Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Basis of Presentation

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Basis of Presentation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Basis of Presentation  
Basis of Presentation

(1) Basis of Presentation

During October 2013, the Board of Directors of Liberty Interactive Corporation and its subsidiaries (“Liberty”) authorized a plan to distribute to the stockholders of Liberty’s Liberty Ventures common stock shares of a wholly‑owned subsidiary, Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (“TripCo” or the “Company”) (the “Trip Spin‑Off”). TripCo holds the subsidiaries TripAdvisor, Inc. (“TripAdvisor”) and BuySeasons, Inc., which includes the retail businesses of BuyCostumes.com and Celebrate Express (“BuySeasons”), both of which operate as stand‑alone operating entities. Both TripAdvisor and BuySeasons have more revenue in the third quarter, based on a higher travel research period and the Halloween period, respectively, as compared to the other quarters of the year. The Trip Spin-Off was completed on August 27, 2014 and effected as a pro‑rata dividend of shares of TripCo to the stockholders of Series A and Series B Liberty Ventures common stock of Liberty.

These financial statements have been prepared on a combined basis and represent a combination of the historical financial information of TripAdvisor, an equity method affiliate from December 20, 2011 through December 11, 2012 and a consolidated company since December 11, 2012, and the historical financial information for BuySeasons.  Financial statements for periods prior to the Trip Spin-Off were prepared as discussed above but are referred to as consolidated in this Form 10-Q. The Trip Spin-Off has been accounted for at historical cost due to the pro rata nature of the distribution.

The accompanying (a) condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2013, which has been derived from audited financial statements, and (b) the interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10‑Q and Article 10 of Regulation S‑X as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation of the results for such periods have been included. The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes for the year ended December 31, 2013 as presented in Amendment No. 4 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on August 11, 2014 (the “Registration Statement”).

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The Company considers (i) revenue recognition, (ii) recoverability of intangible assets and goodwill, (iii) recoverability and useful lives of long‑lived assets, (iv) accounting for income taxes and (v) stock‑based compensation to be its most significant estimates.

In May 2014, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on revenue from contracts with customers.  The new guidance requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The updated guidance will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in GAAP when it becomes effective and permits the use of either a retrospective or cumulative effect transition method. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2016.  The Company has not yet selected a transition method and is currently evaluating the effect that the updated standard will have its financial statements and related disclosures.

Spin‑Off of TripCo from Liberty Interactive Corporation

Following the Trip Spin‑Off, Liberty and TripCo operate as separate, publicly traded companies, and neither has any stock ownership, beneficial or otherwise, in the other. In connection with the Trip Spin‑Off, TripCo entered into certain agreements, including the reorganization agreement, the services agreement, the facilities sharing agreement and the tax sharing agreement, with Liberty and/or Liberty Media Corporation (“Liberty Media”) (or certain of their subsidiaries) in order to govern certain of the ongoing relationships between the companies after the Trip Spin‑Off and to provide for an orderly transition.

The reorganization agreement provides for, among other things, the principal corporate transactions (including the internal restructuring) required to effect the Trip Spin‑Off, certain conditions to the Trip Spin‑Off and provisions governing the relationship between TripCo and Liberty with respect to and resulting from the Trip Spin‑Off.

Pursuant to the services agreement, Liberty Media provides TripCo with general and administrative services including legal, tax, accounting, treasury and investor relations support. TripCo will reimburse Liberty Media for direct, out‑of‑pocket expenses incurred by Liberty Media in providing these services and TripCo will pay a services fee to Liberty Media under the services agreement that will be subject to adjustment semi‑annually. Liberty Media and TripCo will evaluate all charges for reasonableness semi‑annually and make adjustments to these charges.

Under the facilities sharing agreement, TripCo will share office space with Liberty and Liberty Media and related amenities at Liberty Media’s corporate headquarters

The tax sharing agreement provides for the allocation and indemnification of tax liabilities and benefits between Liberty and TripCo and other agreements related to tax matters. Pursuant to the tax sharing agreement, TripCo has agreed to indemnify Liberty, subject to certain limited exceptions, for losses and taxes resulting from the Trip Spin-Off to the extent such losses or taxes result primarily from, individually or in the aggregate, the breach of certain restrictive covenants made by TripCo (applicable to actions or failures to act by TripCo and its subsidiaries following the completion of the Trip Spin-Off).

In October 2014, the IRS completed its examination of the Trip Spin-Off and notified Liberty that it agreed with the nontaxable characterization of the transaction. Liberty expects to execute a Closing Agreement with the IRS documenting this conclusion after Liberty’s 2014 tax year ends on December 31, 2014.

Acquisitions

During the nine months ended September 30, 2014, TripAdvisor completed four acquisitions for total cash consideration of $284 million, net of cash acquired. The total cash consideration is subject to adjustment based on the finalization of working capital adjustments and amounts retained with payment subject to certain indemnification obligations by the respective sellers. TripAdvisor acquired Vacation Home Rentals, a U.S.-based vacation rental website featuring properties around the world; London-based Tripbod, a travel community that helps connect travelers to local experts to deliver travelers relevant recommendations for trip planning; Lafourchette, a provider of an online and mobile reservations platform for restaurants in Europe; and Viator a platform for researching and booking destination activities around the world.

The following table presents the purchase price allocations initially recorded on our condensed consolidated balance sheet for all 2014 acquisitions (in millions):

 

 

 

 

 

Net assets (including acquired cash)

$

90 

 

Goodwill

 

238 

 

Intangible assets

 

166 

 

Deferred tax liabilities, net

 

(44)

 

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

 

(98)

 

Total purchase price consideration

$

352 

 

 

The purchase price allocation of these acquisitions are preliminary and subject to revision as more information becomes available and final valuations are available, but in any case will not be revised beyond 12 months after the acquisition date. The goodwill represents the excess value over both tangible and intangible assets acquired. The goodwill in these transactions is primarily attributable to expected operational synergies, potential new and expanded business relationships and user bases, the assembled workforces, and the future development initiatives of the assembled workforces. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the operating results of all acquired businesses from the date of acquisition. Pro-forma results of operations for all of these acquisitions have not been presented as the financial impact to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, both individually and in the aggregate are not material.