Limited Partnership Interests in Newmark Holdings and BGC Holdings

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Related Party Transactions [Abstract]

Limited Partnership Interests in Newmark Holdings and BGC Holdings

Limited Partnership Interests in Newmark Holdings and BGC Holdings

Newmark is a holding company with no direct operations and conducts substantially all of its operations through its operating subsidiaries. Virtually all of Newmark’s condensed consolidated net assets and net income are those of condensed consolidated variable interest entities. Newmark Holdings is a condensed consolidated subsidiary of Newmark for which Newmark is the general partner. Newmark and Newmark Holdings jointly own Newmark OpCo, the operating partnership. In connection with the Separation and BGC Holdings Distribution, holders of BGC Holdings partnership interests received partnership interests in Newmark Holdings, described below (see Note 27 — “Related Party Transactions”). These collectively represent all of the “limited partnership interests” in BGC Holdings and Newmark Holdings.

As a result of the Separation, the limited partnership interests in Newmark Holdings were distributed to the holders of limited partnership interests in BGC Holdings, whereby each holder of BGC Holdings limited partnership interests at that time received a corresponding Newmark Holdings limited partnership interest, determined by the contribution ratio (as hereafter defined), which was equal to a BGC Holdings limited partnership interest multiplied by one divided by 2.2 (the “contribution ratio”), divided by the exchange ratio (which is the ratio by which a Newmark Holdings limited partnership interest can be exchanged for a number of shares of Newmark Class A common stock (the “exchange ratio”)). Initially, the exchange ratio equaled one, so that each Newmark Holdings limited partnership interest was exchangeable for one share of Newmark Class A common stock; however, such exchange ratio is subject to adjustment. For reinvestment, acquisition or other purposes, Newmark may determine on a quarterly basis to distribute to its stockholders a smaller percentage of its income than Newmark Holdings distributes to its equity holders (excluding tax distributions from Newmark Holdings) of the cash that it received from Newmark OpCo. In such circumstances, the Separation and Distribution Agreement provides that the exchange ratio will be reduced to reflect the amount of additional cash retained by Newmark as a result of the distribution of such smaller percentage, after the payment of taxes. As of September 30, 2020, the exchange ratio equaled 0.9373.

Redeemable Partnership Interests

Founding/working partners have limited partnership interests (“FPUs”) in BGC Holdings and Newmark Holdings. Newmark accounts for FPUs outside of permanent capital as “Redeemable partnership interests,” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets. This classification is applicable to FPUs because these units are redeemable upon termination of a partner, including a termination of employment, which can be at the option of the partner and not within the control of the issuer.

FPUs are held by limited partners who are primarily employees of BGC and generally receive quarterly allocations of net income. Upon termination of employment or otherwise ceasing to provide substantive services, the FPUs are generally redeemed, and the unit holders are no longer entitled to participate in the quarterly allocations of net income. These quarterly allocations of net income are contingent upon services being provided by the unit holder and are reflected as a component of compensation expense under “Equity-based compensation and allocations of net income to limited partnership units and FPUs” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations to the extent they relate to FPUs held by Newmark employees.

Limited Partnership Units

Certain employees of Newmark hold limited partnership interests in Newmark Holdings and BGC Holdings (e.g., REUs, RPUs, PSUs, PSIs, HDUs, and LPUs, collectively the “limited partnership units”).

Prior to the Separation, certain employees of both BGC and Newmark generally received limited partnership units in BGC Holdings. As a result of the Separation, these employees were distributed limited partnership units in Newmark Holdings equal to a BGC Holdings limited partnership unit multiplied by the contribution ratio. In addition, in the BGC Holdings Distribution, these employees also received additional limited partnership units in Newmark Holdings. Subsequent to the Separation, Newmark employees generally have been granted limited partnership units in Newmark Holdings.

Generally, such limited partnership units receive quarterly allocations of net income and generally are contingent upon services being provided by the unit holders. As prescribed in U.S. GAAP guidance, prior to the Spin-Off, the quarterly allocations of net income on such limited partnership units were reflected as a component of compensation expense under “Equity-based compensation and allocations of net income to limited partnership units and FPUs” on the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations. Following the Spin-Off, the quarterly allocations of net income on BGC Holdings and Newmark Holdings limited partnership units held by Newmark employees are reflected as a component of compensation expense under “Equity-based compensation and allocations of net income to limited partnership units and FPUs” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations, and the quarterly allocations of net income on Newmark Holdings limited partnership units held by BGC employees are reflected as a component of “Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations. From time to time, Newmark issues limited partnership units as part of the consideration for acquisitions.

Certain of these limited partnership units held by Newmark employees entitle the holders to receive post-termination payments equal to the notional amount of the units in four equal yearly installments after the holder’s termination. These limited partnership units are accounted for as post-termination liability awards, and in accordance with U.S. GAAP guidance, Newmark records compensation expense for the awards based on the change in value at each reporting date on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations as part of “Equity-based compensation and allocations of net income to limited partnership units and FPUs.”

Certain Newmark employees hold preferred partnership units (“Preferred Units”). Each quarter, the net profits of Newmark Holdings are allocated to such units at a rate of either 0.6875% (which is 2.75% per calendar year) or such other amount as set forth in the award documentation (the “Preferred Distribution”). These allocations are deducted before the calculation and distribution of the quarterly partnership distribution for the remaining partnership units and are generally contingent upon services being provided by the unit holder. The Preferred Units are not entitled to participate in partnership distributions other than with respect to the Preferred Distribution. Preferred Units may not be made exchangeable into Newmark’s Class A common stock and are only entitled to the Preferred Distribution, and accordingly are not included in Newmark’s fully diluted share count. The quarterly allocations of net income on Preferred Units are reflected in compensation expense under “Equity-based compensation and allocations of net income to limited partnership units and FPUs” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations. After deduction of the Preferred Distribution, the remaining partnership units generally receive quarterly allocation of net income based on their weighted-average pro rata share of economic ownership of the operating subsidiaries. In addition, Preferred Units are granted in connection with the grant of certain limited partnership units, such as PSUs, that may be granted exchangeability to cover the withholding taxes owed by the unit holder, rather than issuing the gross amount of shares to employees, subject to cashless withholding of shares to pay applicable withholding taxes.

Certain Newmark employees hold non-distribution earning units (e.g. NPSUs and NREUs, collectively “N Units”) that do not participate in quarterly partnership distributions and are not allocated any items of profit or loss. N Units become distribution earning limited partnership units, ratably over a four-year vesting term, if certain revenue thresholds are met at the end of each vesting term.

Cantor Units

Cantor holds limited partnership interests in Newmark Holdings (“Cantor units”). Cantor units are reflected as a component of “Noncontrolling interests” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets. Cantor receives quarterly allocations of net income (loss) and are reflected as a component of “Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations.

BGC Units

Prior to the Spin-Off, BGC and its operating subsidiaries held limited partnership interests in Newmark Holdings (“BGC Units”). Such BGC Units were reflected as a component of “Noncontrolling interests” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets. BGC received quarterly allocations of net income (loss) on BGC Units, which were reflected as a component of “Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations. In conjunction with the Spin-Off, such units were either exchanged for shares of Newmark Class A and Class B shares that were distributed to BGC Stockholders in the Spin-Off, or distributed to the partners of BGC Holdings in the BGC Holdings Distribution (see Note 1 — “Organization and Basis of Presentation”).

Exchangeable Preferred Limited Partnership Units

The EPUs were issued in four tranches and are separately convertible by either RBC or Newmark into a fixed number of Newmark’s Class A common stock, subject to a revenue hurdle for Newmark in each of the fourth quarters of 2019 through 2022 for each of the four tranches, respectively. As the EPUs represent equity ownership of a consolidated subsidiary of Newmark, they have been included in “Noncontrolling interests” on the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of changes in equity. The EPUs are entitled to a preferred payable-in-kind dividend, which is recorded as accretion to the carrying amount of the EPUs through retained earnings on the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of changes in equity and are reductions to “Net income available to common stockholders” for the purpose of calculating earnings per share. (See Note 1 — “Organization and Basis of Presentation” for additional information).

General

Certain of the limited partnership interests, described above, have been granted exchangeability into BGC and/or Newmark Class A common stock, and additional limited partnership interests may become exchangeable for BGC and/or Newmark Class A common stock. At the time exchangeability is granted, Newmark recognizes an expense based on the fair value of the award on that date, which is included in “Equity-based compensation and allocations of net income to limited partnership units and FPUs” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations. In addition, certain limited partnership interests have been granted the right to exchange into a Newmark partnership unit with a capital account, such as HDUs. HDUs have a stated capital account which is initially based on the closing trading price of Newmark Class A common stock at the time the HDU is granted and are included in “Other long-term liabilities” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets. HDUs participate in quarterly partnership distributions and are not exchangeable into shares of Class A common stock. Limited partnership interests held by Cantor in Newmark Holdings as of September 30, 2020 are exchangeable for 22.7 million shares of Newmark Class B common stock. Subsequent to the Spin-Off, limited partnership interests in BGC Holdings held by a partner or Cantor may become exchangeable for BGC Class A or Class B common stock on a one-for-one basis, and limited partnership interests in Newmark Holdings held by a partner or Cantor may become exchangeable for a number of shares of Newmark Class A or Class B common stock equal to the number of limited partnership interests multiplied by the exchange ratio at that time. As of September 30, 2020, the exchange ratio equaled 0.9373.

Each quarter, net income (loss) is allocated between the limited partnership interests and the common stockholders. In quarterly periods in which Newmark has a net loss, the loss is allocated to Cantor and reflected as a component of “Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests” on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations. In subsequent quarters in which Newmark has net income, the initial allocation of income to the limited partnership interests is allocated to Cantor, and reflected in, “Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests,” to recover any losses taken in earlier quarters, with the remaining income allocated to the limited partnership interests. This income (loss) allocation process has no material impact on the net income (loss) allocated to common stockholders.