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Related Party Transactions
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

NOTE 16: RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Expedia

Related-party revenue from Expedia of $203.8 million, $211.0 million and $171.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively, primarily consists of click-based advertising and other advertising services provided to Expedia and its subsidiaries and is recorded at contract value, which we believe is a reasonable reflection of the value of the services provided. Related-party revenue represented 27%, 33% and 35% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Prior to the Spin-Off, our operating expenses included a related-party shared services fee, of $9.2 million and $7.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, which was comprised of allocations from Expedia for accounting, legal, tax, corporate development, financial reporting, treasury and real estate functions and included an allocation of employee compensation within these functions. These allocations were determined on a basis that Expedia and we considered to be a reasonable reflection of the cost of services provided or the benefit received by us. These expenses were allocated based on a number of factors including headcount, estimated time spent and operating expenses. It was not practicable to determine the amounts of these expenses that would have been incurred had we operated as an unaffiliated entity. In the opinion of our management, the allocation method was reasonable.

Other related-party operating expenses which were included within selling and marketing expense were $6.4 million, $4.3 million, and $1.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively, which primarily consisted of marketing expense for exit windows.

Related party net interest income (expense) of $0.5 million and ($0.2) million for the years ending December 31, 2011 and 2010 are reflected in the consolidated and combined statements of operations within interest income (expense), net and were primarily intercompany in nature, arising from the transfer of liquid funds between Expedia and us that occurred as part of Expedia’s treasury operations prior to the Spin-Off.

The net related party receivable balances with Expedia reflected in our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 were $24.0 million receivable and $14.1 million, respectively. In addition to the revenue and expense relationships described above, the change in the net related party receivable balance was also affected by our transfer of domestic cash receipts to Expedia during the periods prior to the Spin-Off offset by Expedia’s funding of our payroll and income tax payments as well as certain acquisitions. In connection with the Spin-Off, all domestic intercompany receivables/payables with Expedia were extinguished.

As discussed in “Note 1—Organization and Basis of Presentation” above, we transferred $405.5 million in cash to Expedia in the form of a dividend, prior to completion of the Spin-Off. Per the Separation Agreement we were to retain $165 million in cash on hand immediately following the Spin-off and the agreement also provided for a subsequent reconciliation process to ensure the appropriate amount was retained. The completion of this reconciliation resulted in us recording an additional receivable from Expedia of $7 million at December 31, 2011, which was subsequently received by us during 2012.

We were a guarantor of Expedia’s credit facility and outstanding senior notes. These guarantees were full, unconditional, joint and several, and were released upon Spin-Off.

Following the Spin-Off, as a result of the irrevocable proxy of Liberty Interactive Corporation (“Liberty”) described in more detail below under “—Liberty and Barry Diller”, 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 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 the purchase by Liberty of an aggregate of 4,799,848 shares of common stock of TripAdvisor from Mr. Diller and certain of his affiliates which is described in further detail below under “—Liberty and Barry Diller”, Expedia and TripAdvisor are no longer under common control. However, Expedia continues to be a related party to TripAdvisor due to Liberty’s ownership of Expedia stock.

For purposes of governing certain of the ongoing relationships between us and Expedia at and after the Spin-Off, and to provide for an orderly transition, we and Expedia have entered into various agreements, including, among others, the Separation Agreement; the Tax Sharing Agreement, the Employee Matters agreement, the Transition Services Agreement, and commercial agreements. The various commercial agreements, including click-based advertising agreements, content sharing agreements and display-based and other advertising agreements, had terms of up to one year. The full texts of the Separation Agreement, the Tax Sharing Agreement, the Employee Matters Agreement, the Transition Services Agreement and the Master Advertising Agreement (CPC) are incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as Exhibits 2.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 and 10.6 (10.6 filed in redacted form pursuant to confidential treatment request), respectively. We continue to work together with Expedia pursuant to various commercial agreements between subsidiaries of TripAdvisor, on the one hand, and subsidiaries of Expedia, on the other hand.

Liberty and Barry Diller

On December 20, 2011, in connection with the Spin-Off, we entered into a governance agreement (the “Governance Agreement”) with Liberty Interactive Corporation (“Liberty”) and Barry Diller, our former Chairman of the Board of Directors and our Senior Executive. The summary of the material terms of the Governance Agreement are qualified in their entirety by the full text of the Governance Agreement, which is incorporated by reference on this Annual Report on Form 10-K as Exhibit 10.1. In addition, Liberty and Mr. Diller entered into a stockholders agreement, dated December 20, 2011 (the “Stockholders Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, Liberty granted to Mr. Diller an irrevocable proxy (the “Proxy”) with respect to all of TripAdvisor’s securities beneficially owned by Liberty on all matters submitted to a stockholder vote or by which the stockholders may act by written consent (other than with respect to contingent matters with respect to which Liberty had not consented).

By virtue of the Proxy, as well as through shares owned by Mr. Diller directly, 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 Spin-Off until December 11, 2012, TripAdvisor and Expedia were related parties since they were under common control.

On December 11, 2012, Liberty purchased an aggregate of 4,799,848 shares of common stock of TripAdvisor from Mr. Diller and certain of his affiliates (the “Stock Purchase”). Effective upon completion of the Stock Purchase, Mr. Diller resigned as Chairman and the Senior Executive of TripAdvisor, but continues to serve as a non-employee director. As a result of the completion of the Stock Purchase: (i) the Stockholders Agreement has, in accordance with its terms, terminated, (ii) the Proxy has terminated and Mr. Diller no longer has the right to vote the shares of TripAdvisor common stock and Class B common stock beneficially owned by Liberty, and (iii) the Governance Agreement has, in accordance with its terms, terminated with respect to Mr. Diller and remains in effect with respect to Liberty and TripAdvisor.

Pursuant to the terms of the stock purchase agreement entered into by Liberty, Mr. Diller and certain of their affiliates in connection with the Stock Purchase, Liberty has agreed that, until the Director Expiration Date (as defined below), it will:

 

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use its reasonable best efforts to cause Mr. Diller to be included in the slate of nominees recommended by the Board of Directors to the Company’s stockholders for election as directors at each annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company,

 

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vote, or act by written consent with respect to, any and all shares of common stock or shares of Class B common stock with respect to which it has the power to vote, in favor of Mr. Diller to serve as a director on the Company’s Board of Directors, and

 

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use its reasonable best efforts to ensure that the unvested options to acquire, and restricted stock units (the “RSUs”) with respect to, shares of common stock that Mr. Diller held as of the completion of the transaction will continue to vest as long as Mr. Diller remains a director of the Company and the post-termination exercise period of any options to acquire shares of common stock of the Company (“Options”) that Mr. Diller held as of the completion of the transaction will not commence until Mr. Diller ceases to be a director of the Company.

The term “Director Expiration Date” in the Stock Purchase Agreement means the first to occur of (w) January 1, 2018, (x) such time as Mr. Diller has been convicted of, or has pled guilty to, any felony involving moral turpitude, (y) Mr. Diller ceases to hold any Options or RSUs or (z) such time as all Options and RSUs shall have become vested and shall by their terms be exercisable through the applicable expiration date.

As of December 31, 2012, Mr. Diller beneficially owned 2,047,088 shares of our common stock (assuming the exercise of options to purchase 1,994,759 shares of Common Stock and 10,319 shares of common stock issuable upon settlement of RSUs that are or become exercisable by Mr. Diller or vest within 60 days of December 31, 2012), which shares constitute 1.41% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock. As of December 31, 2012, Liberty beneficially owned 18,159,752 shares of our common stock and 12,799,999 shares of our Class B common stock, which shares constitute 14.0% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock and 100% of the outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock. Assuming the conversion of all of the Liberty’s shares of Class B common stock into common stock, Liberty would beneficially own 21.7% of the outstanding common stock (calculated in accordance with Rule 13d-3). Because each share of Class B common stock generally is entitled to ten votes per share and each share of common stock is entitled to one vote per share, Liberty may be deemed to beneficially own equity securities representing approximately 56.6% of our voting power.