) has failed to fully remedy such breach within ten (10) Trading Days after such breach; |
(iv) | by the Bidder, if the Company or any Person acting on behalf of the Company enters into an agreement or arrangement with any Person regarding a Restricted Transaction (including a Superior Transaction) or makes an announcement to that effect; |
(v) | by the Bidder, if a competing offer has an acceptance rate of more than 10% of the Shares; |
(vi) | by the Bidder, if the Company Board or any committee thereof (1) fails to unanimously recommend the Offer to the shareholders of the Company as contemplated in this Agreement or (2) withdraws, modifies or qualifies its unanimous recommendation of the Offer or makes an announcement to that effect or (3) approves or recommends a Restricted Transaction (including a Superior Transaction) or makes an announcement to that effect; |
(vii) | by the Company, if (1) the Company Board withdraws, modifies or qualifies its unanimous recommendation of the Offer in accordance with Section 3.4(d) and 3.4(e) and (2) the Offeror |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 22 | 39 |
(b) | If this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 11(a), such termination shall be without liability of any Party to the other Party, except that (i) any obligations set forth in Sections 9(b) and 9(c) shall continue to exist, (ii) if such termination results from the breach by any Party of its obligations under this Agreement, such Party shall be fully liable for all damages suffered by the other Party, including for costs and expenses incurred that become futile as a result, and (iii) such termination shall be without prejudice to the liability of either Party for a breach of this Agreement prior to such termination. |
(c) | If this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 11(a), all provisions of this Agreement shall cease to be effective, except as set forth in Section 9 (Costs and Expenses), Section 10(b) through Section 10(e) (Confidentiality), this Section 11 (Termination) and Section 12 (General Provisions). |
(a) | All notices or other communications to be given under or in connection with this Agreement shall be in writing and delivered by hand or sent (postage prepaid) by registered, certified or express mail (return receipt requested) overnight courier or e-mail (provided that e-mail notice is also served in physical hard copy delivered to the relevant address (in which case notice shall be deemed to be duly given by the relevant e-mail and not the physical hard copy) as follows: |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 23 | 39 |
if to the Bidder or the Offeror: | Liberty Global plc Attn. Andrea Salvato, Bryan Hall, Jeremy Evans Griffin House 161 Hammersmith Road London W6 8BS United Kingdom E-mail: asalvato@libertyglobal.com jevans@libertyglobal.com legalUS@libertyglobal.com |
with a copy to | Homburger AG Attn: Dr. Daniel Daeniker, Dr. Daniel Hasler Prime Tower Hardstrasse 201 8005 Zurich Switzerland Phone: + 41 43 222 10 00 Fax: +41 43 222 15 00 E-mail: daniel.daeniker@homburger.ch |
if to the Company: | Sunrise Communications Group AG Attn. André Krause, Uwe Schiller, Marcel Huber Thurgauerstrasse 101B 8152 Glattpark (Opfikon) Switzerland E-mail: andre.krause@sunrise.net; marcel.huber@sunrise.net |
with a copy to | Lenz & Staehelin Attn. Hans-Jakob Diem, Simone Ehrsam Brandschenkestrasse 24 8027 Zurich Phone: + 41 58 450 80 00 Fax: +41 58 450 80 01 E-mail: hans-jakob.diem@lenzstaehelin.com simone.ehrsam@lenzstaehelin.com |
(b) | Notwithstanding the foregoing, any certificate that has to be issued hereunder confirming the satisfaction of Offer Conditions, has to be issued and sent so that it is received by the Bidder and the Offeror by 10a.m. Swiss time on the relevant date stated in this Agreement. |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 24 | 39 |
(a) | Subject to Section 12.4(c), no Person other than the Parties shall have any rights, benefits or remedies under this Agreement, and nothing in this Agreement is intended to confer on any Person other than the Parties any rights, benefits or remedies. |
(b) | Subject to Section 12.4(c), neither Party shall transfer or assign this Agreement or any of its rights or obligations hereunder to any Person without the prior written consent of the other Party. Any attempted assignment in violation of this Section 12.4(b) shall be deemed void. |
(c) | The rights, benefits and remedies of the Offeror under this Agreement shall become directly enforceable rights of the Offeror automatically upon the submission of the Offer by the Offeror. Further, the Bidder may transfer and assign this Agreement and any of its rights and obligations hereunder to the Offeror or any of the Bidder's other Affiliates. |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 25 | 39 |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 26 | 39 |
Liberty Global plc | ||
[AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY] | ||
Name: [AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY] | ||
Function: | ||
Sunrise Communications Group AG | ||
[AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY] | [AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY] | |
Name: [AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY] | Name: [AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY] | |
Function: | Function: |
Liberty Global Europe Limited | ||
[AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY] | ||
Name: [AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY] | ||
Function: |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 27 | 39 |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 28 | 39 |
2017 Performance Share Awards | 19 | ||
2018 Performance Share Awards | 19 | ||
Accelerated Vesting Date | 19 | ||
Acquisition Financing | 17 | ||
Bidder | 1 | ||
Bidder Nominees | 14 | ||
Blocking Period | 19 | ||
Board Report | 9 | ||
Company | 1 | ||
Confidentiality Agreement | 22 | ||
Equity Plans | 18 | ||
ESPP | 19 | ||
Exchange Act | 6 | ||
Fairness Opinion | 6 | ||
FINMA | 7 | ||
Freenet | 5 | ||
Incentive Plans | 20 | ||
Investment Shares | 19 | ||
Main Offer Period | 6 | ||
Matching Period | 9 | ||
Matching Right | 9 | ||
Matching Share Awards | 19 | ||
Material Action | 40 | ||
MLTIP | 19 | ||
Offer | 5 |
Offer Conditions | 5 | ||
Offer Price | 5 | ||
Offer Prospectus | 6 | ||
Offeror | 5 | ||
Performance Share Awards | 19 | ||
Performance Share Units | 19 | ||
Pre-Announcement | 5 | ||
PSUP | 19 | ||
Receiving Party | 29 | ||
Regulatory Approval Condition | 10 | ||
Reimbursement Amount | 21 | ||
Resigning Company Board Members | 14 | ||
Restricted Action | 8 | ||
Restricted Period | 13 | ||
Restricted Shares | 19 | ||
Restricted Transaction Agreement | 8 | ||
SEC | 6 | ||
Share | 5 | ||
Short Term Incentive Plan | 20 | ||
SIX | 5 | ||
Subsidiary Shares | 39 | ||
Superior Transaction | 8 | ||
Tax Rulings | 7 | ||
TOB | 6 | ||
Vesting Period | 19 |
Action means any action, claim, complaint, reclamation or objection of any Person or any order, injunction, judgment, fine, action, claim, complaint, reclamation, objection, arbitration, subpoena investigation, inquiry or proceeding by or before any Governmental Entity, grand jury or arbitration tribunal. |
Affiliate means a Person that exercises Control over a second Person, or is under Control by it, or is under common Control by the same Person. |
Agreement means this transaction agreement, including all of its annexes. |
Alternative Transaction Proposal means a bona fide, unsolicited proposal in writing to acquire all or at least 66 2/3% of the Shares or all or substantially all of the consolidated assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries. |
Annex means any annex to this Agreement. |
Articles of Association means the articles of association of the Company in effect from time to time. |
Bidder Group means the Bidder and all of its direct and indirect Subsidiaries, including the Offeror. |
Business Association means a general or limited partnership, a corporation, a business trust, a limited liability company, a trust, an unincorporated organization doing business, a government or any department or agency thereof, a joint venture or any other person or entity doing business. |
CHF means Swiss Francs, the lawful currency of Switzerland. |
CO means the Swiss Code of Obligations, as amended. |
Company Board means the board of directors of the Company. |
Competing Offer means a binding offer in writing to acquire all or at least 66 2/3% of the Shares or all or substantially all of the consolidated assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries, which is fully and bindingly financed or, to the extent that consideration in the form of listed shares is contemplated, subject only to such approvals by shareholders, Governmental Entities or a stock exchange as are required under Legal Requirements or applicable stock exchange regulations for the issuance and listing of such shares. |
Confidential Information means any non-public information, whether in written, electronic or oral form, relating to a Party, its Affiliates and its and their business and affairs, to the extent disclosed to the other Party, its Affilates or its or their Representatives prior to, on or after the date of this Agreement (each a Receiving Party), except such information as (i) is in the public domain at the date of this Agreement or subsequently enters the public domain other than by a breach of this Agreement, (ii) is known to any Receiving Party prior to its disclosure pursuant to this Agreement or which subsequently becomes known to any Receiving Party other than from a Person that is known, following reasonable enquiry by the Bidder (if the Bidder is among the Receiving Parties) or the Company (if the Company is among the Receiving Parties) to be subject to a duty of confidentiality to the respective other Party or one of its Affiliates or any of its or their Representatives involved in the Transaction; or (iii) is independently developed by a Receiving Party without the use of any Confidential Information. |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 29 | 39 |
Control is deemed to exist if a Person or Business Association (either alone or with its Affiliates) owns more than half of the voting rights or equity capital of a Business Association, or is otherwise able to exercise a controlling influence over another Person or Business Association. |
Designated Individual means any of the following individuals: Andrea Salvato, Sajjad Vakilian, Johannes Edwin van Putten, Jeremy Evans, Giles Rowbotham or such other person(s) as shall be notified to Seller in accordance with Section 12.1(a). |
FMIA means the Swiss Financial Market Infrastructure Act of June 19, 2015, as amended. |
Governmental Entity means any foreign, domestic, federal, territorial, state or local governmental authority, quasi-governmental authority, instrumentality, court, government or self-regulatory organization, commission, tribunal or organization or any regulatory, administrative or other authority, body or agency, or any political or other subdivision, department or branch of any of the foregoing which has or claims to have competent jurisdiction over the relevant Persons or its business, property, assets or operations. |
Intellectual Property Rights means all Swiss and foreign intellectual property, including rights arising from or in respect of the following: (i) inventions, concepts and discoveries (whether patentable or unpatentable), (ii) all claims contained in patent applications and issued or granted patents, including continuations, continuations-in-part, divisionals, provisionals and renewals, and letters of patent granted with respect to any of the foregoing, patents of addition, supplementary protection certificates, registration or confirmation patents and all reissues, re-examinations and extensions thereof and any patent restoration or extension period granted by a Governmental Entity, including compensation for patent term lost during the trial or regulatory approval process; (iii) technology; (iv) works of authorship, copyrights, copyright registrations and applications therefor and all other rights corresponding thereto, including moral rights; (v) industrial designs and any registrations and applications therefor; (vi) confidential and proprietary information, including trade secrets, know-how, invention rights, database rights, business plans and other technical information; (vii) mask works, mask work registrations and applications therefor, and all other rights corresponding thereto; (viii) rights of privacy and publicity; (ix) trade names, logos, common-law and other trademarks and service marks, trademark and service-mark registrations and applications therefor and all goodwill associated therewith; (x) rights in World Wide Web addresses, URLs and domain names and applications and registrations therefor; and (xi) any corresponding or equivalent rights to any of the foregoing. |
Legal Requirement means any applicable law, statute, rule, regulation, ordinance, code or any judgment, order, writ, injunction, decree, decision or other requirement of any Governmental Entity. |
Lien means any lien, charge, encumbrance, or security interest, including interests arising from options, pledges, mortgages, indentures, security agreements, rights of first refusal or rights of pre-emption, irrespective of whether such Lien arises under any agreement, covenant, other instrument or the operation of Legal Requirements, and shall also mean any approval or consent required from a third Person to the exercise or full vesting of a right or title. |
Listing Rules means the Listing Rules of the SIX, as amended. |
Executive Leadership Team means the executive leadership team of the Company. |
Party means the Bidder or the Company, and Parties means the Bidder and the Company together. |
Person means any natural person or any Business Association. |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 30 | 39 |
Properly Determined means that the Company Board has determined a matter in good faith, by majority vote in accordance with the Articles of Association and organizational regulations of the Company, following receipt of advice of outside counsel and its financial advisors and after giving the Bidder or the Offeror and their legal counsel the opportunity to present their view on the matter. |
Proposing Party means any Person who submits an Alternative Transaction Proposal or a Competing Offer. |
Representatives means any director, officer, employee, agent or advisor (including financial advisors, legal counsel and accountants) of, or providers of debt or equity financing to, any of the Parties or the Offeror, as applicable or, where relevant, their Affiliates' directors, officers, employees, agents and advisors. |
Restricted Transaction means any transaction involving an acquisition, sale, transfer or other disposal, or the creation of an obligation for an acquisition, sale, transfer or other disposal (including by use of derivatives, financial instruments or other rights) of Shares or other securities of the Company or of any of the Company's or its Subsidiaries' material assets (including shares or other securities of the Company's Subsidiaries) or businesses, whether directly or indirectly, through a public offer, purchase, issuance, sale, transfer or other disposal or through merger, demerger, spin-off, transfer of assets or liabilities or otherwise, or any other transaction (including relating to Intellectual Property Rights) which may compete with, or impair, hinder or delay the settlement of the Offer or impair its success or which may substantially change the businesses, assets, liabilities, financial position, revenues or prospects of the Target Group or impair the value of the Shares for the Bidder or the Offeror, or limit the Bidder's or the Offeror's ability to acquire 100% of the Shares. |
Section means any section of this Agreement. |
Subsidiary means a Person that is under direct or indirect Control by a second Person. |
Swiss Merger Act means the Swiss Federal Act on Merger, Demerger, Transformation and Transfer of Assets of October 3, 2003, as amended. |
Target Group means the Company and all of its direct and indirect Subsidiaries. |
Takeover Ordinance means the Ordinance of the TOB on Public Takeover Offers (Übernahmeverordnung) of August 21, 2008, as amended. |
Taxes means all tax liabilities, including without limitation income taxes (personal or corporate), capital taxes, stamp duties (both on the issuance and on the transfer or securities), withholding taxes, value added taxes, real estate gains taxes, real estate transfer taxes, property and land taxes, business taxes, customs duties, social security contributions or payments of equivalent nature and all other taxes, duties, levies or imposts payable to any competent Governmental Entity in any jurisdiction, as well as any related interest, penalties, costs and expenses and including any tax sharing agreements and similar contractual obligations to indemnify or pay for any Tax liability of any other person. |
Trading Days means the days on which Shares are traded on the SIX. |
Treasury Shares means all Shares which are held by or on account of a member of the Target Group. |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 31 | 39 |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 32 | 39 |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 33 | 39 |
1. | Undertakings of the Shareholder |
(a) | Subject to the Offeror submitting the Offer at the Offer Price, the Shareholder hereby unconditionally and irrevocably agrees to tender, within the main offer period (Hauptangebotsfrist), all Shares currently owned by the Shareholder, being [■] Shares (collectively, the Owned Shares), into the Offer, and not to withdraw his|her acceptance of the Offer and the Owned Shares from the Offer, respectively, unless and until this Tender Undertaking is terminated in accordance with Clause 3. |
(b) | Subject to the Offeror submitting the Offer at the Offer Price, the Shareholder hereby unconditionally and irrevocably covenants to the Bidder that during the term of this Tender Undertaking he|she shall not, except as contemplated by this Tender Undertaking, directly or indirectly: |
(i) | sell, transfer to any person or otherwise dispose of or in any way encumber any of the Owned Shares or any interest therein (subject, however, to any liens as may be or have been imposed by custody banks on any deposited Owned Shares); |
(ii) | accept any offer, or enter into any agreement, arrangement or obligation to accept any offer, in respect of any of the Owned Shares; |
(iii) | grant any proxies or powers of attorney, deposit any of the Owned Shares into a voting trust or enter into any voting agreement, arrangement or obligation in respect of any of the Owned Shares that would affect the ability of the Shareholder to comply with his|her obligations under this Tender Undertaking; |
(iv) | request that the Company registers the transfer of any of the Owned Shares in the company's share register, unless such transfer is made in compliance with this Tender Undertaking; or |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 34 | 39 |
(v) | take any action or enter into any agreement, arrangement or obligation that would make any representation or warranty of the Shareholder contained herein untrue or incorrect in any respect or that would result in a breach by the Shareholder of any of his|her obligations under this Tender Undertaking. |
(c) | The Bidder and the Shareholder do not expect that the Shareholder will be deemed to be acting in concert with the Bidder, the Company and their respective affiliates with respect to the Offer in accordance with article 11 of the Takeover Ordinance. However, as a matter of precaution, the Shareholder agrees to comply with the obligations set forth in article 12(1) of the Takeover Ordinance, including the best price rule pursuant to article 12(1)(b) and article 10 of the Takeover Ordinance, at all times from the execution of this Tender Undertaking until and including the earlier of (i) the date falling six months after the end of the additional acceptance period of the Offer and (ii) the date on which this Tender Undertaking is terminated pursuant to Section 3. Without limitation to the generality of the foregoing, the Shareholder shall not, and shall procure that no person on his|her behalf will, acquire, or agree to acquire, any Shares or other equity securities of the Company or any financial instruments or rights relating, in any manner whatsoever, to Shares or other equity securities of the Company (including, for the avoidance of doubt, financial instruments or rights providing for a cash settlement only). |
2. | Representations and Warranties |
(a) | this Tender Undertaking has been duly executed by the Shareholder; |
(b) | the execution and performance by the Shareholder of this Tender Undertaking and the con-summation of the transactions contemplated hereby do not violate any agreement to which the Shareholder is a party; |
(c) | the Shareholder is the sole legal and beneficial owner of the Owned Shares, free and clear of any liens and encumbrances (except for liens that may be or have been imposed by custody banks on any of the deposited Owned Shares); and |
(d) | the Shareholder has the sole and unrestricted voting power and power of disposition with respect to the Owned Shares (subject to restrictions under matrimonial laws and other restrictions imposed by law, if any), and none of the Owned Shares are subject to any proxy, power of attorney, voting trust or other agreement, arrangement or obligation relating to their voting. |
3. | Termination |
(a) | this Tender Undertaking shall automatically terminate with immediate effect if the Offeror announces that the Offer has failed or is not further pursued; and |
(b) | the Shareholder shall have the right to withdraw his acceptance of the Offer with regard to the Owned Shares and to terminate this Tender Undertaking with immediate effect if a competing public tender offer has been announced by a third party in accordance with article 50(1) Takeover Ordinance. |
4. | General Provisions |
(a) | This Tender Undertaking constitutes the entire agreement and understanding between the Shareholder and the Bidder with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all prior oral or written agreements and understandings of the Shareholder and the Bidder relating to such subject matter. This Tender Undertaking may only be modified or amended by a document signed by the Shareholder and the Bidder. Compliance with any term or provision contained in this Tender Undertaking by the party that was or is obligated to comply or perform with such term or provision may only be waived by a document signed by the party waiving such compliance. |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 35 | 39 |
(b) | If any part or provision of this Tender Undertaking or the application of any such part or provision to any person or circumstance shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect by any competent arbitral tribunal, court, governmental or administrative authority, (i) such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not affect any other part or provision of this Tender Undertaking or the application of such part or provision to any other persons or circumstances, and (ii) the Shareholder and the Bidder shall endeavor to negotiate a substitute provision that best reflects the economic intentions of the invalid, illegal or unenforceable part or provision without being invalid, illegal or unenforceable, and shall execute all agreements and documents required for its implementation. |
(c) | The Bidder may transfer and assign this Agreement and any of its rights and obligations hereunder to the Offeror or any of the Bidder's other Affiliates. Subject to the foregoing, neither the Shareholder nor the Bidder shall transfer or assign this Tender Undertaking or any of their rights or obligations hereunder to any person without the prior written consent of the other party, and any such attempted transfer or assignment in violation of this Clause 4(c) shall be void. |
(d) | The representations, warranties and undertakings of the Shareholder in this Tender Undertaking shall become directly enforceable rights of the Offeror automatically upon the submission of the Offer by the Offeror. Subject to the foregoing, no person other than the Shareholder and the Bidder shall have any rights or benefits under this Tender Undertaking, and nothing in this Tender Undertaking is intended to confer on any person other than the Shareholder and the Bidder any rights, benefits or remedies. |
(e) | All notices or other communications to be given under or in connection with this Tender Under-taking shall be in writing and delivered by hand or sent (postage prepaid) by registered, certified or express mail (return receipt requested), overnight courier or e-mail (provided that e-mail notice is also served in physical hard copy delivered to the relevant address (in which case notice shall be deemed to be duly given by the relevant e-mail and not the physical hard copy) as follows: |
if to the Shareholder: | [■] |
if to the Bidder: | [■] |
with a copy to | Homburger AG Attn: Dr. Daniel Daeniker, Dr. Daniel Hasler Prime Tower Hardstrasse 201 8005 Zurich Switzerland Phone: + 41 43 222 10 00 Fax: +41 43 222 15 00 E-mail: daniel.daeniker@homburger.ch daniel.hasler@homburger.ch |
(f) | The Shareholder hereby consents to the inclusion of information relating to this Tender Undertaking, its existence and its contents in the Offer prospectus and any other Offer-related documents, including press releases and public announcements related to the Offer, and the provision of such information to the Swiss Takeover Board, any other competent authority and the review body of the offer. The Shareholder shall not disclose, without the prior written (e-mail permitted) consent of the Offeror, to any person this Tender Undertaking or its contents or publish any press release or make any public announcement in respect of this Tender Undertaking or the transactions contemplated by this Tender Undertaking, unless and to the extent (i) any such disclosure, press release or public announcement is required under |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 36 | 39 |
(g) | Except as expressly provided otherwise in the Offer prospectus, each party shall bear any and all costs, expenses and taxes incurred by it in connection with this Tender Undertaking and the transactions contemplated hereby, whether or not consummated. |
(h) | The Shareholder will, from time to time, execute and deliver, or cause to be executed and delivered, such additional or further transfers, assignments, endorsements, consents and other instruments as the Offeror may reasonably request for the purpose of effectively carrying out and consummating the transactions contemplated by this Tender Undertaking. |
(i) | This Tender Undertaking shall be exclusively governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive laws of Switzerland, excluding its conflict of laws principles and excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. |
(j) | Any dispute, controversy or claim arising under, out of or in relation to this letter, including the validity, invalidity, breach or termination thereof, shall be resolved by arbitration in accordance with the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration of the Swiss Chambers of Commerce as in force on the date on which Notice of Arbitration (as defined therein) is submitted in accordance with these rules. The number of arbitrators shall be three, and the seat of the arbitration shall be in Zurich (Switzerland). In the case of several claimants and|or respondents, the claimants and|or respondents shall, on each side, together designate one arbitrator. The two arbitrators appointed by the parties shall designate within 10 (ten) business days (i.e., days other than Saturdays or Sundays on which banks are generally open for doing commercial business in Zurich) the chairperson of the arbitral tribunal. In case of default of the respondent or if the two arbitrators appointed by the parties fail to designate a chairperson, the chairperson shall be designated by the President of the Zurich Chamber of Commerce. The arbitral proceedings shall be conducted in English, and evidentiary documents in a language other than English must be submitted accompanied by an English translation. |
Shareholder | |
__________________________________ | |
[name] | |
Acknowledged and agreed: | |
Place, Date: ________________________________ | |
Liberty Global plc | |
__________________________________ | |
[name] [function] |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 37 | 39 |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 38 | 39 |
(a) | Capacity and Authority: The Company has the full corporate capacity, power and authority, duly authorized by all requisite corporate actions, to enter into this Agreement and any transactions contemplated hereunder and to perform its respective obligations. |
(b) | Due Execution and Validity: This Agreement has been duly executed by the Company and constitutes legal, valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except to the extent that enforceability may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, reorganization, insolvency, moratorium or other laws affecting the enforcement of creditors' rights generally. The statements in Section 3.1 are true and correct and the Company Board's resolutions that Section 3.1 refers to have been duly resolved in a duly convened meeting, have not been amended and are in full force and effect. |
(c) | No Violations: The execution and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated under this Agreement do not and will not (i) violate or conflict in any respect with any provision of the Articles of Association or the organizational regulations of the Company or (ii) violate or conflict with any Legal Requirement applicable to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or by which any of their properties or assets may be bound. |
(d) | No Actions: There are no Actions pending or, to the Company's best knowledge, threatened against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries challenging the validity of this Agreement or any transactions contemplated by this Agreement or which would hinder the consummation of the Offer or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement. |
(e) | Shares: The share capital of the Company is structured as set forth in Recital A and the information set forth in Recital A is true, correct and complete. All 45,265,446 Shares have been validly issued, fully paid, are non-assessable and constitute all of the Shares in the Company. Other than as set forth in Recital A, there are no outstanding shares, other equity or equity-linked securities, options, warrants, calls, rights or commitments, or any other agreements of any character relating to the sale, issuance, voting or the granting of rights to acquire any shares or other equity or equity-linked securities of the Company. |
(f) | Shareholdings: The shareholdings of the Company in its Subsidiaries correspond to the information set forth on page 118 of the Company's Annual Report 2019 (English version) (the Subsidiary Shares) and, other than as set forth on page 118 of the Company's Annual Report 2019, the Subsidiaries have no outstanding shares, other equity or equity-linked securities, options, warrants, calls, rights or commitments, or any other agreements of any character relating to the sale, issuance, voting or the granting of rights to acquire any shares or other equity or equity-linked securities. The Company is the sole legal and beneficial owner of the Subsidiary Shares, free and clear of any Liens. All Subsidiary Shares have been validly issued, fully paid, are non-assessable and constitute all of the shares in the Subsidiaries. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has undertaken to acquire any shares or other equity or equity-linked securities or other interest or to make any other or further investment, whether directly or indirectly, in any Person. |
(g) | Disclosure: The Company is not in possession of any non-public information that is potentially price-sensitive (as this term is understood in article 53 of the Listing Rules) (other than the management forecast business plan 2020 and the trading update for the second quarter of 2020, which information will cease to be such price-sensitive non-public information upon the |
Transaction Agreement between Liberty Global plc and Sunrise Communications Group AG | 39 | 39 |
(h) | Absence of Certain Events: Subsequent to the date of the Consolidated Financial Statements, the Target Group's business has been carried on in the ordinary course consistent with past practice in all material respects, except for any conduct or activities outside the ordinary course or inconsistent with past practice in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or their announcement. |
(i) | Litigation: Other than as fairly disclosed to the Bidder prior to the date of this Agreement, there is no Action pending or threatened in writing against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries which could reasonably be expected to result in a payment or loss exceeding CHF 5,000,000 each (or in the case of several Actions arising from a common set of allegations, exceeding, taken together, CHF 5,000,000) (each a Material Action). |
(j) | Material Contracts: Other than the contracts fairly disclosed to the Bidder prior to the date of this Agreement, none of the contracts, commitments or undertakings relating to the Target Group's businesses to which the Company and|or any of its Subsidiaries is a party and which have a value exceeding CHF 10 million per year or which are critical to the business of the Company or of any of its Subsidiaries contains any provision which refers to a change of control of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries. |
1. | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Liberty Global plc; |
2. | Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterly report; |
3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report; |
4. | The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and we have: |
a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this quarterly report is being prepared; |
b) | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; |
c) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report based on such evaluation; and |
d) | Disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and |
5. | The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent function): |
a) | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting. |
/s/ Michael T. Fries | |
Michael T. Fries | |
President and Chief Executive Officer |
1. | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Liberty Global plc; |
2. | Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterly report; |
3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report; |
4. | The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and we have: |
a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this quarterly report is being prepared; |
b) | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; |
c) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report based on such evaluation; and |
d) | Disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and |
5. | The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent function): |
a) | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting. |
/s/ Charles H.R. Bracken | |
Charles H.R. Bracken | |
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
Dated: | November 4, 2020 | /s/ Michael T. Fries | |
Michael T. Fries | |||
President and Chief Executive Officer | |||
Dated: | November 4, 2020 | /s/ Charles H.R. Bracken | |
Charles H.R. Bracken | |||
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |