Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Note 12. Fair Value Measurements

The fair value of an asset or liability is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The fair value guidance requires an entity to maximize the use of quoted prices and other observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value, and also establishes a fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value as follows:

Level 1 - Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 - Observable inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly.

Level 3 - Unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of fair value.

Viad measures its money market mutual funds and certain other mutual fund investments at fair value on a recurring basis using Level 1 inputs and measures the earnout contingent consideration liability at fair value on a recurring basis using Level 3 inputs. The fair value information related to these assets and liability is summarized in the following tables:

			Fair Value Measurements at Reporting Date Using
(in thousands)	December 31, 2016		Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobserved Inputs (Level 3)
Assets:
Money market funds⁽¹⁾	$	118	$	118	$	—	$	—
Other mutual funds⁽²⁾		2,062		2,062		—		—
Total assets at fair value on a recurring basis	$	2,180	$	2,180	$	—	$	—

Earnout contingent consideration liability⁽³⁾	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—
Total liabilities at fair value on a recurring basis	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—

			Fair Value Measurements at Reporting Date Using
(in thousands)	December 31, 2015		Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobserved Inputs (Level 3)
Assets:
Money market funds⁽¹⁾	$	118	$	118	$	—	$	—
Other mutual funds⁽²⁾		2,192		2,192		—		—
Total assets at fair value on a recurring basis	$	2,310	$	2,310	$	—	$	—

⁽¹⁾

Money market funds are included in “Cash and cash equivalents” in the consolidated balance sheets. These investments are classified as available-for-sale and were recorded at fair value. There have been no realized gains or losses related to these investments and the Company has not experienced any redemption restrictions with respect to any of the money market mutual funds.

⁽²⁾

Other mutual funds are included in “Other investments and assets” in the consolidated balance sheets. These investments are classified as available-for-sale and were recorded at fair value. As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, there were unrealized gains of $0.7 million ($0.4 million after-tax) and $0.6 million ($0.3 million after tax), respectively, which were included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)” (“AOCI”) in the consolidated balance sheets.

⁽³⁾

The fair value measurement of the earnout contingent consideration obligation relates to the acquisition of ON Services in August 2016. As of the acquisition transaction date, the fair value measurement was estimated to be $540,000. As of December 31, 2016, the fair value measurement was determined to be zero as ON Services did not meet its financial target. Changes in the value of the obligation are recorded as income or expense in Viad’s Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, receivables, and accounts payable approximate fair value due to the short-term maturities of these instruments. Refer to Note 11 – Debt and Capital Lease Obligations for the estimated fair value of debt obligations.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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