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Divestiture Of Northwest Operations
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Divestiture Of Northwest Operations [Abstract]  
Divestiture Of Northwest Operations

(8) Divestiture of Northwest Operations:

On May 1, 2020, Frontier completed the sale of its Northwest Operations pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Purchase Agreement, dated as of May 28, 2019, for gross proceeds of $1,352 million, subject to certain closing adjustments. Net of funding certain pension and other retiree medical liabilities, funding of indebtedness, funding certain escrows and other closing adjustments, we received $1,131 million in proceeds.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale are held in escrow as recourse for indemnity claims that may arise under the purchase agreement for a period of one year after the sale completion date. As of March 31, 2021, there were $27 million of proceeds held in escrow accounts included in Other current assets. The amounts in escrow will be reviewed and unclaimed amounts released after one year from the completion of the sale. Proceeds previously held in escrow related to employee liabilities of $25 million and adjustments to working capital of $5 million were received by the Company in the first quarter of 2021.

In connection with the sale, Frontier entered into an agreement to perform certain transition services for the purchaser. The first six months of these services were generally being provided at no additional cost to the purchaser as a condition of the transaction. The fair value of these transition services was estimated to be $30 million and were recorded as a deferred liability (recorded within the Advanced Billing financial statement caption in the balance sheet) in connection with the transaction, which amount was amortized to other revenue as the related services were delivered. Effective October 31, 2020, the purchaser terminated all future services that Frontier would have provided and received compensation under this agreement. In connection with the termination, Frontier agreed to provide limited training and subject matter support services for a fee, primarily during the fourth quarter of 2020.

The Northwest Operations were included in Frontier’s continuing operations and classified as assets held for sale and liabilities related to assets held for sale on our consolidated balance sheets through the completion of the transaction on May 1, 2020. As a result of the closing of the transaction, we derecognized net assets of $1,132 million, including property, plant, and equipment of $1,084 million, goodwill of $658 million, a $603 million valuation allowance on our assets held for sale, and $150 million of defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plan obligations, net of transferred pension plan assets.

This transaction did not represent a strategic shift for Frontier; therefore, it did not meet the criteria to be classified as a discontinued operation. Effective with the designation as held-for-sale on May 28, 2019, we discontinued recording depreciation on Property, Plant and Equipment and finite-lived intangible assets of this business as required by GAAP.

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, Frontier recorded a loss on disposal of $24 million, associated with the sale of the Northwest Operations.