Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Related Party Transactions

v2.4.1.9
Related Party Transactions
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Related Party Transactions  
Related Party Transactions

(11)  Related Party Transactions

Expedia

TripAdvisor provides click-based advertising and other advertising services to Expedia (TripAdvisor’s former parent) and is recorded at contract value, which TripAdvisor believes is a reasonable reflection of the value of the services provided. Expedia revenue represented 21% of TripAdvisor’s total revenue in 2014 through the date of the Trip Spin-Off and 23% for the year ended December 31, 2013. As discussed in note 4, only one month of TripAdvisor revenue has been recorded in the consolidated statements of TripCo for the year ended December 31, 2012. During the three months ended December 31, 2012 Expedia-revenue represented 23% of TripAdvisor’s revenue.

Other Expedia-operating expenses which are included within selling and marketing expense are approximately $6 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, which primarily consisted of marketing expense for TripAdvisor exit windows.

Following the Expedia Spin-Off, as a result of an irrevocable proxy of Liberty, Mr. Diller was effectively able to control the outcome of all matters submitted to a vote or for the consent of TripAdvisor’s stockholders (other than with respect to the election by the holders of TripAdvisor common stock of 25% of the members of TripAdvisor’s Board of Directors and matters as to which Delaware law requires a separate class vote). Additionally, Mr. Diller was the Chairman and Senior Executive of Expedia, and through similar arrangements between Mr. Diller and Liberty, Mr. Diller was effectively able to control the outcome of all matters submitted to a vote or for the consent of Expedia’s stockholders (other than with respect to the election by the holders of Expedia common stock of 25% of the members of Expedia’s Board of Directors and matters as to which Delaware law requires a separate class vote). As a result, from the completion of the Expedia Spin-Off until December 11, 2012, TripAdvisor and Expedia were related parties since they were under common control. On December 11, 2012, as a result of Liberty’s purchase of an aggregate of 4,799,848 shares of common stock of TripAdvisor from Mr. Diller, Expedia and TripAdvisor are no longer under common control. For TripCo, Expedia is not expected to be an affiliated entity on a go-forward basis, but because of Liberty’s ownership interest in Expedia, disclosure of this relationship was deemed appropriate until the time of spin-off. Therefore, as of December 31, 2014 the two entities are not considered related parties and certain reclassifications have been made to prior period presentation relating to Expedia to conform to current period classifications.

Additionally, TripAdvisor and Expedia entered into a tax sharing agreement. TripAdvisor is generally required to indemnify Expedia for any taxes resulting from the spin-off (and any related interest, penalties, legal and professional fees, and all costs and damages associated with related stockholder litigation or controversies) to the extent such amounts resulted from (i) any act or failure to act by TripAdvisor described in the covenants in the tax sharing agreement, (ii) any acquisition of TripAdvisor’s equity securities or assets or those of a member of its group, or (iii) any failure of the representations with respect to TripAdvisor or any member of its group to be true or any breach by TripAdvisor or any member of its group of any covenant, in each case, which is contained in the separation documents or in the documents relating to the IRS private letter ruling and/or the opinion of counsel.

BuySeasons

As of December 31, 2012, BuySeasons was in violation of the financial covenants specified by its amended revolving credit and term loan agreement. As a result, on February 10, 2013, Liberty assumed and repaid the outstanding liabilities under the amended loan agreement and BuySeasons issued a corresponding promissory note to Liberty for $11 million, which was in excess of the amount outstanding under BuySeasons’ amended revolving credit and term loan at that time. The loan agreement provided BuySeasons the ability to borrow an additional amount up to a total balance of $25 million, which was amended to increase the total borrowing capacity to $50 million. BuySeasons has borrowed the full capacity pursuant to this agreement during 2013. The interest rate on amounts borrowed is 6.25%, payable at the end of each calendar quarter. Principal and accrued interest on amounts borrowed pursuant to this agreement are due in full during February 2015. During August 2014, prior to completion of the Trip Spin-Off, Liberty forgave the balance of $46 million pursuant to the BuySeasons note.

Additionally, income taxes payable of $29 million due to Liberty was forgiven upon completion of the Trip Spin-Off and have been reflected as contributed capital in the consolidated statement of equity.

Agreement with President and CEO

Because of the significant voting power that Mr. Maffei would possess upon exercise of the options granted to him on December 21, 2014 and as a result of the share exchange between Mr. Maffei and certain of our stockholders in December 2014, the Compensation Committee of the Board and members of the Board independent of Mr. Maffei determined it was appropriate to request that Mr. Maffei and TripCo enter into a standstill agreement that would cap his voting interest at 34.9% (the “Standstill Agreement”), subject to a variety of limitations and exceptions.