Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests in Operating Partnership

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests in Operating Partnership

Redeemable noncontrolling interests in the operating partnership represents the limited partners’ proportionate share of equity in earnings/losses of the operating partnership, which is an allocation of net income/loss attributable to the common unit holders based on the weighted average ownership percentage of these limited partners’ common units of limited partnership interest in the operating partnership (the “common units”) and the units issued under our Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “LTIP units”) that are vested. Each common unit may be redeemed for either cash or, at our sole discretion, up to one share of our REIT common stock, which is either: (i) issued pursuant to an effective registration statement; (ii) included in an effective registration statement providing for the resale of such common stock; or (iii) issued subject to a registration rights agreement.

LTIP units, which are issued to certain executives and employees of Ashford LLC as compensation, generally have vesting periods of three years. Additionally, certain independent members of the board of directors have elected to receive LTIP units as part of their compensation, which are fully vested upon grant. Upon reaching economic parity with common units, each vested LTIP unit can be converted by the holder into one common unit which can then be redeemed for cash or, at our election, settled in our common stock. An LTIP unit will achieve parity with the common units upon the sale or deemed sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the operating partnership at a time when our stock is trading at a level in excess of the price it was trading on the date of the LTIP issuance. More specifically, LTIP units will achieve full economic parity with common units in connection with (i) the actual sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the operating partnership or (ii) the hypothetical sale of such assets, which results from a capital account revaluation, as defined in the partnership agreement, for the operating partnership.

The compensation committee of the board of directors of the Company may authorize the issuance of Performance LTIP units to certain executive officers and directors from time to time. The award agreements provide for the grant of a target number of Performance LTIP units that will be settled in common units of Ashford Trust OP, if, when and to the extent the applicable vesting criteria have been achieved following the end of the performance and service period. The criteria for the Performance LTIP units are based on performance conditions and market conditions under the relevant literature. The corresponding compensation cost is recognized, based on the applicable measurement date fair value of the award, ratably over the service period for the award as the service is rendered, which may vary from period to period, as the number of performance grants earned may vary based on the estimated probable achievement of certain performance targets (performance conditions). The number of Performance LTIP units to be earned based on the applicable performance conditions is determined upon the final vesting date. The initial calculation of the Performance LTIP units earned can range from 0% to 200% of target, which is further subjected to a specified absolute total stockholder return modifier (market condition) based on the formulas determined by the Company’s compensation committee on the grant date. This will result in an adjustment (75% to 125%) of the initial calculation of the number of performance awards earned based on the applicable performance targets resulting in a final award calculation ranging from 0% to 250% of the target amount.

As of March 31, 2024, there were approximately 1.5 million Performance LTIP units outstanding, representing 250% of the target number granted for the 2022 and 2023 grants.

As of March 31, 2024, we have issued a total of approximately 2.0 million LTIP and Performance LTIP units, net of Performance LTIP cancellations. All LTIP and Performance LTIP units other than approximately 1.5 million Performance LTIP units and 124,000 LTIP units have reached full economic parity with, and are convertible into, common units upon vesting.

The following table presents the redeemable noncontrolling interests in Ashford Trust OP and the corresponding approximate ownership percentage:


	March 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
Redeemable noncontrolling interests in Ashford Trust OP (in thousands)	$	22,300		$	22,007
Cumulative adjustments to redeemable noncontrolling interests (1) (in thousands)	$	185,410		$	186,201
Ownership percentage of operating partnership	1.25		%	1.27		%

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(1) Reflects the excess of the redemption value over the accumulated historical costs.

We allocated net (income) loss to the redeemable noncontrolling interests as presented in the table below (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended March 31,
		2024		2023
Net (income) loss attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interests in operating partnership		$	(853)	$	600