Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

(5) Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

For assets and liabilities required to be reported at fair value, GAAP provides a hierarchy that prioritizes inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three broad levels. Level 1 inputs are quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the reporting entity has the ability to access at the measurement date. Level 2 inputs are inputs, other than quoted market prices included within Level 1, that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability. The Company does not have any recurring assets or liabilities measured at fair value that would be considered Level 3.

The Company’s assets and liabilities measured at fair value are as follows:

	December 31, 2021				December 31, 2020
			Quoted prices	Significant		Quoted prices	Significant
			in active	other		in active	other
			markets for	observable		markets for	observable
			identical assets	inputs		identical assets	inputs
Description	Total		(Level 1)	(Level 2)	Total	(Level 1)	(Level 2)
	amounts in millions
Cash equivalents	$	118	118	—	1,368	1,368	—
Indemnification obligation	$	324	—	324	345	—	345
Exchangeable senior debentures	$	1,428	—	1,428	1,472	—	1,472

Pursuant to an indemnification agreement initially entered into by GCI Liberty and assumed by Liberty Broadband in connection with the Combination, Liberty Broadband has agreed to indemnify Liberty Interactive LLC (“LI LLC”), a subsidiary of Qurate Retail, for certain payments made to holders of LI LLC’s 1.75% exchangeable debentures due 2046 (the "1.75% Exchangeable Debentures"). An indemnity obligation in the amount of $336 million was recorded upon completion of the Combination. The indemnification liability due to LI LLC pertains to the holders’ ability to exercise their exchange right according to the terms of the 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures on or before October 5, 2023. Such amount will equal the difference between the exchange value and par value of the 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures at the time the exchange occurs. The indemnification obligation recorded in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 represents the fair value of the estimated exchange feature included in the 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures primarily based on observable market data as significant inputs (Level 2). As of December 31, 2021, a holder of the 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures has the ability to exchange and, accordingly, such indemnification obligation is included as a current liability in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.

The Company’s exchangeable senior debentures are debt instruments with quoted market value prices that are not considered to be traded on “active markets”, as defined in GAAP, and are reported in the foregoing table as Level 2 fair value.

Other Financial Instruments

Other financial instruments not measured at fair value on a recurring basis include trade receivables, trade payables, accrued and other current liabilities, current portion of debt (with the exception of the 1.75% Debentures (defined in note 8)) and long-term debt (with the exception of the 1.25% Debentures and the 2.75% Debentures (defined in note 8)). With the exception of long-term debt, the carrying amount approximates fair value due to the short maturity of these instruments as reported on our consolidated balance sheets. The carrying value of our Margin Loan Facility, the Term Loan A and revolving credit facility borrowings under the Senior Credit Facility and the Wells Fargo Note Payable all bear interest at a variable rate and therefore are also considered to approximate fair value.

Realized and Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Financial Instruments

Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on financial instruments are comprised of changes in the fair value of the following:

	Years ended December 31,
	2021		2020	2019
	amounts in millions
Indemnification obligation	$	21	(9)	—
Exchangeable senior debentures (1)		46	(74)	—
Other		—	—	1
	$	67	(83)	1

(1) The Company has elected to account for its exchangeable senior debentures using the fair value option. Changes in the fair value of the exchangeable senior debentures recognized in the consolidated statements of operations are primarily due to market factors driven by changes in the fair value of the underlying shares into which debt is exchangeable. The Company isolates the portion of the unrealized gain (loss) attributable to the change in the instrument specific credit risk and recognizes such amount in other comprehensive income. The change in the fair value of the exchangeable senior debentures attributable to changes in the instrument specific credit risk before tax was a loss of $2 million and a gain of $9 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The cumulative change was a gain of $7 million as of December 31, 2021.