Description of Business and Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation — The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the results of operations, other comprehensive income, financial position and cash flows for each period presented.

The adjustments referred to above are of a normal and recurring nature. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to SEC rules and regulations for interim reporting.

The Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2020 was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Business Combination

Business Combinations — In accounting for business combinations, we apply the accounting requirements of Accounting Standards Codification 805 (“ASC 805”), “Business Combinations,” which requires the recording of net assets of acquired businesses at fair value. In developing fair value estimates for acquired assets and assumed liabilities, management analyzes a variety of factors including market data, estimated future cash flows of the acquired operations, industry growth rates, current replacement cost for fixed assets, and market rate assumptions for contractual obligations. Such a valuation requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions, particularly with respect to the intangible assets. In addition, any contingent consideration is presented at fair value at the date of acquisition, and transaction costs are expensed as incurred. The Company reports in its consolidated financial statements provisional amounts for the items for which accounting is incomplete. Goodwill is adjusted for any changes to provisional amounts made within the measurement period. See Note 2 for disclosures related to mergers and acquisitions.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates — Preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to various regulatory and tax proceedings, lawsuits, claims and other matters. The Company believes adequate provision has been made for all such asserted and unasserted claims in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Such matters are subject to many uncertainties and outcomes that are not predictable with assurance.

Accounting Policies

Accounting Policies — The complete summary of significant accounting policies is included in the notes to the consolidated financial statements as presented in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. The Company’s accounting policies in the Successor Period are consistent with the accounting policies in the Predecessor Period.  

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash — Cash consists of funds held in bank accounts. Cash equivalents consist of short-term, highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less. Restricted cash consists of funds held in an escrow account associated with the acquisition of substantially all of the operating assets of Paniolo Cable Company, LLC (“Paniolo”). See Note 2 for further information related to this transaction. Restricted cash is included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. A reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash to the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets follows:

	Successor		Predecessor
(dollars in millions)	September 30, 2021		December 31, 2020
Cash and cash equivalents	$	5.4	$	12.2
Restricted cash included in Other noncurrent assets		—		5.0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash per Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows	$	5.4	$	17.2

Restructuring Liability

Restructuring Liability — As of September 30, 2021, restructuring liabilities have been established for employee separations. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, $0.1 million and $4.5 million, respectively, of the restructuring liabilities was included in “Other current liabilities” in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Income Taxes

Income taxes — In accordance with ASC 740-270, the Company’s income tax provision for interim periods is determined through the use of an estimated annual effective tax rate applied to year-to-date ordinary income/loss plus or minus the tax effects of discrete items. The Company’s estimated annual effective tax rate benefit is lower than statutory rates primarily due to the effect of permanent items such as nondeductible transaction costs, portions of officers’ compensation, and meals and entertainment expenses that are not fully deductible for tax.

Operating Taxes

Operating taxes — Certain operating taxes such as property, sales, use, and gross receipts taxes are reported as expenses in operating income primarily within cost of services. These taxes are not included in income tax expense because the amounts to be paid are not dependent on our level of income. Liabilities for audit exposures are established based on management's assessment of the probability of payment. The provision for such liabilities is recognized as either property, plant and equipment, operating tax expense, or depreciation expense depending on the nature of the audit exposure. Upon resolution of an audit, any remaining liability not paid is released against the account in which it was originally recorded. Certain telecommunication taxes and surcharges that are collected from customers are also recorded as revenue; however, in accordance with ASC 606, revenue associated with these charges is excluded from the transaction price.

Stock-Based Compensation

Stock-Based Compensation — Compensation cost is recognized for all share-based awards to employees and non-employee directors. We value all share-based awards to employees at fair value on the date of grant and expense this amount over the requisite service period, generally defined as the applicable vesting period. For awards which contain a performance condition, compensation expense is recognized over the service period, when achievement of the performance condition is deemed probable. The fair value of stock options and stock appreciation rights is determined using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model using assumptions such as volatility, risk-free interest rate, expected holding period and dividends. The fair value of stock awards is based on the Company’s closing share price on the date of grant. For all share-based payments, the Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur. Actual forfeiture activity reduces the total fair value of the awards to be recognized as compensation expense. When an award is granted to an employee who is retirement eligible, the compensation cost is recognized over the service period up to the date that the employee first becomes eligible to retire.

In connection with the consummation of the Merger, certain previously granted stock-based awards vested on the Closing Date per the terms of the change of control clauses in each plan and were paid at the share purchase price of $15.50. As a result, the following awards vested and were paid on the date of acquisition: (i) time-based restricted stock units and performance-based stock units associated with the 2019 – 2021 long-term incentive plan granted under the 2017 Long-Term Incentive Plan; (ii) time-based restricted stock units granted to non-employee directors in 2020 under the 2017 Stock Plan for Non-Employee Directors; and (iii) time-based restricted stock units granted under the Hawaiian Telcom 2010 Equity Incentive Plan in the first quarter of 2018 which the Company assumed responsibility for the eventual payout upon the acquisition of Hawaiian Telcom. Due to the accelerated vesting and cash payment of these awards, the Company recorded additional compensation expense of $9.3 million to “Selling, general and administrative” expense in the Predecessor period on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. As of September 30, 2021, there are no outstanding awards granted under the 2017 Long-Term Incentive Plan, 2017 Stock Plan for Non-Employee Directors and Hawaiian Telcom 2010 Equity Incentive Plan.

The Company granted cash-settled awards of $10.5 million in 2020 that originally vested at the end of a three year period. In accordance with the terms of these awards, vesting and payment of the first 25% of the award was accelerated with the consummation of the Merger. The awards remain outstanding in the Successor period and will be paid out 25% at the six month anniversary of the Closing Date and 50% will be paid out on the 18 month anniversary of the Closing Date. The remaining unrecognized compensation expense for the cash-settled awards will be recognized ratably over the remaining 18 months of the award.  

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative Financial Instruments — The Company accounts for derivative financial instruments by recognizing derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value and recognizing the resulting gains or losses as adjustments to the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations or "Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss." The Company does not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

For derivative instruments that hedge the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges, the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of "Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss" in stockholder's equity and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. To receive hedge accounting treatment, cash flow hedges must be highly effective in offsetting changes to expected future cash flows on hedged transactions. Derivatives that do not qualify as hedges are adjusted to fair value through earnings in the current period.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. The ASU is intended to provide temporary optional expedients and exceptions to the U.S. GAAP guidance on contract modifications and hedge accounting to ease the financial reporting burdens related to the expected market transition from the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and other interbank offered rates to alternative reference rates. These amendments are effective as of any date from the beginning of an interim period that includes or is subsequent to March 12, 2020 and may be applied prospectively to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated on or before December 31, 2022. The Company is currently evaluating our contracts and the optional expedients provided by the new standard.

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, which simplifies the accounting for income taxes, eliminates certain exceptions within Income Taxes (740), and clarifies certain aspects of the current guidance to promote consistency among reporting entities, and is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2020. Most amendments within ASU 2019-12 are required to be applied on a prospective basis, while certain amendments must be applied on a retrospective or modified retrospective basis. The Company adopted the standard effective January 1, 2021. The Company has evaluated the amendments that must be applied on a retrospective or modified retrospective basis and concluded that no adjustments are necessary. The Company has applied all other amendments on a prospective basis, and the changes did not have a material effect on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

Other accounting standards that have been issued or proposed by the FASB or other standard-setting bodies that do not require adoption until a future date are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

Revenue

The Entertainment and Communications segment provides products and services to both residential and commercial customers that can be categorized as either Fioptics in Cincinnati or Consumer/SMB Fiber in Hawaii (collectively, "Consumer/SMB Fiber"), Enterprise Fiber or Legacy. The products and services within these three categories can be further categorized as either Data, Voice, Video or Other. Consumer/SMB Fiber and Legacy revenue include both residential and commercial customers. Enterprise Fiber revenue includes ethernet and dedicated internet access services that are provided to enterprise customers, as well as revenue associated with the Southeast Asia to United States ("SEA-US") trans-Pacific submarine cable system.

Residential customers have implied month-to-month contracts. Commercial customers, with the exception of contracts associated with the SEA-US cable system, typically have contracts with a duration of one to five years and automatically renew on a month-to-month basis. Customers are invoiced on a monthly basis for services rendered. Contracts for projects that are included within the Other revenue stream are typically short in duration and less than one year. Contracts associated with the SEA-US cable system typically range from 15 to 25 years and payment is prepaid.

The IT Services and Hardware segment provides a full range of Information Technology ("IT") solutions, including Communications, Cloud and Consulting services. IT Services and Hardware customers enter into contracts that have a typical duration of one to five years, with varied renewal options at the end of the term. Customers are invoiced on a monthly basis for services rendered. The IT Services and Hardware segment also provides enterprise customers with Infrastructure Solutions, which includes the sale of hardware and maintenance contracts. These contracts are typically satisfied in less than twelve months and revenue is recognized at a point in time.

The Company has elected the practical expedient described in ASC 606-10-32-18 that allows an entity to not adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of a significant financing component if the entity expects that the period of time between the transfer of a promised good or service to the customer and when the customer pays for such good or service will be one year or less. Customers are typically billed immediately upon the rendering of services or the delivery of products. Payment terms for customers are between 30 and 120 days. Subsequent to the acquisition of Hawaiian Telcom Holdco., Inc. ("Hawaiian Telcom"), the Company began recognizing a financing component associated with the up-front payments for services to be delivered under indefeasible right of use ("IRU") contracts for fiber circuit capacity. The IRU contracts typically have a duration ranging from 15 to 25 years.

Fair Value Measurement

The fair value of the interest rate swaps was categorized as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy as they were based on well-recognized financial principles and available market data.In connection with the Merger, the Successor period carrying values of the Company’s long-term debt and other financing arrangements include fair value adjustments as of the Merger Date. The fair value of our long-term debt was based on closing or estimated market prices of the Company’s debt at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, which is considered Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy. The fair value of the other financing arrangements was calculated using a discounted cash flow model that incorporates current borrowing rates for obligations of similar duration, which is considered Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.