Note 9 - Marketable Securities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Notes to Financial Statements

Investments in Debt and Marketable Equity Securities (and Certain Trading Assets) Disclosure [Text Block]

9.    Marketable Securities:

The amortized cost and unrealized gains, net of marketable securities as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, are as follows (in thousands):

	As of December 31, 2022		As of December 31, 2021
Marketable securities:
Amortized cost	$	87,411	$	114,159
Unrealized gains, net		510,321		1,097,580
Total fair value	$	597,732	$	1,211,739

The Company’s net gains/(losses) on marketable securities and dividend income for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, is as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2022			2021		2020
(Loss)/gain on marketable securities, net	$	(315,508	)	$	505,163	$	594,753
Dividend income (included in Other income, net)		18,002			16,958		4,096

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (“ACI”) –

In October 2022, the Company sold 11.5 million shares of ACI held by the Company, generating net proceeds of $301.1 million. For tax purposes, the Company recognized a long-term capital gain of $251.5 million.  The Company elected to retain the proceeds for this stock sale for general corporate purposes and pay corporate taxes of $57.2 million on the taxable gain. As of December 31, 2022, the Company holds 28.3 million shares of ACI, which had a value of $587.7 million, which are subject to certain contractual lock-up provisions that expire in May 2023.

On October 13, 2022, The Kroger Co. (“Kroger”) and ACI entered into a definitive merger agreement (“ACI Merger”), with Kroger continuing as the surviving public company. The ACI Merger is subject to numerous regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Separate from the ACI Merger, on October 13, 2022, ACI declared a special cash dividend of $6.85 per share to ACI shareholders of record as of the close of business on October 24, 2022 and was scheduled to be paid on November 7, 2022.

On November 3, 2022, the Superior Court of King County in the State of Washington issued an order temporarily restraining the payment of the special dividend in the case State of Washington v. Albertsons Companies, Inc. et al., until a hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction could be held. On December 9, 2022, the Superior Court denied the motion for a preliminary injunction but extended the temporary restraining order for the Attorney General for the State of Washington to appeal to the Supreme Court of the State of Washington. Due to the contingency resulting from this unresolved litigation at December 31, 2022, the Company did not recognize its share of the special dividend for the year ended December 31, 2022.

On January 17, 2023, the Supreme Court of the State of Washington denied a motion by the Attorney General of the State of Washington to hear an appeal from the Superior Court’s denial to enjoin the Company from paying the Special Dividend. As a result of the decision by the Supreme Court of the State of Washington, the temporary restraining order preventing payment of the special dividend had also been lifted. On January 20, 2023, ACI distributed the special dividend to holders of record as of October 24, 2022. The Company received its share of the special dividend payment of $194.1 million during January 2023, and will recognize this income during the three months ending  March 31, 2023.