Note 2 - Ownership Interests and Advances

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Notes to Financial Statements

Investments in and Advances to Affiliates, Schedule of Investments [Text Block]

2. Ownership Interests and Advances

The following summarizes the carrying value of the Company’s ownership interests and advances.

	December 31, 2020		December 31, 2019
	(In thousands)
Equity Method:
Companies	$	27,550	$	34,271
Private equity funds		271		271
		27,821		34,542
Other Method:
Companies		19,683		27,031
Private equity funds		268		453
		19,951		27,484
Advances to companies (equity method)		2,626		15,103
	$	50,398	$	77,129

In September 2020, Sonobi, Inc. was acquired by another entity for cash. The Company received $6.6 million in cash proceeds in connection with this transaction, excluding holdbacks and escrows. The Company recognized an insignificant gain on the sale, which is included in Equity income (loss), net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recorded impairments of $11.3 million related to the ownership interests of WebLinc, Inc., QuanticMind, Inc. and Sonobi, Inc. accounted for under the equity method, which are reflected in Equity income (loss), net in the Consolidated Statement of Operations.  During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company also recorded impairments of $8.8 million related to the ownership interests of T-REX Group, Inc., b8ta and others accounted for under the Other method, which are reflected in Other income (loss), net in the Consolidated Statement of Operations. The impairments were determined based on declines in the fair value of our ownership interests resulting from reduced valuation expectations and extended exit timelines resulting from the more challenging mergers and acquisitions environment related to COVID-19 and the related uncertain economic impact. The measurement of fair value for these impairments was estimated based on evaluating several valuation inputs available for each of the applicable ownership interests, primarily including the value at which independent third parties have invested, the valuation of comparable public companies, the valuation of acquisitions of similar companies and the present value of our expected outcomes. Assumptions considered within these methods include determining which public companies are comparable, projecting forward revenues for the measured ownership interest, discounts to apply for the lack of marketability or lack of comparability, other factors and the relative weight to apply to each valuation input available. Due to the unobservable nature of some of these inputs, we have determined these fair value estimates to be non-recurring Level 3 fair value measurements.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recorded a $1.5 million non-cash gain based upon an observable price change related to our ownership interest in Flashtalking Inc. accounted for under the Other method, which is reflected in Other income (loss), net in the Consolidated Statement of Operations. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company also recorded a $0.3 million non-cash Other loss based on an observable price change for another ownership interest accounted for under the Other method.

During 2019, the Company recognized an impairment of $3.0 million related to NovaSom, which is reflected in Equity income (loss), net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The impairment was the result of NovaSom Inc.'s August 2019 bankruptcy filing.

In January 2019, Propeller was acquired by another entity for cash. The Company received $41.5 million in cash proceeds in connection with the transaction, and $0.7 million in 2020 for amounts held in escrow. The Company recognized a gain of $35.1 million, which is included in Equity income (loss), net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

In January 2019, Brickwork merged into another privately-held company. The Company received a preferred equity interest in the acquiror and accounts for this interest as an equity interest without a readily determinable fair value. The Company did not recognize a gain or loss in 2019 as a result of this transaction.

In May 2019, Transactis was acquired by another entity for cash. To date, the Company received $57.5 million in cash proceeds in connection with the transaction, excluding certain amounts that continue to be held in escrow that may be released on various dates on or before May 2020. The Company has recognized gains of $50.7 million, which are included in Equity income (loss), net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

During 2019, the Company ceased accounting for T-REX Group, Inc. and Hoopla Software, Inc. under the equity method as a result of losing our ability to exercise significant influence.

During 2019, the Company recorded $4.5 million of non-cash gains in Other income (loss), net related to the increase in the value of certain equity securities based upon observable price changes.

Summarized Financial Information

The following table provides summarized financial information for ownership interests accounted for under the equity method for the periods presented and has been compiled from respective company financial statements, reflect certain historical adjustments, and are reported on a one quarter lag. Results of operations are excluded for periods prior to their acquisition and subsequent to their disposition. Historical results are not adjusted when the Company exits or writes-off a company. 

	As of December 31,
	2020			2019
	(In thousands)
Balance Sheets:
Current assets	$	104,024		$	91,968
Non-current assets		26,352			26,231
Total assets	$	130,376		$	118,199
Current liabilities	$	72,972		$	80,783
Non-current liabilities		105,506			87,081
Shareholders’ deficit		(48,102	)		(49,665	)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ deficit	$	130,376		$	118,199
Number of equity method ownership interests		12			13

	Year Ended December 31,
	2020			2019
	(In thousands)
Results of Operations:
Revenue	$	153,875		$	145,632
Gross profit	$	92,039		$	78,465
Net loss	$	(82,216	)	$	(127,007	)

As of December 31, 2020, the Company’s carrying value in equity method companies, in the aggregate, exceeded the Company’s share of the net assets of such companies by approximately $17.9 million. Of this excess, $15.0 million was allocated to goodwill and $2.9 million was allocated to intangible assets.