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SHARE BASED COMPENSATION
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]  
SHARE BASED COMPENSATION
SHARE BASED COMPENSATION
Certain employees of the Company and its affiliates received awards of units in a carry unit plan of Neptune Management LP, an entity which has an ownership interest in the Company. The awards generally vest as follows: 50% on the second anniversary of June 21, 2016 for Cablevision employees or December 21, 2015 for Cequel employees ("Base Date"), 25% on the third anniversary of the Base Date, and 25% on the fourth anniversary of the Base Date.  Neptune Holding US GP LLC, the general partner of Neptune Management LP, has the right to repurchase (or to assign to an affiliate, including the Company, the right to repurchase) vested awards held by employees for sixty days following their termination.  For performance-based awards under the plan, vesting occurs upon achievement or satisfaction of a specified performance condition. The Company considered the probability of achieving the established performance targets in determining the share-based compensation with respect to these awards at the end of each reporting period. The carry unit plan has 259,442,785 units authorized for issuance, of which 214,545,833 have been issued to employees of the Company and 13,800,000 have been issued to employees of Altice N.V. and affiliated companies as of June 30, 2017.
Beginning on the fourth anniversary of the Base Date, the holders of carry units have an annual opportunity (a sixty day period determined by the administrator of the plan) to sell their units back to Neptune Holding US GP LLC (or affiliate, including the Company, designated by Neptune Holding US GP). Accordingly, the carry units are presented as temporary equity on the consolidated balance at fair value. Adjustments to fair value at each reporting period are recorded in paid-in capital.
The right of Neptune Holding US GP LLC to assign to an affiliate, including the Company, the right to repurchase an employee’s vested units during the sixty-day period following termination, or to satisfy its obligation to repurchase an employee’s vested units during annual 60 day periods following the fourth anniversary of the Base Date, may be exercised by Neptune Holding US GP LLC in its discretion at the time a repurchase right or obligation arises. The carry unit plan requires the purchase price payable to the employee or former employee, as the case may be, to be paid in cash, a promissory note (with a term of not more than 3 years and bearing interest at the long-term applicable federal rate under Section 1274(d) of the Internal Revenue Code) or combination thereof, in each case as determined by Neptune Holding US GP LLC in its discretion at the time of the repurchase. Neptune Holding US GP LLC expects that vested units will be redeemed for shares of Class A common stock upon vesting.
The Company measures the cost of employee services received in exchange for carry units based on the fair value of the award at grant date. For carry unit awards granted in 2016, an option pricing model was used which requires subjective assumptions for which changes in these assumptions could materially affect the fair value of the carry units outstanding. The time to liquidity event assumption was based on management’s judgment. The equity volatility assumption was estimated using the historical weekly volatility of publicly traded comparable companies. The risk-free rate assumed in valuing the units was based on the U.S. Constant Maturity Treasury Rates for a period matching the expected time to liquidity event. The discount for lack of marketability was based on Finnerty's (2012) average-strike put option model.
For carry unit awards granted in the first and second quarter of 2017, the Company estimated the grant date fair value based on the value established in the Company's IPO.
The following table summarizes activity relating to carry units:
 
Number of Time
Vesting Awards
 
Number of Performance
Based Vesting Awards
 
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Balance, December 31, 2016
192,800,000

 
10,000,000

 
$
0.37

Granted
28,025,000

 

 
3.14

Forfeited
(2,479,166
)
 

 
0.37

Balance, June 30, 2017
218,345,834

 
10,000,000

 
0.71

Awards vested at June 30, 2017

 

 
 

The weighted average fair value per unit was $1.76 and $4.45 as of December 31, 2016 and June 30, 2017, respectively. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, the Company recognized an expense of $18,079 and $25,927 related to the push down of share-based compensation related to the carry unit plan of which approximately $17,454 and $24,702 related to units granted to employees of the Company and $624 and $1,225 related to employees of Altice N.V. and affiliated companies allocated to the Company.