Equity-Based Compensation

The 2013 Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2013 LTIP”) provides for the grant of incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, bonus stock and performance awards. The maximum aggregate number of shares that may be issued under the 2013 LTIP is 11,700,000 shares of the Company's common stock, in addition to the 3,798,508 shares of restricted stock granted in exchange for unvested Class B Common Units in connection with the Company's IPO, as discussed below. As of December 31, 2014, 7,541,891 shares were available for issuance under the 2013 LTIP which was approved by the Company's pre-IPO shareholders. Authorized but unissued shares are reserved for issuance in connection with equity-based awards.

The following table summarizes equity-based compensation expense, which is included in selling and administrative expenses, for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012:



(in millions)	Year Ended December 31,
	2014			2013 ⁽¹⁾			2012⁽²⁾
Equity-based compensation expense	$	16.4		$	46.6		$	22.1
Income tax benefit	(5.1		)	(16.5		)	(2.3		)
Total (net of tax)	$	11.3		$	30.1		$	19.8


(1)	Includes pre-tax expense of $36.7 million related to the accelerated vesting of certain equity awards granted prior to our IPO. All unvested awards granted pursuant to the MPK Coworker Incentive Plan II (the “MPK Plan”) vested in connection with the IPO as discussed further below in the section labeled "MPK II Units."


(2)	Includes pre-tax expense of $6.6 million in connection with the modification of Class B Common Unit awards granted pursuant to the CDW Holdings LLC 2007 Incentive Equity Plan to the Company’s former Chief Executive Officer, as discussed further below in the section labeled "Class B Common Units."

The total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested awards was $28.9 million at December 31, 2014 and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.3 years.

Stock Options

During the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company granted 1,245,513 stock options under the 2013 LTIP. These options vest annually over three years and have a contractual term of 10 years. The exercise price of a stock option is equal to the fair value of a share of the Company's common stock on the date of the grant. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value of stock options granted. The Black-Scholes option pricing model incorporates various assumptions including volatility, expected term, risk-free interest rates and dividend yields. The weighted-average assumptions used to value the stock options granted during the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 are presented below.



	Year Ended December 31,
	2014			2013
Weighted-average grant date fair value	$	7.23		$	4.75
Weighted-average volatility ⁽¹⁾	30.00		%	35.00		%
Weighted-average risk-free rate ⁽²⁾	1.77		%	1.58		%
Dividend yield	0.70		%	1.00		%
Expected term (in years) ⁽³⁾	6.0			5.4


(1)	Based upon an assessment of the two-year, five-year and implied volatility for the Company’s selected peer group, adjusted for the Company’s leverage.


(2)	Based on a composite U.S. Treasury rate.


(3)	Calculated using the simplified method. The simplified method defines the expected term as the average of the option’s contractual term and the option’s weighted-average vesting period. The Company utilizes this method as it has limited historical stock option data that is sufficient to derive a reasonable estimate of the expected stock option term.

The following table summarizes the Company's stock option activity for the year ended December 31, 2014:



Options	Number of Options		Weighted-Average Exercise Price	Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Term (years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (millions)
Outstanding at January 1, 2014	1,280,255		$17.00
Granted	1,245,513		24.40
Forfeited/Expired	(31,209	)	21.33
Exercised	(73,487	)	17.00
Outstanding at December 31, 2014	2,421,072		$20.75	8.3	$34.9

Exercisable at December 31, 2014	576,963		$17.00	7.2	$10.5
Vested and expected to vest at December 31, 2014	2,378,364		$20.74	8.3	$34.3

The total intrinsic value of stock options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 was $1.0 million and zero, respectively.

Restricted Stock Units ("RSUs")

Restricted stock units represent the right to receive unrestricted shares of the Company's stock at the time of vesting. RSUs generally cliff-vest at the end of four years.

The following table summarizes the Company's RSU activity for the year ended December 31, 2014:



	Number of Units		Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Nonvested at January 1, 2014	1,351,572		$	17.04
Granted	25,895		24.29
Vested/Settled	(5,984	)	17.00
Forfeited	(126,781	)	17.04
Nonvested at December 31, 2014	1,244,702		$	17.19

The weighted-average grant date fair value of RSUs granted during the year ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 was $24.29 and $17.03, respectively. The aggregate fair value of RSUs that vested during the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, was $0.2 million and zero, respectively.

Performance Share Units ("PSUs")

During the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company granted 417,784 PSUs under the 2013 LTIP which cliff-vest on December 31, 2016. The percentage of shares that shall vest will range from 0% to 200% of the number of PSUs granted based on the Company's performance against a cumulative adjusted free cash flow measure and cumulative non-GAAP net income per diluted share measure over a three-year performance period. The weighted-average grant-date fair value of the PSUs granted during the period was $24.40 per unit. During the year ended December 31, 2014, 6,204 PSUs were forfeited at a weighted-average grant-date fair value of $24.29. As of December 31, 2014, 411,580 PSUs were outstanding at a weighted-average grant date fair value of $24.40. No units vested during the year ended December 31, 2014.

Restricted Stock

In connection with the IPO, CDW Holdings distributed all of its shares of the Company's common stock to its existing members in accordance with their respective membership interests. Common stock received by holders of Class B Common Units in connection with the distribution is subject to any vesting provisions previously applicable to the holder's Class B Common Units. Class B Common Unit holders received 3,798,508 shares of restricted stock with respect to Class B Common Units that had not yet vested at the time of the distribution. For the year ended December 31, 2014, 2,321,973 shares of such restricted stock vested/settled and 9,546 shares were forfeited. As of December 31, 2014, 260,514 shares of restricted stock were outstanding. The aggregate fair value of restricted stock that vested during the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 was $68.6 million and $26.7 million, respectively.

Pre-IPO Equity Awards

Prior to the IPO, the Company had the following equity-based compensation plans in place:

Class B Common Units

The Board of Managers of CDW Holdings adopted the CDW Holdings LLC 2007 Incentive Equity Plan (the “Plan”) for coworkers, managers, consultants and advisors of the Company and its subsidiaries. The Plan permitted a committee designated by the Board of Managers of CDW Holdings (the “Committee”) to grant or sell to any participant Class A Common Units or Class B Common Units of CDW Holdings in such quantity, at such price, on such terms and subject to such conditions that were consistent with the Plan and as established by the Committee.

The Class B Common Units that were granted vested daily on a pro rata basis between the date of grant and the fifth anniversary thereof and were subject to repurchase by, with respect to vested units, or forfeiture to, with respect to unvested units, the Company upon the coworker's separation from service as was set forth in each holder’s Class B Common Unit Grant Agreement.

On June 30, 2011, the Board of Managers approved the terms of a modified Class B Common Unit grant agreement with the Company's former Chief Executive Officer, who retired as the Company's Chief Executive Officer effective October 1, 2011 but continued to serve as Chairman of the Board through December 31, 2012. As a result of this modification, the Company recorded incremental equity-based compensation expense of $6.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2012.

The grant date fair value of Class B Common Unit grants was calculated using the Option-Pricing Method. This method considered Class A Common Units and Class B Common Units as call options on the total equity value, giving consideration to liquidation preferences and conversion of the preferred units. Such Class A Common Units and Class B Common Units were modeled as call options that gave their owners the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying equity value at a predetermined (or exercise) price. Class B Common Units were considered to be call options with a claim on equity value at an exercise price equal to the remaining value immediately after the Class A Common Units and Class B Common Units with a lower participation threshold were liquidated. The Option-Pricing Method is highly sensitive to key assumptions, such as the volatility assumption. As such, the use of this method can be applied when the range of possible future outcomes is difficult to predict.

The following table summarizes the assumptions and resulting fair value of the Class B Common Unit grants for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012:



	Years Ended December 31,
Assumptions	2013			2012
Weighted-average grant date fair value	$	119.00		$	125.65
Weighted-average volatility ⁽¹⁾	65.50		%	65.26		%
Weighted-average risk-free rate ⁽²⁾	0.18		%	0.19		%
Dividend yield	0.00		%	0.00		%


(1)	Based upon an assessment of the two-year, five-year and implied volatility for the Company’s selected peer group, adjusted for the Company’s leverage.


(2)	Based on a composite U.S. Treasury rate.

MPK II Units

Contemporaneous with the Acquisition, the Company agreed with Michael P. Krasny, CDW Corporation founder, former chairman and CEO and significant selling shareholder, to establish the MPK Plan for the benefit of all of the coworkers of the Company other than members of senior management who received incentive equity awards under the Plan.

The MPK Plan established an “account” for each eligible participant which was notionally credited with a number of Class A Common Units of CDW Holdings LLC on October 15, 2007, the day the plan was established. The notional units credited to participants' accounts were to cliff-vest at the end of ten years, subject to acceleration upon the occurrence of certain events. Notional units granted under the MPK Plan were valued on the grant date at $1,000 per unit, the fair value equivalent of the Class A Common Units at the time the awards were granted.

On July 2, 2013, the Company completed an IPO of its common shares. Under the terms of the MPK Plan, vesting accelerated for all unvested units upon completion of the IPO. The Company recorded a pre-tax charge of $36.7 million for compensation expense related to the acceleration of the expense recognition for MPK Plan units in the year ended December 31, 2013. In connection with the completion of the IPO, the Company distributed common stock to each participant and withheld the number of shares of common stock equal to the required tax withholding for each participant. The Company paid required withholding taxes of $24.0 million to federal, state and foreign taxing authorities. This amount is reported as a financing activity in the consolidated statement of cash flows and as an increase to accumulated deficit in the consolidated statement of shareholders' equity for the year ended December 31, 2013. In addition, the Company paid $4.0 million of employer payroll taxes that are included as an operating activity in the consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2013.

The following table sets forth a summary of pre-IPO equity plan activity for the year ended December 31, 2013:



	Class B Common Units		MPK Plan Units
Outstanding at January 1, 2013	216,483		66,137
Granted	400		—
Forfeited	(860	)	(2,228	)
Converted/Settled ⁽¹⁾	(216,023	)	(63,909	)
Outstanding at December 31, 2013	—		—
Vested at December 31, 2013	—		—


(1)	As discussed above, the Class B Common Units and MPK Plan Units were converted/settled into shares of the Company's common stock upon completion of the IPO. The converted Class B Common Units, to the extent unvested at the time of the IPO, relate to the grants of restricted stock disclosed above.

In connection with the establishment of the MPK Plan, the Company agreed to make charitable contributions in amounts equal to the net income tax benefits derived from payouts to participants under the MPK Plan (net of any related employer payroll tax costs). The contributions of these amounts are due by March 15 of the calendar year following the year in which the Company realizes the benefits of the deductions. This arrangement has been accounted for as contingent consideration. Pre-2009 business combinations were accounted for under a former accounting standard which, among other aspects, precluded the recognition of certain contingent consideration as of the business combination date. Instead, under the former accounting standard, contingent consideration is accounted for as additional purchase price (goodwill) at the time the contingency is resolved. As of December 31, 2013, the Company accrued $20.9 million related to this arrangement within other current liabilities, as the Company realized the tax benefit of the compensation deductions during the 2013 tax year. The Company made the related cash contribution during the first quarter of 2014.