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Equity
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Equity [Abstract]  
Equity Equity
Capitalization

At December 31, 2023, our authorized share capital consisted of an aggregate nominal amount of $20.0 million, consisting of any of the following: (i) common shares (Class A, B or C), each with a nominal value of $0.01 per share, (ii) preference shares, with a nominal value to be determined by the board of directors, the issuance of one or more classes or series of which may be authorized by the board of directors, and (iii) any other shares of one or more classes as may be determined by the board of directors or by the shareholders of Liberty Global.

Under Liberty Global’s Articles of Association, effective July 1, 2015, holders of Liberty Global Class A common shares are entitled to one vote for each such share held, and holders of Liberty Global Class B common shares are entitled to 10 votes for each such share held, on all matters submitted to a vote of Liberty Global shareholders at any general meeting (annual or special). Holders of Liberty Global Class C common shares are not entitled to any voting powers except as required by law.

At the option of the holder, each Liberty Global Class B common share is convertible into one Liberty Global Class A common share. One Liberty Global Class A common share is reserved for issuance for each Liberty Global Class B common share that is issued (12,988,658 shares issued as of December 31, 2023). Additionally, at December 31, 2023, we have reserved the following common shares for the issuance of outstanding share-based incentive awards:
Class AClass C
   
Options622,177 2,704,383 
SARs
20,430,440 47,534,716 
RSUs
2,446,678 5,382,896 
PSUs and PSARs
3,682,808 7,155,287 

Subject to any preferential rights of any outstanding class of our preference shares, the holders of our common shares are entitled to dividends as may be declared from time to time by our board of directors from funds available therefore. Except with respect to share distributions, whenever a dividend is paid in cash to the holder of one class of our common shares, we shall also pay to the holders of the other classes of our common shares an equal per share dividend. There are currently no contractual restrictions on our ability to pay dividends in cash or shares.

In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, after payment or provision for payment of our debts and liabilities and subject to the prior payment in full of any preferential amounts to which our preference shareholders, if any, may be entitled, the holders of our common shares will be entitled to receive their proportionate interests, expressed in liquidation units, in any assets available for distribution to our common shares.

Share Repurchase Programs

Our board of directors has approved various share repurchase programs for our Liberty Global common shares. Under our repurchase programs, we may acquire from time to time our Class A common shares, Class C common shares or any combination of Class A and Class C common shares. Our repurchase programs may be effected through open market transactions and/or privately negotiated transactions, which may include derivative transactions. The timing of the repurchase of shares pursuant to these programs will depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions and applicable law, and these programs may be implemented in conjunction with brokers for the company and other financial institutions with whom the company has relationships within certain preset parameters and purchases may continue during closed periods in accordance with applicable restrictions. Our share repurchase programs may be suspended or discontinued at any time. Our original share buyback plan for 2023 authorized the repurchase of 10% of our outstanding shares as of December 31, 2022, and this was increased to a minimum of 15% in July 2023. We achieved this minimum as of October 30, 2023, and announced a further repurchase target of approximately $300.0 million through the end of January 2024. At December 31, 2023, $101.7 million of this target remained and was fully achieved on January 26, 2024.
The following table provides details of our share repurchases during 2023, 2022 and 2021:
 Class A common sharesClass C common shares 
Shares
repurchased		Average price
paid per  share (a)		Shares
repurchased		Average price
paid per  share (a)		Total cost (a)
     in millions
2023
1,444,000 $18.24 78,452,085 $18.86 $1,505.9 
2022
3,856,700 $21.55 69,381,968 $23.34 $1,702.6 
2021
8,445,800 $27.31 49,604,048 $27.23 $1,581.1 
_______________

(a)Includes direct acquisition costs, where applicable.

Telenet Takeover Bid

On June 8, 2023, following approval by the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority, LGBH launched a voluntary and conditional public takeover bid (the Offer) for all of the shares of Telenet that we did not already own or that were not held by Telenet (the Telenet Bid Shares) (the Telenet Takeover Bid). The Offer consisted of per share cash consideration for the tendered Telenet Bid Shares of €22 per share, which after deducting the €1 gross dividend paid on May 5, 2023, resulted in an offer price of €21 per share.

After the conclusion of both the initial acceptance period and the subsequent mandatory reopening period, LGBH acquired 38,210,285 of the Telenet Bid Shares, including 380,691 shares subject to lock-up provisions, increasing our ownership interest in Telenet’s issued and outstanding shares to 96.26%. On September 22, 2023, we initiated a simplified “squeeze-out” procedure according to applicable Belgium law, pursuant to which LGBH acquired the remaining Telenet Bid Shares that it or Telenet did not already own. The simplified squeeze-out procedure concluded on October 13, 2023 and, on that date, any shares of Telenet that were not tendered during the simplified squeeze-out procedure were automatically transferred to LGBH by operation of law and Telenet shares were delisted from Euronext Brussels. The Telenet Bid Shares that were acquired as a result of the simplified squeeze-out procedure were settled on October 19, 2023 and, from that date, Telenet is owned 100% by LGBH.

The Telenet Takeover Bid was funded through (i) available borrowings under LGBH Facility B and (ii) existing liquidity of Liberty Global. As of December 31, 2023, the consideration associated with the Telenet Takeover Bid, including certain fees and expenses, totaled €904.2 million ($993.7 million at the applicable transaction dates).

Subsidiary Distributions

From time to time, Telenet and certain other of our subsidiaries make cash distributions to their respective shareholders. Our share of these distributions is eliminated in consolidation and the noncontrolling interest owners’ share of these distributions is reflected as a charge against noncontrolling interests in our consolidated statements of equity. In this regard, Telenet, prior to the Telenet Takeover Bid, paid aggregate dividends to its shareholders during 2023, 2022 and 2021 of €108.6 million, €149.0 million and €306.2 million, respectively. Our share of these dividends was €66.3 million ($73.2 million at the applicable rate), €91.2 million ($96.2 million at the applicable rate) and €182.4 million ($214.0 million at the applicable rate), respectively.

Restricted Net Assets

The ability of certain of our subsidiaries to distribute or loan all or a portion of their net assets to our company is limited by the terms of applicable debt facilities. At December 31, 2023, a significant portion of our net assets represented net assets of our subsidiaries that were subject to such limitations.