XML 29 R14.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.20.4
Business Combinations, Asset Acquisitions and Dispositions
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Business Combinations [Abstract]  
Business Combinations, Asset Acquisitions and Dispositions

Note 6. Business Combinations, Asset Acquisitions and Dispositions

2020 Transactions

Windstream Settlement Agreement

On September 18, 2020, and in furtherance of the Settlement Agreement (see Note 17), Uniti and Windstream closed an asset purchase agreement, as amended by a letter agreement (collectively, the “Asset Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which (a) Uniti paid to Windstream approximately $284.6 million and (b) Windstream (i) granted to Uniti exclusive rights to use 1.8 million fiber strand miles leased by Windstream under the CLEC MLA, which fiber strands are either unutilized or utilized under certain dark fiber indefeasible rights of use (“IRUs”) that were simultaneously transferred to Uniti, (ii) conveyed to Uniti fiber assets (and underlying rights) consisting of 0.4 million fiber strand miles (covering 4,000 route miles) owned by Windstream, and (iii) transferred and assigned to subsidiaries of Uniti dark fiber IRUs relating to (x) the fiber strand miles granted to Uniti under the CLEC MLA (and described in clause (i)) and (y) the fiber assets (and underlying rights) for the 0.4 million fiber strand miles conveyed to Uniti (and described in clause (ii)), which IRUs generated $28.9 million of annual EBITDA in the aggregate as of the closing of the Asset Purchase Agreement. In addition, upon the transfer of the Windstream owned fiber assets (described in clause (ii) above), Uniti granted to Windstream a 20-year IRU for certain strands included in the transferred fiber assets.

The Company concluded that the Asset Purchase Agreement, and the obligation for Uniti to make cash payments to Windstream in accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement (see Note 17), should be combined for the accounting purpose of ASC 842.  As such, total consideration provided to Windstream under the Settlement has been allocated as follows:

(Thousands)

 

 

 

 

Consideration:

 

 

 

 

Asset Purchase Agreement

 

$

284,550

 

Fair value of settlement obligation

 

 

438,577

 

Total consideration

 

$

723,127

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the acquisition date:

 

 

 

 

Property, plant and equipment

 

$

170,754

 

Intangible assets, net

 

 

69,832

 

Other assets

 

 

27,632

 

Intangible liabilities

 

 

(195,091

)

Total assets acquired, net

 

 

73,127

 

Settlement expense

 

 

650,000

 

Total

 

$

723,127

 

Of the $69.8 million of intangible assets acquired, $59.3 million is related to contracts (8-year weighted-average life) and $10.5  million is related to underlying rights agreements (30-year life). The Company determined the useful life of the contract intangible assets using the weighted-average remaining term and the rights of way intangible asset by aligning the useful life of the intangible with that of the underlying fiber assets acquired.  The intangible liabilities represents below market leases, where we are the lessor, and has a weighted-average useful life of 19 years, which aligns with the terms of the agreements.  Acquired right of use assets $27.6  million are recorded within other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Sale of Midwest Fiber Network

On July 1, 2020, the Company completed the sale of the entity that controlled the Company’s Midwest fiber network assets (the “Propco”) to Macquarie Infrastructure Partners (“MIP”), selling net assets having a book value of $186.5 million for total cash consideration of $167.6 million.  The Company retained a 20% investment interest

in the Propco, having a fair value of $41.9 million, through a newly-formed limited liability company with MIP (see Note 8).  During the third quarter, we recorded a gain of $23.0 million related to this transaction.

Sale of U.S. Tower Portfolio

On June 1, 2020, the Company completed the sale of its U.S. tower business to Melody, selling net assets having a book value of $190.0 million for total cash consideration of $225.8 million.  The Company retained a 10% investment interest in the tower business, having a fair value of $26.0 million, through a newly-formed limited partnership with Melody (see Note 8), and will receive incremental earn-out payments, estimated to be $1.6 million, which is included in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2020.  During the second quarter, we recorded a gain of $63.4 million related to this transaction.

2019 Transactions

Bluebird Network, LLC

On August 30, 2019, the Company closed on its operating company/property company (“OpCo-PropCo”) transaction with MIP to acquire Bluebird Network, LLC (“Bluebird”). MIP operates within the Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets division of Macquarie Group.  Bluebird’s network consists of approximately 178,000 fiber strand miles in the Midwest across Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Oklahoma. In the transaction, Uniti purchased the Bluebird fiber network and MIP purchased the Bluebird operations. In addition, Uniti sold Uniti Fiber’s Midwest operations to MIP, while Uniti retains its existing Midwest fiber network. Uniti acquired the fiber network of Bluebird for $320.8 million, which included transaction costs of $1.8 million.  Uniti funded $175 million in cash and $144 million from pre-paid rent received from MIP at closing. The pre-paid rent is recorded within deferred revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheet.  In connection with the sale of the Company’s Midwest operations, we received total upfront cash of approximately $37 million, including related pre-paid rent received from MIP at closing. Concurrently with the closing of these transactions, Uniti has leased the Bluebird fiber network and its Midwest fiber network on a combined basis to MIP, under a long-term triple net lease (the “Bluebird Lease”). The Bluebird Lease is reported within the results of our Leasing segment.  The Midwest operations that was sold to MIP was previously reported in our Fiber Infrastructure segment.

The acquisition of the Bluebird network was accounted for as an asset acquisition.  The following is a summary of the estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the acquisition date:

 

 

(thousands)

 

Property, plant and equipment

 

$

139,566

 

Intangible assets

 

 

175,401

 

Other assets

 

 

8,946

 

Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities

 

 

(3,095

)

Total purchase consideration

 

$

320,818

 

Acquired right of use assets and liabilities of $8.9 million and $3.1 million are recorded within other assets, net and accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities, net on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, respectively.  Of the $175.4 million of intangible assets acquired, $124.7 million is related to rights of way (30 year life) and $50.7 million is related to an in-place lease (20 year life). The Company determined the useful life of the rights of way intangible asset by aligning the useful life of the intangible with that of the underlying fiber assets acquired. The in-place lease will be amortized over the initial 20-year lease term.

Upon the sale of our Midwest operations, we recognized an approximately $2.2 million net loss, which is recorded within other (income) expense on the Consolidated Statements of Income.  This loss included the allocation of approximately $2.2 million of goodwill.  See Note 12.

 

 

 

Sale of Ground Lease Portfolio

On May 23, 2019, the Company completed the sale of substantially all of its U.S. ground lease business.  During second quarter, we received cash consideration of $30.7 million resulting in a pre-tax gain of $5.0 million.  We sold an additional ground lease during the third quarter, receiving cash consideration of $2.9 million.

Sale of Latin American Tower Portfolio

On April 2, 2019, the Company completed the sale of the Uniti Towers’ Latin America business (“LATAM”) to an entity controlled by Phoenix Towers International for cash consideration of $101.6 million resulting in a pre-tax gain of $23.8 million.

JKM Consulting Inc. (M2 Connections)

On March 25, 2019, we acquired 100% of the outstanding equity of JKM Consulting Inc. d/b/a M2 Connections (“M2”) for cash consideration of $5.5 million. M2 is a dark fiber and internet access provider primarily to educational institutions in Alabama. This acquisition strengthens Uniti Fiber’s relationships with new E-Rate customers.  The acquisition was recorded by allocating the costs of the assets acquired based on their estimated fair values at the acquisition date. The excess of the cost of the acquisition over the fair value of the assets acquired is recorded as goodwill of $1.7 million within our Fiber Infrastructure segment. See Note 16. For federal income tax purposes, the transaction was treated as a taxable acquisition. Thus, all of the goodwill is expected to be deductible for tax purposes. The financial results of M2 are included in the Fiber Infrastructure segment from the date of acquisition and were not material, individually or in the aggregate, to our results of operations and therefore, pro forma financial information has not been presented.

2018 Transactions

Information Transport Solutions, Inc.

On October 19, 2018, we acquired 100% of the outstanding equity of Information Transport Solutions, Inc. (“ITS”) for cash consideration of $58.3 million. ITS is a full-service managed services provider of technology solutions, primarily to educational institutions in Alabama and Florida. This acquisition expands Uniti Fiber’s product offerings and strengthens relationships with new and existing E-Rate customers.  The acquisition was recorded by allocating the costs of the assets acquired based on their estimated fair values at the acquisition date. The excess of the cost of the acquisition over the fair value of the assets acquired is recorded as goodwill within our Fiber Infrastructure segment.  See Note 16. During the first quarter of 2019, certain contractual working capital adjustments resulted in a $1.3 million reduction of the purchase price and goodwill.  The following is a summary of the estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the acquisition date:

 

 

 

(thousands)

 

Property, plant and equipment

 

$

4,270

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

5,931

 

Accounts receivable

 

 

3,909

 

Other assets

 

 

7,238

 

Goodwill

 

 

9,941

 

Intangible assets

 

 

30,254

 

Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities

 

 

(2,645

)

Deferred revenue

 

 

(567

)

Total purchase consideration

 

$

58,331

 

 

 

The goodwill arising from the transaction is primarily attributable to strategic opportunities that arose from the acquisition of ITS, including strengthening relationships with new and existing E-Rate customers and anticipated incremental sales and cost savings. For federal income tax purposes, the transaction was treated as a taxable acquisition. Thus, all of the goodwill is expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

We acquired an intangible asset that was assigned to customer relationships of $30.3 million (14 year life). The Company determined the useful life for the customer relationship by applying an income approach (using the multi-period excess earnings method with a discount rate commensurate to the risk of the asset) and resulted from two key considerations: attrition rate and cumulative present value of cash flows, including assessing the period over which the asset is expected to contribute to the Company’s future cash flows.

The acquired business contributed revenue of $9.0 million and an operating income of $0.5 million, which excludes transaction related costs, to our consolidated results from the date of acquisition through December 31, 2018. We recorded transaction related costs related to the acquisition of ITS for the year ended December 31, 2018 of $0.3 million within transaction related and other costs on the Consolidated Statement of Income.

The following table presents the unaudited pro forma summary of our financial results as if the ITS acquisition had occurred on January 1, 2017. The pro forma results include additional amortization resulting from purchase accounting adjustments related to the intangible asset. The pro forma results do not include any synergies or other benefits of the acquisition. The pro forma results are not indicative of future results of operations, or results that might have been achieved had the acquisition been consummated on January 1, 2017.

 

 

 

Year Ended

 

(Thousands, except per share data)

 

December 31, 2018

 

Pro forma revenue

 

$

1,054,192

 

Pro forma net income (loss)

 

 

17,727