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(1) Basis of Presentation

Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (“TripCo” or the “Company”) was formed in 2013 as a Delaware corporation.  TripCo was a subsidiary of Liberty Interactive Corporation (subsequently renamed Qurate Retail, Inc. (“Qurate Retail”)) until the completion of its spin-off from Qurate Retail on August 27, 2014 (“TripCo Spin-Off”).  TripCo does not have any operations outside of its controlling interest in its subsidiary Tripadvisor, Inc. (“Tripadvisor”). Tripadvisor operates as a stand-alone operating entity.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and represent a consolidation of the historical financial information of Tripadvisor. These financial statements refer to the consolidation of Tripadvisor as “TripCo,” “the Company,” “us,” “we” and “our” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the consolidated financial statements. Additionally, certain prior period amounts have been reclassified for comparability with the current period presentation.

Description of Business

Tripadvisor operates a leading travel guidance platform, connecting a global audience of prospective travelers with travel partners through rich content, price comparison tools and online reservations and related services for destinations, accommodations, travel activities and experiences, and restaurants. Tripadvisor’s mission is to help people around the world plan, book and experience the perfect trip.

In 2000, under its flagship brand Tripadvisor, it launched www.Tripadvisor.com in the United States.  Since then, Tripadvisor has built a portfolio of travel guidance brands and businesses, seamlessly connecting travelers to destinations, accommodations, travel activities and experiences, and restaurants in over 40 markets and over 20 languages worldwide.  In addition to the flagship Tripadvisor brand, Tripadvisor owns and operates a portfolio of online travel brands and businesses, operating under various websites, connected by the common goal of providing consumers the most comprehensive travel-planning and trip-taking resources in the travel industry.

Risks and Uncertainties

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was reported in Wuhan, China, and on March 11, 2020 was declared a global pandemic. COVID-19 has caused material and adverse declines in consumer demand within the travel, hospitality, restaurant, and leisure industry. The pandemic’s proliferation, concurrent with travel bans, varying levels of governmental restrictions and mandates globally to limit the spread of the virus, has dampened consumer demand for Tripadvisor’s products and services, and impacted consumer sentiment and discretionary spending patterns, all of which have adversely and materially impacted Tripadvisor’s results of operations, liquidity and financial condition during the year ended December 31, 2020, and to a lesser degree during the year ended December 31, 2021 as the travel industry experienced, albeit uneven, ongoing recovery.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tripadvisor took several steps to further strengthen its financial position and balance sheet including but not limited to, restructuring activities, primarily by significantly reducing its ongoing operating expenses and headcount. During the year ended December 31, 2020, Tripadvisor incurred total restructuring and other related reorganization costs of $41 million which consisted of employee severance and related benefits. These costs were fully paid by Tripadvisor as of December 31, 2020. In addition, in order to maintain financial liquidity and flexibility during this time period, Tripadvisor (i) borrowed $700 million from its Credit Facility (as defined in note 7) in the first quarter of 2020 (subsequently repaid during the third quarter of 2020); (ii) amended its Credit Agreement, which included short-term financial covenant relief and the extension of the maturity date from May 12, 2022 to May 12, 2024; and (iii)

raised additional financing through the issuance of $500 million in 2025 Senior Notes (as defined in note 7) in July 2020, all of which are described in more detail in note 7.

On March 26, 2020, TripCo issued and sold 325,000 shares of TripCo’s newly-created 8% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Series A Preferred Stock”), for a purchase price of $1,000 per share. On March 29, 2021 and April 6, 2021, TripCo repurchased a portion of the Series A Preferred Stock. See further discussion about the Series A Preferred Stock in note 10.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, multiple COVID-19 vaccines were approved for widespread distribution throughout various parts of the world, including the United States and Europe, and in the first quarter of 2021, vaccination distribution programs were initiated around the world. Vaccine programs in Tripadvisor’s largest markets, the U.S. and Europe, appear to be progressing well, and Tripadvisor expects the same for much of the rest of the world. Tripadvisor is encouraged by these developments; however, while it has seen varying degrees of containment of the virus (including variants) in various countries and positive signs of growing travel demand recovery during 2021, the degree of containment and the recovery in travel has varied both region-to-region on a global basis, as well as state-to-state in the U.S. For example, as COVID-19 cases resurged or as new variants were identified, government restrictions and mandates were reinstated in certain geographies globally during 2021.

Therefore, Tripadvisor continues to be subject to risks and uncertainties as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing of widespread vaccine distributions, efficacy against any future or recent variants (e.g., Delta and Omicron) of COVID-19, whether there will be resurgences of the virus and subsequent government restrictions, the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken, and whether consumers demand for travel and hospitality services will continue to be negatively impacted remain uncertain. Tripadvisor does not know the future path or rate of global or regional COVID-19 transmission, including existing COVID-19 variants (e.g., Delta and Omicron) or future variants, if any, nor does it have visibility into when remaining or reinstated restrictions will be lifted, and where additional restrictions may be implemented or reinstated in the future due to resurgence of the virus. Correspondingly, Tripadvisor still does not have forward-looking visibility into the long-term impacts related to consumer demand for travel, usage patterns on its platform, and travel behavior patterns when all travel bans and other government restrictions and mandates are fully lifted.

Therefore, the continuing extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Tripadvisor’s business, results of operations, liquidity and financial condition remains uncertain, and is dependent on future developments that cannot be accurately predicted at this time. Tripadvisor continues to believe the travel, leisure, hospitality, and restaurant industries (collectively, the “travel industry”), and its financial results, will continue to be adversely and materially affected while the pandemic continues, new variants emerge, and lingering travel bans and other government restrictions and mandates continue to remain in place or be reinstated, all of which negatively impact consumer demand, sentiment and discretionary spending patterns.  

Seasonality

Consumers’ travel expenditures have historically followed a seasonal pattern. Correspondingly, travel partners’ advertising investments, and therefore Tripadvisor’s revenue and operating profits, have also historically followed a seasonal pattern. Tripadvisor’s financial performance tends to be seasonally highest in the second and third quarters of a given year, which includes the seasonal peak in consumer demand, traveler hotel and rental stays, and travel activities and experiences taken, compared to the first and fourth quarters, which represent seasonal low points. During the first half of the year, experiences and rentals bookings typically exceed the amount of completed experiences and rental stays, resulting in higher cash flow related to working capital, while during the second half of the year, particularly in the third quarter, this pattern reverses and cash flows from these transactions are typically negative.

Other factors may also impact typical seasonal fluctuations, which include further significant shifts in Tripadvisor’s business mix or adverse economic conditions that could result in future seasonal patterns that are different from historical trends. For example, due to the impact of COVID-19 on its business, Tripadvisor did not experience its typical seasonal pattern for revenue and operating profits during the year ended December 31, 2020. COVID-19 contributed significantly to unfavorable working capital trends and material negative operating cash flow during the year ended December 31, 2020, most notably occurring during the first half of 2020, when Tripadvisor typically generates significant positive cash flow.

Although consumer travel demand, traveler hotel and rental stays, and travel activities and experiences taken generally remain materially lower than historic levels, these trends improved during 2021, resulting in increased revenue, and working capital and operating cash flow more akin to typical historical seasonality trends. However, it is difficult to predict the seasonality for 2022, given the sustained uncertainty related to the continued economic and travel impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ultimate shape and timing of a recovery in Tripadvisor’s key markets.

Spin-Off of TripCo from Qurate Retail

The TripCo Spin-Off was completed on August 27, 2014. Following the TripCo Spin-Off, Qurate Retail and TripCo operate as separate, publicly traded companies, and neither has any stock ownership, beneficial or otherwise, in the other. In connection with the TripCo Spin-Off, TripCo entered into certain agreements, including the services agreement, the facilities sharing agreement and the tax sharing agreement, with Qurate Retail and/or Liberty Media Corporation (“Liberty Media”) (or certain of their subsidiaries) in order to govern certain of the ongoing relationships between the companies after the TripCo Spin-Off and to provide for an orderly transition.

Pursuant to the services agreement (except as described below in respect to Gregory B. Maffei), Liberty Media provides TripCo with general and administrative services including legal, tax, accounting, treasury and investor relations support. Liberty TripCo reimburses Liberty Media for direct, out-of-pocket expenses incurred by Liberty Media in providing these services and TripCo pays a services fee to Liberty Media under the services agreement that is subject to adjustment semi-annually, as necessary.

In December 2019, TripCo entered into an amendment to the services agreement with Liberty Media in connection with Liberty Media’s entry into a new employment arrangement with Gregory B. Maffei, TripCo’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.  Under the amended services agreement, components of his compensation would either be paid directly to him by each of TripCo, Liberty Broadband Corporation, and Qurate Retail (collectively, the “Service Companies”) or reimbursed to Liberty Media, in each case, based on allocations among Liberty Media and the Service Companies set forth in the amended services agreement. This allocation percentage will be determined based on a combination of (1) relative market capitalizations, weighted 50%, and (2) a blended average of historical time allocation on a Liberty Media-wide and CEO basis, weighted 50%, in each case, absent agreement to the contrary by Liberty Media and the Service Companies in consultation with the CEO. The allocation percentage will then be adjusted annually and following certain events. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, the allocation percentage for TripCo was 5% in each year. The amended services agreement between Liberty Media and Mr. Maffei provides for a five year employment term which began on January 1, 2020 and ends December 31, 2024, with an aggregate annual base salary of $3 million (with no contracted increase), an aggregate one-time cash commitment bonus of $5 million (paid in December 2019), an aggregate annual target cash performance bonus of $17 million, aggregate annual equity awards of approximately $18 million and aggregate equity awards granted in connection with his entry into his new agreement of $90 million (the “upfront awards”).  A portion of the grants made to our CEO in the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 related to our company’s allocable portion of these upfront awards.

Under the facilities sharing agreement, TripCo shares office space with Liberty Media and related amenities at Liberty Media’s corporate headquarters in Englewood, Colorado.

Under these agreements, approximately $4 million was reimbursable to Liberty Media for each of the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019.