Related Party Transactions |
3 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Mar. 31, 2024 | |
| Related Party Transactions [Abstract] | |
| Related Party Transactions |
Related Party Transactions In the normal course of business, we enter into transactions with related parties such as Sirius XM Canada, SoundCloud and our tax equity investments.
Liberty Media
As of March 31, 2024, Liberty Media beneficially owned, directly and indirectly, 83.3% of the outstanding shares of our common stock. Liberty Media has three of its executives and one of its directors on our board of directors. Gregory B. Maffei, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Media, is the Chairman of our board of directors.
On February 1, 2021, Holdings entered into a tax sharing agreement with Liberty Media governing the allocation of consolidated U.S. income tax liabilities and setting forth agreements with respect to other tax matters. The tax sharing agreement was negotiated and approved by a special committee of Holdings’ board of directors, all of whom are independent of Liberty Media. Refer to Note 15 for more information regarding the tax sharing agreement.
On December 11, 2023, Holdings entered into definitive agreements whereby, subject to the terms thereof, Liberty Sirius XM Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media (“New Sirius”), would split-off from Liberty Media. The transactions would be effectuated by means of a redemptive split-off of New Sirius (the “Split-Off”), which will own all of the assets and liabilities attributed to Liberty Media’s Series A Liberty SiriusXM common stock (“LSXMA”), Series B Liberty SiriusXM common stock (“LSXMB”) and Series C Liberty SiriusXM common stock (“LSXMK”, together with the LSXMB and LSXMA stock, the “Liberty SiriusXM Group”). Following the Split-Off, New Sirius will combine with Holdings through the merger of Radio Merger Sub, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of New Sirius (“Merger Sub”), with Holdings, with Holdings becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of New Sirius (the “Merger” and, together with the Split-Off, the “Transactions”). As part of the Merger, New Sirius will be renamed “Sirius XM Holdings Inc.”
To effect the Transactions, on December 11, 2023, Liberty Media entered into (i) a Reorganization Agreement (the “Reorganization Agreement”) with Holdings and New Sirius, and (ii) an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with New Sirius, Holdings and Merger Sub.
In connection with the Merger Agreement and the Reorganization Agreement, on December 11, 2023, certain trusts related to Dr. John C. Malone (collectively, the “Malone Stockholders”) entered into a voting agreement (the “Voting Agreement”) with Liberty Media, Holdings and New Sirius, pursuant to which, among other things, the Malone Stockholders agreed, subject to the terms of the Voting Agreement, to vote their respective shares of Liberty Media’s LSXMA and LSXMB in favor of the Split-Off.
The Transactions have been unanimously approved by Liberty Media’s Board of Directors and a Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Holdings and by Holdings’ Board of Directors. The Transactions are expected to be completed early in the third quarter of 2024, subject to approval by a majority of the aggregate voting power of the shares of Liberty SiriusXM common stock present, whether in-person or by proxy, at a stockholder meeting, the receipt by Liberty Media and New Sirius of tax opinions from their respective tax counsel, as well as the receipt of required regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of
other customary closing conditions. A subsidiary of Liberty Media owning a majority of the outstanding shares of Holdings has delivered a written consent approving the Transactions on behalf of a majority of Holdings’ stockholders. Following the Transactions, Liberty Media and New Sirius will operate independently, and neither is expected to have any ownership interest in the other. All of the executive officers of Holdings immediately prior to consummation of the Transactions will be the initial executive officers of New Sirius, and New Sirius will continue to operate under the SiriusXM name and brand.
During the three months ended March 31, 2024, we recognized costs associated with the Transactions of $15 which were recorded to Impairment, restructuring and acquisition costs in our unaudited consolidated statements of comprehensive income.
Sirius XM Canada
Sirius XM holds a 70% equity interest and 33% voting interest in Sirius XM Canada, a privately held corporation. We own 591 shares of preferred stock of Sirius XM Canada, which has a liquidation preference of one Canadian dollar per share.
Sirius XM Canada is accounted for as an equity method investment, and its results are not consolidated in our unaudited consolidated financial statements. Sirius XM Canada does not meet the requirements for consolidation as we do not have the ability to direct the most significant activities that impact Sirius XM Canada's economic performance.
On March 15, 2022, Sirius XM and Sirius XM Canada entered into an amended and restated services and distribution agreement. Pursuant to the amended and restated services and distribution agreement, the fee payable by Sirius XM Canada to Sirius XM was modified from a fixed percentage of revenue to a variable fee, based on a target operating profit for Sirius XM Canada. Such variable fee is expected to be evaluated annually based on comparable companies. In accordance with the amended and restated services and distribution agreement, the fee is payable on a monthly basis, in arrears, beginning January 1, 2022.
Our Equity method investments as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 included the carrying value of our investment balance in Sirius XM Canada of $418 and $423, respectively, and, as of each of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, also included $8, for the long-term value of the outstanding loan to Sirius XM Canada.
Sirius XM Canada paid gross dividends to us of less than $1 during each of the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. Dividends are first recorded as a reduction to our investment balance in Sirius XM Canada to the extent a balance exists and then as Other (expense) income for any remaining portion.
We recorded revenue from Sirius XM Canada as Other revenue in our unaudited consolidated statements of comprehensive income of $24 and $26 during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
SoundCloud
We have an investment in SoundCloud which is accounted for as an equity method investment and recorded in Equity method investments in our unaudited consolidated balance sheets. Sirius XM has appointed two individuals to serve on SoundCloud's ten-member board of managers. Sirius XM's share of SoundCloud's earnings (loss) was less than $1 and $(1) for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, which was recorded in Other (expense) income in our unaudited consolidated statements of comprehensive income.
In addition to our investment in SoundCloud, Pandora has an agreement with SoundCloud to be its exclusive ad sales representative in the US and certain European countries. Through this arrangement, Pandora offers advertisers the ability to execute campaigns across the Pandora and SoundCloud platforms. We recorded revenue share expense related to this agreement of $15 and $12 for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We also had related party liabilities of $20 as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, related to this agreement.
Tax equity investments
Sirius XM has entered into certain tax-effective clean energy technology investments. During the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, we invested $187 and $29 in these investments, respectively. As of January 1, 2024, we adopted ASU 2023-02 using the modified retrospective approach and have accounted for these investments using the proportional amortization method. The unamortized investment balance as of March 31, 2024 was $972 and was recorded to Equity method investments in our unaudited consolidated balance sheets. Under the proportional amortization method the investment balance
will be amortized over the term of the investments based on the current period income tax benefits as a proportion to the total expected income tax benefits. We also recorded liabilities of $783 related to future contractual payments and contingent payments which we determined to be probable, of which $85 is recorded in Related party current liabilities and the balance is recorded in Other long-term liabilities in our unaudited consolidated balance sheets.
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