Related Party Transactions

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Related Party Transactions [Abstract]

Related Party Transactions

20. Related Party Transactions

Transactions with Affiliates

Telesat

As described in Note 10, we own 64% of Telesat and account for our ownership interest under the equity method of accounting.

In connection with the acquisition of our ownership interest in Telesat (which we refer to as the Telesat transaction), Loral and certain of its subsidiaries, our Canadian partner, Public Sector Pension Investment Board (“PSP”) and one of its subsidiaries, Telesat Holdco and certain of its subsidiaries, including Telesat, and MHR entered into a Shareholders Agreement (the “Shareholders Agreement”). The Shareholders Agreement provides for, among other things, the manner in which the affairs of Telesat Holdco and its subsidiaries will be conducted and the relationships among the parties thereto and future shareholders of Telesat Holdco. The Shareholders Agreement also contains an agreement by Loral not to engage in a competing satellite communications business and agreements by the parties to the Shareholders Agreement not to solicit employees of Telesat Holdco or any of its subsidiaries. Additionally, the Shareholders Agreement details the matters requiring the approval of the shareholders of Telesat Holdco (including veto rights for Loral over certain extraordinary actions) and provides for preemptive rights for certain shareholders upon the issuance of certain capital shares of Telesat Holdco. The Shareholders Agreement also restricts the ability of holders of certain shares of Telesat Holdco to transfer such shares unless certain conditions are met or approval of the transfer is granted by the directors of Telesat Holdco, provides for a right of first offer to certain Telesat Holdco shareholders if a holder of equity shares of Telesat Holdco wishes to sell any such shares to a third party and provides for, in certain circumstances, tag-along rights in favor of shareholders that are not affiliated with Loral if Loral sells equity shares and drag-along rights in favor of Loral in case Loral or its affiliate enters into an agreement to sell all of its Telesat Holdco equity securities. In addition, the Shareholders Agreement provides for either PSP or Loral to cause Telesat Holdco to conduct an initial public offering of its equity shares if an initial public offering has not been completed by October 31, 2011, the fourth anniversary of the Telesat transaction. On July 25, 2012, PSP delivered a notice to Telesat Holdco and Loral exercising its right to require Telesat Holdco to conduct an initial public offering. Loral is evaluating the effect of the notice and its obligations and alternatives. There can be no assurance as to whether, when or on what terms an initial public offering of Telesat Holdco equity may occur.

Under the Shareholders Agreement, in the event that, either (i) ownership or control, directly or indirectly, by Dr. Rachesky, President of MHR, of Loral’s voting stock falls below certain levels or (ii) there is a change in the composition of a majority of the members of the Loral Board of Directors over a consecutive two-year period, Loral will lose its veto rights relating to certain extraordinary actions by Telesat Holdco and its subsidiaries. In addition, after either of these events, PSP will have certain rights to enable it to exit from its investment in Telesat Holdco, including a right to cause Telesat Holdco to conduct an initial public offering in which PSP’s shares would be the first shares offered or, if no such offering has occurred within one year due to a lack of cooperation from Loral or Telesat Holdco, to cause the sale of Telesat Holdco and to drag along the other shareholders in such sale, subject to Loral’s right to call PSP’s shares at fair market value.

The Shareholders Agreement provides for a board of directors of each of Telesat Holdco and certain of its subsidiaries, including Telesat, consisting of 10 directors, three nominated by Loral, three nominated by PSP and four independent directors to be selected by a nominating committee comprised of one PSP nominee, one nominee of Loral and one of the independent directors then in office. Each party to the Shareholders Agreement is obligated to vote all of its Telesat Holdco shares for the election of the directors nominated by the nominating committee. Pursuant to action by the board of directors taken on October 31, 2007, Dr. Rachesky, who is non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Loral, was appointed non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Telesat Holdco and certain of its subsidiaries, including Telesat. In addition, Michael B. Targoff, Loral’s Vice Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President serves on the board of directors of Telesat Holdco and certain of its subsidiaries, including Telesat.

As of June 30, 2012, SS/L had a contract with Telesat for the construction of the Anik G1 satellite. Information related to satellite construction contracts with Telesat is as follows (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2012		2011		2012		2011
Revenues (included in income from discontinued operations) from Telesat satellite construction contracts	$	22,501	$	33,587	$	46,712	$	75,825
Milestone payments received from Telesat		15,726		41,121		34,305		72,118

Amounts receivable by SS/L from Telesat related to satellite construction contracts as of June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011 were $9.4 million and $4.6 million, respectively. Amounts receivable as of June 30, 2012 are included in assets held for sale.

On October 31, 2007, Loral and Telesat entered into a consulting services agreement (the “Consulting Agreement”). Pursuant to the terms of the Consulting Agreement, Loral provides to Telesat certain non-exclusive consulting services in relation to the business of Loral Skynet which was transferred to Telesat as part of the Telesat transaction as well as with respect to certain aspects of the satellite communications business of Telesat. The Consulting Agreement has a term of seven years with an automatic renewal for an additional seven year term if certain conditions are met. In exchange for Loral’s services under the Consulting Agreement, Telesat will pay Loral an annual fee of US $5.0 million, payable quarterly in arrears on the last day of March, June, September and December of each year during the term of the Consulting Agreement. If the terms of Telesat’s bank or bridge facilities or certain other debt obligations prevent Telesat from paying such fees in cash, Telesat may issue junior subordinated promissory notes to Loral in the amount of such payment, with interest on such promissory notes payable at the rate of 7% per annum, compounded quarterly, from the date of issue of such promissory note to the date of payment thereof. Our selling, general and administrative expenses included income related to the Consulting Agreement of $1.25 million for each of the three month periods ended June 30, 2012 and 2011 and $2.5 million for each of the six month periods ended June 30, 2012 and 2011. We also had a long-term receivable related to the Consulting Agreement from Telesat of $22.3 and $20.7 million as of June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011. We received payments of $1.6 million from Telesat for each of the six month periods ended June 30, 2012 and June 30, 2011 related to the Consulting Agreement.

In connection with the Telesat transaction, Loral has retained the benefit of tax recoveries related to the transferred assets and has indemnified Telesat for certain liabilities including Loral Skynet’s tax liabilities arising prior to January 1, 2007. As of June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, we had recognized a net receivable from Telesat of $0.5 million, representing our estimate of the probable outcome of these tax matters, which is included as other assets of $2.6 million and long-term liabilities of $2.1 million in the consolidated balance sheet. There can be no assurance, however, that these tax matters will be ultimately settled for the net amount recorded.

In June 2011, Loral, along with Telesat Holdco, Telesat, PSP and 4440480 Canada Inc., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Loral (the “Special Purchaser”), entered into Grant Agreements (the “Grant Agreements”) with Daniel Goldberg, Michael C. Schwartz and Michel G. Cayouette (each, a “Participant” and collectively, the “Participants”). Each of the Participants is an executive of Telesat, which is owned by the Company together with its Canadian partner, PSP, through their ownership of Telesat Holdco. The Grant Agreements document grants previously approved and made in September 2008. Mr. Goldberg’s agreement is effective as of May 20, 2011, and the agreements for each of Messrs. Schwartz and Cayouette are effective as of May 31, 2011.

The Grant Agreements confirm grants of Telesat Holdco stock options (including tandem SAR rights) to the Participants and provide for certain rights, obligations and restrictions related to such stock options, which include, among other things: (w) the right of each Participant to require the Special Purchaser to purchase a portion of the shares in Telesat Holdco owned by him in the event of exercise after termination of employment to cover taxes that are greater than the minimum withholding amount; (x) the possible obligation of the Special Purchaser to purchase the shares in the place of Telesat Holdco should Telesat Holdco be prohibited by applicable law or under the terms of any credit agreement applicable to Telesat Holdco from purchasing such shares, or otherwise default on such purchase obligation, pursuant to the terms of the Grant Agreements; (y) the obligation of the Special Purchaser to purchase shares upon exercise by Telesat Holdco of its call right under Telesat Holdco’s Management Stock Incentive Plan in the event of a Participant’s termination of employment; and (z) the right of each Participant to require Telesat Holdco to cause the Special Purchaser or Loral to purchase a portion of the shares in Telesat Holdco owned by him, or that are issuable to him under Telesat Holdco’s Management Stock Incentive Plan at the relevant time, in the event that more than 90% of Loral’s common stock is acquired by an unaffiliated third party that does not also purchase all of PSP’s and its affiliates’ interest in Telesat Holdco.

The Grant Agreements further provide that, in the event the Special Purchaser is required to purchase shares, such shares, together with the obligation to pay for such shares, shall be transferred to a subsidiary of the Special Purchaser, which subsidiary shall be wound up into Telesat Holdco, with Telesat Holdco agreeing to the acquisition of such subsidiary by Telesat Holdco from the Special Purchaser for nominal consideration and with the purchase price for the shares being paid by Telesat Holdco within ten (10) business days after completion of the winding-up of such subsidiary into Telesat Holdco.

Loral received special cash distributions from Telesat of $376 million on March 28, 2012 and $46 million on July 5, 2012. The distributions were the result of a Telesat refinancing and recapitalization transaction (see Note 10).

ViaSat/Telesat

In connection with an agreement entered into between SS/L and ViaSat, Inc. (“ViaSat”) for the construction by SS/L for ViaSat of a high capacity broadband satellite called ViaSat-1, on January 11, 2008, we entered into certain agreements, described below, pursuant to which, we invested in the Canadian coverage portion of the ViaSat-1 satellite. Until his resignation in February 2012, Michael B. Targoff served, and another Loral director currently serves, as a member of the ViaSat Board of Directors.

A Beam Sharing Agreement between us and ViaSat provided for, among other things, (i) the purchase by us of a portion of the ViaSat-1 satellite payload providing coverage into Canada (the “Loral Payload”) and (ii) payment by us of 15% of the actual costs of launch and associated services, launch insurance and telemetry, tracking and control services for the ViaSat-1 satellite. SS/L commenced construction of the Viasat-1 satellite in January 2008. SS/L recorded sales to ViaSat under this contract of $0.2 million and $0.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively and $0.5 million and $5.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively. SS/L’s sales to ViaSat have been included in income from discontinued operations in our statements of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011.

On April 11, 2011, Loral assigned to Telesat and Telesat assumed from Loral all of Loral’s rights and obligations with respect to the Loral Payload and all related agreements. In consideration for the assignment, Loral received $13 million from Telesat and was reimbursed by Telesat for approximately $48.2 million of net costs incurred through closing of the sale, including costs for the satellite, launch and insurance, and costs of the gateways and related equipment. Also, in connection with the assignment, Telesat agreed that if it obtains certain supplemental capacity on the payload, Loral will be entitled to receive one-half of any net revenue actually earned by Telesat in connection with the leasing of such supplemental capacity to its customers during the first four years after the commencement of service using the supplemental capacity. In connection with the sale, Loral also assigned to Telesat and Telesat assumed Loral’s 15-year contract with Xplornet Communications Inc. (“Xplornet”) (formerly known as Barrett Xplore Inc.) for delivery of high throughput satellite Ka-band capacity and gateway services for broadband services in Canada. Our condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 included a $6.9 million gain on this transaction, including the portion classified as discontinued operations of $1.8 million, representing the $13 million in proceeds in excess of costs adjusted for cumulative intercompany profit eliminations and our retained ownership interest in Telesat. During 2010, a subsidiary of Loral entered into contracts with ViaSat for procurement of equipment and services and with Telesat for consulting, management, engineering and integration services related to the gateways that enable commercial services using the Loral Payload. Prior to April 11, 2011, we had made cumulative payments of $3.9 million to ViaSat and $1.4 million to Telesat under these agreements.

Costs of satellite manufacturing for sales to related parties included in income from discontinued operations were $10.2 million and $34.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and $24.3 million and $68.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

In connection with an agreement reached in 1999 and an overall settlement reached in February 2005 with ChinaSat relating to the delayed delivery of ChinaSat 8, SS/L has provided ChinaSat with usage rights to two Ku-band transponders on Telesat’s Telstar 10 for the life of such transponders (subject to certain restoration rights) and to one Ku-band transponder on Telesat’s Telstar 18 for the life of the Telstar 10 satellite plus two years, or the life of such transponder (subject to certain restoration rights), whichever is shorter. Pursuant to an amendment to the agreement executed in June 2009, in lieu of rights to one of the Ku-band transponders on Telstar 10, ChinaSat has rights to an equivalent amount of Ku-band capacity on Telstar 18 (the “Alternative Capacity”). The Alternative Capacity may be utilized by ChinaSat until April 30, 2019 subject to certain conditions. Under the agreement, SS/L makes monthly payments to Telesat for the transponders allocated to ChinaSat. Effective with the termination of Telesat’s leasehold interest in Telstar 10 in July 2009, SS/L makes monthly payments with respect to capacity used by ChinaSat on Telstar 10 directly to APT, the owner of the satellite. As of June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, our consolidated balance sheets included liabilities of $2.5 million and $3.7 million for the future use of these transponders. The liability as of June 30, 2012 was included in liabilities held for sale. Interest expense on this liability included in income from discontinued operations was $0.1 million for each of the three month periods ended June 30, 2012 and 2011, and $0.3 million for each of the six month periods ended June 30, 2012 and 2011. For the six months ended June 30, 2012 SS/L made payments of $1.4 million to Telesat pursuant to the agreement.

XTAR

As described in Note 10 we own 56% of XTAR, a joint venture between Loral and Hisdesat and account for our investment in XTAR under the equity method of accounting. SS/L constructed XTAR’s satellite, which was successfully launched in February 2005. XTAR and Loral have entered into a management agreement whereby Loral provides general and specific services of a technical, financial, and administrative nature to XTAR. For the services provided by Loral, XTAR is charged a quarterly management fee equal to 3.7% of XTAR’s quarterly gross revenues. Amounts due to Loral primarily due to the management agreement as of June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011 were $4.9 million and $4.2 million, respectively. Beginning in 2008, Loral and XTAR agreed to defer amounts owed to Loral under this agreement and XTAR has agreed that its excess cash balance (as defined) will be applied at least quarterly towards repayment of receivables owed to Loral, as well as to Hisdesat and Telesat. No cash was received under this agreement for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011.

MHR Fund Management LLC

Mark H. Rachesky, managing principal of MHR, and Hal Goldstein, a former managing principal of MHR, are members of Loral’s board of directors. Sai S. Devabhaktuni, former managing principal of MHR, was a member of the Loral Board until his resignation in January 2012.

Various funds affiliated with MHR and Dr. Rachesky held, as of June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, approximately 38.4% and 38.6%, respectively, of the outstanding voting common stock and as of both June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011 had a combined ownership of outstanding voting and non-voting common stock of Loral of 57.5% and 57.7%, respectively.