(5) Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

For assets and liabilities required to be reported at fair value, GAAP provides a hierarchy that prioritizes inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three broad levels. Level 1 inputs are quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the reporting entity has the ability to access at the measurement date. Level 2 inputs are inputs, other than quoted market prices included within Level 1, that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability. The Company does not have any recurring assets or liabilities measured at fair value that would be considered Level 3.

The Company’s assets and liabilities measured at fair value are as follows:

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On June 6, 2016, TripCo entered into a variable postpaid forward transaction (the “VPF”) with a financial institution with respect to 7 million Tripadvisor common shares held by the Company. TripCo unwound and terminated the VPF during the fourth quarter of 2019.  The proceeds from the unwind of the VPF, together with additional borrowings under the Margin Loan (defined in note 7) and a special dividend from Tripadvisor, were used to pay all outstanding borrowings against the VPF, which aggregated $270 million, including accrued interest (see note 7).  Changes in the fair value of the VPF were recognized in realized and unrealized gains (losses) on financial instruments in the consolidated statements of operations.

On March 9, 2020, TripSPV, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into a variable prepaid forward transaction (the “New VPF”) with a financial institution with respect to 2.4 million shares of Tripadvisor common stock held by the Company with a forward floor price of $17.25 per share and a forward cap price of $26.84 per share. Pursuant to the terms of the New VPF, TripSPV received a prepayment of $34 million on March 17, 2020 (see note 7). The liability associated with this instrument is included in other liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Changes in the fair value of the New VPF are recognized in realized and unrealized gains (losses) on financial instruments in the consolidated statements of operations.

The fair value of Level 2 cash equivalents and marketable securities were obtained from pricing sources for identical or comparable instruments, rather than direct observations of quoted prices in active markets. Marketable securities are included in other current assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The fair value of Level 2 derivative assets were derived from a Black-Scholes-Merton model using observable market data as the significant inputs.

Other Financial Instruments

Other financial instruments not measured at fair value on a recurring basis include trade receivables, trade payables, accrued and other current liabilities, current portion of debt and long-term debt. With the exception of debt, the carrying amount approximates fair value due to the short maturity of these instruments as reported on our consolidated balance sheets. The carrying value of a portion of our debt bears interest at a variable rate and therefore is also considered to approximate fair value. See note 7 for a description of the fair value of the Company’s fixed rate debt.