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DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2025
DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES  
DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

(14) DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

The Company is exposed to financial market risk related to foreign currency fluctuations and changes in interest rates. These exposures are actively monitored by management. To manage the volatility related to the exposure to changes in interest rates, the Company may enter into derivative financial instruments. Management’s objective has been

to reduce, where it is deemed appropriate to do so, fluctuations in earnings and cash flows associated with changes in interest rates. Ribbon’s policies and practices are to use derivative financial instruments only to the extent necessary to manage exposures. Ribbon does not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

The Company records derivatives on the balance sheet at fair value. The accounting for changes in the fair value of derivatives depends on the intended use of the derivative, whether the Company has elected to designate a derivative in a hedging relationship and apply hedge accounting and whether the hedging relationship has satisfied the criteria necessary to apply hedge accounting. Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to changes in the fair value of an asset, liability, or firm commitment attributable to a specific risk, such as interest rate risk, are considered fair value hedges. Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows, or other types of forecasted transactions, are considered cash flow hedges. Derivatives may also be designated as hedges of the foreign currency exposure of a net investment in a foreign operation. Hedge accounting generally provides for the matching of the timing of gain or loss recognition on the hedging instrument with the recognition of the changes in the fair value of the hedged asset or liability that are attributable to the hedged risk in a fair value hedge, or the earnings effect of the hedged forecasted transactions in a cash flow hedge. The Company may enter into derivative contracts that are intended to economically hedge certain of its risk even though hedge accounting does not apply or the Company elects not to apply hedge accounting.

Cash Flow Hedge of Interest Rate Risk

As of December 31, 2023, the 2020 Term Loan Facility had an outstanding balance of $235.4 million and the Revolving Credit Facility was undrawn. Borrowings under the 2020 Credit Facility had variable interest rates based on SOFR (see Note 13). As a result of exposure to interest rate movements, during March 2020, the Company entered into an interest rate swap arrangement, which effectively converted its $400 million term loan with its variable interest rate based upon one-month LIBOR to an aggregate fixed rate of 0.904%, plus a leverage-based margin as defined in the 2020 Credit Facility.

On July 22, 2022, the Company sold $30 million of the notional amount of its interest rate swap back to its counterparty for $1.5 million, reducing the notional amount of this swap to $370 million. On August 16, 2022, the Company sold another $30 million of the notional amount of its interest rate swap back to its counterparty for $1.6 million, reducing the notional amount to $340 million, which approximated the current level of our term loan debt then outstanding. The gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) related to the $60 million notional amount sold of $3.1 million was being released into earnings on a straight line basis over the remaining term of the 2020 Credit Facility as a decrease to interest expense until it was refinanced on June 21, 2024, the amortization of which totaled $0.4 million and $0.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The remaining unamortized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) of approximately $0.5 million was written off to interest expense in conjunction with the refinancing of the 2020 Credit Facility on June 21, 2024. See Note 13 for a description of the refinancing.

On March 24, 2023, the Company received $9.4 million, consisting of $0.4 million of interest and $9.0 million for the sale of $170 million of its $340 million notional amount interest rate swap back to its counterparty, reducing the notional amount to $170 million. On March 27, 2023, the Company received $9.8 million, consisting of $0.4 million of interest and $9.4 million for the sale of the remaining $170 million of its interest rate swap back to its counterparty. The portion of the gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) related to the term loan debt prepaid on the date of the final sale of our swap totaled $7.3 million and was released into earnings immediately as Other expense, net. The portion of the gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) related to our remaining term loan debt balance was $12.0 million and was being released into earnings on a straight line basis over the remaining term of the 2020 Credit Facility as a decrease to interest expense until it was refinanced on June 21, 2024, the amortization of which totaled $3.0 million and $4.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The remaining unamortized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) of $4.4 million was written off to interest expense in conjunction with the refinancing of the 2020 Credit Facility on June 21, 2024. See Note 13 for a description of the refinancing.

The Company’s objectives in using interest rate derivatives have been to add stability to interest expense and to manage its exposure to interest rate movements. To accomplish this objective, the Company has used an interest rate swap as part of its interest rate risk management strategy. Interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges involve the receipt of variable amounts from a counterparty in exchange for the Company making fixed-rate payments over the life of the agreements without exchange of the underlying notional amount.

The effective portion of changes in the fair value of designated derivatives that qualify as cash flow hedges is recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive income in the consolidated balance sheet and is subsequently reclassified into earnings in the period that the hedged forecasted transactions affect earnings. During the year ended December 31, 2023, such a derivative was used to hedge the variable cash flows associated with the outstanding borrowings under the 2020 Credit Facility and the Company accounted for this derivative as an effective hedge until the final portion of the swap was sold on March 27, 2023. Any ineffective portion of the change in the fair value of the derivative would have been recognized directly in earnings. However, there was no hedge ineffectiveness recorded over the life of the swap.

Amounts reported in Accumulated other comprehensive income related to the Company’s derivative were reclassified to interest expense as interest was accrued on the Company’s variable-rate debt. The impact of the Company’s derivative financial instrument on its consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 was as follows, net of tax (in thousands):

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Year ended December 31, 

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2025

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2024

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2023

Amount recognized in other comprehensive income (loss) on swap, net of tax

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$

—

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$

—

​

$

(2,715)

Amount reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to other expense, net upon sale of swap, net of tax

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—

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—

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(5,099)

Amount reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to interest expense

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—

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(6,019)

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(7,300)

Unrealized loss on interest rate swap, net of reclassifications and amortization

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$

—

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$

(6,019)

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$

(15,114)

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The Company had no derivative assets or liabilities at December 31, 2025 or 2024.