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Note 5 - Equity Investments | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2021
Notes to Financial Statements |
Investment [Text Block] | 5. EQUITY INVESTMENTS On May 4, 2020, the Company made a minority equity investment for a less than 10% ownership interest in AMG Technology Investment Group, LLC, a wireless internet service provider (“Nextlink”), for $27.2 million. On July 10, 2020, the Company acquired a 40.4% minority equity interest in Wisper, a wireless internet service provider, for total consideration of $25.3 million. The Company funded $11.9 million of the total consideration for Wisper in 2020 and expects to fund the remainder within the next twelve months. On October 1, 2020, the Company contributed its Anniston, Alabama system (the “Anniston System”) to Hargray, a data, video and voice services provider, in exchange for an approximately 15% equity interest in Hargray on a fully diluted basis (the “Anniston Exchange”) and recognized an $82.6 million non-cash gain. On November 12, 2020, the Company acquired a 45.0% minority equity interest in Mega Broadband Investments Holdings LLC, a data, video and voice services provider (“MBI”), for $574.9 million in cash. On May 3, 2021, the Company acquired the remaining approximately 85% equity interest in Hargray that it did not already own for an approximately $2.0 billion cash purchase price, which implied a $2.2 billion total enterprise value for Hargray on a cash-free and debt-free basis, and recognized a $33.4 million non-cash gain as a result of the fair value remeasurement of the Company’s existing equity interest on the acquisition date. The carrying value of the Company’s equity investments without readily determinable fair values were determined based on fair valuations as of their respective acquisition dates, and consisted of the following (dollars in thousands):
|  | Ownership |  | September 30, |  |  | December 31, |
|  | Percentage |  | 2021 |  |  | 2020 |
Cost Method Investments |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Hargray(1), (2) |  | ~15% |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | 113,165 |
Nextlink |  | <10% |  |  | 27,245 |  |  |  | 27,245 |
Others |  | <10% |  |  | 15,085 |  |  |  | 10,066 |
Total cost method investments |  |  |  | $ | 42,330 |  |  | $ | 150,476 |
Equity Method Investments |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MBI(3) |  | 45.0% |  | $ | 626,926 |  |  | $ | 630,679 |
Wisper |  | 40.4% |  |  | 29,849 |  |  |  | 26,626 |
Total equity method investments |  |  |  | $ | 656,775 |  |  | $ | 657,305 |
Total equity investments |  |  |  | $ | 699,105 |  |  | $ | 807,781 |
(1) | Upon initial investment, the Company calculated the fair value of Hargray’s total enterprise value using a hybrid of both the discounted cash flow method of the income approach and the guideline public company method of the market approach. Significant assumptions used in the valuation include projected revenue growth rates, customer attrition rates, future EBITDA margins, future capital expenditures and an appropriate discount rate. The enterprise value less Hargray’s debt and unamortized debt issuance costs was multiplied by Cable One’s minority equity interest percentage to determine the Hargray investment’s carrying value. The resulting non-cash gain was calculated as the difference between this carrying value and the book value of the Anniston System’s net assets, including its proportionate share of the Company’s franchise agreement and goodwill assets. The approximately 15% equity interest in Hargray as of December 31, 2020 was on a fully diluted basis.
(2) | As a result of the Company’s May 3, 2021 acquisition of the remaining equity interests in Hargray that it did not already own, Hargray’s assets and liabilities were separately reflected within the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of the acquisition date and the existing cost method investment was eliminated, resulting in a $33.4 million non-cash gain recognized within other income in the condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income on the acquisition date.
(3) | The Company holds a call option to purchase all but not less than all of the remaining equity interests in MBI that the Company does not already own between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. If the call option is not exercised, certain investors in MBI hold a put option to sell (and to cause all members of MBI other than the Company to sell) to the Company all but not less than all of the remaining equity interests in MBI that the Company does not already own between July 1, 2025 and September 30, 2025. The call and put options (collectively referred to as the “MBI Net Option”) are measured at fair value using Monte Carlo simulations that rely on assumptions around MBI’s equity value, MBI’s and the Company’s equity volatility, MBI’s and the Company’s EBITDA volatility, risk adjusted discount rates and the Company’s cost of debt, among others. The final MBI purchase price allocation resulted in $630.7 million being allocated to the MBI equity investment and $19.7 million and $75.5 million being allocated to the call and put options, respectively. The MBI Net Option is remeasured at fair value on a quarterly basis. The carrying value of the MBI Net Option liability was $114.7 million and $73.3 million as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, and was included within other noncurrent liabilities in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Refer to note 10 for further information on the MBI Net Option.
The carrying value of MBI exceeded the Company’s underlying equity in MBI’s net assets by approximately $516.8 million and $529.7 million as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively. Equity method investment income (losses), which increase (decrease) the carrying value of the respective investment, and the change in fair value of the MBI Net Option were as follows (in thousands):
|  | Three Months Ended September 30, |  |  | Nine Months Ended September 30, |
|  | 2021 |  |  | 2020 |  |  | 2021 |  |  | 2020 |
Equity Method Investment Income (Loss) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MBI(1) |  | $ | (132 | ) |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | (3,753 | ) |  | $ | - |
Wisper |  |  | 1,243 |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | 3,222 |  |  |  | - |
Total |  | $ | 1,111 |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | (531 | ) |  | $ | - |
Other Income (Expense), Net |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MBI Net Option change in fair value |  | $ | (25,600 | ) |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | (41,390 | ) |  | $ | - |
(1) | The Company identified a $186.6 million difference between the fair values of certain of MBI’s finite-lived intangible assets and the respective carrying values recorded by MBI, of which $84.0 million was attributable to the Company’s 45% pro rata portion. The Company is amortizing its share on an accelerated basis over the lives of the respective assets. For the three months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recognized $3.8 million of its pro rata share of MBI’s net income and $4.0 million of its pro rata share of basis difference amortization. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recognized $6.8 million of its pro rata share of MBI’s net income and $10.6 million of its pro rata share of basis difference amortization.
The Company assesses each equity investment for indicators of impairment on a quarterly basis. No impairments were recorded for any of the periods presented.

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