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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

xQUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021

2022

OR

oTRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _______ to _______

Commission File Number: 001-36708

Uniti Group Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Maryland

46-5230630

Maryland

46-5230630
(State or other jurisdiction of


incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

10802 Executive Center

2101 Riverfront Drive,

Benton Building Suite 300

A

Little Rock, Arkansas

72211

72202

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (501) 850-0820

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading Symbol(s)

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock

UNIT

The NASDAQ Global Select Market

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer

x

Accelerated filer

o

Non-accelerated filer

o

Smaller reporting company

o

Emerging growth company

o

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No x

As of October 31, 2021,July 28, 2022, the registrant had 236,070,969237,251,277 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, outstanding.



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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q includes forward-looking statements as defined under U.S. federal securities law. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical statements of fact and those regarding our intent, belief or expectations, including, but not limited to, statements regarding: our expectations regarding the settlement we have entered into with Windstream Holdings, Inc. (together with Windstream Holdings II, LLC, its successor in interest, and its subsidiaries, “Windstream”); the future prospects and financial health of Windstream; our expectations about our ability to maintain our status as a real estate investment trust (a “REIT”); our expectations regarding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our results of operations and financial condition, including the potential need to perform an interim goodwill analysis and report an impairment charge related thereto; our expectations regarding the effect of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (the “2021 Appropriations Act”) and other tax related legislation on our tax position; our expectations regarding the future growth and demand of the telecommunication industry, future financing plans, business strategies, growth prospects, operating and financial performance, and our future liquidity needs and access to capital; ourexpectations regarding future deployment of fiber strand miles and small cell networks and recognition of revenue related thereto; expectations regarding levels of capital expenditures; expectations regarding the deductibility of goodwill for tax purposes; our expectations regarding reclassification of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) related to derivatives to interest expense; our expectations regarding the amortization of intangible assets; our expectations regarding remediation of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as discussed in Part II, Item 9A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 5, 2021, as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto filed on Form 10-K/A with the SEC on March 30, 2021 (the “Annual Report”); and our expectations regarding the payment of dividends.

Words such as “anticipate(s),” “expect(s),” “intend(s),” “plan(s),” “believe(s),” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “seek(s)” and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could lead to actual results differing materially from those projected, forecasted or expected. Although we believe that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained. Factors which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and future prospects or which could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations include, but are not limited to:

the future prospects of our largest customer, Windstream, following its emergence from bankruptcy;

to:

the future prospects of our largest customer, Windstream, following its emergence from bankruptcy;

adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our employees, our business, the business of our customers and other business partners and the global financial markets;

adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and rising interest rates on our employees, our business, the business of our customers and other business partners and the global financial markets;

the ability and willingness of our customers to meet and/or perform their obligations under any contractual arrangements entered into with us, including master lease arrangements; 

the ability and willingness of our customers to meet and/or perform their obligations under any contractual arrangements entered into with us, including master lease arrangements;

the ability of our customers to comply with laws, rules and regulations in the operation of the assets we lease to them; 

the ability of our customers to comply with laws, rules and regulations in the operation of the assets we lease to them;

the ability and willingness of our customers to renew their leases with us upon their expiration, and the ability to reposition our properties on the same or better terms in the event of nonrenewal or in the event we replace an existing tenant; 

the ability and willingness of our customers to renew their leases with us upon their expiration, our ability to reach agreement on the price of such renewal or ability to obtain a satisfactory renewal rent from an independent appraisal, and the ability to reposition our properties on the same or better terms in the event of nonrenewal or in the event we replace an existing tenant;

our ability to renew, extend or retain our contracts or to obtain new contracts with significant customers (including customers of the businesses that we acquire); 

our ability to renew, extend or retain our contracts or to obtain new contracts with significant customers (including customers of the businesses that we acquire);

the availability of and our ability to identify suitable acquisition opportunities and our ability to acquire and lease the respective properties on favorable terms or operate and integrate the acquired businesses; 

the availability of and our ability to identify suitable acquisition opportunities and our ability to acquire and lease the respective properties on favorable terms or operate and integrate the acquired businesses;

our ability to generate sufficient cash flows to service our outstanding indebtedness and fund our capital funding commitments; 

our ability to generate sufficient cash flows to service our outstanding indebtedness and fund our capital funding commitments;

our ability to access debt and equity capital markets; 

our ability to access debt and equity capital markets;

the impact on our business or the business of our customers as a result of credit rating downgrades and fluctuating interest rates; 

the impact on our business or the business of our customers as a result of credit rating downgrades and fluctuating interest rates;

adverse impacts of litigation or disputes involving us or our customers;

adverse impacts of litigation or disputes involving us or our customers;

our ability to retain our key management personnel; 

our ability to retain our key management personnel;

our ability to maintain our status as a REIT;

our ability to maintain our status as a REIT;
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changes in the U.S. tax law and other federal, state or local laws, whether or not specific to REITs, including the impact of the 2017 U.S. tax reform legislation, the CARES Act, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the 2021 Appropriations Act;

changes in the U.S. tax law and other federal, state or local laws, whether or not specific to REITs, including the impact of the CARES Act, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the 2021 Appropriations Act;

covenants in our debt agreements that may limit our operational flexibility; 

covenants in our debt agreements that may limit our operational flexibility;

the possibility that we may experience equipment failures, natural disasters, cyber attacks or terrorist attacks for which our insurance may not provide adequate coverage; 

the possibility that we may experience equipment failures, natural disasters, cyber attacks or terrorist attacks for which our insurance may not provide adequate coverage;

the risk that we fail to fully realize the potential benefits of or have difficulty in integrating the companies we acquire; 

the risk that we fail to fully realize the potential benefits of or have difficulty in integrating the companies we acquire;

other risks inherent in the communications industry and in the ownership of communications distribution systems, including potential liability relating to environmental matters and illiquidity of real estate investments; and

other risks inherent in the communications industry and in the ownership of communications distribution systems, including potential liability relating to environmental matters and illiquidity of real estate investments; and

additional factors discussed in Part I, Item 2 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and Part II, Item 1A “Risk Factors” of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors" of our Annual Report, as well as those described from time to time in our future reports filed with the SEC.

additional factors discussed in Part I, Item 2 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and Part II, Item 1A “Risk Factors” of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as those described from time to time in our future reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report. Except in the normal course of our public disclosure obligations, we expressly disclaim any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

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Uniti Group Inc.

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Page

PART I.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Page

Uniti Group Inc.

11

12

12

12

14

16

19

6.Investments in Unconsolidated Entities

20

21

23

23

25

26

28

29

33

35

35

17.Subsequent Events

35

36

36

39

53

56

60

60

62

62

62

62

62

62

62

63

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PART I—FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements.

Uniti Group Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Unaudited)
(Thousands, except par value)June 30, 2022December 31, 2021
Assets:
Property, plant and equipment, net$3,615,532 $3,508,939 
Cash and cash equivalents61,405 58,903 
Accounts receivable, net45,679 38,455 
Goodwill601,878 601,878 
Intangible assets, net349,737 364,630 
Straight-line revenue receivable55,621 41,323 
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net82,162 80,271 
Other assets84,976 38,900 
Investment in unconsolidated entities39,309 64,223 
Deferred income tax assets, net18,907 11,721 
Total Assets$4,955,206 $4,809,243 
Liabilities and Shareholders' Deficit:  
Liabilities:  
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities$131,073 $86,868 
Settlement payable (Note 13)245,171 239,384 
Intangible liabilities, net172,439 177,786 
Accrued interest payable131,080 109,826 
Deferred revenue1,170,004 1,134,236 
Derivative liability, net4,067 10,413 
Dividends payable745 1,264 
Operating lease liabilities60,829 57,355 
Finance lease obligations15,214 15,348 
Notes and other debt, net5,099,782 5,090,537 
Total liabilities7,030,404 6,923,017 
Commitments and contingencies (Note 13)00
Shareholders' Deficit:
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 50,000 shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding— — 
Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 500,000 shares authorized, issued and outstanding: 235,700 shares at June 30, 2022 and 234,779 at December 31, 202124 23 
Additional paid-in capital1,224,427 1,214,830 
Accumulated other comprehensive loss(3,516)(9,164)
Distributions in excess of accumulated earnings(3,298,455)(3,333,481)
Total Uniti shareholders' deficit(2,077,520)(2,127,792)
Noncontrolling interests:  
Operating partnership units2,072 13,893 
Cumulative non-voting convertible preferred stock, $0.01 par value, 6 shares authorized, 3 issued and outstanding250 125 
Total shareholders' deficit(2,075,198)(2,113,774)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Deficit$4,955,206 $4,809,243 

(Thousands, except par value)

 

(Unaudited)

September 30, 2021

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

Assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Property, plant and equipment, net

 

$

3,472,642

 

 

$

3,273,353

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

69,751

 

 

 

77,534

 

Accounts receivable, net

 

 

39,014

 

 

 

62,952

 

Goodwill

 

 

601,878

 

 

 

601,878

 

Intangible assets, net

 

 

372,076

 

 

 

390,725

 

Straight-line revenue receivable

 

 

33,839

 

 

 

13,107

 

Other assets, net

 

 

122,901

 

 

 

152,883

 

Investment in unconsolidated entities

 

 

64,659

 

 

 

66,043

 

Deferred income tax assets, net

 

 

7,524

 

 

 

-

 

Assets held for sale

 

 

-

 

 

 

93,343

 

Total Assets

 

$

4,784,284

 

 

$

4,731,818

 

Liabilities and Shareholders' Deficit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities, net

 

$

156,428

 

 

$

146,144

 

Settlement payable (Note 14)

 

 

358,329

 

 

 

418,840

 

Intangible liabilities, net

 

 

180,459

 

 

 

187,886

 

Accrued interest payable

 

 

60,726

 

 

 

95,338

 

Deferred revenue

 

 

1,143,301

 

 

 

995,123

 

Derivative liability, net

 

 

13,606

 

 

 

22,897

 

Dividends payable

 

 

964

 

 

 

36,725

 

Deferred income tax liabilities, net

 

 

-

 

 

 

10,540

 

Finance lease obligations

 

 

15,538

 

 

 

15,468

 

Contingent consideration

 

 

-

 

 

 

2,957

 

Notes and other debt, net

 

 

4,973,174

 

 

 

4,816,524

 

Liabilities held for sale

 

 

-

 

 

 

55,752

 

Total liabilities

 

 

6,902,525

 

 

 

6,804,194

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commitments and contingencies (Note 14)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shareholders' Deficit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 50,000 shares authorized, 0 shares issued and outstanding

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 500,000 shares authorized, issued and outstanding: 234,495 shares at September 30, 2021 and 231,262 at December 31, 2020

 

 

23

 

 

 

23

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

 

1,208,611

 

 

 

1,209,141

 

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

 

 

(11,984

)

 

 

(20,367

)

Distributions in excess of accumulated earnings

 

 

(3,333,686

)

 

 

(3,330,455

)

Total Uniti shareholders' deficit

 

 

(2,137,036

)

 

 

(2,141,658

)

Noncontrolling interests:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating partnership units

 

 

18,670

 

 

 

69,157

 

Cumulative non-voting convertible preferred stock, $0.01 par value, 3 shares authorized, 1 issued and outstanding

 

 

125

 

 

 

125

 

Total shareholders' deficit

 

 

(2,118,241

)

 

 

(2,072,376

)

Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Deficit

 

$

4,784,284

 

 

$

4,731,818

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

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Uniti Group Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss)

(unaudited)

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands, except per share data)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands, except per share data)2022202120222021

Revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenues:

Leasing

 

$

199,485

 

 

$

182,370

 

 

$

590,478

 

 

$

552,042

 

Leasing$205,614 $196,057 $410,255 $390,993 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

67,262

 

 

 

76,395

 

 

 

217,035

 

 

 

232,942

 

Fiber Infrastructure78,361 72,123 151,754 149,773 

Tower

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

6,112

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

651

 

Total revenues

 

 

266,747

 

 

 

258,765

 

 

 

807,513

 

 

 

791,747

 

Total revenues283,975 268,180 562,009 540,766 

Costs and Expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costs and Expenses:

Interest expense

 

 

94,793

 

 

 

102,791

 

 

 

341,762

 

 

 

388,427

 

Interest expense, netInterest expense, net96,377 106,388 192,549 246,969 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

70,530

 

 

 

79,880

 

 

 

211,165

 

 

 

250,970

 

Depreciation and amortization72,303 69,671 143,760 140,635 

General and administrative expense

 

 

25,077

 

 

 

26,659

 

 

 

75,800

 

 

 

81,686

 

General and administrative expense25,085 24,900 48,955 50,723 

Operating expense (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

 

 

34,167

 

 

 

37,831

 

 

 

105,436

 

 

 

118,308

 

Operating expense (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)36,917 33,185 71,893 71,269 

Settlement expense

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

650,000

 

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

1,063

 

 

 

20,816

 

 

 

5,624

 

 

 

55,344

 

Transaction related and other costs3,235 424 4,949 4,561 

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

-

 

 

 

(22,908

)

 

 

(442

)

 

 

(86,726

)

Gain on sale of real estate(250)(442)(250)(442)

Gain on sale of operations (Note 5)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(28,143

)

 

 

-

 

Other expense, net

 

 

283

 

 

 

3,098

 

 

 

8,758

 

 

 

12,186

 

Gain on sale of operationsGain on sale of operations— (28,143)— (28,143)
Other (income) expense, netOther (income) expense, net(7,930)8,021 (8,328)8,475 

Total costs and expenses

 

 

225,913

 

 

 

248,167

 

 

 

719,960

 

 

 

1,470,195

 

Total costs and expenses225,737 214,004 453,528 494,047 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Income (loss) before income taxes and equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

40,834

 

 

 

10,598

 

 

 

87,553

 

 

 

(678,448

)

Income tax (benefit) expense

 

 

(2,244

)

 

 

2,801

 

 

 

283

 

 

 

(7,650

)

Equity in (earnings) from unconsolidated entities

 

 

(604

)

 

 

342

 

 

 

(1,549

)

 

 

342

 

Net income (loss)

 

 

43,682

 

 

 

7,455

 

 

 

88,819

 

 

 

(671,140

)

Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests

 

 

316

 

 

 

190

 

 

 

984

 

 

 

(11,808

)

Net income (loss) attributable to shareholders

 

 

43,366

 

 

 

7,265

 

 

 

87,835

 

 

 

(659,332

)

Income before income taxes and equity in earnings from unconsolidated entitiesIncome before income taxes and equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities58,238 54,176 108,481 46,719 
Income tax expenseIncome tax expense4,944 5,084 2,873 2,527 
Equity in earnings from unconsolidated entitiesEquity in earnings from unconsolidated entities(480)(547)(1,024)(945)
Net incomeNet income53,774 49,639 106,632 45,137 
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interestsNet income attributable to noncontrolling interests77 732 205 668 
Net income attributable to shareholdersNet income attributable to shareholders53,697 48,907 106,427 44,469 

Participating securities' share in earnings

 

 

(283

)

 

 

(229

)

 

 

(864

)

 

 

(853

)

Participating securities' share in earnings(340)(333)(671)(581)

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock

 

 

(3

)

 

 

(2

)

 

 

(8

)

 

 

(6

)

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock(5)(2)(10)(5)

Net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders

 

$

43,080

 

 

$

7,034

 

 

$

86,963

 

 

$

(660,191

)

Net income attributable to common shareholdersNet income attributable to common shareholders$53,352 $48,572 $105,746 $43,883 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income (loss) per common share:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income per common share:Income per common share:

Basic

 

$

0.18

 

 

$

0.04

 

 

$

0.37

 

 

$

(3.40

)

Basic$0.23 $0.21 $0.45 $0.19 

Diluted

 

$

0.17

 

 

$

0.04

 

 

$

0.37

 

 

$

(3.40

)

Diluted$0.21 $0.20 $0.42 $0.19 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding:

Basic

 

 

233,513

 

 

 

198,054

 

 

 

232,269

 

 

 

194,278

 

Basic235,656 231,801 235,352 231,636 

Diluted

 

 

264,421

 

 

 

198,373

 

 

 

232,540

 

 

 

194,278

 

Diluted267,361 262,268 267,045 231,862 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

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Uniti Group Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)

(unaudited)

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Net income (loss)

 

$

43,682

 

 

$

7,455

 

 

$

88,819

 

 

$

(671,140

)

Other comprehensive income (loss):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unrealized loss on derivative contracts

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(7,036

)

Interest rate swap termination

 

 

2,830

 

 

 

2,829

 

 

 

8,488

 

 

 

7,325

 

Other comprehensive income:

 

 

2,830

 

 

 

2,829

 

 

 

8,488

 

 

 

289

 

Comprehensive income (loss)

 

 

46,512

 

 

 

10,284

 

 

 

97,307

 

 

 

(670,851

)

Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest

 

 

338

 

 

 

237

 

 

 

1,089

 

 

 

(11,806

)

Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to common shareholders

 

$

46,174

 

 

$

10,047

 

 

$

96,218

 

 

$

(659,045

)

Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,
(Thousands)2022202120222021
Net income$53,774 $49,639 $106,632 $45,137 
Other comprehensive income:
Interest rate swap termination2,829 2,829 5,659 5,658 
Other comprehensive income:2,829 2,829 5,659 5,658 
Comprehensive income56,603 52,468 112,291 50,795 
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interest81 773 216 751 
Comprehensive income attributable to shareholders$56,522 $51,695 $112,075 $50,044 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.


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Table of Contents

Uniti Group Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Deficit

(unaudited)

 

For the Three Months Ended September 30,

 

For the Three Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands, except share data)

 

Preferred Stock

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Additional Paid-in Capital

 

 

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

 

 

Distributions in Excess of Accumulated Earnings

 

 

Noncontrolling Interest - OP Units

 

 

Noncontrolling Interest - Non-voting Preferred Shares

 

 

Total Shareholders' Deficit

 

(Thousands, except share data)Preferred StockCommon StockAdditional Paid-in
Capital
Accumulated Other
Comprehensive
Loss
Distributions in
Excess of
Accumulated
Earnings
Noncontrolling
Interest - OP Units
Noncontrolling
Interest - Non-
voting Preferred
Shares
Total Shareholders'
Deficit

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SharesAmountSharesAmount

Balance at June 30, 2020

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

192,523,083

 

 

$

19

 

 

$

957,656

 

 

$

(25,937

)

 

$

(3,219,623

)

 

$

70,622

 

 

$

125

 

 

$

(2,217,138

)

Balance at March 31, 2021Balance at March 31, 2021— $— 231,694,203 $23 $1,150,550 $(17,580)$(3,355,423)$68,615 $125 $(2,153,690)

Net income

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

7,265

 

 

 

190

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

7,455

 

Net income— — — — — — 48,907 732 — 49,639 

Other comprehensive income

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

2,782

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

47

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

2,829

 

Other comprehensive income— — — — — 2,788 — 41 — 2,829 

Common stock dividends declared ($0.15 per share)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(35,731

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(35,731

)

Common stock dividends declared ($0.15 per share)— — — — — — (34,855)— — (34,855)

Distributions to noncontrolling interest declared

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(521

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

(521

)

Distributions to noncontrolling interest declared— — — — — — — (520)— (520)

Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

88

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

88

 

Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation— — — — (336)— — — — (336)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

34,830

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

3,341

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

3,341

 

Stock-based compensation— — 110,718 — 3,462 — — — — 3,462 

Issuance of common stock - employee stock purchase plan

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

52,939

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Issuance of common stock - employee stock purchase plan— — — — 31 — — — — 31 

Settlement Common Stock

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

38,633,470

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

244,546

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

244,550

 

Balance at September 30, 2020

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

231,244,322

 

 

$

23

 

 

$

1,205,631

 

 

$

(23,155

)

 

$

(3,248,089

)

 

$

70,338

 

 

$

125

 

 

$

(1,995,127

)

Balance at June 30 2021Balance at June 30 2021— — 231,804,921 23 1,153,707 (14,792)(3,341,371)68,868 125 (2,133,440)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at June 30, 2021

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

231,804,921

 

 

$

23

 

 

$

1,153,707

 

 

$

(14,792

)

 

$

(3,341,371

)

 

$

68,868

 

 

$

125

 

 

$

(2,133,440

)

Balance at March 31, 2022Balance at March 31, 2022— $— 235,297,990 $23 $1,220,039 $(6,341)$(3,316,781)$10,788 $250 $(2,092,022)

Net income

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

43,366

 

 

 

316

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

43,682

 

Net income— — — — — — 53,697 77 — 53,774 

Other comprehensive income

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

2,808

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

22

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

2,830

 

Other comprehensive income— — — — — 2,825 — — 2,829 

Common stock dividends declared ($0.15 per share)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(35,681

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(35,681

)

Common stock dividends declared ($0.15 per share)— — — — — — (35,371)— — (35,371)

Distributions to noncontrolling interest declared

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(141

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

(141

)

Distributions to noncontrolling interest declared— — — — — — — (78)— (78)

Exchange of noncontrolling interest

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

2,528,199

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

50,395

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(50,395

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Exchange of noncontrolling interest— — 86,949 — 4,099 — — (8,719)— (4,620)

Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(10

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(10

)

Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation— — — — (2,911)— — — — (2,911)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

123,050

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

4,166

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

4,166

 

Stock-based compensation— — 314,574 3,200 — — — — 3,201 

Issuance of common stock - employee stock purchase plan

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

39,186

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

353

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

353

 

Balance at September 30, 2021

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

234,495,356

 

 

$

23

 

 

$

1,208,611

 

 

$

(11,984

)

 

$

(3,333,686

)

 

$

18,670

 

 

$

125

 

 

$

(2,118,241

)

Balance at June 30, 2022Balance at June 30, 2022— — 235,699,513 24 1,224,427 (3,516)(3,298,455)2,072 250 (2,075,198)

8


Table of Contents

 

For the Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

For the Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands, except share data)

 

Preferred Stock

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Additional Paid-in Capital

 

 

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

 

 

Distributions in Excess of Accumulated Earnings

 

 

Noncontrolling Interest - OP Units

 

 

Noncontrolling Interest - Non-voting Preferred Shares

 

 

Total Shareholders' Deficit

 

(Thousands, except share data)Preferred StockCommon StockAdditional Paid-in
Capital
Accumulated Other
Comprehensive
Loss
Distributions in
Excess of
Accumulated
Earnings
Noncontrolling
Interest - OP Units
Noncontrolling
Interest - Non-
voting Preferred
Shares
Total Shareholders'
Deficit

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at December 31, 2019

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

192,141,634

 

 

$

19

 

 

$

951,295

 

 

$

(23,442

)

 

$

(2,494,740

)

 

$

83,704

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

(1,483,164

)

Net loss

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(659,332

)

 

 

(11,808

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

(671,140

)

Other comprehensive income

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

287

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

289

 

Common stock dividends declared ($0.15 per share)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(94,017

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(94,017

)

Distributions to noncontrolling interest declared

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(1,560

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

(1,560

)

Cumulative non-voting convertible preferred stock

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

125

 

 

 

125

 

Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(962

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(962

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

372,430

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

10,446

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

10,446

 

Issuance of common stock - employee stock purchase plan

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

96,788

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

306

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

306

 

Settlement Common Stock

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

38,633,470

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

244,546

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

244,550

 

Balance at September 30, 2020

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

231,244,322

 

 

$

23

 

 

$

1,205,631

 

 

$

(23,155

)

 

$

(3,248,089

)

 

$

70,338

 

 

$

125

 

 

$

(1,995,127

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SharesAmountSharesAmount

Balance at December 31, 2020

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

231,261,958

 

 

$

23

 

 

$

1,209,141

 

 

$

(20,367

)

 

$

(3,330,455

)

 

$

69,157

 

 

$

125

 

 

$

(2,072,376

)

Balance at December 31, 2020— $— 231,261,958 $23 $1,209,141 $(20,367)$(3,330,455)$69,157 $125 $(2,072,376)

Cumulative effect adjustment for adoption of new accounting standard

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(59,908

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

14,598

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(45,310

)

Cumulative effect adjustment for adoption of new accounting standard— — — — (59,908)— 14,598 — — (45,310)

Net income

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

87,835

 

 

 

984

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

88,819

 

Net income— — — — — — 44,469 668 — 45,137 

Other comprehensive income

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

8,383

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

105

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

8,488

 

Other comprehensive income— — — — — 5,575 — 83 — 5,658 

Common stock dividends declared ($0.15 per share)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(105,664

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(105,664

)

Common stock dividends declared ($0.30 per share)Common stock dividends declared ($0.30 per share)— — — — — — (69,983)— — (69,983)

Distributions to noncontrolling interest declared

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(1,181

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

(1,181

)

Distributions to noncontrolling interest declared— — — — — — — (1,040)— (1,040)
Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensationPayments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation— — — — (2,642)— — — — (2,642)
Stock-based compensationStock-based compensation— — 507,199 — 6,797 — — — — 6,797 
Issuance of common stock - employee stock purchase planIssuance of common stock - employee stock purchase plan— — 35,764 — 319 — — — — 319 
Balance at June 30 2021Balance at June 30 2021— — 231,804,921 23 1,153,707 (14,792)(3,341,371)68,868 125 (2,133,440)
Balance at December 31, 2021Balance at December 31, 2021— $— 234,779,247 $23 $1,214,830 $(9,164)$(3,333,481)$13,893 $125 $(2,113,774)
Net incomeNet income— — — — — — 106,427 205 — 106,632 
Other comprehensive incomeOther comprehensive income— — — — — 5,648 — 11 — 5,659 
Common stock dividends declared ($0.30 per share)Common stock dividends declared ($0.30 per share)— — — — — — (71,276)— — (71,276)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest declaredDistributions to noncontrolling interest declared— — — — — — — (160)— (160)
Cumulative non-voting convertible preferred stockCumulative non-voting convertible preferred stock— — — — — — (125)— 125 — 

Exchange of noncontrolling interest

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

2,528,199

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

50,395

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(50,395

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Exchange of noncontrolling interest— — 244,682 — 7,257 — — (11,877)— (4,620)

Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(2,652

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(2,652

)

Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation— — — — (4,436)— — — — (4,436)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

630,249

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

10,963

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

10,963

 

Stock-based compensation— — 646,260 6,512 — — — — 6,513 
Issuance of common stock - employee stock purchase planIssuance of common stock - employee stock purchase plan— — 29,324 — 264 — — — — 264 
Balance at June 30, 2022Balance at June 30, 2022— — 235,699,513 24 1,224,427 (3,516)(3,298,455)2,072 250 (2,075,198)

9


Table of Contents

Issuance of common stock - employee stock purchase plan

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

74,950

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

672

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

672

 

Balance at September 30, 2021

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

234,495,356

 

 

$

23

 

 

$

1,208,611

 

 

$

(11,984

)

 

$

(3,333,686

)

 

$

18,670

 

 

$

125

 

 

$

(2,118,241

)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

10

8

Table of Contents

Uniti Group Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(unaudited)

 Six Months Ended June 30,
(Thousands)20222021
Cash flow from operating activities  
Net income$106,632 $45,137 
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:  
Depreciation and amortization143,760 140,635 
Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discount9,015 9,371 
Loss on debt extinguishment— 43,369 
Interest rate swap termination5,659 5,658 
Deferred income taxes(7,185)605 
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities(1,024)(945)
Distributions of cumulative earnings from unconsolidated entities1,969 1,950 
Cash paid for interest rate swap settlement(6,346)(6,110)
Straight-line revenues and amortization of below-market lease intangibles(21,148)(14,215)
Stock-based compensation6,513 6,797 
Change in fair value of contingent consideration— 21 
Gain on sale of unconsolidated entity (see Note 5)(7,923)— 
Gain on sale of real estate(250)(442)
Gain on sale of operations— (28,143)
Loss (gain) on asset disposals586 (218)
Accretion of settlement obligation5,787 8,889 
Other(630)143 
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:  
Accounts receivable(7,224)19,965 
Other assets559 39,019 
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities5,858 46,991 
Net cash provided by operating activities234,608 318,477 
Cash flow from investing activities  
Capital expenditures(184,039)(177,934)
Proceeds from sale of unconsolidated entity (see Note 5)32,527 — 
Proceeds from sale of real estate, net of cash325 1,034 
Proceeds from sale of operations— 62,113 
Proceeds from sale of other equipment431 399 
Net cash used in investing activities(150,756)(114,388)
Cash flow from financing activities  
Repayment of debt— (1,660,000)
Proceeds from issuance of notes— 1,680,000 
Dividends paid(71,771)(70,386)
Payments of settlement payable— (49,011)
Payments of contingent consideration— (2,979)
Distributions paid to noncontrolling interest(186)(1,039)
Payment for exchange of noncontrolling interest(4,620)— 
Borrowings under revolving credit facility105,000 205,000 
Payments under revolving credit facility(105,000)(220,000)
Finance lease payments(601)(1,393)
Payments for financing costs— (25,156)
Payment of tender premium— (25,800)
Employee stock purchase program264 319 
Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation(4,436)(2,642)
Net cash used in financing activities(81,350)(173,087)
   
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents2,502 31,002 
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period58,903 77,534 
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period$61,405 $108,536 
   
Non-cash investing and financing activities:  
Property and equipment acquired but not yet paid$10,739 $17,764 
Tenant capital improvements85,389 106,789 

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Cash flow from operating activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

 

$

88,819

 

 

$

(671,140

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

211,165

 

 

 

250,970

 

Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discount

 

 

13,723

 

 

 

27,703

 

Loss on debt extinguishment

 

 

43,369

 

 

 

73,952

 

Interest rate swap termination

 

 

8,488

 

 

 

7,325

 

Deferred income taxes

 

 

(2,270

)

 

 

(8,506

)

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities

 

 

(1,549

)

 

 

342

 

Distributions of cumulative earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

2,933

 

 

 

960

 

Cash paid for interest rate swap settlement

 

 

(9,291

)

 

 

(4,886

)

Straight-line revenues

 

 

(22,455

)

 

 

(1,036

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

10,963

 

 

 

10,446

 

Change in fair value of contingent consideration

 

 

21

 

 

 

8,086

 

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

(442

)

 

 

(86,726

)

Gain on sale of operations

 

 

(28,143

)

 

 

-

 

(Gain) loss on asset disposals

 

 

(232

)

 

 

1,483

 

Accretion of settlement obligation

 

 

13,006

 

 

 

-

 

Other

 

 

97

 

 

 

(300

)

Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts receivable

 

 

23,938

 

 

 

17,699

 

Other assets

 

 

(150

)

 

 

4,331

 

Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities

 

 

1,363

 

 

 

43,535

 

Settlement payable (Note 15)

 

 

-

 

 

 

438,577

 

Net cash provided by operating activities

 

 

353,353

 

 

 

112,815

 

Cash flow from investing activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other capital expenditures

 

 

(276,010

)

 

 

(214,150

)

Proceeds from sale of real estate, net of cash

 

 

1,034

 

 

 

392,011

 

Proceeds from sale of operations (Note 5)

 

 

62,113

 

 

 

-

 

Proceeds from sale of other equipment

 

 

1,143

 

 

 

-

 

Windstream asset acquisition

 

 

-

 

 

 

(73,127

)

Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities

 

 

(211,720

)

 

 

104,734

 

Cash flow from financing activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repayment of debt

 

 

(1,660,000

)

 

 

(2,044,728

)

Proceeds from issuance of notes

 

 

1,680,000

 

 

 

2,250,000

 

Dividends paid

 

 

(105,941

)

 

 

(100,759

)

Payment of settlement obligation

 

 

(73,516

)

 

 

-

 

Payments of contingent consideration

 

 

(2,979

)

 

 

(15,713

)

Distributions paid to noncontrolling interest

 

 

(1,700

)

 

 

(1,802

)

Borrowings under revolving credit facility

 

 

290,000

 

 

 

140,000

 

Payments under revolving credit facility

 

 

(220,000

)

 

 

(585,019

)

Finance lease payments

 

 

(1,745

)

 

 

(2,890

)

Payments for financing costs

 

 

(25,755

)

 

 

(47,775

)

Settlement Common Stock issuance

 

 

-

 

 

 

244,550

 

Costs related to the early repayment of debt

 

 

(25,800

)

 

 

-

 

Employee stock purchase program

 

 

672

 

 

 

306

 

Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation

 

 

(2,652

)

 

 

(962

)

Net cash used in financing activities

 

 

(149,416

)

 

 

(164,792

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents

 

 

(7,783

)

 

 

52,757

 

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

 

 

77,534

 

 

 

142,813

 

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

 

$

69,751

 

 

$

195,570

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-cash investing and financing activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Property and equipment acquired but not yet paid

 

$

22,586

 

 

$

15,242

 

Tenant capital improvements

 

 

140,996

 

 

 

101,877

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

11

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Uniti Group Inc.

Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited)

Note 1. Organization and Description of Business

Uniti Group Inc. (the “Company,” “Uniti,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) was incorporated in the state of Maryland on September 4, 2014. We are an independent internally managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) engaged in the acquisition, construction and leasing of mission critical infrastructure in the communications industry. We are principally focused on acquiring and constructing fiber optic, copper and coaxial broadband networks and data centers. We have historically managed our operations in 4 separate lines of business: Uniti Fiber, Uniti Towers, Uniti Leasing, and the Consumer CLEC Business.  On June 1, 2020, the Company completed the sale of its Uniti Towers business, and as of the end of the second quarter of 2020, the Company had substantially completed the wind down of its Consumer CLEC business. As a result, effective January 1, 2021, we manage our operations focused on our 2 primary lines of business: Uniti Fiber and Uniti Leasing.

The Company operates through a customary “up-REIT” structure, pursuant to which we hold substantially all of our assets through a partnership, Uniti Group LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Operating Partnership”), that we control as general partner, with the only significant difference between the financial position and results of operations of the Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries compared to the consolidated financial position and consolidated results of operations of Uniti is that the results for the Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries do not include Uniti’s Consumer CLEC segment, which consists of Talk America Services (“Talk America”), which we substantially completed the wind down of the business as of the end of the second quarter of 2020.partner. The up-REIT structure is intended to facilitate future acquisition opportunities by providing the Company with the ability to use common units of the Operating Partnership as a tax-efficient acquisition currency. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we are the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership and own approximately 99.6%99.96% of the partnership interests in the Operating Partnership.

Note 2. Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include all accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned and/or controlled subsidiaries, including the Operating Partnership. Under the Accounting Standards Codification 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”), the Operating Partnership is considered a variable interest entity and is consolidated in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of Uniti Group Inc. because the Company is the primary beneficiary. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.eliminated.

ASC 810 provides guidance on the identification of entities for which control is achieved through means other than voting rights (“variable interest entities” or “VIEs”) and the determination of which business enterprise, if any, should consolidate the VIEs. Generally, the consideration of whether an entity is a VIE applies when either: (1) the equity investors (if any) lack (i) the ability to make decisions about the entity’s activities through voting or similar rights, (ii) the obligation to absorb the expected losses of the entity, or (iii) the right to receive the expected residual returns of the entity; (2) the equity investment at risk is insufficient to finance that entity’s activities without additional subordinated financial support; or (3) the equity investors have voting rights that are not proportionate to their economic interests and substantially all of the activities of the entity involve or are conducted on behalf of an investor with a disproportionately small voting interest. The Company consolidates VIEs in which it is considered to be the primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary is defined as the entity having both of the following characteristics: (1) the power to direct the activities that, when taken together, most significantly impact the VIE’s performance; and (2) the obligation to absorb losses and right to receive the returns from the VIE that would be significant to the VIE.

The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information set forth in the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”), as published by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), and with the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair statement of results for the interim period have been included. Operating results from any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full fiscal year. The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 5, 2021,February 25, 2022, as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto filed on Form 10-K/A with the SEC on March 30, 202122, 2022 (the “Annual Report”). Accordingly, significant accounting policies and other disclosures normally provided have been omitted from the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes since such items are disclosed in our Annual Report.

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Concentration of Credit Risks—Prior to September 2020, wewe were party to a long-term exclusive triple-net lease (the “Master Lease”) with Windstream Holdings, Inc. (together with Windstream Holdings II, LLC, its successor in interest, and its subsidiaries, “Windstream”) pursuant to which a substantial portion of our real property was leased to Windstream and from which a substantial portion of our leasing revenues were derived. On September 18, 2020, Uniti and Windstream
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bifurcated the Master Lease and entered into two structurally similar master leases (collectively, the “Windstream Leases”), which amended and restated the Master Lease in its entirety. Revenue under the Windstream Leases provided 66.3% and the Master Lease provided 67.6% and 66.1%67.1% of our revenue for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 2020,2021, respectively. Because a substantial portion of our revenue and cash flows are derived from lease payments by Windstream pursuant to the Windstream Leases, there could be a material adverse impact on our consolidated results of operations, liquidity, financial condition and/or ability to pay dividends and service debt if Windstream were to default under the Windstream Leases or otherwise experiences operating or liquidity difficulties and becomes unable to generate sufficient cash to make payments to us.

Prior to its emergence from bankruptcy on September 21, 2020, Windstream was a publicly traded company subject to the periodic filing requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Windstream’s historic filings through their quarter ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020 can be found at www.sec.gov. Additionally, the Windstream audited financial statements as of December 31, 2021, and for the year ended December 31, 2021, as of December 31, 2020 and for the period from September 22, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and as of December 31, 2019 and for the period from January 1, 2020 to September 21, 2020 and for each of the two years in the periodyear ended December 31, 2019 are included as an exhibit to our Annual Report. On September 22, 2020, Windstream filed a Form 15 to terminate all filing obligations under Sections 12(g) and 15(d) under the Exchange Act. Windstream filings are not incorporated by reference in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

We monitor the credit quality of Windstream through numerous methods, including by (i) reviewing credit ratings of Windstream by nationally recognized credit agencies, (ii) reviewing the financial statements of Windstream that are required to be delivered to us pursuant to the Windstream Leases, (iii) monitoring news reports regarding Windstream and its business, (iv) conducting research to ascertain industry trends potentially affecting Windstream, (v) monitoring Windstream’s compliance with the terms of the Windstream Leases and (vi) monitoring the timeliness of its payments under the Windstream Leases.

As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, Windstream is current on all lease payments. We note that in August 2020, Moody’s Investor Service assigned a B3 corporate family rating with a stable outlook to Windstream in connection with its post-emergence exit financing. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings assigned Windstream a B- issuer rating with a stable outlook. Both ratings remain current as of the date of this filing. In order to assist us in our continuing assessment of Windstream’s creditworthiness, we periodically receive certain confidential financial information and metrics from Windstream.

Reclassifications—Certain prior year asset and liability categories and related amounts have been reclassified to conform with current year presentation.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2020,May 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, 2021-04, Debt - Debt with ConversionEarnings Per Share (Topic 260), Debt—Modifications and Other OptionsExtinguishments (Subtopic 470- 20)470-50), Compensation— Stock Compensation (Topic 718), and Derivatives and Hedging - Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40)815- 40):Issuer’s Accounting for Convertible InstrumentsCertain Modifications or Exchanges of Freestanding Equity-Classified Written Call Options, which clarifies and Contractsreduces diversity in an Entity’s Own Equityissuer’s accounting for modifications or exchanges of freestanding equity-classified written call options (for example, warrants) that remain equity classified after modification or exchange (“ASU 2020-06”2021-04”). ASU 2021-04 is effective for all entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted ASU 2021-04 effective January 1, 2022, and there was no impact on our consolidated financial statements.
In July 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-05, Leases (Topic 842): Lessors—Certain Leases with Variable Lease Payments (“ASU 2021-05), which simplifiesrequires lessors to classify leases as operating leases if they (1) have variable lease payments that do not depend on a reference index or rate, and (2) would have resulted in the accountingrecognition of a selling loss at lease commencement if classified as sales-type or direct financing. ASU 2021-05 is effective for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity. ASU 2020-06 (1) simplifies the accounting for convertible debt instruments and convertible preferred stock by removing the existing guidance in ASC 470-20, Debt: Debt with Conversion and Other Options, that requiresall entities to account for beneficial conversion features and cash conversion features in equity, separately from the host convertible debt or preferred stock; (2) revises the scope exception from derivative accounting in ASC 815-40 for freestanding financial instruments and embedded features that are both indexed to the issuer’s own stock and classified in stockholders’ equity, by removing certain criteria required for equity classification; and (3) revises the guidance in ASC 260, Earnings Per Share, to require entities to calculate diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) for convertible instruments by using the if-converted method.

In addition, entities must presume share settlement for purposes of calculating diluted EPS when an instrument may be settled in cash or shares. ASU 2020-06 is effectivewhich have previously adopted Topic 842 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, andincluding interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted.years. The Company elected to early adopt the guidanceadopted ASU 2020-06 as of2021-05 effective January 1, 2021 using the modified retrospective transition method. Pursuant to the transition guidance, the Company is required to apply the guidance to all impacted2022, and there was no impact on our consolidated financial instruments that were outstanding as of January 1, 2021 with the cumulative effect recognized as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings.

As a result of early adopting ASU 2020-06, the Company made certain adjustments to its accounting for the outstanding exchangeable senior unsecured notes. statements.

11

The adoption of ASU 2020-06 resulted in the re-combination of the liability and equity components of these notes into a single liability instrument. The carrying value as of December 31, 2020, totaled approximately $275.4 million and as a result of the adoption increased by $61.1 million to $336.5 million as of January 1, 2021. Because of this adoption, the effective interest rate on the exchangeable senior unsecured notes went from 11.1% to 4.8%. Additional paid-in-capital was reduced by $59.9

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million and deferred tax liabilities were reduced by $15.8 million. Approximately $14.6 million of cumulative effect of adoption was recognized to the opening balance of retained earnings as of January 1, 2021.

Note 3. Revenues

The following is a description of principal activities, separated by reportable segments (see Note 13), from which the Company generates its revenues.

Leasing

Leasing revenue represents the results from our leasing program, Uniti Leasing, which is engaged in the acquisition of mission-critical communications assets and leasing them to anchor customers on either an exclusive or shared-tenant basis. See Note 4.

Fiber Infrastructure

The Fiber Infrastructure segment represents the operations of our fiber business, Uniti Fiber, which provides (i) consumer, enterprise, wholesale and backhaul lit fiber, (ii) E-rate, (iii) small cell, (iv) construction services, (v) dark fiber and (vi) other revenue generating activities.

i.

Consumer, enterprise, wholesale, and backhaul lit fiber fall under the guidance of ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). Revenue is recognized over the life of the contracts in a pattern that reflects the satisfaction of Uniti’s stand-ready obligation to provide lit fiber services. The transaction price is equal to the monthly-recurring charge multiplied by the contract term, plus any non-recurring or variable charges. For each contract, the customer is invoiced monthly.

ii.

E-rate contracts involve providing lit fiber services to schools and libraries, and is governed by ASC 606. Revenue is recognized over the life of the contract in a pattern that reflects the satisfaction of Uniti’s stand-ready obligation to provide lit fiber services. The transaction price is equal to the monthly-recurring charge multiplied by the contract term, plus any non-recurring or variable charges. For each contract, the customer is invoiced monthly.

iii.

Small cell contracts provide improved network connection to areas that may not require or accommodate a tower. Small cell arrangements typically contain five streams of revenue: site development, radio frequency (“RF”) design, dark fiber lease, construction services, and maintenance services. Site development, RF design and construction are each separate services and are considered distinct performance obligations under ASC 606. Dark fiber and associated maintenance services constitute a lease, and as such, they are outside the scope of ASC 606 and are governed by other applicable guidance.

iv.

Construction revenue is generated from contracts to provide various construction services such as equipment installation or the laying of fiber.  Construction revenue is recognized over time as construction activities occur as we are either enhancing a customer’s owned asset or constructing an asset with no alternative use to us and we would be entitled to our costs plus a reasonable profit margin if the contract was terminated early by the customer.  We are utilizing our costs incurred as the measure of progress of satisfying our performance obligation.

v.

Dark fiber arrangements represent operating leases under ASC 842, Leases (“ASC 842”) and are outside the scope of ASC 606.  When (a) a customer makes an advance payment or (b) a customer is contractually obligated to pay any amounts in advance, which is not deemed a separate performance obligation, deferred leasing revenue is recorded. This leasing revenue is recognized ratably over the expected term of the contract, unless the pattern of service suggests otherwise.

vi.

The Company generates revenues from other services, such as consultation services and equipment sales.  Revenue from the sale of customer premise equipment and modems that are not provided as an essential part of the telecommunications services, including broadband, long distance, and enhanced services is recognized when products are delivered to and accepted by the customer. Revenue from customer premise equipment and modems provided as an essential part of the telecommunications services, including broadband, long distance, and enhanced services are recognized over time in a pattern that reflects the satisfaction of the service performance obligation.

Towers

The Towers segment represents the operations of our former towers business, Uniti Towers, through which we acquired and constructed tower and tower-related real estate, which we then leased to our customers in the United States and Latin America. Revenue from our towers business qualifies as a lease under ASC 842 and is outside the scope of ASC 606.  Starting in 2019, the Company completed a series of transactions to largely divest of its towers business and on April 2, 2019, May 23, 2019 and June 1,

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2020, the Company completed the sales of its Latin American business, substantially all of its U.S. ground lease business, and its U.S. tower business, respectively.

Consumer CLEC

The Consumer CLEC segment represents the operations of Talk America through which we operated the Consumer CLEC Business, which provided local telephone, high-speed internet and long-distance services to customers in the eastern and central United States. Customers are billed monthly for services rendered based on actual usage or contracted amounts. The transaction price is equal to the monthly-recurring charge multiplied by the initial contract term (typically 12 months), plus any non-recurring or variable charges. As of the end of the second quarter of 2020, we substantially completed a wind down of our Consumer CLEC business.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The following table presents our revenues disaggregated by revenue stream.

 

Three Months Ended

 

 

Nine Months Ended

 

 

September 30,

 

 

September 30,

 

Three Months Ended
June 30,
Six Months Ended
June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)2022202120222021

Revenue disaggregated by revenue stream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue disaggregated by revenue stream

Revenue from contracts with customers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue from contracts with customers

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

Lit backhaul

 

$

19,381

 

 

$

25,160

 

 

$

67,404

 

 

$

80,568

 

Lit backhaul$19,937 $22,979 $39,375 $48,023 

Enterprise and wholesale

 

 

20,863

 

 

 

19,875

 

 

 

63,190

 

 

 

58,761

 

Enterprise and wholesale21,001 21,327 41,936 42,327 

E-Rate and government

 

 

13,505

 

 

 

17,375

 

 

 

48,795

 

 

 

60,133

 

E-Rate and government18,505 15,926 32,782 35,290 

Other

 

 

839

 

 

 

2,345

 

 

 

2,479

 

 

 

3,648

 

Other712 824 1,373 1,640 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

$

54,588

 

 

$

64,755

 

 

$

181,868

 

 

$

203,110

 

Fiber Infrastructure$60,155 $61,056 $115,466 $127,280 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

651

 

Leasing

 

 

1,070

 

 

 

177

 

 

 

3,237

 

 

 

177

 

Leasing1,194 1,000 2,352 2,167 

Total revenue from contracts with customers

 

 

55,658

 

 

 

64,932

 

 

 

185,105

 

 

 

203,938

 

Total revenue from contracts with customers61,349 62,056 117,818 129,447 

Revenue accounted for under other applicable guidance

 

 

211,089

 

 

 

193,833

 

 

 

622,408

 

 

 

587,809

 

Revenue accounted for under leasing guidanceRevenue accounted for under leasing guidance  
LeasingLeasing204,420 195,057 407,903 388,826 
Fiber InfrastructureFiber Infrastructure18,206 11,067 36,288 22,493 
Total revenue accounted for under leasing guidanceTotal revenue accounted for under leasing guidance222,626 206,124 444,191 411,319 

Total revenue

 

$

266,747

 

 

$

258,765

 

 

$

807,513

 

 

$

791,747

 

Total revenue$283,975 $268,180 $562,009 $540,766 

At SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022 and December 31, 2020,2021, lease receivables were $15.1$19.5 million and $17.5$19.4 million, respectively, and receivables from contracts with customers were $16.9$22.7 million and $45.1$14.7 million, respectively.

Contract Assets (Unbilled Revenue) and Liabilities (Deferred Revenue)

Contract assets primarily consist of unbilled construction revenue where we are utilizing our costs incurred as the measure of progress of satisfying our performance obligation. Contract assets are reported within accounts receivable, net on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.Sheets. When the contract price is invoiced, the related unbilled receivable is reclassified to trade accounts receivable, where the balance will be settled upon the collection of the invoiced amount. Contract liabilities are generally comprised of upfront fees charged to the customer for the cost of establishing the necessary components of the Company’s network prior to the commencement of use by the customer. Fees charged to customers for the recurring use of the Company’s network are recognized during the related periods of service. Upfront fees that are billed in advance of providing services are deferred until such time the customer accepts the Company’s network and then are recognized as service revenues ratably over a period in which substantive services required under the revenue arrangement are expected to be performed, which is the initial term of the arrangement. During the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we recognized revenues of $1.3$1.2 million and $9.4$3.0 million, respectively, which was included in the December 31, 20202021 contract liabilities balance.

The following table provides information about contract assets and contract liabilities accounted for under ASC 606.

(Thousands)

 

Contract Assets

 

 

Contract Liabilities

 

Balance at December 31, 2020

 

$

3,462

 

 

$

18,601

 

Balance at September 30, 2021

 

$

614

 

 

$

13,942

 

(Thousands)Contract AssetsContract Liabilities
Balance at December 31, 2021$4,066 $9,099 
Balance at June 30, 2022$805 $8,853 

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Transaction Price Allocated to Remaining Performance Obligations

Performance obligations within contracts to stand ready to provide services are typically satisfied over time or as those services are provided. Contract liabilities primarily relate to deferred revenue from upfront customer payments. The deferred revenue is recognized, and the liability reduced, over the contract term as the Company completes the performance obligation. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, our future revenues (i.e., transaction price related to remaining performance obligations) under contract accounted for under ASC 606 totaled $451.7$438.1 million, of which $353.1$341.2 million is related to contracts that are currently being invoiced and have an average remaining contract term of 1.81.7 years,, while $98.6$96.9 million represents our backlog for sales bookings which have yet to be installed and have an average remaining contract term of 5.5 years.6.0 years.

Practical Expedients and Exemptions

We do not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts that have an original expected duration of one year or less.

We exclude from the transaction price any amounts collected from customers for sales taxes and therefore, such amounts are not included in revenue.

Note 4. Leases

Lessor Accounting

We lease communications towers, ground, colocation, and dark fiber to tenants under operating leases. Our leases have initial lease terms ranging from less than one year to 35 years, most of which include options to extend or renew the leases for less than one year to 20 years (based on the satisfaction of certain conditions as defined in the lease agreements), and some of which may include options to terminate the leases within one to six months.months. Certain lease agreements contain provisions for future rent increases. Payments due under the lease contracts include fixed payments plus, for some of our leases, variable payments.

The components of lease income for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021 2022 and 2020,2021, respectively, are as follows:

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)2022202120222021

Lease income - operating leases

 

$

211,089

 

 

$

193,833

 

 

$

622,408

 

 

$

587,809

 

Lease income - operating leases$222,626 $206,124 $444,191 $411,319 

Lease payments to be received under non-cancellable operating leases where we are the lessor for the remainder of the lease terms as of SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 are as follows:

(Thousands)

 

September 30, 2021 (1)

 

(Thousands)June 30, 2022⁽¹⁾

2021

 

$

185,067

 

2022

 

 

753,180

 

2022$379,415 

2023

 

 

760,567

 

2023775,007 

2024

 

 

762,163

 

2024778,548 

2025

 

 

763,786

 

2025779,719 
20262026781,321 

Thereafter

 

 

3,749,758

 

Thereafter3,043,381 

Total lease receivables

 

$

6,974,521

 

Total lease receivables$6,537,391 

(1) Total future minimum lease payments to be received include $6.0 billion relating to the Windstream Leases.

 

(1) Total future minimum lease payments to be received include $5.6 billion relating to the Windstream Leases.
(1) Total future minimum lease payments to be received include $5.6 billion relating to the Windstream Leases.

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The underlying assets under operating leases where we are the lessor are summarized as follows:

(Thousands)

 

September 30, 2021

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

(Thousands)June 30, 2022December 31, 2021

Land

 

$

26,596

 

 

$

26,596

 

Land$26,564 $26,593 

Building and improvements

 

 

342,907

 

 

 

335,495

 

Building and improvements343,988 343,624 

Poles

 

 

278,565

 

 

 

266,758

 

Poles290,624 281,130 

Fiber

 

 

3,224,832

 

 

 

2,994,465

 

Fiber3,382,487 3,278,276 

Equipment

 

 

428

 

 

 

421

 

Equipment428 428 

Copper

 

 

3,919,421

 

 

 

3,850,988

 

Copper3,952,978 3,918,281 

Conduit

 

 

89,831

 

 

 

89,773

 

Conduit89,925 89,859 

Tower assets

 

 

1,397

 

 

 

1,397

 

Tower assets1,397 1,397 

Finance lease assets

 

 

28,126

 

 

 

32,660

 

Finance lease assets28,126 28,126 

Other assets

 

 

10,647

 

 

 

10,425

 

Other assets10,602 10,649 

 

 

7,922,750

 

 

 

7,608,978

 

8,127,119 7,978,363 

Less: accumulated depreciation

 

 

(5,364,117

)

 

 

(5,222,731

)

Less: accumulated depreciation(5,477,554)(5,391,479)

Underlying assets under operating leases, net

 

$

2,558,633

 

 

$

2,386,247

 

Underlying assets under operating leases, net$2,649,565 $2,586,884 

Depreciation expense for the underlying assets under operating leases where we are the lessor for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 2020,2021, respectively, is summarized as follows:

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)2022202120222021

Depreciation expense for underlying assets under operating leases

 

$

44,763

 

 

$

50,841

 

 

$

134,783

 

 

$

160,278

 

Depreciation expense for underlying assets under operating leases$43,544 $44,107 $86,731 $90,020 

Lessee Accounting

We have commitments under operating leases for communications towers, ground, colocation, dark fiber lease arrangements and buildings. We also have finance leases for dark fiber lease arrangements and other communications equipment.arrangements. Our leases have initial lease terms ranging from less than one year to 30 years, most of which include options to extend or renew the leases for less than one year to 20 years, and some of which may include options to terminate the leases within one to six months.months. Certain lease agreements contain provisions for future rent increases. Payments due under the lease contracts include fixed payments plus, for some of our leases, variable payments.

As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we have short term lease commitments amounting to approximately $2.7 million.

The components of lease cost for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, are as follows:

$2.6 million.

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Finance lease cost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amortization of ROU assets

 

$

1,024

 

 

$

920

 

 

$

3,721

 

 

$

2,890

 

Interest on lease liabilities

 

 

392

 

 

 

943

 

 

 

2,019

 

 

 

2,890

 

     Total finance lease cost

 

 

1,416

 

 

 

1,863

 

 

 

5,740

 

 

 

5,780

 

Operating lease cost

 

 

3,658

 

 

 

5,313

 

 

 

11,873

 

 

 

19,272

 

Short-term lease cost

 

 

907

 

 

 

542

 

 

 

2,347

 

 

 

1,551

 

Variable lease cost

 

 

95

 

 

 

41

 

 

 

391

 

 

 

124

 

Less sublease income

 

 

(3,211

)

 

 

(2,733

)

 

 

(9,439

)

 

 

(9,503

)

Total lease cost

 

$

2,865

 

 

$

5,026

 

 

$

10,912

 

 

$

17,224

 

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Table of Contents

Amounts reported in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets for leases where we are the lessee were as follows:

(Thousands)

 

Location on Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

 

September 30, 2021

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

Operating leases

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROU assets, net

 

Other assets, net

 

$

72,965

 

 

$

97,850

 

Lease liabilities

 

Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities, net

 

 

49,902

 

 

 

71,483

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finance leases

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROU asset, gross

 

Property, plant and equipment, net

 

$

72,254

 

 

$

128,098

 

Lease liabilities

 

Finance lease obligations

 

 

15,538

 

 

 

48,724

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted-average remaining lease term

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating leases

 

 

 

8.9 years

 

 

12.2 years

 

Finance leases

 

 

 

13.0 years

 

 

13.3 years

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted-average discount rate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating leases

 

 

 

 

9.2

%

 

 

9.9

%

Finance leases

 

 

 

 

9.8

%

 

 

8.0

%

Other information related to leases as of September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, are as follows:

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating cash flows from finance leases

 

$

2,019

 

 

$

2,890

 

Operating cash flows from operating leases

 

 

14,197

 

 

 

22,573

 

Financing cash flows from finance leases

 

 

1,745

 

 

 

2,890

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-cash items:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New operating leases and remeasurements, net

 

$

4,649

 

 

$

426

 

New finance leases

 

 

-

 

 

 

31

 

Future lease payments under non-cancellable leases as of SeptemberJune 30, 2021 2022 are as follows:

(Thousands)

 

Operating Leases

 

 

Finance Leases

 

(Thousands)Operating LeasesFinance Leases

2021

 

$

3,807

 

 

$

610

 

2022

 

 

13,149

 

 

 

2,334

 

2022$7,978 $1,192 

2023

 

 

10,963

 

 

 

2,281

 

202314,362 2,375 

2024

 

 

8,558

 

 

 

2,082

 

202411,971 2,176 

2025

 

 

5,896

 

 

 

2,021

 

20259,323 2,115 
202620266,608 2,115 

Thereafter

 

 

33,072

 

 

 

16,667

 

Thereafter39,103 14,683 

Total undiscounted lease payments

 

$

75,445

 

 

$

25,995

 

Total undiscounted lease payments$89,345 $24,656 

Less:�� imputed interest

 

 

(25,543

)

 

 

(10,457

)

Less: imputed interestLess: imputed interest(28,516)(9,442)

Total lease liabilities

 

$

49,902

 

 

$

15,538

 

Total lease liabilities$60,829 $15,214 

 

Future sublease rentals as of September 30, 2021 are as follows:

18

14

Table of Contents

(Thousands)

 

Sublease Rentals

 

2021

 

$

2,896

 

2022

 

 

9,175

 

2023

 

 

9,252

 

2024

 

 

9,331

 

2025

 

 

9,411

 

Thereafter

 

 

136,554

 

Total

 

$

176,619

 

Note 5. Asset Acquisitions and Dispositions

2021 Transaction

Everstream OpCo-PropCo Transaction

On May 28, 2021, the Company completed its previously announced strategic transaction with Everstream Solutions LLC (“Everstream”).  As part of the transaction, Uniti entered into two 20-year dark fiber indefeasible rights of use (“IRU”) lease agreements with Everstream on Uniti owned fiber.  Concurrently, Uniti sold its Uniti Fiber Northeast operations and certain dark fiber IRU contracts acquired as part of the Windstream settlement to Everstream.  Total cash consideration, including upfront IRU payments, was approximately $135 million.  In addition to the upfront proceeds, Uniti will receive fees of approximately $3 million annually from Everstream over the initial 20-year term of the IRU lease agreements, subject to an annual escalator of 2%.  During the quarter ended June 30, 2021, we recorded a gain of $28.1 million related to this transaction, which is included in gain on sale of operations in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss).

(Thousands)

 

 

 

 

Assets and liabilities sold:

 

 

 

 

Assets:

 

 

 

 

Property, plant and equipment, net

 

$

44,685

 

Goodwill

 

 

17,794

 

Intangible assets, net

 

 

7,264

 

Right of use assets, net

 

 

19,841

 

Total assets

 

$

89,584

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities:

 

 

 

 

Lease liabilities

 

$

18,779

 

Intangible liabilities, net

 

 

4,492

 

Finance lease obligations

 

 

32,343

 

Total liabilities

 

$

55,614

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash consideration

 

$

62,113

 

Less: total assets and liabilities sold, net

 

 

(33,970

)

Gain on sale of operations

 

$

28,143

 

2020 Transactions

Windstream Settlement Agreement

On September 18, 2020, and in furtherance of our settlement agreement with Windstream (see Note 14), Uniti and Windstream closed an asset purchase agreement, as amended by a letter agreement (collectively, the “Asset Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which (a) Uniti paid to Windstream approximately $284.6 million and (b) Windstream (i) granted to Uniti exclusive rights to use 1.8 million fiber strand miles leased by Windstream under the CLEC MLA, which fiber strands are either unutilized or utilized under certain dark fiber indefeasible rights of use (“IRUs”) that were simultaneously transferred to Uniti, (ii) conveyed to Uniti fiber assets (and

19


Table of Contents

underlying rights) consisting of 0.4 million fiber strand miles (covering 4,000 route miles) owned by Windstream, and (iii) transferred and assigned to subsidiaries of Uniti dark fiber IRUs relating to (x) the fiber strand miles granted to Uniti under the CLEC MLA (and described in clause (i), and (y) the fiber assets (and underlying rights) for the 0.4 million fiber strand miles conveyed to Uniti (and described in clause (ii)), which IRUs generated $28.9 million of annual EBITDA in the aggregate as of the closing of the Asset Purchase Agreement. In addition, upon the transfer of the Windstream owned fiber assets (described in clause (ii) above), Uniti granted to Windstream a 20-year IRU for certain strands included in the transferred fiber assets.

The Company concluded that the Asset Purchase Agreement, and the obligation for Uniti to make cash payments to Windstream in accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement (see Note 14), should be combined for the accounting purpose of ASC 842.  As such, total consideration provided to Windstream under the Settlement has been allocated as follows:

(Thousands)

 

 

 

 

Consideration:

 

 

 

 

Asset Purchase Agreement

 

$

284,550

 

Fair value of settlement obligation

 

 

438,577

 

Total consideration

 

$

723,127

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the acquisition date:

 

 

 

 

Property, plant and equipment

 

$

170,754

 

Intangible assets, net

 

 

69,832

 

Other assets

 

 

27,632

 

Intangible liabilities, net

 

 

(195,091

)

Total assets acquired, net

 

 

73,127

 

Settlement expense

 

 

650,000

 

Total

 

$

723,127

 

Of the $69.8 million of intangible assets acquired, $59.3 million is related to contracts (8 year weighted-average life) and $10.5 million is related to underlying rights agreements (30 year life). The Company determined the useful life of the contract intangible assets using the weighted-average remaining term and the rights of way intangible asset by aligning the useful life of the intangible with that of the underlying fiber assets acquired.  The intangible liabilities represents below market leases, where we are the lessor, and has a weighted-average useful life of 19 years, which aligns with the term of the agreement.  Acquired right of use assets $27.6 million are recorded within other assets on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Sale of Midwest Fiber Network

On July 1, 2020, the Company completed the sale of the entity that controlled the Company’s Midwest fiber network assets (the “Propco”) to Macquarie Infrastructure Partners (“MIP”), selling net assets having a book value of $186.5 million for total cash consideration of $167.6 million.  The Company retained a 20% investment interest in the Propco, having a fair value of $41.9 million, through a newly-formed limited liability company with MIP (see Note 6).  During the quarter ended September 30, 2020, we recorded a gain of $23.0 million related to this transaction.

Sale of U.S. Tower Portfolio

On June 1, 2020, the Company completed the sale of its U.S. tower business to Melody Investment Advisors LP (“Melody”), selling net assets having a book value of $190.0 million for total cash consideration of $225.8 million.  The Company retained a 10% investment interest in the tower business, having a fair value of $26.0 million, through a newly formed limited partnership with Melody (see Note 6), and will receive incremental earn-out payments, estimated to be $1.6 million, which is included in other assets on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2020.  During the quarter ended June 30, 2020, we recorded a gain of $63.4 million related to this transaction.

Note 6.5. Investments in Unconsolidated Entities

As of September 30, 2021, the Company had an aggregate investment of $64.7 million in its equity method unconsolidated entities, which included a 42% interest in

Fiber Holdings
BB Fiber Holdings LLC (“(Fiber Holdings”) and an 8% interest in Harmoni Towers LP (“Harmoni”).

Fiber Holdings

20


Table of Contents

Fiber Holdings was primarily established to develop fiber networks as real estate property for long-term investment. On July 1, 2020, the Company completed the sale of an ownership stake in the entity that controls the Company’s Midwest fiber network assets (the “Propco”). Fiber Holdings has a 47.5% ownership in the Propco that is under a long-term, triple net lease with our joint venture partner. Our ownership interest in Fiber Holdings represents approximately a 20% economic interest in the Propco. The Company’s current investment and maximum exposure to loss as a result of its involvement with Fiber Holdings, an equity method unconsolidated entity, was approximately $40.3$39.3 million as of SeptemberJune 30, 2021.2022. The Company has not provided financial support to Fiber Holdings.

Harmoni

Harmoni

was primarily established to develop wireless communication towers as real estate property for long-term investment.  We concluded that Harmoni is a VIE; however,On June 21, 2022, the Company determined that it was notcompleted the primary beneficiarysale of its investment in Harmoni Towers LbecauseP (“Harmoni”) to Palistar Communications Infrastructure GP LLC, our partner in the Company lacks the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact its economic performance. The Company’s current investment, and maximum exposure to loss asfor total cash consideration of $32.5 million. As a result of its involvement with Harmoni was approximately $24.4the transaction, during the second quarter of 2022 we recorded a pre-tax gain of $7.9 million aswithin other income (expense), net and $6.7 million of September 30, 2021. The Company has not provided financial support to Harmoni.

We provide transition services to Harmoni in exchange for fees and reimbursements. Total transition service fees earned in connection with Harmoni for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 were $0.1 million and $0.3 million, respectively, which is included in operatingtax expense on a net basis inwithin income tax expense within our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss).

Income.

Note 7.6. Fair Value of Financial Instruments

FASB ASC 820, Fair ValueMeasurements, establishes a hierarchy of valuation techniques based on the observability of inputs utilized in measuring assets and liabilities at fair values. This hierarchy establishes market-based or observable inputs as the preferred source of values, followed by valuation models using management assumptions in the absence of market inputs. The three levels of the hierarchy are as follows:

Level 1 – Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the reporting entity can access at the assessment date;

Level 2 – Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly; and

Level 3 – Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability.

Our financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents, accounts and other receivables, derivative assets and liabilities, our outstanding notes and other debt, settlement payable, contingent consideration and accounts, interest and dividends payable.

15

The following table summarizes the fair value of our financial instruments at SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and December 31, 2020:

2021:

(Thousands)

 

Total

 

Quoted Prices in Active Markets

(Level 1)

 

Prices with Other Observable Inputs

(Level 2)

 

Prices with Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)

 

(Thousands)Total
Quoted Prices in Active
Markets
(Level 1)
Prices with Other Observable
Inputs
(Level 2)
Prices with Unobservable
Inputs (Level 3)

At September 30, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At June 30, 2022At June 30, 2022    

Liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities    

Senior secured notes - 7.875%, due February 15, 2025

 

$

2,376,990

 

$

-

 

$

2,376,990

 

$

-

 

Senior secured notes - 7.875%, due February 15, 2025$2,183,625 $— $2,183,625 $— 

Senior secured notes - 4.75%, due April 15, 2028

 

 

579,519

 

-

 

579,519

 

-

 

Senior secured notes - 4.75%, due April 15, 2028471,695 — 471,695 — 

Senior unsecured notes - 7.125%, due December 15, 2024

 

 

616,770

 

-

 

616,770

 

-

 

Senior unsecured notes - 6.50%, due February 15, 2029

 

 

1,131,073

 

-

 

1,131,073

 

-

 

Senior unsecured notes - 6.50% , due February 15, 2029Senior unsecured notes - 6.50% , due February 15, 2029817,471 — 817,471 — 
Senior unsecured notes - 6.00%, due January 15, 2030Senior unsecured notes - 6.00%, due January 15, 2030491,719 — 491,719 — 

Exchangeable senior notes - 4.00%, due June 15, 2024

 

 

428,897

 

-

 

428,897

 

-

 

Exchangeable senior notes - 4.00%, due June 15, 2024367,999 — 367,999 — 

Senior secured revolving credit facility, variable rate, due December 10, 2024

 

 

179,982

 

-

 

179,982

 

-

 

Senior secured revolving credit facility, variable rate, due December 10, 2024199,980 — 199,980 — 

Settlement payable

 

 

348,500

 

-

 

348,500

 

-

 

Settlement payable211,500 — 211,500 — 

Derivative liability, net

 

 

13,606

 

 

-

 

 

13,606

 

 

-

 

Derivative liability, net4,067 — 4,067 — 

Total

 

$

5,675,337

 

$

-

 

$

5,675,337

 

$

-

 

Total$4,748,056 $— $4,748,056 $— 

21


Table of Contents

(Thousands)

 

Total

 

Quoted Prices in Active Markets

(Level 1)

 

Prices with Other Observable Inputs

(Level 2)

 

Prices with Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)

 

At December 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senior secured notes - 6.00%, due April 15, 2023

 

$

561,000

 

$

-

 

$

561,000

 

$

-

 

Senior secured notes - 7.875%, due February 15, 2025

 

 

2,410,313

 

 

-

 

 

2,410,313

 

 

-

 

Senior unsecured notes - 8.25%, due October 15, 2023

 

 

1,112,775

 

 

-

 

 

1,112,775

 

 

-

 

Senior unsecured notes - 7.125%, due December 15, 2024

 

 

601,500

 

 

-

 

 

601,500

 

 

-

 

Exchangeable senior unsecured notes - 4.00%, due June 15, 2024

 

 

426,058

 

 

-

 

 

426,058

 

 

-

 

Senior secured revolving credit facility, variable rate, due April 24, 2022

 

 

110,000

 

 

-

 

 

110,000

 

 

-

 

Settlement payable

 

 

418,840

 

 

-

 

 

418,840

 

 

-

 

Derivative liability, net

 

 

22,897

 

 

-

 

 

22,897

 

 

-

 

Contingent consideration

 

 

2,957

 

 

-

 

 

-

 

 

2,957

 

Total

 

$

5,666,340

 

$

-

 

$

5,663,383

 

$

2,957

 

(Thousands)Total
Quoted Prices in Active
Markets
(Level 1)
Prices with Other Observable
Inputs
(Level 2)
Prices with Unobservable
Inputs (Level 3)
At December 31, 2021
Liabilities
Senior secured notes - 7.875%, due February 15, 2025$2,351,576 $— $2,351,576 $— 
Senior secured notes - 4.75%, due April 15, 2028560,857 — 560,857 — 
Senior unsecured notes - 6.50% , due February 15, 20291,087,844 — 1,087,844 — 
Senior unsecured notes - 6.00%, due January 15, 2030659,992 — 659,992 — 
Exchangeable senior notes - 4.00%, due June 15, 2024453,104 — 453,104 — 
Senior secured revolving credit facility, variable rate, due December 10, 2024199,980 — 199,980 — 
Settlement payable254,725 — 254,725 — 
Derivative liability, net10,413 — 10,413 — 
Total$5,578,491 $— $5,578,491 $— 

The carrying value of cash and cash equivalents, accounts and other receivables, and accounts, interest and dividends payable approximate fair values due to the short-term nature of these financial instruments.

The total principal balance of our outstanding notes and other debt was $5.06$5.18 billion at SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, with a fair value of $5.31$4.53 billion. The estimated fair value of our outstanding notes and other debt was based on available external pricing data and current market rates for similar debt instruments, among other factors, which are classified as Level 2 inputs within the fair value hierarchy. Derivative assets and liabilities are carried at fair value.See Note 98. The fair value of an interest rate swap is determined based on the present value of expected future cash flows using observable, quoted LIBOR swap rates
16

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for the full term of the swap and also incorporate credit valuation adjustments to appropriately reflect both Uniti’s own non-performance risk and non-performance risk of the respective counterparties. The Company has determined that the majority of the inputs used to value its derivative assets and liabilities fall within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy; however, the associated credit valuation adjustments utilized Level 3 inputs, such as estimates of credit spreads, to evaluate the likelihood of default by the Company and its counterparties. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, the Company has assessed the significance of the impact of the credit valuation adjustments on the overall valuation of its derivative positions and has determined that the credit valuation adjustment is not significant to the overall value of the derivatives. As such, the Company classifies its derivative assets and liabilities valuation in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

hierarchy.

Given the limited trade activity of the Exchangeable Notes, the fair value of the Exchangeable Notes (see Note 1110) is determined based on inputs that are observable in the market and have been classified as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy. Specifically, we estimated the fair value of the Exchangeable Notes based on readily available external pricing information, quoted market prices, and current market rates for similar convertible debt instruments.

Uniti is required to make $490.1 million of cash payments to Windstream in equal installments over 20 consecutive quarters beginning the first month after Windstream’s emergenceOctober 2020 (the “Settlement Payable”).See Note 1413. The Settlement Payable was recorded at fair value, using the present value of future cash flows. The future cash flows are discounted using discount rate input based on observable market data. Accordingly, we classify inputs used as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy. TheAs of June 30, 2022, the remaining Settlement Payable is $358.3$245.2 million and is reported on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at September 30, 2021.Sheets. There have been no changes in the valuation methodologies used since the initial recording.

We acquired Tower Cloud, Inc. (“Tower Cloud”) on August 31, 2016.  As part of the Tower Cloud acquisition, we were obligated to pay contingent consideration upon achievement of certain defined operational and financial milestones from the date of acquisition through December 31, 2021. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company paid $3.0 million for the achievement of the final remaining milestone in accordance with the Tower Cloud merger agreement.  During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, we paid $15.7 million for the achievement of certain milestones in accordance with the Tower Cloud merger agreement.

Changes in the fair value of contingent consideration arrangements are recorded in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss) in the period in which the change occurs.  The final measurement of the contingent consideration was recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2021, resulting in an increase in the fair value of less than $0.1 million. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, there was a $1.9 million and $8.1 million, respectively, increase in the fair value of the contingent consideration that was recorded in other (income) expense on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss).

The following is a roll forward of our liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis using unobservable inputs (Level 3):

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(Thousands)

 

December 31, 2020

 

 

Transfers into Level 3

 

 

(Gain)/Loss included in earnings

 

 

Settlements

 

 

September 30, 2021

 

Contingent consideration

 

$

2,957

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

22

 

 

$

(2,979

)

 

$

-

 

Note 8.7. Property, Plant and Equipment

The carrying value of property, plant and equipment is as follows:

(Thousands)

 

Depreciable Lives

 

 

September 30, 2021

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

(Thousands)Depreciable LivesJune 30, 2022December 31, 2021

Land

 

Indefinite

 

 

$

28,157

 

 

$

27,945

 

LandIndefinite$28,693 $28,449 

Building and improvements

 

3 - 40 years

 

 

 

359,045

 

 

 

351,305

 

Building and improvements3 - 40 years360,736 359,980 

Poles

 

30 years

 

 

 

278,565

 

 

 

266,758

 

Poles30 years290,624 281,130 

Fiber

 

30 years

 

 

 

4,033,649

 

 

 

3,737,372

 

Fiber30 years4,254,488 4,107,519 

Equipment

 

5 - 7 years

 

 

 

321,324

 

 

 

298,912

 

Equipment5 - 7 years360,376 331,761 

Copper

 

20 years

 

 

 

3,919,421

 

 

 

3,850,987

 

Copper20 years3,952,978 3,918,281 

Conduit

 

30 years

 

 

 

89,831

 

 

 

89,773

 

Conduit30 years89,925 89,859 

Tower assets

 

20 years

 

 

 

8,545

 

 

 

8,571

 

Tower assets20 years8,544 8,544 

Finance lease assets

 

 

(1

)

 

 

72,254

 

 

 

74,103

 

Finance lease assets(1)72,680 72,284 

Other assets

 

15 - 20 years

 

 

 

10,648

 

 

 

10,553

 

Other assets15 - 20 years10,833 10,652 

Corporate assets

 

3 - 7 years

 

 

 

13,924

 

 

 

13,475

 

Corporate assets3 - 7 years14,621 14,326 

Construction in progress

 

 

(1

)

 

 

31,953

 

 

 

47,086

 

Construction in progress(1)38,471 27,366 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9,167,316

 

 

 

8,776,840

 

9,482,969 9,250,151 

Less accumulated depreciation

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5,694,674

)

 

 

(5,503,487

)

Less accumulated depreciation(5,867,437)(5,741,212)

Net property, plant and equipment

 

 

 

 

 

$

3,472,642

 

 

$

3,273,353

 

Net property, plant and equipment$3,615,532 $3,508,939 

(1) See our Annual Report for property, plant and equipment accounting policies.

 

(1) See our Annual Report for property, plant and equipment accounting policies.
Depreciation expense for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021 2022 was $65.7$64.9 million and $196.8$128.9 million, respectively. Depreciation expense for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020 2021 was $73.3$64.9 million and $228.3$131.1 million, respectively.

Note 9.8. Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

The Company uses derivative instruments to mitigate the effects of interest rate volatility inherent in our variable rate debt, which could unfavorably impact our future earnings and forecasted cash flows. The Company does not use derivative instruments for speculative or trading purposes.

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On April 27, 2015, we entered into fixed for floating interest rate swap agreements to mitigate the interest rate risk inherent in our variable rate senior secured term loan B facility. These interest rate swaps were designated as cash flow hedges and have a notional value of $2.01$2.0 billion and mature on October 24, 2022. As a result of the repayment of the Company’s senior secured term loan B facility in February 2020, the Company entered into receive-fixed interest rate swaps to offset its existing pay-fixed interest rate swaps. As a result, the Company discontinued hedge accounting as the hedge accounting requirements were no longer met. Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) incomeloss as of the date of de-designation will be reclassified to interest expense as the hedged transactions impact earnings. Prospectively, changes in fair value of all interest rate swaps will be recorded directly to earnings.

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The Company has elected to offset derivative positions that are subject to master netting arrangements with the same counterparty in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The following tables present the gross amounts of our derivative instruments subject to master netting arrangements with the same counterparty as of SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and December 31, 2020:

2021:

Offsetting of Derivative Assets and Liabilities (Thousands)

 

Gross Amounts of

Recognized Assets or

Liabilities

 

 

Gross Amounts Offset in

the Condensed

Consolidated Balance

Sheets

 

 

Net Amounts of Assets or

Liabilities presented in the

Condensed Consolidated

Balance Sheets

 

Offsetting of Derivative Assets and Liabilities (Thousands)
Gross Amounts of
Recognized Assets or
Liabilities
Gross Amounts Offset in
the Condensed
Consolidated Balance
Sheets
Net Amounts of Assets or
Liabilities presented in the
Condensed Consolidated
Balance Sheets

At September 30, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At June 30, 2022At June 30, 2022   

Assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assets   

Interest rate swaps

 

$

16,355

 

 

$

(16,355

)

 

$

-

 

Interest rate swaps$1,310 $(1,310)$— 

Total

 

$

16,355

 

 

$

(16,355

)

 

$

-

 

Total$1,310 $(1,310)$— 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities   

Interest rate swaps

 

$

29,961

 

 

$

(16,355

)

 

$

13,606

 

Interest rate swaps$5,377 $(1,310)$4,067 

Total

 

$

29,961

 

 

$

(16,355

)

 

$

13,606

 

Total$5,377 $(1,310)$4,067 

Offsetting of Derivative Assets and Liabilities (Thousands)

 

Gross Amounts of

Recognized Assets or

Liabilities

 

 

Gross Amounts Offset in

the Condensed

Consolidated Balance

Sheets

 

 

Net Amounts of Assets or

Liabilities presented in the

Condensed Consolidated

Balance Sheets

 

Offsetting of Derivative Assets and Liabilities (Thousands)
Gross Amounts of
Recognized Assets or
Liabilities
Gross Amounts Offset in
the Condensed
Consolidated Balance
Sheets
Net Amounts of Assets or
Liabilities presented in the
Condensed Consolidated
Balance Sheets

At December 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At December 31, 2021At December 31, 2021

Assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

��

 

 

Assets

Interest rate swaps

 

$

27,869

 

 

$

(27,869

)

 

$

-

 

Interest rate swaps$10,788 $(10,788)$— 

Total

 

$

27,869

 

 

$

(27,869

)

 

$

-

 

Total$10,788 $(10,788)$— 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities   

Interest rate swaps

 

$

50,766

 

 

$

(27,869

)

 

$

22,897

 

Interest rate swaps$21,201 $(10,788)$10,413 

Total

 

$

50,766

 

 

$

(27,869

)

 

$

22,897

 

Total$21,201 $(10,788)$10,413 

The following table summarizes the fair value and the presentation in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets:

(Thousands)

 

Location on Condensed

Consolidated Balance

Sheets

 

September 30, 2021

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

(Thousands)
Location on Condensed
Consolidated Balance
Sheets
June 30, 2022December 31, 2021

Interest rate swaps

 

Derivative liability, net

 

$

13,606

 

 

$

22,897

 

Interest rate swapsDerivative liability, net$4,067 $10,413 

As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021, all of2022, the interest rate swaps were valued in net unrealized loss positions and recognized as liability balances within the derivative liability, net in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.Sheets. As hedge accounting is no longer applied
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beginning in February 2020, the unrealized loss amounts are now being recorded directly to earnings. The amount reclassified out of other comprehensive income into interest expense on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of LossIncome for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 was $2.8 million and $8.5$5.7 million, respectively. The amount reclassified out of other comprehensive income into interest expense on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of LossIncome for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20202021 was $2.8 million and $8.0$5.7 million, respectively.

During the next twelve months, beginning OctoberJuly 1, 2021,2022, we estimate that $11.3$3.6 million will be reclassified as an increase to interest expense.

Exchangeable Notes Hedge Transactions

On June 25, 2019, concurrently with the pricing of the Exchangeable Notes, (see Note 11), and on June 27, 2019, concurrently with the exercise by the initial purchasers involved in the offering of the Exchangeable Notes (the “Initial Purchasers”) of their option to purchase additional Exchangeable Notes, Uniti Fiber Holdings Inc., the issuer of the Exchangeable Notes, entered into exchangeable note hedge transactions with respect to the Company’s common stock (the “Note Hedge Transactions”) with certain of the Initial Purchasers or their respective affiliates (collectively, the “Counterparties”). The Note Hedge Transactions cover, subject to anti-dilution adjustments substantially similar to those applicable to the Exchangeable Notes, the same number of shares of the Company’s common stock that initially underlie the Exchangeable Notes in the aggregate and are exercisable upon exchange of the Exchangeable Notes. The Note Hedge Transactions have an initial strike price that corresponds to the initial exchange price of the Exchangeable Notes, subject to

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Table of Contents

anti-dilution adjustments substantially similar to those applicable to the Exchangeable Notes. The Note Hedge Transactions will expire upon the maturity of the Exchangeable Notes, if not earlier exercised. The Note Hedge Transactions are intended to reduce potential dilution to the Company’s common stock upon any exchange of the Exchangeable Notes and/or offset any cash payments Uniti Fiber is required to make in excess of the principal amount of exchanged Exchangeable Notes, as the case may be, in the event that the market value per share of the Company’s common stock, as measured under the Note Hedge Transactions, at the time of exercise is greater than the strike price of the Note Hedge Transactions.

The Note Hedge Transactions are separate transactions, entered into by Uniti Fiber Holdings Inc. with the Counterparties, and are not part of the terms of the Exchangeable Notes. Holders of the Exchangeable Notes will not have any rights with respect to the Note Hedge Transactions. The Note Hedge Transactions meet certain accounting criteria under GAAP, are recorded in additional paid-in capital on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and are not accounted for as derivatives that are remeasured each reporting period.

Warrant Transactions

On June 25, 2019, concurrently with the pricing of the Exchangeable Notes, and on June 27, 2019 concurrently with the exercise by the Initial Purchasers of their option to purchase additional Exchangeable Notes, the Company entered into warrant transactions to sell to the Counterparties Warrants (the “Warrants”) to acquire, subject to anti-dilution adjustments, up to approximately 27.8 million shares of the Company’s common stock in the aggregate at an exercise price of approximately $16.42 per share. The maximum number of shares of the Company’s common stock that could be issued pursuant to the Warrants is approximately 55.5 million. The Company offered and sold the Warrants in reliance on the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. If the market value per share of the Company’s common stock, as measured under the Warrants, at the time of exercise exceeds the strike price of the Warrants, the Warrants will have a dilutive effect on the Company’s common stock unless, subject to the terms of the Warrants, the Company elects to cash settle the Warrants. The Warrants will expire over a period beginning in September 2024.

The Warrants are separate transactions, entered into by the Company with the Counterparties, and are not part of the terms of the Exchangeable Notes. Holders of the Exchangeable Notes will not have any rights with respect to the Warrants. The Warrants meet certain accounting criteria under GAAP, are recorded in additional paid-in capital on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and are not accounted for as derivatives that are remeasured each reporting period.

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Table of Contents

Note 10.9. Goodwill and Intangible Assets and Liabilities

There were 0no changes in the carrying amount of goodwill occurring during the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021. 2022. The balance of goodwill recorded in our Fiber Infrastructure segment as of SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and December 31, 20202021 is as follows:

(Thousands)

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

Total

 

Goodwill at December 31, 2020

 

$

601,878

 

 

$

601,878

 

Goodwill at September 30, 2021

 

 

601,878

 

 

 

601,878

 

(Thousands)Fiber InfrastructureTotal
Goodwill at December 31, 2021$601,878 $601,878 
Goodwill at June 30, 2022$601,878 $601,878 

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Table of Contents

(Thousands)

 

September 30, 2021

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

(Thousands)June 30, 2022December 31, 2021

 

Original

Cost

 

 

Accumulated

Amortization

 

 

Original

Cost

 

 

Accumulated

Amortization

 

Original
Cost
Accumulated
Amortization
Original
Cost
Accumulated
Amortization

Finite life intangible assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finite life intangible assets:

Customer lists

 

$

416,104

 

 

$

(100,144

)

 

$

416,104

 

 

$

(82,989

)

Customer lists$416,104 $(117,296)$416,104 $(105,861)

Contracts

 

 

52,536

 

 

 

(6,567

)

 

 

48,269

 

 

 

(1,068

)

Contracts52,536 (11,492)52,536 (8,209)

Underlying Rights

 

 

10,497

 

 

 

(350

)

 

 

10,497

 

 

 

(87

)

Underlying Rights10,497 (612)10,497 (437)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Total intangible assets

 

$

479,137

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

474,870

 

 

 

 

 

Total intangible assets$479,137  $479,137  

Less: accumulated amortization

 

 

(107,061

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(84,145

)

 

 

 

 

Less: accumulated amortization(129,400) (114,507) 

Total intangible assets, net

 

$

372,076

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

390,725

 

 

 

 

 

Total intangible assets, net$349,737  $364,630  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Finite life intangible liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finite life intangible liabilities:    

Below-market leases

 

$

191,154

 

 

 

(10,695

)

 

$

190,086

 

 

 

(2,200

)

Below-market leases$191,154 (18,715)$191,154 (13,368)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Finite life intangible liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finite life intangible liabilities:    

Below-market leases

 

$

191,154

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

190,086

 

 

 

 

 

Below-market leases$191,154  $191,154  

Less: accumulated amortization

 

 

(10,695

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2,200

)

 

 

 

 

Less: accumulated amortization(18,715) (13,368) 

Total intangible liabilities, net

 

$

180,459

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

187,886

 

 

 

 

 

Total intangible liabilities, net$172,439  $177,786  

As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, the remaining weighted average amortization period of the Company’s intangible assets and liabilities was 15.1 years and 18.1 years, respectively.

14.6 years.

Amortization expense for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021 was $4.8 2022 was $7.4 million and $14.3$14.8 million, respectively. Amortization expense for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020 was $6.5 2021 was $4.7 million and $22.6$9.5 million, respectively.

Amortization expense is estimated to be $19.1$29.8 million for the full year of 2021, $19.1 million in 2022, $19.0$29.8 million in 2023, $19.0$29.7 million in 2024, $29.7 million in 2025, and $19.0$29.7 million for 2025. 

2026.
We recognize the amortization of below-market leases in revenue. Revenue related to the amortization of the below-market leases for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 was $2.6 million and $5.3 million. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, $2.6 million and $5.3 million was recorded as a benefit to amortization expense, and subsequently reclassified these amounts to revenue during the fourth quarter of 2021. As of June 30, 2022, the remaining weighted average amortization period of the Company’s intangible liabilities was 17.4 years. Revenue due to the amortization of the below-market leases is estimated to be $10.7 million for the full year of 2022, $10.7 million in 2023, $10.7 million in 2024, $10.7 million in 2025, and $10.7 million in 2026.

Note 11.10. Notes and Other Debt

All debt, including the senior secured credit facility and notes described below, are obligations of the Operating Partnership and/or certain of its subsidiaries as discussed below. The Company is, however, a guarantor of such debt.

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Notes and other debt are as follows:

(Thousands)

 

September 30, 2021

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

(Thousands)June 30, 2022December 31, 2021

Principal amount

 

$

5,055,000

 

 

$

4,965,000

 

Principal amount$5,175,000 $5,175,000 

Less unamortized discount, premium and debt issuance costs

 

 

(81,826

)

 

 

(148,476

)

Less unamortized discount, premium and debt issuance costs(75,218)(84,463)

Notes and other debt less unamortized discount, premium and debt issuance costs

 

$

4,973,174

 

 

$

4,816,524

 

Notes and other debt less unamortized discount, premium and debt issuance costs$5,099,782 $5,090,537 

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Notes and other debt at SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and December 31, 20202021 consisted of the following:

 

September 30, 2021

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

June 30, 2022December 31, 2021

(Thousands)

 

Principal

 

 

Unamortized

Discount,

Premium and

Debt Issuance

Costs

 

 

Principal

 

 

Unamortized

Discount,

Premium and

Debt Issuance

Costs

 

(Thousands)Principal
Unamortized
Discount,
Premium and
Debt Issuance
Costs
Principal
Unamortized
Discount,
Premium and
Debt Issuance
Costs

Senior secured notes - 6.00%, due April 15, 2023

(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 6.49%)

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

550,000

 

 

$

(4,053

)

Senior secured notes - 7.875%, due February 15, 2025

(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 8.38%)

 

 

2,250,000

 

 

 

(33,589

)

 

 

2,250,000

 

 

 

(39,852

)

Senior secured notes - 7.875%, due February 15, 2025
(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 8.38%)
$2,250,000 $(26,922)$2,250,000 $(31,411)

Senior secured notes - 4.75%, due April 15, 2028

(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 5.04%)

 

 

570,000

 

 

 

(9,184

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Senior secured notes - 4.75%, due April 15, 2028
(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 5.04%)
570,000 (8,278)570,000 (8,886)

Senior unsecured notes - 8.25%, due October 15, 2023

(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 9.06%)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

1,110,000

 

 

 

(22,024

)

Senior unsecured notes - 4.00%, due June 15, 2024

(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 4.77%)

 

 

345,000

 

 

 

(6,776

)

 

 

345,000

 

 

 

(69,608

)

Senior unsecured notes - 4.00%, due June 15, 2024
(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 4.77%)
345,000 (4,986)345,000 (6,187)

Senior unsecured notes - 7.125% due December 15, 2024

(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 7.38%)

 

 

600,000

 

 

 

(4,526

)

 

 

600,000

 

 

 

(5,316

)

Senior unsecured notes - 6.50%, due February 15, 2029

(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 6.83%)

 

 

1,110,000

 

 

 

(21,721

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Senior unsecured notes - 6.50%, due February 15, 2029
(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 6.83%)
1,110,000 (19,425)1,110,000 (20,797)
Senior unsecured notes - 6.00% due January 15, 2030
(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 6.27%)
Senior unsecured notes - 6.00% due January 15, 2030
(discount is based on imputed interest rate of 6.27%)
700,000 (11,121)700,000 (11,689)

Senior secured revolving credit facility, variable rate, due December 10, 2024

 

 

180,000

 

 

 

(6,030

)

 

 

110,000

 

 

 

(7,623

)

Senior secured revolving credit facility, variable rate, due December 10, 2024200,000 (4,486)200,000 (5,493)

Total

 

$

5,055,000

 

 

$

(81,826

)

 

$

4,965,000

 

 

$

(148,476

)

Total$5,175,000 $(75,218)$5,175,000 $(84,463)

At SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, notes and other debt included the following: (i) $180.0$200.0 million under the Revolving Credit Facility (as defined below) pursuant to the credit agreement by and among Uniti Group LP, Uniti Group Finance 2019 Inc. and CSL Capital, LLC (the “Borrowers”), the guarantors and lenders party thereto and Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and collateral agent (the “Credit Agreement”); (ii) $2.25 billion aggregate principal amount of 7.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2025 (the “2025 Secured Notes”); (iii) $570.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2028 (the “2028 Secured Notes”); (iv) $600.0 million aggregate principal amount of 7.125% Senior Unsecured Notes due December 15, 2024 (the “2024 Notes”); (v) $1.11 billion aggregate principal amount of 6.50% Senior Notes due February 15, 2029 (the “2029 Notes”); and (vi)(v) $345.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.00% Exchangeable Senior Notes due June 15, 2024 (the “Exchangeable Notes”); and (vi) $700.0 million aggregate principal amount of 6.00% Senior Unsecured Notes due January 15, 2030 (the “2030 Notes” and collectively with the 2025 Secured Notes, the 2028 Secured Notes, 2024the 2029 Notes and 2029the Exchangeable Notes, the “Notes”). Until our net leverage ratio is below 5.75 : 1.00, o Tur 2025 Secured Notes limit our ability to make cash distributions to our shareholders in amounts exceeding 90% of our good faith estimate, as of the date on which the first quarterly dividend for the relevant year is declared, of our REIT taxable income for such year, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any capital gains.  Except as disclosed herein with respect to the 2030 Notes, as described below, (see Note 17), thehe terms of the Notes are as described in the Company’s Annual Report and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q10-K for the quartersyear ended MarchDecember 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021.

On October 13, 2021, the Operating Partnership, Uniti Fiber Holdings Inc., Uniti Group Finance 2019 Inc. and CSL Capital, LLC (the “Issuers”) issued $700 million aggregate principal amount of 6.00% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2030 (the “2030 Notes” and used the proceeds to fund the redemption

We have achieved a consolidated net leverage ratio as defined in full of the 2024 Notes on December 15, 2021.  On October 13, 2021, the Issuers deposited amounts sufficient to fund the redemption of the 2024 Notes with the trustee of the 2024 Notes, and to pay any related premiums, fees and expenses in connection with the foregoing, and satisfied and discharged their respective obligations under the indenture governing the 2024 Notes. See Note 17.

2025 Secured Notes below 5.75 to 1.0 and, therefore, the covenant reversion date (as defined in the 2025 Secured Notes indenture) has occurred. As a result, the restriction imposed by our 2025 Secured Notes from paying cash dividends in excess of 90% of our REIT taxable income has been lifted.

Credit Agreement

The

The Borrowers are party to the Credit Agreement, which after the Seventh Amendment (as defined below), providedprovides for a $60.5 million non-extended revolving credit facility that matures on April 24, 2022 (the “Non-Extended Revolving Credit Facility”) and a $500 million revolving credit facility extended that will mature on December 10, 2024 (the “Extended Revolving Credit Facility” and together with Non-Extended Revolving Credit facility, the “Revolving Credit Facility”), which provide and provides us with the ability to obtain revolving loans as well as swingline loans and letters of credit from time to time. All obligations under the Credit Agreement are guaranteed by (i) the

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Company and (ii) certain of the Operating Partnership’s subsidiaries (the “Subsidiary Guarantors”) and are secured by substantially all of the assets of the Borrowers and the Subsidiary Guarantors.

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The Borrowers are subject to customary covenants under the Credit Agreement, including an obligation to maintain a consolidated secured leverage ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, not to exceed 5.00 to 1.00. We are permitted, subject to customary conditions, to incur other indebtedness, so long as, on a pro forma basis after giving effect to any such indebtedness, our consolidated total leverage ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, does not exceed 6.50 to 1.00 and, if such debt is secured, our consolidated secured leverage ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, does not exceed 4.00 to 1.00. In addition, the Credit Agreement contains customary events of default, including a cross default provision whereby the failure of the Borrowers or certain of their subsidiaries to make payments under other debt obligations, or the occurrence of certain events affecting those other borrowing arrangements, could trigger an obligation to repay any amounts outstanding under the Credit Agreement. In particular, a repayment obligation could be triggered if (i) the Borrowers or certain of their subsidiaries fail to make a payment when due of any principal or interest on any other indebtedness aggregating $75.0 million or more, or (ii) an event occurs that causes, or would permit the holders of any other indebtedness aggregating $75.0 million or more to cause, such indebtedness to become due prior to its stated maturity. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, the Borrowers were in compliance with all of the covenants under the Credit Agreement.

A termination of either Windstream Lease would result in an “event of default” under the Credit Agreement if a replacement lease is not entered into within ninety90 (90) calendar days and we do not maintain pro forma compliance with a consolidated secured leverage ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, of 5.00 to 1.00.

On December 10, 2020, we entered into an amendment (the “Seventh Amendment”) to our Credit Agreement.  Pursuant to the Seventh Amendment, commitments from new and existing lenders

Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility have increased to $500 million and the maturity date of such commitments has been extended to December 10, 2024.  Certain non-extending lender commitments of $60.5 million will mature on April 24, 2022 and will continue to bear interest at rates previously in effect. Prior to the expiration of these commitments, the aggregate size of the Revolving Credit Facility will be $560.5 million from all lenders.

Borrowings under (a) the Non-Extended Revolving Credit Facility bear interest at a rate equal to either a base rate plus an applicable margin ranging from 3.75% to 4.25% or a eurodollar rate plus an applicable margin ranging from 4.75% to 5.25% and (b) effective April 17, 2021, following the receipt of certain routine regulatory approvals, the Extended Revolving Credit Facility bear interest at a rate equal to either a base rate plus an applicable margin ranging from 2.75% to 3.50% or a eurodollar rate plus an applicable margin ranging from 3.75% to 4.50%, in each case, calculated in a customary manner and determined based on our consolidated secured leverage ratio.ratio. We are required to pay a quarterly commitment fee under the Revolving Credit Facility equal to 0.50% of the average amount of unused commitments during the applicable quarter (subject to a step-down to 0.40% per annum of the average amount of unused commitments during the applicable quarter upon achievement of a consolidated secured leverage ratio not to exceed a certain level), as well as quarterly letter of credit fees equal to the product of (A) the applicable margin with respect to eurodollar borrowings and (B) the average amount available to be drawn under outstanding letters of credit during such quarter.

Deferred Financing Cost

Deferred financing costs were incurred in connection with the issuance of the Notes and the Revolving Credit Facility. These costs are amortized using the effective interest method over the term of the related indebtedness and are included in interest expense in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss). Income. For the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we recognized $4.2$4.3 million and $12.4$8.6 million, respectively, of non-cash interest expense related to the amortization of deferred financing costs. For the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020,2021, we recognized $3.9$4.1 million and $11.4$8.2 million, respectively, of non-cash interest expense related to the amortization of deferred financing costs.

Note 12.11. Earnings Per Share

Our time-based restricted stock awards are considered participating securities as they receive non-forfeitable rights to dividends at the same rate as common stock. As participating securities, we included these instruments in the computation of earnings per share under the two-class method described in FASB ASC 260, Earnings per Share (“ASC 260”).

We also have outstanding performance-based restricted stock units that contain forfeitable rights to receive dividends. Therefore, the awards are considered non-participating restrictive shares and are not dilutive under the two-class method until performance conditions are met.

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The dilutive effect of the Exchangeable Notes (see Note 11) is calculated by using the ���if-converted”“if-converted” method. This assumes an add-back of interest, net of income taxes, to net income attributable to shareholders as if the securities were converted at the beginning of the reporting period (or at time of issuance, if later) and the resulting common shares included in number of weighted average shares. The dilutive effect of the Warrants (see Note 98) is calculated using the treasury-stock method. During the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2022 and 2021, and 2020, the Warrants were excluded from diluted shares outstanding because the exercise price exceeded the average market price of our common stock for the reporting period.

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The following sets forth the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share under the two-class method:

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands, except per share data)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands, except per share data)2022202120222021

Basic earnings per share:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic earnings per share:  

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numerator:  

Net income (loss) attributable to shareholders

 

$

43,366

 

 

$

7,265

 

 

$

87,835

 

 

$

(659,332

)

Net income attributable to shareholdersNet income attributable to shareholders$53,697 $48,907 $106,427 $44,469 

Less: Income allocated to participating securities

 

 

(283

)

 

 

(229

)

 

 

(864

)

 

 

(853

)

Less: Income allocated to participating securities(340)(333)(671)(581)

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock

 

 

(3

)

 

 

(2

)

 

 

(8

)

 

 

(6

)

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock(5)(2)(10)(5)

Net income (loss) attributable to common shares

 

$

43,080

 

 

$

7,034

 

 

$

86,963

 

 

$

(660,191

)

Net income attributable to common sharesNet income attributable to common shares$53,352 $48,572 $105,746 $43,883 

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denominator:  

Basic weighted-average common shares outstanding

 

 

233,513

 

 

 

198,054

 

 

 

232,269

 

 

 

194,278

 

Basic weighted-average common shares outstanding235,656 231,801 235,352 231,636 

Basic earnings (loss) per common share

 

$

0.18

 

 

$

0.04

 

 

$

0.37

 

 

$

(3.40

)

Basic earnings per common shareBasic earnings per common share$0.23 $0.21 $0.45 $0.19 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands, except per share data)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands, except per share data)2022202120222021

Diluted earnings per share:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diluted earnings per share:  

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numerator:  

Net income (loss) attributable to shareholders

 

$

43,366

 

 

$

7,265

 

 

$

87,835

 

 

$

(659,332

)

Net income attributable to shareholdersNet income attributable to shareholders$53,697 $48,907 $106,427 $44,469 

Less: Income allocated to participating securities

 

 

(283

)

 

 

(229

)

 

 

(864

)

 

 

(853

)

Less: Income allocated to participating securities(340)(333)(671)(581)

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock

 

 

(3

)

 

 

(2

)

 

 

(8

)

 

 

(6

)

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock(5)(2)(10)(5)

Impact on if-converted dilutive securities

 

 

2,984

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Impact on if-converted dilutive securities3,000 2,974 5,994 — 

Net income (loss) attributable to common shares

 

$

46,064

 

 

$

7,034

 

 

$

86,963

 

 

$

(660,191

)

Net income attributable to common sharesNet income attributable to common shares$56,352 $51,546 $111,740 $43,883 

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denominator:  

Basic weighted-average common shares outstanding

 

 

233,513

 

 

 

198,054

 

 

 

232,269

 

 

 

194,278

 

Basic weighted-average common shares outstanding235,656 231,801 235,352 231,636 

Effect of dilutive non-participating securities

 

 

338

 

 

 

319

 

 

 

271

 

 

 

-

 

Effect of dilutive non-participating securities359 135 347 226 

Impact on if-converted dilutive securities

 

 

30,570

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Impact on if-converted dilutive securities31,346 30,332 31,346 — 

Weighted-average shares for dilutive earnings per common share

 

 

264,421

 

 

 

198,373

 

 

 

232,540

 

 

 

194,278

 

Weighted-average shares for dilutive earnings per common share267,361 262,268 267,045 231,862 

Dilutive earnings (loss) per common share

 

$

0.17

 

 

$

0.04

 

 

$

0.37

 

 

$

(3.40

)

Dilutive earnings per common shareDilutive earnings per common share$0.21 $0.20 $0.42 $0.19 

For the ninethree and six months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2022, 603,575 non-participating securities were excluded from the computation of earnings per share, as their performance metrics were not met. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, 30,569,58830,332,262 potential common shares related to the Exchangeable Notes were excluded from the computation of earnings per share, as their effect would have been anti-dilutive.For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, 29,504,780 potential common shares related to the Exchangeable Notes were excluded from the computation of earnings per share, as their effect would have been anti-dilutive. For the nine months ended September 30, 2020,  730,863 non-participating securities were excluded from the computation of earnings per share, as their effect would have been anti-dilutive.

Note 13.12. Segment Information

Historically our

Our management, including our chief executive officer, who is our chief operating decision maker, managedmanages our operations as the 42 reportable segments, in addition to our corporate operations, as described below. Due to the sale of our towers

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business and wind down of the Consumer CLEC business, effective January 1, 2021, we manage our operations focused on our 2 primary businesses, Leasing and Fiber Infrastructure.

which include:

Leasing: Represents the results fromoperations of our leasing business, Uniti Leasing, which is engaged in the acquisition and construction of mission-critical communications assets and leasing them back to anchor customers on either an exclusive or shared-tenant basis.basis, in addition to the leasing of dark fiber on our existing dark fiber network assets that we either constructed or acquired. While the Leasing segment represents our REIT operations, certain aspects of the Leasing segment are also operated through taxable REIT subsidiaries.

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Table of Contents
Fiber Infrastructure: Represents the operations of our fiber business, Uniti Fiber, which is a leading provider of infrastructure solutions, including cell site backhaul and dark fiber, to the telecommunications industry.

TowersCorporate: Represents the operations of our former towers business, Uniti Towers, through which we acquired and constructed tower and tower-related real estate and leased space on communications towers to wireless service providers and other tenants in the United States and Latin America.  Starting in 2019, the Company completed a series of transactions to largely divest of its towers business:  on April 2, 2019, May 23, 2019 and June 1, 2020, the Company completed the sales of its Latin American business, substantially all of its U.S. ground lease business, and its U.S. tower business, respectively.

Consumer CLEC: Represents the operations of Talk America through which we operated the Consumer CLEC business, which prior to Uniti’s separation and spin-off from Windstream (the “Spin-Off”) was reported as an integrated operation within Windstream. Talk America provided local telephone, high-speed internet and long-distance services to customers in the eastern and central United States.  As of the end of the second quarter of 2020, we substantially completed a wind down of our Consumer CLEC business.

Corporate: Represents our corporate office and back officeshared service functions. Certain costs and expenses, primarily related to headcount, insurance, professional fees and similar charges, that are directly attributable to operations of our business segments are allocated to the respective segments.

Management evaluates the performance of each segment using Adjusted EBITDA, which is a segment performance measure we define as net income determined in accordance with GAAP, before interest expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation expense and the impact, which may be recurring in nature, of transaction and integration related costs, costs associated with Windstream’s bankruptcy, costs associated with litigation claims made against us, costs associated with the implementation of our enterprise resource planning system, executive severance costs, costs related to the settlement with Windstream, amortization of non-cash rights-of-use assets, the write off of unamortized deferred financing costs, costs incurred as a result of the early repayment of debt, including early tender and redemption premiums and costs associated with the termination of related hedging activities, gains or losses on dispositions, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration and financial instruments, and other similar or infrequent items (although we may not have had such charges in the periods presented). Adjusted EBITDA includes adjustments to reflect the Company’s share of Adjusted EBITDA from unconsolidated entities. The Company believes that net income, as defined by GAAP, is the most appropriate earnings metric; however, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA serves as a useful supplement to net income because it allows investors, analysts and management to evaluate the performance of our segments in a manner that is comparable period over period. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income as determined in accordance with GAAPGAAP.

.

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Table of Contents
Selected financial data related to our segments is presented below for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021 2022 and 2020:

30

2021:
Three Months Ended June 30, 2022
(Thousands)LeasingFiber InfrastructureCorporateSubtotal of Reportable Segments
Revenues$205,614 78,361 $— $283,975 
Adjusted EBITDA$200,349 33,583 (6,768)$227,164 
Less:
Interest expense96,377 
Depreciation and amortization42,513 29,753 37 72,303 
Transaction related and other costs3,235 
Gain on sale of real estate(250)
Other, net(7,495)
Stock-based compensation3,201 
Income tax expense4,944 
Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities1,075 
Net income$53,774 
Three Months Ended June 30, 2021
(Thousands)LeasingFiber InfrastructureCorporateSubtotal of Reportable Segments
Revenues$196,057 $72,123 $— $268,180 
Adjusted EBITDA$192,137 $29,439 $(5,842)$215,734 
Less:
Interest expense106,388 
Depreciation and amortization40,474 29,132 65 69,671 
Transaction related and other costs424 
Gain on sale of real estate(442)
Gain on sale of operations(28,143)
Other, net8,779 
Stock-based compensation3,462 
Income tax expense5,084 
Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities872 
Net income$49,639 
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Table of Contents

 

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021

 

Six Months Ended June 30, 2022

(Thousands)

 

Leasing

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

Towers

 

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

Corporate

 

 

Subtotal of Reportable Segments

 

(Thousands)LeasingFiber InfrastructureCorporateSubtotal of Reportable Segments

Revenues

 

$

199,485

 

 

$

67,262

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

266,747

 

Revenues410,255 151,754 $— $562,009 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

194,303

 

 

$

27,556

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

(4,632

)

 

$

217,227

 

Adjusted EBITDA399,322 65,042 (12,411)$451,953 

Less:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Less:

Interest expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

94,793

 

Interest expense192,549 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

41,432

 

 

 

29,036

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

62

 

 

 

70,530

 

Depreciation and amortization84,616 59,071 73 143,760 

Other expense, net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4,472

 

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,063

 

Transaction related and other costs4,949 
Gain on sale of real estateGain on sale of real estate(250)
Other, netOther, net(7,134)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4,166

 

Stock-based compensation6,513 

Income tax benefit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2,244

)

Income tax expenseIncome tax expense2,873 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

765

 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities2,061 

Net income

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

43,682

 

Net income$106,632 

 

Three Months Ended September 30, 2020

 

Six Months Ended June 30, 2021

(Thousands)

 

Leasing

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

Towers

 

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

Corporate

 

 

Subtotal of Reportable Segments

 

(Thousands)LeasingFiber InfrastructureCorporateSubtotal of Reportable Segments

Revenues

 

$

182,370

 

 

$

76,395

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

258,765

 

Revenues$390,993 $149,773 $— $540,766 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

181,103

 

 

$

25,419

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

(186

)

 

$

(7,775

)

 

$

198,561

 

Adjusted EBITDA$383,634 $59,160 $(12,812)$429,982 

Less:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Less:

Interest expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

102,791

 

Interest expense246,969 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

48,189

 

 

 

31,617

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

74

 

 

 

79,880

 

Depreciation and amortization82,700 57,802 133 140,635 

Other expense, net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3,098

 

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20,816

 

Transaction related and other costs4,561 

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(22,908

)

Gain on sale of real estate(442)
Gain on sale of operationsGain on sale of operations(28,143)
Other, netOther, net10,097 

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3,341

 

Stock-based compensation6,797 

Income tax expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,801

 

Income tax expense2,527 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,287

 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities1,844 

Net income

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

7,455

 

Net income$45,137 

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Table of Contents

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021

 

(Thousands)

 

Leasing

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

Towers

 

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

Corporate

 

 

Subtotal of Reportable Segments

 

Revenues

 

$

590,478

 

 

$

217,035

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

807,513

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

577,937

 

 

$

86,716

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

(17,444

)

 

$

647,209

 

Less:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

341,762

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

124,132

 

 

 

86,838

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

195

 

 

 

211,165

 

Other expense, net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14,569

 

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5,624

 

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(442

)

Gain on sale of operations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(28,143

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10,963

 

Income tax expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

283

 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,609

 

Net income

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

88,819

 

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020

 

(Thousands)

 

Leasing

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

Towers

 

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

Corporate

 

 

Subtotal of Reportable Segments

 

Revenues

 

$

552,042

 

 

$

232,942

 

 

$

6,112

 

 

$

651

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

791,747

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

545,792

 

 

$

81,453

 

 

$

77

 

 

$

(461

)

 

$

(23,717

)

 

$

603,144

 

Less:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

388,427

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

155,216

 

 

 

93,957

 

 

 

783

 

 

 

791

 

 

 

223

 

 

 

250,970

 

Other expense, net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12,186

 

Settlement expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

650,000

 

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

55,344

 

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(86,726

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10,446

 

Income tax benefit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(7,650

)

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,287

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

(671,140

)

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Note 14.13. Commitments and Contingencies

In the ordinary course of our business, we are subject to claims and administrative proceedings, none of which we believe are material or would be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.

Windstream Commitments

Following the consummation of our settlement agreement with Windstream, including entry into the Windstream Leases, we are obligated to make $490.1 million of cash payments to Windstream in equal installments over 20 consecutive quarters beginning in October 2020, and Uniti may prepay any installments due on or after the first anniversary of the settlement agreement (discounted at a 9% rate). As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, the Company made the first five quarterly payments totaling $122.5 million. On October 14, 2021, the Company prepaid four4 installments for a total of $92.9 million, $78.0 millionmillion. As of which was funded from a portionJune 30, 2022, the Company has made payments totaling $215.4 million.
26

Table of the proceeds of the 2030 Notes (see Note 17Contents).

Further, we are obligated to reimburse Windstream for up to an aggregate of $1.75 billion for certain growth capital improvements in long-term fiber and related assets made by Windstream (“Growth Capital Improvements”) through 2029. Uniti’s reimbursement commitment for Growth Capital Improvements does not require Uniti to reimburse Windstream for maintenance or repair expenditures (except for costs incurred for fiber replacements to the property leased under the competitive local exchange carrier master lease agreement, up to $70 million during the term), and each such reimbursement is subject to underwriting standards. Uniti’s total annual reimbursement commitments for the Growth Capital Improvements under both Windstream Leases (and under separate equipment loan facilities) were limited to $125 million in 2020, $225 million in 2021, and are limited to $225 million per year in 20212022 through 2024; $175 million per year in 2025 and 2026; and $125 million per year in 2027 through 2029. If the cost incurred by Windstream (or the successor tenant under a Windstream Lease) for Growth Capital Improvements in any calendar year exceeds the annual limit for such calendar year, Windstream (or such tenant, as the case may be) may submit such excess costs for reimbursement in any subsequent year and such excess costs shall be funded from the annual commitment amounts in such subsequent period. In addition, to the extent that reimbursements for Growth Capital Improvements funded in any calendar year during the term is less than the annual limit for such calendar year, the unfunded amount in any calendar year will carry-over and may be added to the annual limits for subsequent calendar years, subject to an annual limit of $250 million in any calendar year, except that, during calendar year 2021, our combined total obligation to fund Growth Capital Improvements may exceed $250 million to the extent of any unfunded excess amounts from calendar year 2020.  Accordingly, because we funded $84.7 million of the $125 million limit in 2020, we are committed to fund up to $265.3 million of Growth Capital Improvements in 2021.year. During the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, Uniti reimbursed $152.3$91.7 million of Growth Capital Improvements, of which $28.5$29.4 million as allowed under the Settlement, represented the reimbursement of capital improvements completed in 20202021 that were previously classified as tenant funded capital improvements. Upon reimbursement, the Company reduced the unamortized portion of deferred revenue related to these capital improvements and capitalized the difference between the cash provided to Windstream and the unamortized deferred revenue as a lease incentive. This lease incentive, which is $0.9$0.8 million and reported within other assets on our Condensed Consolidated Balance SheetSheets as of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, will be amortized againstas a reduction to revenue over the initial term of the Windstream Leases.

Starting on the first anniversary of each installment of reimbursement for a Growth Capital Improvement, the rent payable by Windstream under the applicable Windstream Lease will increase by an amount equal to 8.0% (the “Rent Rate”) of such installment of reimbursement. The Rent Rate will thereafter increase to 100.5% of the prior Rent Rate on each anniversary of each reimbursement. In the event that the tenant’s interest in either Windstream Lease is transferred by Windstream under the terms thereof (unless transferred to the same transferee), or if Uniti transfers its interests as landlord under either Windstream Lease (unless to the same transferee), the reimbursement rights and obligations will be allocated between the ILEC MLA and the CLEC MLA by Windstream, provided that the maximum that may be allocated to the CLEC MLA following such transfer is $20 million per year. If Uniti fails to reimburse any Growth Capital Improvement reimbursement payment or equipment loan funding request as and when it is required to do so under the terms of the Windstream Leases, and such failure continues for 30 (30) days, then such unreimbursed amounts may be applied as an offset against the rent owed by Windstream under the Windstream Leases (and such amounts will thereafter be treated as if Uniti had reimbursed them).
Uniti and Windstream have entered into separate ILEC and CLEC Equipment Loan and Security Agreements (collectively “Equipment Loan Agreement”) in which Uniti will provide up to $125 million (limited to $25 million in any calendar year) of the $1.75 billion of Growth Capital Improvements commitments discussed above in the form of loans for Windstream to purchase equipment related to network upgrades or to be used in connection with the Windstream Leases. Interest on these loans will accrue at 8% from the date of the borrowing. All equipment financed through the Equipment Loan Agreement is the sole property of Windstream; however, Uniti will receive a first-lien security interest in the equipment purchased with the loans.
Other Litigation

On July 3, 2019, SLF Holdings, LLC (“SLF”) filed a complaint against the Company, Uniti Fiber, and certain current and former officers of the Company (collectively, the “Defendants”) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, in connection with Uniti Fiber’s purchase of Southern Light, LLC from SLF in July 2017. The complaint asserted claims for fraud and conspiracy, as well as claims under federal and Alabama securities laws, alleging that Defendants improperly failed to disclose to SLF the risk that the Spin-Off and entry into the Master Lease violated certain debt covenants of Windstream. On September 26, 2019, the action was transferred to United States District Court for the District of Delaware. On November 18, 2019, SLF filed an amended complaint, adding allegations that Defendants also failed to fully disclose the risk that the Master Lease purportedly could be recharacterized as a financing instead of a “true lease.” The amended complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as reformation of the purchase agreement for the sale. On December 18, 2019, Defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint in its entirety. That motion was fully briefed as of February 7, 2020, and a hearing on the motion was heard on May 12, 2020. On November 4, 2020, the court granted the Defendants’ motion and dismissed SLF’s amended complaint, in its entirety, with prejudice. On
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December 1, 2020, SLF filed a notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from the district court’s dismissal order. The appeal was fully briefed on September 10, 2021.  Oral argument is scheduled for December 31, 2021. We have evaluated this matter under the guidance provided by ASC 450-20,450, Contingencies (“ASC 450”), and as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we consider a loss not to be probable and are unable to estimate a reasonably possible range of loss; therefore, we have not recorded any liabilities associated with these claims in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.Sheets.

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Beginning on October 25, 2019, several purported shareholders filed separate putative class actions in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas against the Company and certain of our officers, alleging violations of the federal securities laws (the “Shareholder Actions”), based on claims similar to those asserted in the SLF Action. On March 12, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas consolidated the Shareholder Actions and appointed lead plaintiffs and lead counsel in the consolidated cases under the caption In re Uniti Group Inc. Securities Litigation.Litigation (the “Class Action”). On May 11, 2020, lead plaintiffs filed a consolidated amended complaint in the consolidated Shareholder Actions.Class Action. The consolidated amended complaint seeks to represent investors who acquired the Company’s securities between April 20, 2015 and February 15, 2019. The Shareholder Actions assertClass Action asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, alleging that the Company made materially false and misleading statements by allegedly failing to disclose, among other things, the risk that the Spin-Off and entry into the Master Lease violated certain debt covenants of Windstream and/or the risk that the Master Lease purportedly could be recharacterized as a financing instead of a “true lease.” The Shareholder Actions seekClass Action seeks class certification, unspecified monetary damages, costs and attorneys’ fees and other relief. On July 10, 2020, defendants moved to dismiss the consolidated amended complaint. On April 1, 2021, the court issued an order denying defendants’ motion to dismiss. On April 15, 2021, defendants filed a motion for reconsideration of the order or, in the alternative, for certification of an appeal of the decision to the Eighth Circuit. Plaintiffs formallyOn October 25, 2021, plaintiffs filed a motion for class certification, which defendants opposed this. On December 22, 2021, the court issued an order denying defendants’ motion for reconsideration or, in the alternative, certification of an appeal. On March 25, 2022, the parties reached an agreement to settle the Class Action, on April 29, 2021.behalf of a settlement class, for $38.9 million, to be funded entirely by the Company’s insurance carriers. On June 17, 2022, the parties signed a stipulation of settlement and plaintiffs moved for preliminary approval of the settlement. The District Court has not yet ruled onsettlement remains subject to notice to the motion.  Discovery is ongoing. We intend to defend this matter vigorously,settlement class and because it is still in its preliminary stages, we have not yet determined what effect this lawsuit will have, if any, on our financial position or results of operations. We have evaluated this matter under the guidance provided bycourt approval. In accordance with ASC 450, we recorded $38.9 million of settlement expense within general and asadministrative expense within our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income during the datefirst quarter of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we consider a loss not to be probable2022 and are unable to estimate a reasonably possible range of loss; therefore, we have not recorded anyaccounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities, associated with these claims innet within our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.Sheets as of June 30, 2022. Additionally, we recorded the probable insurance recovery of $38.9 million as a reduction to general and administrative expense during the first quarter of 2022 within our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, and other assets within Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of June 30, 2022.

On August 17, 2021, two purported shareholders filed a derivative action on behalf of Uniti in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, under the caption Mayer et al. v. Gunderman et al., 24-C-21-003488 (the “Derivative Complaint”“Mayer Derivative Action”). The Mayer Derivative ComplaintAction names Kenneth Gunderman and Mark Wallace as defendants and the Company as a nominal defendant and asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment. The complaint alleges that the individual defendants caused the Company to issue certain false and misleading statements relating to the Spin-Off and/or the Master Lease. In particular, as in the Shareholder Actions, the complaint alleges, among other things, that Defendantsdefendants failed to disclose the risk that the Spin-Off and entry into the Master Lease violated certain debt covenants of Windstream and/or the risk that the Master Lease purportedly could be recharacterized as a financing instead of a “true lease.” The complaint seeks unspecified damages, unspecified equitable relief, and related costs and fees. The parties are currently discussingOn December 23, 2021, the court entered a potentialjoint stipulation to stay of the action pending the outcome of the Shareholder Actions.  In the meantime, the plaintiffs have agreed to extendMayer Derivative Action, including the time for the defendants to respond to the complaint.complaint, pending the outcome of the Class Action. Because this matter is still in its preliminary stages, we have not yet determined what effect this lawsuit will have, if any, on our financial position or results of operations. We have evaluated this matter under the guidance provided by ASC 450, and as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we consider a loss not to be probable and are unable to estimate a reasonably possible range of loss; therefore, we have not recorded any liabilities associated with these claims in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.Sheets.
On February 11, 2022, a purported shareholder filed a derivative action on behalf of Uniti in the federal District Court for the District of Maryland, under the caption

Guzzo et al. v. Gunderman et al., 1:22-cv-00366-GLR (the “Guzzo Derivative Action”). The complaint names Kenneth Gunderman, Mark Wallace, Francis Frantz, David Solomon, Jennifer Banner, and Scott Bruce as defendants and the Company as a nominal defendant and asserts claims for contribution against Gunderman and Wallace if the Company is found to be liable for violations of the federal securities laws in the Class Action and claims against all the individual defendants for breaches of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, and unjust enrichment. The allegations in the Guzzo Derivative Action are similar to those in the Mayer Derivative Action and the Class Action. The complaint seeks unspecified damages, equitable relief, and related costs and fees. On March 16, 2022, the court entered a joint stipulation to stay the Guzzo Derivative Action, including the time for the defendants to respond to the complaint, pending the outcome of the Class Action. We intend to defend this matter vigorously, and, because it is still in its relatively

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early stages, we have not yet determined what effect this lawsuit will have, if any, on our financial position or results of operations.
We maintain insurance policies that would provide coverage to various degrees for potential liabilities arising from the legal proceedings described above.

Under the terms of the tax matters agreement entered into on April 24, 2015 by the Company, Windstream Services, LLC and Windstream (the “Tax Matters Agreement”), in connection with the Spin-Off, we are generally responsible for any taxes imposed on Windstream that arise from the failure of the Spin-Off and the debt exchanges to qualify as tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, within the meaning of Section 355 and Section 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code, as applicable, to the extent such failure to qualify is attributable to certain actions, events or transactions relating to our stock, indebtedness, assets or business, or a breach of the relevant representations or any covenants made by us in the Tax Matters Agreement, the materials submitted to the IRS in connection with the request for the private letter ruling or the representations provided in connection with the tax opinion. We believe that the probability of us incurring obligations under the Tax Matters Agreement are remote; and therefore, we have recorded 0no such liabilities in our Condensed Consolidated Balance SheetSheets as of SeptemberJune 30, 2021.

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Note 15.14. Accumulated Other Comprehensive (Loss) Income

Loss

Changes in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) incomeloss by component is as follows for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 2020:

2021:

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)2022202120222021

Cash flow hedge changes in fair value (loss) gain:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at beginning of period attributable to common shareholders

 

$

(30,353

)

 

$

(30,353

)

 

$

(30,353

)

 

$

(23,442

)

Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(7,713

)

Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

677

 

Balance at end of period

 

 

(30,353

)

 

 

(30,353

)

 

 

(30,353

)

 

 

(30,478

)

Less: Other comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(125

)

Balance at end of period attributable to common shareholders

 

 

(30,353

)

 

 

(30,353

)

 

 

(30,353

)

 

 

(30,353

)

Cash flow hedge changes in fair value:Cash flow hedge changes in fair value:
Balance at beginning of period attributable to shareholdersBalance at beginning of period attributable to shareholders$(30,353)$(30,353)$(30,353)$(30,353)
Balance at end of period attributable to shareholdersBalance at end of period attributable to shareholders(30,353)(30,353)(30,353)(30,353)

Interest rate swap termination:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest rate swap termination:

Balance at beginning of period attributable to common shareholders

 

 

15,561

 

 

 

4,416

 

 

 

9,986

 

 

 

-

 

Balance at beginning of period attributable to shareholdersBalance at beginning of period attributable to shareholders24,012 12,773 21,189 9,986 

Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income

 

 

2,830

 

 

 

2,829

 

 

 

8,488

 

 

 

7,325

 

Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income2,829 2,829 5,659 5,658 

Balance at end of period

 

 

18,391

 

 

 

7,245

 

 

 

18,474

 

 

 

7,325

 

Balance at end of period26,841 15,602 26,848 15,644 

Less: Other comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interest

 

 

22

 

 

 

47

 

 

 

105

 

 

 

127

 

Less: Other comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interest$41 11 83 

Balance at end of period attributable to common shareholders

 

 

18,369

 

 

 

7,198

 

 

 

18,369

 

 

 

7,198

 

Balance at end of period attributable to shareholdersBalance at end of period attributable to shareholders26,837 15,561 26,837 15,561 

Accumulated other comprehensive loss at end of period

 

$

(11,984

)

 

$

(23,155

)

 

$

(11,984

)

 

$

(23,155

)

Accumulated other comprehensive loss at end of period$(3,516)$(14,792)$(3,516)$(14,792)

Note 16.15. Capital Stock

The limited partner equity interests in our operating partnership (commonly called “OP Units”), are exchangeable on a 1-for-one basis for shares of our common stock or, at our election, cash of equivalent value. On August 2, 2021,During the three months ended June 30, 2022, the Company exchanged 2,528,199433,617 OP Units held by a third partyparties, of which 86,949 OP Units were exchanged for an equal number of common shares of the Company. TheCompany and 346,667 OP Units were exchanged representedfor cash consideration of $4.6 million , representing approximately 73%80% of the OP Units held by a third partyparties with a carrying value of $50.4$8.7 million as of the exchange date.

Note 17. Subsequent Events

2030 Notes

On October 13, 2021,dates. During the Issuers issued $700.0 million aggregate principal amountsix months ended June 30, 2022, the Company exchanged 591,349 OP Units held by third parties, of 6.00% Senior Notes due 2030. The Issuers deposited a portionwhich 244,683 OP Units were exchanged for an equal number of the net proceeds from the offering with the trustee for the Issuers’ outstanding 2024 Notes sufficient to fund the redemption thereof on December 15, 2021, and to pay any related premiums, fees and expenses in connection with the foregoing. Upon such deposit, the Issuers’ obligations under the 2024 Notes and indenture were discharged. The Company used the remaining proceedscommon shares of $78.0 million to prepay a portion of the settlement obligations under the settlement agreement with Windstream. See Note 14.

The 2030 Notes were issued at an issue price of 100% of their principal amount pursuant to an Indenture, dated as of October 13, 2021 (the “2030 Indenture”), among the Issuers, the guarantors named therein (collectively, the “Guarantors”) and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, as trustee (in such capacity, the “Trustee”). The 2030 Notes mature on January 15, 2030 and bear interest at a rate of 6.000% per year. Interest on the 2030 Notes is payable on January 15 and July 15 of each year, beginning on July 15, 2022.

The Issuers may redeem the 2030 Notes, in whole or in part, at any time prior to January 15, 2025 at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2030 Notes redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest on the 2030 Notes, if any, to, but not including, the redemption date, plus an applicable “make whole” premium described in the 2030 Indenture. Thereafter, the Issuers may redeem

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the 2030 Notes in whole or in part, at the redemption prices set forth in the 2030 Indenture. Further, at any time on or prior to January 15, 2025, up to 40% of the aggregate principal amount of the 2030 Notes may be redeemed with the net cash proceeds of certain equity offerings at a redemption price of 106.000% of the principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but not including, the applicable redemption date; provided that at least 60% of aggregate principal amount of the originally issued 2030 Notes remains outstanding. If certain changes of control of Uniti Group LP occur, holders of the 2030 Notes will have the right to require the Issuers to offer to repurchase their 2030 Notes at 101% of their principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but not including, the repurchase date.

The 2030 Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior unsecured basis by the Company and by each346,667 OP Units were exchanged for cash consideration of Uniti Group LP’s existing and future domestic restricted subsidiaries (other than the Issuers and certain regulated subsidiaries) that guarantees indebtedness under the Company’s senior secured credit facilities and existing notes (collectively, the “Guarantors”). In addition, the Issuers will use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain necessary regulatory approval to allow such non-guarantor subsidiaries$4.6 million, representing approximately 85% of the Company to guarantee the 2030 Notes, includingOP Units held by making filings to obtain such approval within 60 daysthird parties with a carrying value of $11.9 million as of the issuance of the 2030 Notes. The guarantees are subject to release under specified circumstances, including certain circumstances in which such guarantees may be automatically released without the consent of the holders of the 2030 Notes.

The 2030 Notes and the related guarantees are the Issuers’ and the Guarantors’ senior unsecured obligations and rank equal in right of payment with all of the Issuers’ and the Guarantors’ existing and future senior unsecured indebtedness and senior in right of payment to any of the Issuers’ and the Guarantors’ subordinated indebtedness. The 2030 Notes and related guarantees are effectively subordinated to all of the Issuers’ and Guarantors’ secured indebtedness (including the senior secured credit facilities and secured notes) to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness and are structurally subordinated to all existing and future liabilities (including trade payables) of the Issuers’ subsidiaries that do not guarantee the 2030 Notes.

The 2030 Indenture contains customary high yield covenants limiting the ability of Uniti Group LP and its restricted subsidiaries to: incur or guarantee additional indebtedness; incur or guarantee secured indebtedness; pay dividends or distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, capital stock; make certain investments or other restricted payments; sell assets; enter into transactions with affiliates; merge or consolidate or sell all or substantially all of their assets; and create restrictions on the ability of the Issuers and their restricted subsidiaries to pay dividends or other amounts to the Issuers. These covenants are subject to a number of important and significant limitations, qualifications and exceptions. The 2030 Indenture also contains customary events of default.

exchange dates.

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations describes the principal factors affecting the results of our operations, financial condition, and changes in financial condition for the three and nine six
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months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021. 2022. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, and the notes thereto set forth in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 5, 2021,February 25, 2022, as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto filed on Form 10-K/A with the SEC on March 30, 202122, 2022 (the “Annual Report”).

Overview

Company Description

Uniti Group Inc. (the “Company”, “Uniti”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is an independent, internally managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) engaged in the acquisition construction and leasingconstruction of mission critical infrastructure in the communications industry. We are principally focused on acquiring and constructing fiber optic, copper and coaxial broadband networks and data centers.

centers.

On April 24, 2015, we were separated and spun-off (the “Spin-Off”) from Windstream Holdings, Inc. (“Windstream Holdings” and together with Windstream Holdings II, LLC, its successor in interest, and its subsidiaries, “Windstream”) pursuant to which Windstream contributed certain telecommunications network assets, including fiber and copper networks and other real estate (the “Distribution Systems”) and a small consumer competitive local exchange carrier (“CLEC”) business (the “Consumer CLEC Business”) to Uniti and Uniti issued common stock and indebtedness and paid cash obtained from borrowings under Uniti’s senior credit facilities to Windstream. In connection with the Spin-Off, we entered into a long-term exclusive triple-net lease (the “Master Lease”) with Windstream, pursuant to which a substantial portion of our real property is leased to Windstream and from which a substantial portion of our leasing revenues are currently derived.derived. In connection with Windstream’s emergence from bankruptcy,, Uniti and Windstream bifurcated the Master Lease and entered into two structurally similar master leases (collectively, the “Windstream Leases”), which amended and restated the Master Lease in its entirety. The Windstream Leases consist of (a) a master lease (the

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“ILEC “ILEC MLA”) that governs Uniti owned assets used for Windstream’s incumbent local exchange carrier (“ILEC”) operations and (b) a master lease (the “CLEC MLA”) that governs Uniti owned assets used for Windstream’s CLEC operations.

Uniti operates as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, the Company is generally not subject to U.S. federal income taxes on income generated by its REIT operations, which includes income derived from the Windstream Leases. We have elected to treat the subsidiaries through which we operate our fiber business, Uniti Fiber, certain aspects of our leasing business, Uniti Leasing, certain aspects of our former towers business, and Talk America Services, LLC, which operated the Consumer CLEC Business (“Talk America”), as taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRSs”). TRSs enable us to engage in activities that result in income that does not constitute qualifying income for a REIT. Our TRSs are subject to U.S. federal, state and local corporate income taxestaxes..

The Company operates through a customary up-REIT structure, pursuant to which we hold substantially all of our assets through a partnership, Uniti Group LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Operating Partnership”), that we control as general partner. This structure is intended to facilitate future acquisition opportunities by providing the Company with the ability to use common units of the Operating Partnership as a tax-efficient acquisition currency. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we are the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership and own approximately 99.6%99.96% of the partnership interests in the Operating Partnership.

In addition, we have undertaken a series of transactions to permit us to hold certain assets through subsidiaries that are taxed as REITs, which may also facilitate future acquisition opportunities.

We aim to grow and diversify our portfolio and tenant base by pursuing a range of transaction structures with communication service providers, including (i) sale-leaseback transactions, whereby we acquire existing infrastructure assets from third parties, including communication service providers, and lease them back on a long-term triple-net basis; (ii) leasing of dark fiber and selling of lit services on our existing fiber network assets that we either constructed or acquired; (iii) whole company acquisitions, which may include the use of one or more TRSs that are permitted under the tax laws to acquire and operate non-REIT businesses and assets subject to certain limitations; (iv) capital investment financing, whereby we offer communication service providers a cost efficient method of raising funds for discrete capital investments to upgrade or expand their network; and (v) mergers and acquisitions financing, whereby we facilitate mergers and acquisition transactions as a capital partner, including through operating company-property company (“OpCo-PropCo”) structuresstructures.
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Table of Contents. Consistent with this strategy, we regularly evaluate and consider potential opportunities.

Segments

We have historically managedmanage our operations as the fourtwo reportable business segments, listed below (inin addition to our corporate operations), but due to the sale of our towers business and wind down of the Consumer CLEC Business, effective January 1, 2021, we manage our operations, focused on our two primary businesses, Leasing and Fiber Infrastructure:which include:

Leasing Segment: Represents the results fromoperations of our leasing business, Uniti Leasing, which is engaged in the acquisition and construction of mission-critical communications assets and leasing them to anchor customers on either an exclusive or shared-tenant basis,.  Uniti in addition to the leasing of dark fiber on our existing fiber network assets that we either constructed or acquired. While the Leasing is a component ofsegment represents our REIT operations.operations, certain aspects of the Leasing segment are also operated through TRSs.

Fiber Infrastructure Segment: Represents the operations of our fiber business, Uniti Fiber, which is a leading provider of infrastructure solutions, including cell site backhaul and dark fiber, to the telecommunications industryindustry..

Towers Segment: Represents the operations of our former towers business, Uniti Towers, through which we acquired and constructed tower and tower-related real estate and leased space on communications towers to wireless service providers and other tenants in the United States.  Starting in 2019, the Company completed a series of transactions to largely divest of its towers business and on April 2, 2019, May 23, 2019 and June 1, 2020, the Company completed the sales of its Latin American business, substantially all of its U.S. ground lease business, and its U.S. tower business, respectively.  Portions of our former towers business were a component of our REIT operations, while the remainder were owned and operated by our TRSs.

Consumer CLEC Segment: Represents the operations of Talk America through which we operated the Consumer CLEC Business that, prior to the Spin-Off, was reported as an integrated operation within Windstream. Talk America provided local telephone, high-speed internet and long-distance services to customers in the eastern and central United States.  As of the end of the second quarter of 2020, we substantially completed a wind down of our Consumer CLEC Business.

Corporate Operations: Represents our corporate office and shared service functions. Certain costs and expenses, primarily related to headcount, information technology systems, insurance, professional fees and similar charges, that are directly attributable to operations of our business segments are allocated to the respective segmentssegments..

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We evaluate the performance of each segment based on Adjusted EBITDA, which is a segment performance measure we define as net income determined in accordance with GAAP, before interest expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation expense and the impact, which may be recurring in nature, of transaction and integration related costs, costs associated with Windstream’s bankruptcy, costs associated with litigation claims made against us, costs associated with the implementation of our enterprise resource planning system, executive severance costs, costs related to the settlement with Windstream, amortization of non-cash rights-of-use assets, the write off of unamortized deferred financing costs, costs incurred as a result of the early repayment of debt, including early tender and redemption premiums and costs associated with the termination of related hedging activities, gains or losses on dispositions, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration and financial instruments, and other similar or infrequent items (although we may not have had such charges in the periods presented). Adjusted EBITDA includes adjustments to reflect the Company’s share of Adjusted EBITDA from unconsolidated entities.entities. For more information on Adjusted EBITDA, see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.” Detailed information about our segments can be found in Note 1312 to our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Significant Business Developments

Unsecured Notes Offering and Redemption.Sale of Harmoni Towers Interest. On October 13, 2021,June 21, 2022, the Operating Partnership, Uniti Fiber Holdings Inc., Uniti Group Finance 2019 Inc. and CSL Capital,Company completed the sale of its investment in Harmoni Towers LP to Palistar Communications Infrastructure GP LLC (the “Issuers”) issued $700 million aggregate principal amountfor total cash consideration of 6.00% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2030 (the “2030 Notes”) and used the proceeds to fund the redemption in full of their outstanding 7.125% Senior Notes due 2024 (the “2024 Notes”) on December 15, 2021.  On October 13, 2021, the Issuers deposited amounts sufficient to fund the redemption$32.5 million. As a result of the 2024 Notes withtransaction, during the trusteesecond quarter of the 2024 Notes, and to pay any related premiums, fees and expenses in connection with the foregoing, and satisfied and discharged their respective obligations under the indenture governing the 2024 Notes.  The Company used the remaining proceeds2022 we recorded a pre-tax gain of $78.0$7.9 million to prepay a portion of the settlement obligations under the settlement agreement with Windstream. See Notes 14 and 17towithin other income (expense), net within our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.Income.

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Results of Operations

Comparison of the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 2020

2021

The following table sets forth for the periods indicated, our results of operations expressed as dollars and as a percentage of total revenues:

revenues for the periods indicated:

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

20222021

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Revenues

 

(Thousands)Amount% of RevenuesAmount% of Revenues

Revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenues:

Leasing

 

$

199,485

 

 

74.8%

 

 

$

182,370

 

 

70.5%

 

Leasing$205,614 72.4%$196,057 73.1%

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

67,262

 

 

25.2%

 

 

 

76,395

 

 

29.5%

 

Fiber Infrastructure78,361 27.6%72,123 26.9%

Tower

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

Total revenues

 

 

266,747

 

 

100.0%

 

 

 

258,765

 

 

100.0%

 

Total revenues283,975 100.0%268,180 100.0%

Costs and Expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costs and Expenses:

Interest expense

 

 

94,793

 

 

35.6%

 

 

 

102,791

 

 

39.8%

 

Interest expense, netInterest expense, net96,377 34.0%106,388 39.6%

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

70,530

 

 

26.4%

 

 

 

79,880

 

 

30.9%

 

Depreciation and amortization72,303 25.5%69,671 26.0%

General and administrative expense

 

 

25,077

 

 

9.4%

 

 

 

26,659

 

 

10.3%

 

General and administrative expense25,085 8.8%24,900 9.3%

Operating expense (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

 

 

34,167

 

 

12.8%

 

 

 

37,831

 

 

14.6%

 

Operating expense (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)36,917 13.0%33,185 12.4%

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

1,063

 

 

0.4%

 

 

 

20,816

 

 

8.0%

 

Transaction related and other costs3,235 1.1%424 0.2%

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

(22,908

)

 

(8.9%)

 

Gain on sale of real estate(250)(0.1%)(442)(0.2)%

Other expense, net

 

 

283

 

 

0.1%

 

 

 

3,098

 

 

1.2%

 

Gain on sale of operationsGain on sale of operations— —%(28,143)(10.5)%
Other (income) expense, netOther (income) expense, net(7,930)(2.8%)8,021 3.0%

Total costs and expenses

 

 

225,913

 

 

84.7%

 

 

 

248,167

 

 

95.9%

 

Total costs and expenses225,737 79.5%214,004 79.8%

Income before income taxes and equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

40,834

 

 

15.3%

 

 

 

10,598

 

 

4.1%

 

Income before income taxes and equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities58,238 20.5%54,176 20.2%

Income tax (benefit) expense

 

 

(2,244

)

 

(0.9%)

 

 

 

2,801

 

 

1.1%

 

Equity in (earnings) loss from unconsolidated entities

 

 

(604

)

 

(0.2%)

 

 

 

342

 

 

0.1%

 

Income tax expenseIncome tax expense4,944 1.8%5,084 1.9%
Equity in earnings from unconsolidated entitiesEquity in earnings from unconsolidated entities(480)(0.2%)(547)(0.2%)

Net income

 

 

43,682

 

 

16.4%

 

 

 

7,455

 

 

2.9%

 

Net income53,774 18.9%49,639 18.5%

Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests

 

 

316

 

 

0.1%

 

 

 

190

 

 

0.1%

 

Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests77 0.0%732 0.3%

Net income attributable to shareholders

 

 

43,366

 

 

16.3%

 

 

 

7,265

 

 

2.8%

 

Net income attributable to shareholders53,697 18.9%48,907 18.2%

Participating securities' share in earnings

 

 

(283

)

 

(0.1%)

 

 

 

(229

)

 

(0.1%)

 

Participating securities' share in earnings(340)(0.1%)(333)(0.1%)

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock

 

 

(3

)

 

(0.0%)

 

 

 

(2

)

 

(0.0%)

 

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock(5)0.0%(2)0.0%

Net income attributable to common shareholders

 

$

43,080

 

 

16.2%

 

 

$

7,034

 

 

2.7%

 

Net income attributable to common shareholders$53,352 18.8%$48,572 18.1%

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The following tables set forth revenues, Adjusted EBITDA and net income of our reportable segments for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 2020, revenues, Adjusted EBITDA and net (loss) income of our reportable segments:

2021:

 

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021

 

Three Months Ended June 30, 2022

(Thousands)

 

Leasing

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

Towers

 

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

Corporate

 

 

Subtotal of Reportable Segments

 

(Thousands)LeasingFiber InfrastructureCorporateSubtotal of Reportable Segments

Revenues

 

$

199,485

 

 

$

67,262

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

266,747

 

Revenues$205,614 $78,361 $— $283,975 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

194,303

 

 

$

27,556

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

(4,632

)

 

$

217,227

 

Adjusted EBITDA$200,349 $33,583 $(6,768)$227,164 

Less:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Less:

Interest expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

94,793

 

Interest expense  96,377 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

41,432

 

 

 

29,036

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

62

 

 

 

70,530

 

Depreciation and amortization42,513 29,753 37 72,303 

Other expense, net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4,472

 

Gain on sale of real estateGain on sale of real estate(250)
Other, netOther, net(7,495)

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,063

 

Transaction related and other costs3,235 

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4,166

 

Stock-based compensation3,201 

Income tax benefit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2,244

)

Income tax expenseIncome tax expense4,944 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

765

 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities1,075 

Net income

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

43,682

 

Net income$53,774 

 

Three Months Ended September 30, 2020

 

Three Months Ended June 30, 2021

(Thousands)

 

Leasing

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

Towers

 

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

Corporate

 

 

Subtotal of Reportable Segments

 

(Thousands)LeasingFiber InfrastructureCorporateSubtotal of Reportable Segments

Revenues

 

$

182,370

 

 

$

76,395

 

 

$

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

258,765

 

Revenues$196,057 $72,123 $— $268,180 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

181,103

 

 

$

25,419

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

(186

)

 

$

(7,775

)

 

$

198,561

 

Adjusted EBITDA$192,137 $29,439 $(5,842)$215,734 

Less:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Less:    

Interest expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

102,791

 

Interest expense   106,388 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

48,189

 

 

 

31,617

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

74

 

 

 

79,880

 

Depreciation and amortization40,474 29,132 65 69,671 

Other expense, net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3,098

 

Other, netOther, net   8,779 

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20,816

 

Transaction related and other costs   424 

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(22,908

)

Gain on sale of real estate(442)
Gain on sale of operationsGain on sale of operations(28,143)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3,341

 

Stock-based compensation   3,462 

Income tax expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,801

 

Income tax expense   5,084 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,287

 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities   872 

Net income

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

7,455

 

Net income   $49,639 

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Summary of Operating Metrics

 

Operating Metrics

 

Operating Metrics

 

As of September 30,

 

As of June 30,

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

% Increase / (Decrease)

 

20222021% Increase / (Decrease)

Operating metrics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating metrics:

Leasing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leasing:

Fiber strand miles

 

 

4,890,000

 

 

 

4,500,000

 

 

8.7%

 

Fiber strand miles4,980,000 4,600,000 8.3%

Copper strand miles

 

 

230,000

 

 

 

230,000

 

 

0.0%

 

Copper strand miles230,000 230,000 0.0%

Fiber Infrastructure:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure:

Fiber strand miles

 

 

2,590,000

 

 

 

2,200,000

 

 

17.7%

 

Fiber strand miles2,800,000 2,540,000 10.2%

Customer connections

 

 

25,897

 

 

 

25,885

 

 

0.0%

 

Customer connections27,171 25,383 7.0%

Revenues

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

20222021

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

��

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

(Thousands)Amount% of Consolidated RevenuesAmount% of Consolidated Revenues

Revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenues:

Leasing

 

$

199,485

 

 

74.8%

 

 

$

182,370

 

 

70.5%

 

Leasing$205,614 72.4%$196,057 73.1%

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

67,262

 

 

25.2%

 

 

 

76,395

 

 

29.5%

 

Fiber Infrastructure78,361 27.6%72,123 26.9%

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

Total revenues

 

$

266,747

 

 

100.0%

 

 

$

258,765

 

 

100.0%

 

Total revenues$283,975 100.0%$268,180 100.0%

Leasing – Leasing revenues are primarily attributable to rental revenue from leasing our Distribution Systems to Windstream pursuant to the Windstream Leases (and historically, the Master Lease). Under the Windstream Leases, Windstream is responsible for the costs related to operating the Distribution Systems, including property taxes, insurance, and maintenance and repair costs. As a result, we do not record an obligation related to the payment of property taxes, as Windstream makes direct payments to the taxing authorities. The initial term of the Windstream Leases expires on April 30, 2030. The aggregate initial annualAnnual rent under the Windstream Leases for the full year 2022 is $663$668.9 million equal to the annual rent under the Master Lease previously in effect, and is subject to annual escalation at a rate of 0.5%. For a description of the Windstream Leases, see “Liquidity and Capital Resources—Windstream Master Lease and Windstream Leases” below.

The rent for the first year of each renewal term will be an amount agreed to by us and Windstream. While the agreement requires that the renewal rent be “Fair Market Rent,” if we are unable to agree, the renewal Fair Market Rent will be determined by an independent appraisal process. Commencing with the second year of each renewal term, the renewal rent will increase at an escalation rate of 0.5%.

Pursuant to the Windstream Leases, Windstream (or any successor tenant under a Windstream Lease) has the right to cause Uniti to reimburse up to an aggregate $1.75 billion for certain growth capital improvements in long-term value accretive fiber and related assets made by Windstream (or the applicable tenant under the Windstream Lease) to certain ILEC and CLEC properties (the “Growth Capital Improvements” or “GCIs”). Uniti’s reimbursement commitment for Growth Capital Improvements does not require Uniti to reimburse Windstream for maintenance or repair expenditures (except for costs incurred for fiber replacements to the CLEC MLA leased property, up to $70 million during the term), and each such reimbursement is subject to underwriting standards. Uniti’s total annual reimbursement commitments to Windstream for the Growth Capital Improvements under both is discussed below in “Liquidity and Capital Resources—Windstream Leases (and under separate equipment loan facilities) are limited to $225 million per year in 2021 through 2024; $175 million per year in 2025Master Lease and 2026; and $125 million per year in 2027 through 2029.  If the cost incurred by Windstream (or the successor tenant under a Windstream Lease) for Growth Capital Improvements in any calendar year exceeds the annual limit for such calendar year, Windstream (or such tenant, as the case may be) may submit such excess costs for reimbursement in any subsequent year and such excess costs shall be funded from the annual commitment amounts in such subsequent period.  In addition, to the extent that reimbursements for Growth Capital Improvements funded in any calendar year during the term is less than the annual limit for such calendar year, the unfunded amount in any calendar year will carry-over and may be added to the annual limits for subsequent calendar years, subject to an annual limit of $250 million in any calendar year, except that, during calendar year 2021, Uniti’s combined total obligation to fund Growth Capital Improvements may exceed $250 million to the extent of any unfunded excess amounts from calendar year 2020.  Accordingly,

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because we funded $84.7 million of the $125 million limit in 2020, we are committed to fund up to $265.3 million of Growth Capital Improvements in 2021.

Leases.”

Starting on the first anniversary of each installment of reimbursement for a Growth Capital Improvement, the rent payable by Windstream under the applicable Windstream Lease will increase by an amount equal to 8.0% (the “Rent Rate”) of such installment of reimbursement. The Rent Rate will thereafter increase to 100.5% of the prior Rent Rate on each anniversary of each reimbursement. In the event that the tenant’s interest in either Windstream Lease is transferred by Windstream under the terms thereof (unless transferred to the same transferee), or if Uniti transfers its interests as landlord under either Windstream Lease (unless to the same transferee), the reimbursement rights and obligations will be allocated between the ILEC MLA and the CLEC MLA by Windstream, provided that the maximum that may be allocated to the CLEC MLA following such transfer is $20 million per year. If Uniti fails to reimburse any Growth Capital Improvement reimbursement
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payment or equipment loan funding request as and when it is required to do so under the terms of the Windstream Leases, and such failure continues for thirty (30) days, then such unreimbursed amounts may be applied as an offset against the rent owed by Windstream under the Windstream Leases (and such amounts will thereafter be treated as if Uniti had reimbursed them).

Uniti and Windstream have entered into separate ILEC and CLEC Equipment Loan and Security Agreements (collectively “Equipment Loan Agreement”) in which Uniti will provide up to $125 million (limited to $25 million in any calendar year) of the $1.75 billion of Growth Capital Improvements commitments discussed above in the form of loans for Windstream to purchase equipment related to network upgrades or to be used in connection with the Windstream Leases. Interest on these loans will accrue at 8% from the date of the borrowing. All equipment financed through the Equipment Loan Agreement is the sole property of Windstream; however, Uniti will receive a first-lien security interest in the equipment purchased with the loans. No such loans were made to Windstream during quarter ended September 30, 2021.

The Windstream Leases provide that tenant funded capital improvements (“TCIs”), defined as maintenance, repair, overbuild, upgrade or replacement to the Distribution Systems, including without limitation, the replacement of copper distribution systems with fiber distribution systems, automatically become property of Uniti upon their construction by Windstream. We receive non-monetary consideration related to TCIs as they automatically become our property, and we recognize the cost basis of TCIs that are capital in nature as real estate investments and deferred revenue. We depreciate the real estate investments over their estimated useful lives and amortize the deferred revenue as additional leasing revenues over the same depreciable life of the TCI assets. TCIs exclude Growth Capital Improvements as and when reimbursed by Uniti.

Three Months Ended June 30,
20222021
(Thousands)Amount% of Segment RevenuesAmount% of Segment Revenues
Leasing revenues:
Windstream Leases:
Cash revenue
Cash rent$167,223 81.3%$166,390 84.9%
GCI revenue2,891 1.4%— 0.0%
Total cash revenue170,114 82.7%166,390 84.9%
Non-cash revenue
TCI revenue10,667 5.2%9,580 4.9%
GCI revenue3,609 1.8%2,513 1.3%
Other straight-line revenue2,525 1.2%3,375 1.7%
Total non-cash revenue16,801 8.2%15,468 7.9%
Total Windstream revenue186,915 90.9%181,858 92.8%
Other services18,699 9.1%14,199 7.2%
Total Leasing revenues$205,614 100.0%$196,057 100.0%
The increase in TCI revenue is attributable to continued investment by Windstream. As of June 30, 2022 and 2021, the total amount invested in TCIs by Windstream since the inception of the Windstream Leases and Master Lease was $1.0 billion and $952.5 million, respectively.
The increase in GCI revenue is attributable to Uniti’s continued reimbursement of Growth Capital Improvements. During the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, Uniti reimbursed $60.2$43.5 million of Growth Capital Improvements.Improvements. Subsequent to SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, Windstream requested, and we reimbursed $16.5$22.9 million of qualifying Growth Capital Improvements. As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we have reimbursed a total of $253.5$420.8 million of Growth Capital Improvements.

Improvements.

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

 

 

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Segment Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Segment Revenues

 

Leasing revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windstream Leases:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash rent

 

$

166.7

 

 

83.5%

 

 

$

165.8

 

 

90.9%

 

Non-cash revenue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TCI revenue

 

 

10.0

 

 

5.0%

 

 

 

9.2

 

 

5.0%

 

Straight-line revenue

 

 

6.5

 

 

3.3%

 

 

 

0.5

 

 

0.3%

 

Total non-cash revenue

 

 

16.5

 

 

8.3%

 

 

 

9.7

 

 

5.3%

 

Total Windstream revenue

 

 

183.2

 

 

91.8%

 

 

 

175.5

 

 

96.2%

 

Other triple-net leasing and dark fiber IRU

 

 

16.3

 

 

8.2%

 

 

 

6.9

 

 

3.8%

 

Total Leasing revenues

 

$

199.5

 

 

100.0%

 

 

$

182.4

 

 

100.0%

 

The increase in TCI revenue is attributable to continued investment by Windstream, which invested $34.2We recognized $18.7 million in TCIs during the three months ended September 30, 2021.  The total amount invested in TCIs by Windstream since the inception of the Windstream Leases and Master Lease was $986.7 million as of September 30, 2021.  For the three months ended September 30, 2021, we recognized $16.3$14.2 million of leasing revenues from other services including non-Windstream triple-net leasing and dark fiber indefeasible rights of use (“IRU”)

42


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arrangements. For arrangements for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020, we recognized $6.9 million from non-Windstream triple-net leasing2022 and dark fiber IRU arrangements.

2021, respectively.

Because a substantial portion of our revenue and cash flows are derived from lease payments by Windstream pursuant to the Windstream Leases, there could be a material adverse impact on our consolidated results of operations, liquidity, financial condition and/or ability to maintain our status as a REIT and service debt if Windstream were to become unable to generate sufficient cash to make payments to us.

Prior to its emergence from bankruptcy on September 21, 2020, Windstream was a publicly traded company and was subject to the periodic filing requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Windstream’s historic filings through their quarter ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020 can be found at www.sec.gov. Additionally, the
35

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Windstream audited financial statements as of December 31, 2021, and for the year ended December 31, 2021, as of December 31, 2020 and for the period from September 22, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and as of December 31, 2019 and for the period from January 1, 2020 to September 21, 2020 and for each of the two years in the periodyear ended December 31, 2019 are included as an exhibit to our Annual Report. On September 22, 2020, Windstream filed a Form 15 to terminate all filing obligations under Section 12(g) and 15(d) under the Exchange Act. Windstream filings are not incorporated by reference in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

We monitor the credit quality of Windstream through numerous methods, including by (i) reviewing credit ratings of Windstream by nationally recognized credit agencies, (ii) reviewing the financial statements of Windstream that are required to be delivered to us pursuant to the Windstream Leases, (iii) monitoring news reports regarding Windstream and its business, (iv) conducting research to ascertain industry trends potentially affecting Windstream, (v) monitoring Windstream’s compliance with the terms of the Windstream Leases and (vi) monitoring the timeliness of its payments under the Windstream Leases.

As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, Windstream is current on all lease payments. We note that in August 2020, Moody’s Investor Service assigned a B3 corporate family rating with a stable outlook to Windstream in connection with its post-emergence exit financing. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings assigned Windstream a B- issuer rating with a stable outlook. Both ratings remain current as of the date of this filing. In order to assist us in our continuing assessment of Windstream’s creditworthiness, we periodically receive certain confidential financial information and metrics from Windstream.

Windstream.

Fiber Infrastructure – Fiber Infrastructure revenues for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 20202021 consisted of the following:

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

20222021

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Segment Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Segment Revenues

 

(Thousands)Amount% of Segment RevenuesAmount% of Segment Revenues

Fiber Infrastructure revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure revenues:

Lit backhaul services

 

$

19,381

 

 

28.8%

 

 

$

25,160

 

 

33.0%

 

Lit backhaul services$19,937 25.4%$22,979 31.9%

Enterprise and wholesale

 

 

20,863

 

 

31.1%

 

 

 

19,875

 

 

26.0%

 

Enterprise and wholesale21,001 26.8%21,327 29.6%

E-Rate and government

 

 

13,505

 

 

20.1%

 

 

 

17,375

 

 

22.7%

 

E-Rate and government18,505 23.6%15,926 22.1%

Dark fiber and small cells

 

 

12,674

 

 

18.8%

 

 

 

11,640

 

 

15.2%

 

Dark fiber and small cells18,206 23.2%11,067 15.3%

Other services

 

 

839

 

 

1.2%

 

 

 

2,345

 

 

3.1%

 

Other services712 0.9%824 1.1%

Total Fiber Infrastructure revenues

 

$

67,262

 

 

100.0%

 

 

$

76,395

 

 

100.0%

 

Total Fiber Infrastructure revenues$78,361 100.0%$72,123 100.0%


For the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, Fiber Infrastructure revenues totaled $67.3$78.4 million as compared to $76.4$72.1 million for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020.2021. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we had approximately 25,89727,171 customer connections, up from 25,88525,383 customer connections as of SeptemberJune 30, 2020. The $9.1 million decrease in2021. Fiber Infrastructure revenues isincreased $6.2 million, primarily attributabledue to an increase in one-time early termination revenues of $5.7 million within dark fiber and small cells revenues and an increase in installation and equipment sales of $3.7 million within E-Rate and government revenues, partially offset by a $4.7$3.0 million decrease in lit backhaul service revenues, related toprimarily driven by the sale of our Uniti Fiber Northeast operations sold on May 28, 2021, and a $1.9$0.9 million decrease related to the wind down of our construction activities, shown above within E-rate and government, and a $3.1 million decrease in equipment sales and installation revenue.

activities.

36

Towers – For the three months ended September 30, 2021, we recognized no revenue from the Towers business, as we completed the sale of our U.S. tower business on June 1, 2020.

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Consumer CLEC – For the three months ended September 30, 2021, we recognized no revenue from the Consumer CLEC Business, as we substantially completed the wind down of the business as of the end of the second quarter of 2020.

Interest Expense, net

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

Increase / (Decrease)

 

(Thousands)20222021% Increase / (Decrease)

Interest expense, net:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense, net:

Cash:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash:

Senior secured notes - 4.75%, 6.00% and 7.875%

 

 

49,691

 

 

 

52,547

 

 

 

(2,856

)

Senior unsecured notes - 4.00%, 6.50%. 7.125% and 8.25%

 

 

32,176

 

 

 

37,031

 

 

 

(4,855

)

Senior secured notesSenior secured notes$51,066 $54,312 (3,246)
Senior unsecured notesSenior unsecured notes31,987 32,377 (390)

Senior secured revolving credit facility - variable rate

 

 

2,210

 

 

 

710

 

 

 

1,500

 

Senior secured revolving credit facility - variable rate2,877 2,571 306 
Tender premium paymentTender premium payment— 2,991 (2,991)

Interest rate swap termination

 

 

2,829

 

 

 

2,829

 

 

 

-

 

Interest rate swap termination2,829 2,829 — 

Other

 

 

366

 

 

 

1,082

 

 

 

(716

)

Other323 783 (460)

Total cash interest

 

 

87,272

 

 

 

94,199

 

 

 

(6,927

)

Total cash interest89,082 95,863 (6,781)

Non-cash:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-cash:

Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discount

 

 

4,352

 

 

 

9,037

 

 

 

(4,685

)

Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discount4,501 4,412 89 
Write off of deferred financing costs and debt discountWrite off of deferred financing costs and debt discount— 2,413 (2,413)

Accretion of settlement payable

 

 

4,117

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

4,117

 

Accretion of settlement payable2,911 4,326 (1,415)

Capitalized Interest

 

 

(948

)

 

 

(445

)

 

 

(503

)

Capitalized interestCapitalized interest(117)(626)509 

Total non-cash interest

 

 

7,521

 

 

 

8,592

 

 

 

(1,071

)

Total non-cash interest7,295 10,525 (3,230)

Total interest expense, net

 

$

94,793

 

 

$

102,791

 

 

$

(7,998

)

Total interest expense, net$96,377 $106,388 $(10,011)

(1) Swapped to fixed rate. See Note 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 decreased $8.0$10.0 million compared to the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020.2021. The decrease is primarilyattributable to (i) the April 20, 2021 issuance of the $570.0 million aggregate principal amount 4.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2028 (the 2028 Secured Notes) to lower cash interest expense of $6.9 million resulting fromfund the extinguishmentredemption of the $550 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding 6.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2023 (the “20232023 Secured Notes”Notes), which resulted in a tender premium payment of $3.0 million and the write off of $1.3 million of deferred financing costs and debt discount, (ii) the February 2, 2021 issuance of $1.11 billion aggregate principal amount of 6.50% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2029 (the 2029 Notes) andused to fund the redemption of the 8.25% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2023 (the “2023 Notes”2023 Notes).

, which resulted in the write off of $1.1 million of deferred financing costs and debt discount during the three months ended June 30, 2021 and (iii) lower cash interest expense of $4.0 million, primarily associated with the 2028 Notes and 2029 Notes financing transactions, and a $1.4 million decrease in accretion expense associated with the settlement payable during the three months ended June 30, 2022.

Depreciation and Amortization Expense

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

Increase / (Decrease)

 

(Thousands)20222021% Increase / (Decrease)

Depreciation and amortization expense by segment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization expense by segment:

Depreciation expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation expense

Leasing

 

$

42,376

 

 

$

48,189

 

 

$

(5,813

)

Leasing$40,784 $41,419 $(635)

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

23,318

 

 

 

25,105

 

 

 

(1,787

)

Fiber Infrastructure24,035 23,414 621 

Corporate

 

 

62

 

 

 

74

 

 

 

(12

)

Corporate37 65 (28)

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Total depreciation expense

 

 

65,756

 

 

 

73,368

 

 

 

(7,612

)

Total depreciation expense64,856 64,898 (42)

Amortization expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amortization expense

Leasing

 

 

(944

)

 

 

-

 

 

 

(944

)

Leasing1,729 (945)2,674 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

5,718

 

 

 

6,512

 

 

 

(794

)

Fiber Infrastructure5,718 5,718 — 

Corporate

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Total amortization expense

 

 

4,774

 

 

 

6,512

 

 

 

(1,738

)

Total amortization expense7,447 4,773 2,674 

Total depreciation and amortization expense

 

$

70,530

 

 

$

79,880

 

 

$

(9,350

)

Total depreciation and amortization expense$72,303 $69,671 $2,632 

44

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Leasing – Leasing depreciation expense decreased $5.8$0.6 million for the quarterthree months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021 as2022 compared to the quarterthree months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020.2021. The decrease is primarily attributable to a $7.6 million decrease related to the natural decreasean increase in remaining useful life of thefully depreciated Windstream Distribution System assets which utilize the group composite depreciation method,of $0.9 million, partially offset by a $1.4$0.3 million increase in depreciation expense related to asset additions since June 30, 2021. During the asset purchase agreementthree months ended June 30, 2021, $2.7 million was recorded as a benefit to amortization expense, and subsequently reclassified to revenue during the Company entered into with Windstream which was completed in the thirdfourth quarter of 2020 (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”), which is discussed in greater detail in Note 5 to our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.  The $0.9 million decrease in amortization expense relates to intangible liabilities assumed from Windstream under the Asset Purchase Agreement.2021.

Fiber Infrastructure – Fiber Infrastructure depreciation and amortization expense decreasedincreased $0.6 million for the quarterthree months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021 as2022 compared to the quarterthree months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020.2021. The $1.8 million decreaseincrease in depreciation expense is primarily attributable to the Everstream transaction completed on May 28,asset additions since June 30, 2021.See Note 5.  The $0.8 million decrease in amortization expense relates to a trademark intangible asset, associated with the wind down of the construction business, that became fully amortized in 2020.

General and Administrative Expense

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

 

 

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

General and administrative expense by segment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

$

13,427

 

 

5.1%

 

 

$

14,538

 

 

5.6%

 

Leasing

 

 

2,254

 

 

0.8%

 

 

 

1,735

 

 

0.7%

 

Corporate

 

 

9,396

 

 

3.5%

 

 

 

10,304

 

 

4.0%

 

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

82

 

 

0.0%

 

Total general and administrative expenses

 

$

25,077

 

 

9.4%

 

 

$

26,659

 

 

10.3%

 

General and administrative expenses include compensation costs, including stock-based compensation awards, professional and legal services, corporate office costs and other costs associated with administrative activities. Foractivities of our segments.

Three Months Ended June 30,
20222021
(Thousands)Amount% of Consolidated RevenuesAmount% of Consolidated Revenues
General and administrative expense by segment:
Leasing$3,236 1.1%$2,612 1.0%
Fiber Infrastructure13,137 4.6%13,926 5.2%
Corporate8,712 3.1%8,362 3.1%
Total general and administrative expenses$25,085 8.8%$24,900 9.3%
Leasing – Leasing general and administrative expense increased $0.6 million for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021, general and administrative costs totaled $25.1 million.  For2022 compared to the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020, general and administrative costs totaled $26.7 million.2021. The decrease in general and administrative expensesincrease is primarily attributable to a $0.6 million increase in personnel expenses driven by incremental customer growth.
Fiber Infrastructure – Fiber Infrastructure general and administrative expense decreased $0.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022 compared to the three months ended June 30, 2021. This decrease is primarily attributable to decreases in franchise taxes of approximately $1.0$0.3 million and insurance expense associated with favorable premium renewals of $0.2 million.
Corporate – Corporate general and administrative expense increased $0.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022 compared to the three months ended June 30, 2021. The increase is attributable to a $0.6 million increase in professional and legal fees, partially offset by a $0.3 million decrease in insurance expenses for the period.expense.

Operating Expense

Operating expense for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021 decreased2022 increased by $3.7 million from the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020, which was primarily attributable to decreases in Fiber Infrastructure, Towers and Consumer CLEC Business operating expenses offset by an increase in Leasing operating expenses discussed below.2021. Operating expense for our reportable segments for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 20202021 consisted of the followingfollowing:
Three Months Ended June 30,
20222021
(Thousands)Amount% of Consolidated RevenuesAmount% of Consolidated Revenues
Operating expense by segment:
Leasing$4,839 1.7%$3,613 1.3%
Fiber Infrastructure32,078 11.3%29,572 11.1%
Total operating expenses$36,917 13.0%$33,185 12.4%
38

:

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

Operating expenses by segment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

$

28,983

 

 

10.9%

 

 

$

37,122

 

 

14.4%

 

Leasing

 

 

5,184

 

 

1.9%

 

 

 

605

 

 

0.2%

 

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

104

 

 

0.0%

 

Total operating expenses

 

$

34,167

 

 

12.8%

 

 

$

37,831

 

 

14.6%

 

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Leasing – Leasing operating expense increased $1.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022 and as compared to the three months ended June 30, 2021. The increase is primarily driven by incremental customer growth and increased network related expenses of $1.0 million.
Fiber InfrastructureFor the three months ended September 30, 2021, Fiber Infrastructure operating expenses totaled $29.0 million as compared to $37.1increased $2.5 million for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020.2022 compared to the three months ended June 30, 2021. Operating expense consists of network related costs, such as dark fiber and tower rents, and lit service and maintenance expense.  In addition,expense and costs associated with our construction activities are presented within operating expenses.activities. The $8.1 million decreaseincrease in operating expenses is primarily attributable to decreases in construction related expenses of $2.8 million, $2.8 millionincreases in equipment sales and installation expense and $2.0installations expenses of $1.3 million, inunsplicing expenses related to the Uniti Fiber Northeast operations sold on May 28, 2021.

Leasing – Leasing operating expense was $5.2of $0.8 million, network maintenance expenses of $0.3 million, and $0.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.  The increase is primarily driven by a $4.1 million increase in network expenses due to the Asset Purchase Agreement the Company entered into with Windstream which was completed in the third quarterdark fiber early termination fees of 2020$0.3 million..

Towers – For the three months ended September 30, 2021, Towers operating expenses were not incurred as the U.S. tower business sale was completed on June 1, 2020.

Consumer CLEC – For the three months ended September 30, 2021, Consumer CLEC Business operating expenses were not incurred, as we substantially completed the wind down of the business as of the end of the second quarter of 2020.

Transaction Related and Other Costs

Transaction related and other costs included incremental acquisition, pursuit, transaction and integration costs (including unsuccessful acquisition pursuit costs), costs incurred as a result of Windstream’s bankruptcy filing, costs associated with Windstream’s claims against us and costs associated with the implementation of our new enterprise resource planning system. For the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we incurred $1.1$3.2 million of transaction related and other costs, compared to $20.8$0.4 million of such costs during the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20202021. The decrease is primarily related to incurring $16.4 million of total costs related to the Windstream bankruptcy for the three months ended September 30, 2020.

Income Tax (Benefit) Expense

The income tax (benefit) expense recorded for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 2020,2021, respectively, is related to the tax impact of the following:

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

Three Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)20222021

Income tax (benefit) expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income tax expenseIncome tax expense

Pre-tax loss (Fiber Infrastructure)

 

$

(3,476

)

 

$

3,606

 

Pre-tax loss (Fiber Infrastructure)$(3,431)$(2,949)

Gain on sale of operations

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Gain on sale of operations— 7,041 
Gain on sale of unconsolidated entityGain on sale of unconsolidated entity6,711 — 

Other undistributed REIT taxable income

 

 

778

 

 

 

-

 

Other undistributed REIT taxable income1,106 467 

REIT state and local taxes

 

 

352

 

 

 

-

 

REIT state and local taxes540 561 

Other

 

 

102

 

 

 

(805

)

Other18 (36)

Total income tax (benefit) expense

 

$

(2,244

)

 

$

2,801

 

Total income tax expenseTotal income tax expense$4,944 $5,084 

46

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Comparison of the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 2020

2021

The following table sets forth for the periods indicated, our results of operations expressed as dollars and as a percentage of total revenues:

revenues for the periods indicated:

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Six Months Ended June 30,

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

20222021

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Revenues

 

(Thousands)Amount% of RevenuesAmount% of Revenues

Revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenues:

Leasing

 

$

590,478

 

 

73.1%

 

 

$

552,042

 

 

69.7%

 

Leasing$410,255 73.0%$390,993 72.3%

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

217,035

 

 

26.9%

 

 

 

232,942

 

 

29.4%

 

Fiber Infrastructure151,754 27.0%149,773 27.7%

Tower

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

6,112

 

 

0.8%

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

651

 

 

0.1%

 

Total revenues

 

 

807,513

 

 

100.0%

 

 

 

791,747

 

 

100.0%

 

Total revenues562,009 100.0%540,766 100.0%

Costs and Expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costs and Expenses:

Interest expense

 

 

341,762

 

 

42.3%

 

 

 

388,427

 

 

49.2%

 

Interest expense, netInterest expense, net192,549 34.3%246,969 45.7%

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

211,165

 

 

26.2%

 

 

 

250,970

 

 

31.7%

 

Depreciation and amortization143,760 25.6%140,635 26.0%

General and administrative expense

 

 

75,800

 

 

9.4%

 

 

 

81,686

 

 

10.3%

 

General and administrative expense48,955 8.7%50,723 9.4%

Operating expense (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

 

 

105,436

 

 

13.1%

 

 

 

118,308

 

 

14.9%

 

Operating expense (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)71,893 12.8%71,269 13.2%

Settlement expense

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

650,000

 

 

82.1%

 

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

5,624

 

 

0.7%

 

 

 

55,344

 

 

7.0%

 

Transaction related and other costs4,949 0.9%4,561 0.8%

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

(442

)

 

(0.1%)

 

 

 

(86,726

)

 

(11.0%)

 

Gain on sale of real estate(250)(0.1%)(442)(0.1)%

Gain on sale of operations

 

 

(28,143

)

 

(3.5%)

 

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

Gain on sale of operations— —%(28,143)(5.2)%

Other expense

 

 

8,758

 

 

1.1%

 

 

 

12,186

 

 

1.5%

 

Other (income) expense, netOther (income) expense, net(8,328)(1.5%)8,475 1.6%

Total costs and expenses

 

 

719,960

 

 

89.2%

 

 

 

1,470,195

 

 

185.7%

 

Total costs and expenses453,528 80.7%494,047 91.4%

Income (loss) before income taxes and equity in earnings (loss) from unconsolidated entities

 

 

87,553

 

 

10.8%

 

 

 

(678,448

)

 

(85.7%)

 

Income tax expense (benefit)

 

 

283

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

(7,650

)

 

(0.9%)

 

Equity in (earnings) loss from unconsolidated entities

 

 

(1,549

)

 

(0.2%)

 

 

 

342

 

 

0.0%

 

Net income (loss)

 

 

88,819

 

 

11.0%

 

 

 

(671,140

)

 

(84.8%)

 

Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests

 

 

984

 

 

0.1%

 

 

 

(11,808

)

 

(1.5%)

 

Net income (loss) attributable to shareholders

 

 

87,835

 

 

10.9%

 

 

 

(659,332

)

 

(83.3%)

 

Income before income taxes and equity in earnings from unconsolidated entitiesIncome before income taxes and equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities108,481 19.3%46,719 8.6%
Income tax expenseIncome tax expense2,873 0.5%2,527 0.5%
Equity in earnings from unconsolidated entitiesEquity in earnings from unconsolidated entities(1,024)(0.2%)(945)(0.2%)
Net incomeNet income106,632 19.0%45,137 8.3%
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interestsNet income attributable to noncontrolling interests205 0.1%668 0.1%
Net income attributable to shareholdersNet income attributable to shareholders106,427 18.9%44,469 8.2%

Participating securities' share in earnings

 

 

(864

)

 

(0.1%)

 

 

 

(853

)

 

(0.1%)

 

Participating securities' share in earnings(671)(0.1%)(581)(0.1%)

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock

 

 

(8

)

 

(0.0%)

 

 

 

(6

)

 

(0.0%)

 

Dividends declared on convertible preferred stock(10)0.0%(5)0.0%

Net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders

 

$

86,963

 

 

10.8%

 

 

$

(660,191

)

 

(83.4%)

 

Net income attributable to common shareholdersNet income attributable to common shareholders$105,746 18.8%$43,883 8.1%

47

40

Table of Contents

The following tables set forth for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, revenues, Adjusted EBITDA and net (loss) income of our reportable segments:

segments for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021:

 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021

 

Six Months Ended June 30, 2022

(Thousands)

 

Leasing

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

Towers

 

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

Corporate

 

 

Subtotal of Reportable Segments

 

(Thousands)LeasingFiber InfrastructureCorporateSubtotal of Reportable Segments

Revenues

 

$

590,478

 

 

$

217,035

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

807,513

 

Revenues$410,255 $151,754 $— $562,009 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

577,937

 

 

$

86,716

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

(17,444

)

 

$

647,209

 

Adjusted EBITDA$399,322 $65,042 $(12,411)$451,953 

Less:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Less:

Interest expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

341,762

 

Interest expense192,549 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

124,132

 

 

 

86,838

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

195

 

 

 

211,165

 

Depreciation and amortization84,616 59,071 73 143,760 

Other expense, net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14,569

 

Gain on sale of real estateGain on sale of real estate(250)
Other, netOther, net(7,134)

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5,624

 

Transaction related and other costs4,949 

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(442

)

Gain on sale of operations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(28,143

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10,963

 

Stock-based compensation6,513 

Income tax expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

283

 

Income tax expense2,873 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,609

 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities2,061 

Net income

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

88,819

 

Net income$106,632 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020

 

Six Months Ended June 30, 2021

(Thousands)

 

Leasing

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

Towers

 

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

Corporate

 

 

Subtotal of Reportable Segments

 

(Thousands)LeasingFiber InfrastructureCorporateSubtotal of Reportable Segments

Revenues

 

$

552,042

 

 

$

232,942

 

 

$

6,112

 

 

$

651

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

791,747

 

Revenues$390,993 $149,773 $— $540,766 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

545,792

 

 

$

81,453

 

 

$

77

 

 

$

(461

)

 

$

(23,717

)

 

$

603,144

 

Adjusted EBITDA$383,634 $59,160 $(12,812)$429,982 

Less:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Less:

Interest expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

388,427

 

Interest expense246,969 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

155,216

 

 

 

93,957

 

 

 

783

 

 

 

791

 

 

 

223

 

 

 

250,970

 

Depreciation and amortization82,700 57,802 133 140,635 

Other expense, net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12,186

 

Settlement expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

650,000

 

Other, netOther, net10,097 

Transaction related and other costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

55,344

 

Transaction related and other costs4,561 

Gain on sale of real estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(86,726

)

Gain on sale of real estate(442)
Gain on sale of operationsGain on sale of operations(28,143)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10,446

 

Stock-based compensation6,797 

Income tax benefit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(7,650

)

Income tax expenseIncome tax expense2,527 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,287

 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities1,844 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

(671,140

)

Net incomeNet income$45,137 

48

41

Table of Contents

Revenues

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Six Months Ended June 30,

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

20222021

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

(Thousands)Amount% of Consolidated RevenuesAmount% of Consolidated Revenues

Revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenues:

Leasing

 

$

590,478

 

 

73.1%

 

 

$

552,042

 

 

69.7%

 

Leasing$410,255 73.0%$390,993 72.3%

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

217,035

 

 

26.9%

 

 

 

232,942

 

 

29.4%

 

Fiber Infrastructure151,754 27.0%149,773 27.7%

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

6,112

 

 

0.8%

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

651

 

 

0.1%

 

Total revenues

 

$

807,513

 

 

100.0%

 

 

$

791,747

 

 

100.0%

 

Total revenues$562,009 100.0%$540,766 100.0%

LeasingLeasing revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 consisted of the following:
Six Months Ended June 30,
20222021
(Thousands)Amount% of Segment RevenuesAmount% of Segment Revenues
Leasing revenues:
Windstream Leases:
Cash revenue
Cash rent$333,890 81.4%$332,229 85.0%
GCI revenue4,820 1.2%— 0.0%
Total cash revenue338,710 82.6%332,229 85.0%
Non-cash revenue
TCI revenue21,073 5.1%18,832 4.8%
GCI revenue7,449 1.8%4,224 1.1%
Other straight-line revenue5,610 1.4%7,309 1.9%
Total non-cash revenue34,132 8.3%30,365 7.8%
Total Windstream revenue372,842 90.9%362,594 92.7%
Other services37,414 9.1%28,399 7.3%
Total Leasing revenues$410,255 100.0%$390,993 100.0%
The increase in TCI revenue is attributable to continued investment by Windstream. As of June 30, 2022 and 2021, the total amount invested in TCIs by Windstream since the inception of the Windstream Leases and Master Lease was $1.0 billion and $952.5 million, respectively.
The increase in GCI revenue is attributable to Uniti’s continued reimbursement of Growth Capital Improvements. During the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, Uniti reimbursed $152.3$91.7 million of Growth Capital Improvements, of which $28.5 million, as allowed for under the Settlement, represented the reimbursement of capital improvements completed in 2020 that were previously classified as TCIs.  Upon reimbursement, the Company reduced the unamortized portion of deferred revenue related to these capital improvements and capitalized the difference between the cash provided to Windstream and the unamortized deferred revenue as a lease incentive.  This lease incentive, which is $0.9 million and reported within other assets on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2021, will be amortized against revenue over the initial term of the Windstream Leases.Improvements. Subsequent to SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, Windstream requested, and we reimbursed $16.5$22.9 million of qualifying Growth Capital Improvements. As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we have reimbursed a total of $253.5$420.8 million of Growth Capital Improvements.

Improvements.

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Segment Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Segment Revenues

 

Leasing revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windstream leases:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash rent

 

$

498.9

 

 

84.5%

 

 

$

496.4

 

 

89.9%

 

Non-cash revenue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TCI revenue

 

 

28.8

 

 

4.8%

 

 

 

26.2

 

 

4.7%

 

Straight-line revenue

 

 

18.1

 

 

3.1%

 

 

 

0.4

 

 

0.1%

 

Total non-cash revenue

 

 

46.9

 

 

7.9%

 

 

 

26.6

 

 

4.8%

 

Total Windstream revenue

 

 

545.8

 

 

92.4%

 

 

 

523.0

 

 

94.7%

 

Other triple-net leasing and dark fiber IRU

 

 

44.7

 

 

7.6%

 

 

 

29.0

 

 

5.3%

 

Total Leasing revenues

 

$

590.5

 

 

100.0%

 

 

$

552.0

 

 

100.0%

 

The increase in TCI revenue is attributable to continued investment by Windstream, which invested $141.0We recognized $37.4 million in TCIs during the nine months ended September 30, 2021.  The total amount invested in TCIs by Windstream since the inception of the Windstream Leases and Master Lease was $986.7 million as of September 30, 2021.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we recognized $44.7$28.4 million of leasing revenues from non-Windstream triple-net leasing, and dark fiber IRU arrangements. Forarrangements, and other services for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020, we recognized $29.0 million from non-Windstream triple-net leasing2022 and dark fiber IRU arrangements.

2021, respectively.

42

Table of Contents
Fiber Infrastructure – Fiber Infrastructure revenues for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 20202021 consisted of the following:

49


Six Months Ended June 30,
20222021
(Thousands)Amount% of Segment RevenuesAmount% of Segment Revenues
Fiber Infrastructure revenues:
Lit backhaul services$39,375 26.0%$48,023 32.0%
Enterprise and wholesale41,936 27.6%42,327 28.3%
E-Rate and government32,782 21.6%35,290 23.6%
Dark fiber and small cells36,288 23.9%22,493 15.0%
Other services1,373 0.9%1,640 1.1%
Total Fiber Infrastructure revenues$151,754 100.0%$149,773 100.0%
Table of Contents

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Segment Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Segment Revenues

 

Fiber Infrastructure revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lit backhaul services

 

$

67,404

 

 

31.1%

 

 

$

80,568

 

 

34.6%

 

Enterprise and wholesale

 

 

63,190

 

 

29.1%

 

 

 

58,761

 

 

25.2%

 

E-Rate and government

 

 

48,795

 

 

22.5%

 

 

 

60,133

 

 

25.8%

 

Dark fiber and small cells

 

 

35,167

 

 

16.2%

 

 

 

29,832

 

 

12.8%

 

Other services

 

 

2,479

 

 

1.1%

 

 

 

3,648

 

 

1.6%

 

Total Fiber Infrastructure revenues

 

$

217,035

 

 

100.0%

 

 

$

232,942

 

 

100.0%

 

For the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, Fiber Infrastructure revenues totaled $217.0$151.8 million as compared to $232.9$149.8 million for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020. The $15.92021. Fiber Infrastructure revenues increased $2.0 million, primarily due to an increase in one-time early termination revenues of $12.3 million within dark fiber and small cells revenues, partially offset by a $8.6 million decrease in Lit backhaul service revenues, primarily driven by the sale of our Uniti Fiber Infrastructure revenues is primarily attributable toNortheast operations on May 28, 2021 and lit-to-dark fiber conversions, and a $10.0$1.6 million decrease relateddue to the wind down of our construction activities, shown above within E-rate and government, and a decreaseactivities.

43

Table of $6.3 million in lit service revenues related to the Uniti Fiber Northeast operations sold on May 28, 20201.

TowersContents – For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we recognized no revenue from the Towers business, as we completed the sale of our U.S. tower business on June 1, 2020.

Consumer CLEC – For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we recognized no revenue from the Consumer CLEC Business, as we substantially completed the wind down of the business as of the end of the second quarter of 2020.

Interest Expense, net

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

Increase / (Decrease)

 

(Thousands)20222021% Increase / (Decrease)

Interest expense, net:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense, net:

Cash:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash:

Senior secured term loan B - variable rate (1)

 

$

-

 

 

$

15,709

 

 

$

(15,709

)

Senior secured notes - 4.75%, 6.00% and 7.875%

 

 

156,550

 

 

 

138,344

 

 

 

18,206

 

Senior unsecured notes - 4.00%, 6.50%. 7.125% and 8.25%

 

 

99,438

 

 

 

111,092

 

 

 

(11,654

)

Senior secured notesSenior secured notes$102,132 $106,859 (4,727)
Senior unsecured notesSenior unsecured notes63,975 67,262 (3,287)

Senior secured revolving credit facility - variable rate

 

 

7,095

 

 

 

12,942

 

 

 

(5,847

)

Senior secured revolving credit facility - variable rate5,479 4,885 594 

Tender premium and early redemption payments

 

 

20,541

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

20,541

 

Tender premium paymentTender premium payment— 20,541 (20,541)

Interest rate swap termination

 

 

8,488

 

 

 

7,325

 

 

 

1,163

 

Interest rate swap termination5,659 5,658 

Other

 

 

2,070

 

 

 

3,157

 

 

 

(1,087

)

Other679 1,705 (1,026)

Total cash interest

 

 

294,182

 

 

 

288,569

 

 

 

5,613

 

Total cash interest177,924 206,910 (28,986)

Non-cash:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-cash:

Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discount

 

 

13,723

 

 

 

27,703

 

 

 

(13,980

)

Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discount9,015 9,371 (356)

Write off of deferred financing costs and debt discount

 

 

22,828

 

 

 

73,952

 

 

 

(51,124

)

Write off of deferred financing costs and debt discount— 22,828 (22,828)

Accretion of settlement payable

 

 

13,006

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

13,006

 

Accretion of settlement payable5,787 8,889 (3,102)

Capitalized Interest

 

 

(1,977

)

 

 

(1,797

)

 

 

(180

)

Capitalized interestCapitalized interest(177)(1,029)852 

Total non-cash interest

 

 

47,580

 

 

 

99,858

 

 

 

(52,278

)

Total non-cash interest14,625 40,059 (25,434)

Total interest expense, net

 

$

341,762

 

 

$

388,427

 

 

$

(46,665

)

Total interest expense, net$192,549 $246,969 $(54,420)

(1) Swapped to fixed rate. See Note 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 decreased $46.7$54.4 million compared to the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020.2021. The decrease is primarily dueattributable to (i) the decrease in debt extinguishment lossissuance of $30.6 million on2029 Notes used to fund the redemption of the 2023 Notes, and issuance of the 2028 Secured Notes to fund the redemption of the 2023 Secured Notes, which collectively resulted in $20.5 million of tender premium payments and the 2023 Noteswrite off of $22.8 million of deferred financing costs, during the six months ended June 30, 2021 and (ii) lower cash interest expense of $13.4$8.2 million, resulting from extinguishment of 2023 Securedprimarily associated with the 2029 Notes and 20232028 Notes financing transactions, and a $3.1 million decrease in accretion expense associated with the settlement payable during the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021.

2022.

Depreciation and Amortization Expense

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Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

Increase / (Decrease)

 

(Thousands)20222021% Increase / (Decrease)

Depreciation and amortization expense by segment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization expense by segment:

Depreciation expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation expense

Leasing

 

$

126,965

 

 

$

151,845

 

 

$

(24,880

)

Leasing$81,157 $84,589 $(3,432)

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

69,684

 

 

 

75,505

 

 

 

(5,821

)

Fiber Infrastructure47,637 46,366 1,271 

Corporate

 

 

195

 

 

 

223

 

 

 

(28

)

Corporate73 133 (60)

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

 

783

 

 

 

(783

)

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Total depreciation expense

 

 

196,844

 

 

 

228,356

 

 

 

(31,512

)

Total depreciation expense128,867 131,088 (2,221)

Amortization expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amortization expense

Leasing

 

 

(2,833

)

 

 

3,371

 

 

 

(6,204

)

Leasing3,459 (1,889)5,348 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

17,154

 

 

 

18,452

 

 

 

(1,298

)

Fiber Infrastructure11,434 11,436 (2)

Corporate

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

 

791

 

 

 

(791

)

Total amortization expense

 

 

14,321

 

 

 

22,614

 

 

 

(8,293

)

Total amortization expense14,893 9,547 5,346 

Total depreciation and amortization expense

 

$

211,165

 

 

$

250,970

 

 

$

(39,805

)

Total depreciation and amortization expense$143,760 $140,635 $3,125 

Leasing – Leasing depreciation expense decreased $24.9$3.4 million for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 as compared to the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020.2021. The decrease is primarily attributable to a $26.8 million decrease related to the natural decreasean increase in remaining useful life of thefully depreciated Windstream Distribution System assets which utilize the group composite depreciation method,of $4.0 million, partially offset by $4.3a $0.7 million increase in depreciation expense related to asset additions since June 30, 2021. During the assets acquired from Windstream under the Asset Purchase Agreement.  The $6.2six months ended June 30, 2021, $5.3 million decrease inwas recorded as a benefit to amortization expense, relatesand subsequently reclassified to intangible liabilities assumed from Windstream underrevenue during the Asset Purchase Agreement.fourth quarter of 2021.

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Fiber Infrastructure – Fiber Infrastructure depreciation and amortization expense decreasedincreased $1.3 million for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021 as2022 compared to the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020.2021. The $5.8 million decreaseincrease in depreciation expense is primarily attributable to the Everstream transaction completed on May 28,asset additions since June 30, 2021.See Note 5.  The $1.3 million decrease in amortization expense relates to a trademark intangible asset, associated with the wind down of the construction business, that became fully amortized in 2020.

General and Administrative Expense

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

General and administrative expense by segment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

$

41,190

 

 

5.1%

 

 

$

42,124

 

 

5.3%

 

Leasing

 

 

7,436

 

 

0.9%

 

 

 

5,242

 

 

0.7%

 

Corporate

 

 

27,174

 

 

3.4%

 

 

 

31,492

 

 

4.0%

 

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

2,607

 

 

0.3%

 

Consumer CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

221

 

 

0.0%

 

Total general and administrative expenses

 

$

75,800

 

 

9.4%

 

 

$

81,686

 

 

10.3%

 

General and administrative expenses include compensation costs, including stock-based compensation awards, professional and legal services, corporate office costs and other costs associated with administrative activities. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021,activities of our segments.

Six Months Ended June 30,
20222021
(Thousands)Amount% of Consolidated RevenuesAmount% of Consolidated Revenues
General and administrative expense by segment:
Leasing$6,539 1.1%$5,182 1.0%
Fiber Infrastructure25,783 4.6%27,763 5.1%
Corporate16,633 3.0%17,778 3.3%
Total general and administrative expenses$48,955 8.7%$50,723 9.4%
Leasing – Leasing general and administrative costs totaled $75.8 million.  Forexpense increased $1.4 million for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020, general and administrative costs totaled $81.7 million. 2022 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2021. The decrease in general and administrative expensesincrease is primarily attributable to a $1.0 million increase in personnel expenses.
Fiber Infrastructure – Fiber Infrastructure general and administrative expense decreased $2.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2021. This decrease is primarily attributable to decreases in personnel expenses of approximately $3.8$0.5 million, franchise taxes of $0.4 million, and insurance expense associated with favorable premium renewals of $0.3 million.
Corporate – Corporate general and administrative expense decreased $1.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2021. The decrease is attributable to reductions in insurance expenses of $1.7 million and personnel expenses of $1.2 million, partially offset by increases in professional and legal expenses for the period.of $1.1 million, computer software and maintenance of $0.2 million, and facility lease expense of $0.2 million..

Operating Expense

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Operating expense for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021 decreased2022 increased by $0.6 million from the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020,2021, which was primarily attributable to decreasesa $2.9 million increase in Leasing operating expenses partially offset by a $2.2 million decrease in Fiber Infrastructure Towers and Consumer CLEC Business operating expenses offset by an increase in Leasing operating expenses discussed below. Operating expense for our reportable segments for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 20202021 consisted of the followingfollowing:
Six Months Ended June 30,
20222021
(Thousands)Amount% of Consolidated RevenuesAmount% of Consolidated Revenues
Operating expense by segment:
Leasing$9,706 1.7%$6,842 1.3%
Fiber Infrastructure62,187 11.1%64,427 11.9%
Total operating expenses$71,893 12.8%$71,269 13.2%
Leasing: – Leasing operating expense increased $2.9 million for the

six months ended June 30, 2022 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2021. The increase is primarily driven by incremental customer growth and increased network related expenses of $1.9 million.

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of Consolidated Revenues

 

Operating expenses by segment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

$

93,410

 

 

11.6%

 

 

$

111,405

 

 

14.0%

 

Leasing

 

 

12,026

 

 

1.5%

 

 

 

2,320

 

 

0.3%

 

Towers

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

3,692

 

 

0.5%

 

CLEC

 

 

-

 

 

0.0%

 

 

 

891

 

 

0.1%

 

Total operating expenses

 

$

105,436

 

 

13.1%

 

 

$

118,308

 

 

14.9%

 

Fiber InfrastructureFor the nine months ended September 30, 2021, Fiber Infrastructure operating expenses totaled $93.4 million as compared to $111.4decreased $2.2 million for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020.2022 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2021. Operating expense consists of network related costs, such as dark

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Table of Contents
fiber and tower rents, lit service and maintenance expense, and costs associated with our construction activities. The $18.0 million decrease in operating expenses is primarily attributable to decreases in equipment sales and installations of $2.6 million, construction related expenses of $12.7$1.7 million, and $4.2$1.5 million in expenses related to the sale of our Uniti Fiber Northeast operations sold on May 28, 2021.

Leasing – Leasing operating expense was $12.02021, partially offset by increases in dark fiber early termination fees of $1.8 million, unsplicing expenses of $0.9 million, and $2.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021network maintenance and 2020, respectively.  The increase is primarily driven by a $8.1 million increase in networkrepair expenses due to the Asset Purchase Agreement the Company entered into with Windstream which was completed in the third quarter of 2020.

Towers – For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, Towers operating expenses were not incurred as the U.S. tower business sale was completed on June 1, 2020.  Towers operating expense was $3.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020.

Consumer CLEC – For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, Consumer CLEC Business operating expenses were not incurred, as we substantially completed the wind down of the business as of the end of the second quarter of 2020.

$0.8 million.

Transaction Related and Other Costs

Transaction related and other costs included incremental acquisition, pursuit, transaction and integration costs (including unsuccessful acquisition pursuit costs), costs incurred as a result of Windstream’s bankruptcy filing, costs associated with Windstream’s claims against us and costs associated with the implementation of our new enterprise resource planning system. For the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we incurred $5.6$4.9 million of transaction related and other costs, compared to $55.3$4.6 million of such costs during the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2020. The decrease is primarily related to incurring $40.2 million of total costs related to the Windstream bankruptcy for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, as compared to $1.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, and we incurred $5.2 million in costs related to the sale of our U.S. towers business during the nine months ended September 30, 2020.

2021.

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

The income tax expense (benefit) recorded for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 and 2020,2021, respectively, is related to the tax impact of the following:

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

(Thousands)20222021

Income tax expense (benefit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income tax expenseIncome tax expense

Pre-tax loss (Fiber Infrastructure)

 

$

(9,484

)

 

$

(7,128

)

Pre-tax loss (Fiber Infrastructure)$(7,243)$(6,008)

Gain on sale of operations

 

 

7,041

 

 

 

-

 

Gain on sale of operations— 7,041 
Gain on sale of unconsolidated entityGain on sale of unconsolidated entity6,711 — 

Other undistributed REIT taxable income

 

 

1,310

 

 

 

-

 

Other undistributed REIT taxable income2,266 532 

REIT state and local taxes

 

 

1,291

 

 

 

-

 

REIT state and local taxes1,078 939 

Other

 

 

125

 

 

 

(522

)

Other61 23 

Total income tax expense (benefit)

 

$

283

 

 

$

(7,650

)

Total income tax expenseTotal income tax expense$2,873 $2,527 

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Table of Contents

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We refer to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Funds From Operations (“FFO”) (as defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”)) and Adjusted Funds From Operations (“AFFO”) in our analysis of our results of operations, which are not required by, or presented in accordance with, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). While we believe that net income, as defined by GAAP, is the most appropriate earnings measure, we also believe that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, FFO and AFFO are important non-GAAP supplemental measures of operating performance for a REIT.

We define “EBITDA” as net income, as defined by GAAP, before interest expense, provision for income taxes and depreciation and amortization. We define “Adjusted EBITDA” as EBITDA before stock-based compensation expense and the impact, which may be recurring in nature, of transaction and integration related costs, costs associated with Windstream’s bankruptcy, costs associated with litigation claims made against us, and costs associated with the implementation of our enterprise resource planning system, (collectively, “Transaction Related and Other Costs”), costs related to the settlement with Windstream, goodwill impairment charges,, executive severance costs,, amortization of non-cash rights-of-use assets, the write off of unamortized deferred financing costs, costs incurred as a result of the early repayment of debt, including early tender and redemption premiums and costs associated with the termination of related hedging activities, gains or losses on dispositions, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration and financial instruments, and other similar or infrequent items (although we may not have had such charges in the periods presented). Adjusted EBITDA includes adjustments to reflect the Company’s share of Adjusted EBITDA from unconsolidated entities. We believe EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are important supplemental measures to net income because they provide additional information to evaluate our operating performance on an unleveraged basis. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is calculated similar to defined terms in our material debt agreements used to determine compliance with specific financial covenants. Since EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, they should not be considered as alternatives to net income determined in accordance with GAAP.

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Table of Contents
Because the historical cost accounting convention used for real estate assets requires the recognition of depreciation expense except on land, such accounting presentation implies that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. However, since real estate values have historically risen or fallen with market and other conditions, presentations of operating results for a REIT that uses historical cost accounting for depreciation could be less informative. Thus, NAREIT created FFO as a supplemental measure of operating performance for REITs that excludes historical cost depreciation and amortization, among other items, from net income, as defined by GAAP. FFO is defined by NAREIT as net income attributable to common shareholders computed in accordance with GAAP, excluding gains or losses from real estate dispositions, plus real estate depreciation and amortization and impairment charges, and includes adjustments to reflect the Company’s share of FFO from unconsolidated entities. We compute FFO in accordance with NAREIT’s definition.

The Company defines AFFO, as FFO excluding (i) Transaction Related and Other Costs; (ii) costs related to the litigation settlement with Windstream, and accretion on our settlement obligation, and gains on prepayment of our settlement obligation as these items are not reflective of ongoing operating performance; (iii) goodwill impairment charges; (iv) certain non-cash revenues and expenses such as stock-based compensation expense, amortization of debt and equity discounts, amortization of deferred financing costs, depreciation and amortization of non-real estate assets, amortization of non-cash rights-of-use assets, straight line revenues, non-cash income taxes, and the amortization of other non-cash revenues to the extent that cash has not been received, such as revenue associated with the amortization of TCIs; and (v) the impact, which may be recurring in nature, of the write-off of unamortized deferred financing fees, additional costs incurred as a result of the early repayment of debt, including early tender and redemption premiums and costs associated with the termination of related hedging activities, executive severance costs, taxes associated with tax basis cancellation of debt, gains or losses on dispositions, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration and financial instruments and similar or infrequent items less maintenance capital expenditures. AFFO includes adjustments to reflect the Company’s share of AFFO from unconsolidated entities. We believe that the use of FFO and AFFO, and their respective per share amounts, combined with the required GAAP presentations, improves the understanding of operating results of REITs among investors and analysts, and makes comparisons of operating results among such companies more meaningful. We consider FFO and AFFO to be useful measures for reviewing comparative operating performance. In particular, we believe AFFO, by excluding certain revenue and expense items, can help investors compare our operating performance between periods and to other REITs on a consistent basis without having to account for differences caused by unanticipated items and events, such as transaction and integration related costs. The Company uses FFO and AFFO, and their respective per share amounts, only as performance measures, and FFO and AFFO do not purport to be indicative of cash available to fund our future cash requirements. While FFO and AFFO are relevant and widely used measures of operating performance of REITs, they do not represent cash flows from operations or net income as defined by GAAP and should not be considered an alternative to those measures in evaluating our liquidity or operating performance.

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Further, our computations of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, FFO and AFFO may not be comparable to that reported by other REITs or companies that do not define FFO in accordance with the current NAREIT definition or that interpret the current NAREIT definition or define EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and AFFO differently than we do.

54

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The reconciliation of our net (loss) income to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and of our net (loss) income attributable to common shareholders to FFO and AFFO for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2022 and 2021 and 2020 is as follows:

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

(Thousands)

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Net income (loss)

$

43,682

 

 

$

7,455

 

 

$

88,819

 

 

$

(671,140

)

Depreciation and amortization

 

70,530

 

 

 

79,880

 

 

 

211,165

 

 

 

250,970

 

Interest expense, net

 

94,793

 

 

 

102,791

 

 

 

341,762

 

 

 

388,427

 

Income tax (benefit) expense

 

(2,244

)

 

 

2,801

 

 

 

283

 

 

 

(7,650

)

EBITDA

$

206,761

 

 

$

192,927

 

 

$

642,029

 

 

$

(39,393

)

Stock based compensation

 

4,166

 

 

 

3,341

 

 

 

10,963

 

 

 

10,446

 

Transaction related and other costs

 

1,063

 

 

 

20,816

 

 

 

5,624

 

 

 

55,344

 

Settlement expense

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

650,000

 

Gain on sale of operations

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(28,143

)

 

 

-

 

Gain on sale of real estate

 

-

 

 

 

(22,908

)

 

 

(442

)

 

 

(86,726

)

Other expense

 

4,472

 

 

 

3,098

 

 

 

14,569

 

 

 

12,186

 

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

765

 

 

 

1,287

 

 

 

2,609

 

 

 

1,287

 

Adjusted EBITDA

$

217,227

 

 

$

198,561

 

 

$

647,209

 

 

$

603,144

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

(Thousands)

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders

$

43,080

 

 

$

7,034

 

 

$

86,963

 

 

$

(660,191

)

Real estate depreciation and amortization

 

53,620

 

 

 

59,318

 

 

 

159,175

 

 

 

185,377

 

Gain on sale of real estate assets, net of tax

 

-

 

 

 

(22,501

)

 

 

(442

)

 

 

(86,319

)

Participating securities share in earnings

 

283

 

 

 

229

 

 

 

864

 

 

 

853

 

Participating securities share in FFO

 

(635

)

 

 

(331

)

 

 

(1,660

)

 

 

(937

)

Real estate depreciation and amortization from unconsolidated entities

 

646

 

 

 

366

 

 

 

1,876

 

 

 

366

 

Adjustments for noncontrolling interests

 

(412

)

 

 

(598

)

 

 

(1,979

)

 

 

(1,700

)

FFO attributable to common shareholders

$

96,582

 

 

$

43,517

 

 

$

244,797

 

 

$

(562,551

)

Transaction related and other costs

 

1,063

 

 

 

20,816

 

 

 

5,624

 

 

 

55,344

 

Change in fair value of contingent consideration

 

-

 

 

 

1,946

 

 

 

21

 

 

 

8,086

 

Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discount

 

4,352

 

 

 

9,037

 

 

 

13,723

 

 

 

27,703

 

Write off of deferred financing costs and debt discount

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

22,828

 

 

 

73,952

 

Costs related to the early repayment of debt

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

28,485

 

 

 

-

 

Stock based compensation

 

4,166

 

 

 

3,341

 

 

 

10,963

 

 

 

10,446

 

Gain on sale of operations

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

(28,143

)

 

 

-

 

Non-real estate depreciation and amortization

 

16,910

 

 

 

20,562

 

 

 

51,990

 

 

 

65,593

 

Settlement expense

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

650,000

 

Straight-line revenues

 

(8,240

)

 

 

(1,747

)

 

 

(22,455

)

 

 

(1,036

)

Maintenance capital expenditures

 

(1,938

)

 

 

(1,617

)

 

 

(6,322

)

 

 

(4,978

)

Other, net

 

(2,949

)

 

 

(3,461

)

 

 

(4,958

)

 

 

(25,271

)

Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities

 

119

 

 

 

921

 

 

 

733

 

 

 

921

 

Adjustments for noncontrolling interests

 

(120

)

 

 

(775

)

 

 

(990

)

 

 

(15,114

)

AFFO attributable to common shareholders

$

109,945

 

 

$

92,540

 

 

$

316,296

 

 

$

283,095

 

Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,
(Thousands)2022202120222021
Net income$53,774 $49,639 $106,632 $45,137 
Depreciation and amortization72,303 69,671 143,760 140,635 
Interest expense, net96,377 106,388 192,549 246,969 
Income tax expense4,944 5,084 2,873 2,527 
EBITDA$227,398 $230,782 $445,814 $435,268 
Stock based compensation3,201 3,462 6,513 6,797 
Transaction related and other costs3,235 424 4,949 4,561 
Gain on sale of operations— (28,143)— (28,143)
Gain on sale of real estate(250)(442)(250)(442)
Other, net(7,495)8,779 (7,134)10,097 
Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities1,075 872 2,061 1,844 
Adjusted EBITDA$227,164 $215,734 $451,953 $429,982 

55

Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,
(Thousands)2022202120222021
Net income attributable to common shareholders$53,352 $48,572 $105,746 $43,883 
Real estate depreciation and amortization52,424 52,178 104,317 105,555 
Gain on sale of real estate assets, net of tax(250)(442)(250)(442)
Participating securities share in earnings340 333 671 581 
Participating securities share in FFO(904)(681)(1,562)(1,025)
Real estate depreciation and amortization from unconsolidated entities806 614 1,496 1,230 
Adjustments for noncontrolling interests(82)(771)(211)(1,567)
FFO attributable to common shareholders$105,686 $99,803 $210,207 $148,215 
Transaction related and other costs3,235 424 4,949 4,561 
Change in fair value of contingent consideration— — — 21 
Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discount4,501 4,412 9,015 9,371 
Write off of deferred financing costs and debt discount— 2,413 — 22,828 
Costs related to the early repayment of debt— 10,935 — 28,485 
Stock based compensation3,201 3,462 6,513 6,797 
Gain on sale of unconsolidated entity, net of tax(1,212)— (1,212)— 
Gain on sale of operations— (28,143)— (28,143)
Non-real estate depreciation and amortization19,879 17,493 39,443 35,080 
Straight-line revenues and amortization of below-market lease intangibles(10,126)(7,309)(21,148)(14,215)
Maintenance capital expenditures(2,456)(2,408)(4,822)(4,384)
Other, net(8,060)1,961 (16,230)(2,009)
Adjustments for equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities269 258 565 614 
Adjustments for noncontrolling interests(20)(52)(41)(870)
AFFO attributable to common shareholders$114,897 $103,249 $227,239 $206,351 
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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our principal liquidity needs are to fund operating expenses, meet debt service obligations, fund investment activities, including capital expenditures, and make dividend distributions. Furthermore, following consummation of our settlement agreement with Windstream, including entry into the Windstream Leases, we are obligated (i) to make $490.1 million of cash payments to Windstream in equal installments over 20 consecutive quarters beginning in October 2020 and (ii) to reimburse Windstream for up to an aggregate of $1.75 billion for Growth Capital Improvements in long-term value accretive fiber and related assets made by Windstream through 2029. To date, we have paid $215.4 million of the $490.1 million due to Windstream under the settlement agreement, including $92.9 million that we pre-paid on October 14, 2021, $78.0 million of which was funded from a portion of the proceeds of the 2030 Notes. Uniti’s reimbursement commitment for Growth Capital Improvements does not require Uniti to reimburse Windstream for maintenance or repair expenditures (except for costs incurred for fiber replacements to the CLEC MLA leased property, up to $70 million during the term), and each such reimbursement is subject to underwriting standards. Uniti’s total annual reimbursement commitments for the Growth Capital Improvements under both Windstream Leases (and under separate equipment loan facilities) were limited to $125 million in 2020 and $225 million in 2021, and are limited to $225 million per year in 20212022 through 2024; $175 million per year in 2025 and 2026; and $125 million per year in 2027 through 2029.
Our primary sources of liquidity and capital resources are cash on hand, cash provided by operating activities (primarily from the Windstream Leases), available borrowings under our credit agreement by and among the Operating Partnership, CSL Capital, LLC and Uniti Group Finance 2019 Inc., the guarantors and lenders party thereto and Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and collateral agent (the “Credit Agreement”), and proceeds from the issuance of debt and equity securities.
As of June 30, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of $61.4 million and approximately $300.0 million of borrowing availability under our Revolving Credit Facility under the Credit Agreement. Subsequent to June 30, 2022, other than $22.9 million of Growth Capital Improvements (see “Result of Operations—Revenues” above), there have been no material outlays of funds outside of our scheduled interest and dividend payments. Availability under our Revolving Credit Facility is subject to various conditions, including a maximum secured leverage ratio of 5.0:1. In addition, if we incur debt under our Revolving Credit Facility or otherwise such that our total leverage ratio exceeds 6.5:1, our Revolving Credit Facility would impose significant restrictions on our ability to pay dividends. See “—Dividends.”
Six Months Ended June 30,
(Thousands)20222021
Cash flow from operating activities:
Net cash provided by operating activities$234,608 $318,477 
Cash provided by operating activities is primarily attributable to our leasing activities, which includes the leasing of mission-critical communications assets to anchor customers on either an exclusive or shared-tenant basis, in addition to the leasing of dark fiber network assets to the telecommunications industry. Cash used in operating activities includes compensation and related costs, interest payments, and other changes in working capital. Net cash provided by operating activities was $234.6 million and $318.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The decrease in net cash provided by operating activities during the six months ended June 30, 2022 is primarily attributable to changes in working capital, including the timing of interest payments associated with debt refinancing activities occurring in 2021.
Six Months Ended June 30,
(Thousands)20222021
Cash flow from investing activities:
Capital expenditures$(184,039)$(177,934)
Proceeds from sale of unconsolidated entity (see Note 5)32,527 — 
Proceeds from sale of real estate, net of cash325 1,034 
Proceeds from sale of operations— 62,113 
Proceeds from sale of other equipment431 399 
Net cash used in investing activities$(150,756)$(114,388)
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Net cash used in investing activities was $150.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022, primarily driven by capital expenditures ($184.0 million), partially offset by proceeds received from the sale of the Harmoni investment ($32.5 million). Net cash used in investing activities was $114.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, primarily driven by capital expenditures ($177.9 million), partially offset by proceeds from the sale of the Uniti Fiber Northeast operations to Everstream ($62.1 million). Capital expenditures are primarily related to our Uniti Fiber and Uniti Leasing businesses for deployment of network assets, as described under “—Capital Expenditures.”
Six Months Ended June 30,
(Thousands)20222021
Cash flow from financing activities:
Repayment of debt$— $(1,660,000)
Proceeds from issuance of notes— 1,680,000 
Dividends paid(71,771)(70,386)
Payments of settlement payable— (49,011)
Payments of contingent consideration— (2,979)
Distributions paid to noncontrolling interest(186)(1,039)
Payment for exchange of noncontrolling interest(4,620)— 
Borrowings under revolving credit facility105,000 205,000 
Payments under revolving credit facility(105,000)(220,000)
Finance lease payments(601)(1,393)
Payments for financing costs— (25,156)
Payment of tender premium— (25,800)
Employee stock purchase program264 319 
Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation(4,436)(2,642)
Net cash used in financing activities$(81,350)$(173,087)
Net cash used in financing activities was $81.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022, which was primarily related to dividend payments of $71.8 million, payment for an exchange of noncontrolling interest of $4.6 million, and payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation of $4.4 million. Net cash used in financing activities was $173.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, which was primarily driven by the repayment of the 2023 Notes and 2023 Secured Notes ($1.66 billion), net payments under the Revolving Credit Facility ($15.0 million), dividend payments ($70.4 million), payments for financing costs ($25.2 million), payment of settlement obligation ($49.0 million), 2023 Notes tender premium payment ($17.6 million), 2023 Secured Notes early redemption payment ($8.3 million) and contingent consideration payments ($3.0 million), partially offset by proceeds from the issuance of the 2029 Notes and 2028 Secured Notes ($1.68 billion).
Windstream Master Lease and Windstream Leases
On September 18, 2020, in connection with Windstream’s emergence from bankruptcy and the implementation of the Settlement, Uniti and Windstream bifurcated the Master Lease and entered into the Windstream Leases that each expires on April 30, 2030. The aggregate initial annual rent under the Windstream Leases is equal to the annual rent under the Master Lease previously in effect. The Windstream Leases contain cross-guarantees and cross-default provisions, which will remain effective as long as Windstream or an affiliate is the tenant under both of the Windstream Leases and unless and until the landlords under the ILEC MLA are different from the landlords under the CLEC MLA. The Windstream Leases permit Uniti to transfer its rights and obligations and otherwise monetize or encumber the Windstream Leases, together or separately, so long as Uniti does not transfer interests in either Windstream Lease to a Windstream competitor.
Pursuant to the Windstream Leases, Windstream (or any successor tenant under a Windstream Lease) has the right to cause Uniti to reimburse up to an aggregate $1.75 billion for certain growth capital improvements in long-term value accretive fiber and related assets made by Windstream (or the applicable tenant under the Windstream Lease) to certain ILEC and CLEC properties (the “Growth Capital Improvements”). Uniti’s reimbursement commitment for Growth Capital Improvements does not require Uniti to reimburse Windstream for maintenance or repair expenditures (except for costs incurred for fiber replacements to the CLEC MLA leased property, up to $70.0 million during the term), and each such reimbursement is subject to underwriting standards. Uniti’s total annual reimbursement commitments for the Growth
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Capital Improvements under both Windstream Leases (and under separate equipment loan facilities) were limited to $125 million in 2020 and $225 million in 2021, and are limited to $225 million per year in 2022 through 2024; $175 million per year in 2025 and 2026; and $125 million per year in 2027 through 2029. If the costcosts incurred by Windstream (or the successor tenant under a Windstream Lease) for Growth Capital Improvements in any calendar year exceeds the annual limit for such calendar year, Windstream (or such tenant, as the case may be) may submit such excess costs for reimbursement in any subsequent year and such excess costs shall be funded from the annual commitment amounts in such subsequent period. In addition, to the extent that reimbursements for Growth Capital Improvements funded in any calendar year during the term is less than the annual limit for such calendar year, the unfunded amount in any calendar year will carry-over and may be added to the annual limits for subsequent calendar years, subject to an annual limit of $250$250.0 million in any calendar year, except that, during calendar year 2021, our combined total obligation to fundyear.
Starting on the first anniversary of each installment of reimbursement for a Growth Capital Improvements may exceed $250 millionImprovement, the rent payable by Windstream under the applicable Windstream Lease will increase by an amount equal to 8.0% (the “Rent Rate”) of such installment of reimbursement. The Rent Rate will thereafter increase to 100.5% of the prior Rent Rate on each anniversary of each reimbursement. In the event that the tenant’s interest in either Windstream Lease is transferred by Windstream under the terms thereof (unless transferred to the extent ofsame transferee), or if Uniti transfers its interests as landlord under either Windstream Lease (unless to the same transferee), the reimbursement rights and obligations will be allocated between the ILEC MLA and the CLEC MLA by Windstream, provided that the maximum that may be allocated to the CLEC MLA following such transfer is $20 million per year. If Uniti fails to reimburse any unfunded excess amounts from calendar year 2020.  Accordingly, because we funded $84.7 millionGrowth Capital Improvement reimbursement payment or equipment loan funding request as and when it is required to do so under the terms of the Windstream Leases, and such failure continues for thirty (30) days, then such unreimbursed amounts may be applied as an offset against the rent owed by Windstream under the Windstream Leases (and such amounts will thereafter be treated as if Uniti had reimbursed them).
Uniti and Windstream have entered into separate ILEC and CLEC Equipment Loan and Security Agreements (collectively “Equipment Loan Agreement”) in which Uniti will provide up to $125 million limit(limited to $25 million in 2020, we are committed to fund up to $265.3 millionany calendar year) of the $1.75 billion of Growth Capital Improvements commitments discussed above in 2021.

Our primary sourcesthe form of liquidity and capital resources are cash on hand, cash provided by operating activities (primarily from theloans for Windstream Leases), available borrowings under our credit agreement by and among the Operating Partnership, CSL Capital, LLC and Uniti Group Finance 2019 Inc., the guarantors and lenders party thereto and Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and collateral agent (the “Credit Agreement”), and proceeds from the issuance of debt and equity securities.

As of September 30, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $69.8 million and approximately $380.5 million of borrowing availability under our Revolving Credit Facility. Subsequent to September 30, 2021, other than the redemption of the 2024 Notes as described below, and $16.5 million of Growth Capital Improvements (see “Result of Operations—Revenues” above), there have been no material outlays of funds outside of our scheduled interest and dividend payments.  Availability under our Revolving Credit Facility is subject to various conditions, including a maximum secured leverage ratio of 5.0:1.  In addition, if we incur debt under our Revolving Credit Facility or otherwise such that our total leverage ratio exceeds 6.5:1, our Revolving Credit Facility would impose significant restrictions on our ability to pay dividends.  See “—Dividends.”

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Cash flow from operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net cash provided by operating activities

 

$

353,353

 

 

$

112,815

 

Cash provided by operating activities was $353.4 million and $112.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.  Cash provided by operating activities is primarily attributable to our leasing activities.

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Cash flow from investing activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windstream asset acquisition

 

$

-

 

 

$

(73,127

)

Proceeds from sale of real estate, net of cash

 

 

1,034

 

 

 

392,011

 

Proceeds from sale of operations (Note 5)

 

 

62,113

 

 

 

-

 

Proceeds from sale of other equipment

 

 

1,143

 

 

 

-

 

Other capital expenditures

 

 

(276,010

)

 

 

(214,150

)

Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities

 

$

(211,720

)

 

$

104,734

 

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Cash used in investing activities was $211.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and is driven by capital expenditures, primarilypurchase equipment related to our Uniti Fiber and Uniti Leasing business for deployment of network assets, partially offset by proceeds from the sale of the Uniti Fiber Northeast operationsupgrades or to Everstream ($62.1 million).  Cash provided by investing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was $104.7 million, which was driven by proceeds from the sale of our U.S. tower business ($225.1 million), proceeds from the sale of our Midwest fiber network ($166.9 million), partially offset by capital expenditures ($214.2 million), which primarily related to our Uniti Fiber and Uniti Leasing businesses for the deployment of network assets but also includes $29.1 million of Growth Capital Improvements and expenditures of $73.1 millionbe used in connection with the Asset Purchase Agreement.

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

(Thousands)

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Cash flow from financing activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repayment of debt

 

$

(1,660,000

)

 

$

(2,044,728

)

Proceeds from issuance of notes

 

 

1,680,000

 

 

 

2,250,000

 

Dividends paid

 

 

(105,941

)

 

 

(100,759

)

Payment of settlement obligation

 

 

(73,516

)

 

 

-

 

Payments of contingent consideration

 

 

(2,979

)

 

 

(15,713

)

Distributions paid to noncontrolling interest

 

 

(1,700

)

 

 

(1,802

)

Borrowings under revolving credit facility

 

 

290,000

 

 

 

140,000

 

Payments under revolving credit facility

 

 

(220,000

)

 

 

(585,019

)

Finance lease payments

 

 

(1,745

)

 

 

(2,890

)

Payments for financing costs

 

 

(25,755

)

 

 

(47,775

)

Settlement Common Stock issuance

 

 

-

 

 

 

244,550

 

Costs related to the early repayment of debt

 

 

(25,800

)

 

 

-

 

Employee stock purchase program

 

 

672

 

 

 

306

 

Payments related to tax withholding for stock-based compensation

 

 

(2,652

)

 

 

(962

)

Net cash used in financing activities

 

$

(149,416

)

 

$

(164,792

)

Cash used in financing activities was $149.4 million forWindstream Leases. Interest on these loans will accrue at 8% from the nine months ended September 30, 2021, which was primarily driven by the repaymentdate of the 2023 Notes and 2023 Secured Notes ($1.66 billion), net borrowings underborrowing. All equipment financed through the Revolving Credit Facility ($70.0 million), dividend payments ($105.9 million), payments for financing costs ($25.8 million), paymentEquipment Loan Agreement is the sole property of settlement obligation ($73.5 million), 2023 Notes tender premium payment ($17.6 million), 2023 Secured Notes early redemption payment ($8.3 million) and contingent consideration payments ($3.0 million), partially offset by proceeds fromWindstream; however, Uniti will receive a first-lien security interest in the issuance of the 2029 Notes and 2028 Secured Notes ($1.68 billion).  Cash used in financing activities was $164.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, which was primarily driven by the repayment of senior secured term loan B ($2.04 billion), net payments under the Revolving Credit Facility ($445.0 million), dividend payments ($100.8 million) and payments for financing costs ($47.8 million), contingent consideration payments ($15.7 million), partially offset by the proceeds from the issuance of the 2025 Secured Notes ($2.25 billion) and the issuance of the Settlement Common Stock ($244.6 million).

Senior Notes

On October 13, 2021, Uniti Group LP, Uniti Fiber Holdings Inc., Uniti Group Finance 2019 Inc. and CSL Capital, LLC (together, the “Issuers”) issued $700 million aggregate principal amount of 6.00% Senior Notes due 2030 and will use the proceeds to fund the redemption of the Issuer’s 2024 Notes on December 15, 2021. On October 13, 2021, the Issuers deposited amountsequipment purchased with the trustee of the 2024 Notes sufficient to fund the redemption of the 2024 Notes on December 15, 2021, and to pay any related premiums, fees and expenses in connection with the foregoing, and therefore satisfied and discharged their respective obligations under the indenture governing the 2024 Notes.

The 2030 Notes were issued at an issue price of 100% of their principal amount pursuant to an indenture, dated as of October 13, 2021, among the Issuers, the guarantors named therein and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, as trustee. The 2030 Notes mature on January 15, 2030 and bear interest at a rate of 6.000% per year. Interest on the 2030 Notes is payable on January 15 and July 15 of each year, beginning on July 15, 2022.

For additional information, see Note 11 to our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Part 1, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

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loans.

At-the-Market Common Stock Offering Program

We have an effective shelf registration statement on file with the SEC (the “Registration Statement”) to offer and sell various securities from time to time. Under the registration statement, we have established an at-the-market common stock offering program (the “ATM Program”) to sell shares of common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $250$250.0 million. During the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we did not make any sales under the ATM Program. This program is intended to provide additional financial flexibility and an alternative mechanism to access the capital markets at an efficient cost as and when we need financing, including for acquisitions. In addition, our UPREIT structure enables us to acquire properties by issuing to sellers, as a form of consideration, limited partnership interests in our operating partnership, (commonly called “OP Units”). We believe that this structure will facilitate our ability to acquire individual properties and portfolios of properties by enabling us to structure transactions which will defer taxes payable by a seller while preserving our available cash for other purposes, including the possible payment of dividends.

Outlook

We anticipate continuing to invest in our network infrastructure across our Uniti Leasing and Uniti Fiber portfolios. We anticipate that we will partially finance these needs, as well as operating expenses (including our debt service obligations), from our cash on hand and cash flows provided by operating activities. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, we had $380.5$300.0 million in borrowing availability under our Revolving Credit Facility (subject to customary borrowing conditions), however, we may need to access the capital markets to generate additional funds in an amount sufficient to fund our business operations, announced investment activities, capital expenditures, including reimbursement commitments for Growth Capital Improvements, debt service and distributions to our shareholders. We may also issue equity securities to repay debt and reduce our leverage ratio to be below 5.75 to 1.0 to obtain additional flexibility under our debt covenants, as described under “—Dividends.”  In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the global economy and capital markets, we are closely monitoring the equity and debt markets and may seek to access them promptly if and when we determine market conditions are appropriate. Our debt covenants currently do not permit us to incur material additional debt.

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The amount, nature and timing of any capital markets transactions will depend on: the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has on the global economy and capital markets, our operating performance and other circumstances; our then-current commitments and obligations; the amount, nature and timing of our capital requirements; and any limitations imposed by our current credit arrangements.arrangements; and overall market conditions. These expectations are forward-looking and subject to a number of uncertainties and assumptions. If our expectations about our liquidity prove to be incorrect or we are unable to access the capital markets as we anticipate, we would be subject to a shortfall in liquidity in the future which could lead to a reduction in our capital expenditures and/or dividends and, in an extreme case, our ability to pay our debt service obligations. If this shortfall occurs rapidly and with little or no notice, it could limit our ability to address the shortfall on a timely basis.

In addition to exploring potential capital markets transactions, the Company regularly evaluates market conditions, its liquidity profile, and various financing alternatives for opportunities to enhance its capital structure. If opportunities are favorable, the Company may refinance or repurchase existing debt. However, there can be no assurances that any debt refinancing would be on similar or more favorable terms than our existing arrangements. This would include the risk that interest rates could increase and/or there may be changes to our existing covenants.

If circumstances warrant, we may take measures to conserve cash as we anticipate that it will be more difficult for us to access the capital markets at attractive rates until such uncertainty is clarified.

Capital Expenditures

 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021

 

Six Months Ended June 30,

(Thousands)

 

Success Based

 

 

Maintenance

 

 

Integration

 

 

Non-Network

 

 

Total

 

(Thousands)Success BasedMaintenanceIntegrationNon-NetworkTotal

Capital expenditures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capital expenditures:

Leasing

 

$

2,551

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

-

 

 

$

2,551

 

Leasing$14,161 $— $— $— $14,161 

Growth capital improvements

 

 

152,254

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

152,254

 

Growth capital improvements91,657 — — — 91,657 

Fiber Infrastructure

 

 

113,388

 

 

 

6,322

 

 

 

485

 

 

 

1,010

 

 

 

121,205

 

Fiber Infrastructure72,390 4,822 367 296 77,875 
CorporateCorporate— — — 346 346 

Total capital expenditures

 

$

268,193

 

 

$

6,322

 

 

$

485

 

 

$

1,010

 

 

$

276,010

 

Total capital expenditures$178,208 $4,822 $367 $642 $184,039 

We categorize our capital expenditures as either (i) success-based, (ii) maintenance, (iii) integration or (iv) corporate and non-network. We define success-based capital expenditures as those related to installing existing or anticipated contractual customer service orders. Maintenance capital expenditures are those necessary to keep existing network elements fully operational. Integration capital expenditures are those made specifically with respect to recent acquisitions that are essential to integrating acquired companies in our business. We anticipate continuing to invest in our network infrastructure across our Uniti Leasing and Uniti Fiber businesses

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and expect that cash on hand and cash flows provided by operating activities will be sufficient to support these investments. We have the right, but not the obligation (except for Growth Capital Improvements), to reimburse growth capital expenditures in certain of our lease arrangements where we are the lessor.

Uniti’s total annual reimbursement commitments to Windstream for the Growth Capital Improvements under the is discussed above in this Part I, Item 2 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in “Liquidity and Capital Resources—Windstream Leases (and under separate equipment loan facilities) are limited to $225 million per year in 2021 through 2024; $175 million per year in 2025Master Lease and 2026; and $125 million per year in 2027 through 2029. If the cost incurred by Windstream (or the successor tenant under a Windstream Lease) forLeases.” Growth Capital Improvements in any calendar year exceedsare treated as success-based capital improvements based on the annual limit forrents paid with respect to such calendar year, Windstream (or such tenant, as the case may be) may submit such excess costs for reimbursement in any subsequent year and such excess costs shall be funded from the annual commitment amounts in such subsequent period.  In addition, to the extent that reimbursements for Growth Capital Improvements funded in any calendar year during the term is less than the annual limit for such calendar year, the unfunded amount in any calendar year will carry-over and may be added to the annual limits for subsequent calendar years, subject to an annual limit of $250 million in any calendar year, except that, during calendar year 2021, our combined total obligation to fund Growth Capital Improvements may exceed $250 million to the extent of any unfunded excess amounts from calendar year 2020.  Accordingly, because we funded $84.7 million of the $125 million limit in 2020, we are committed to fund up to $265.3 million of Growth Capital Improvements in 2021.

amounts.

If circumstances warrant, we may need to take measures to conserve cash, which may include a suspension, delay or reduction in success-based capital expenditures.
Dividends
We continually assess our capital expenditure plans in light of developments the impact COVID-19 has on our business and that of our tenants and customers.

Dividends

We have elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. U.S. federal income tax law generally requires that a REIT distribute annually at least 90% of its REIT taxable income, without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains, and that it pay tax at regular corporate rates to the extent that it annually distributes less than 100% of its taxable income. Subject to the restrictions imposed by our 7.875% senior secured notes due 2025 (the “2025 Secured Notes”), inIn order to maintain our REIT status, we intend to make dividend payments of all or substantially all of our taxable income to holders of our common stock out of assets legally available for this purpose, if and to the extent authorized by our board of directors. Before we make any dividend payments, whether for U.S. federal income tax purposes or otherwise, we must first meet both our operating requirements and debt service obligations. If our cash available for distribution is less than our taxable income, we could be required to sell assets or borrow funds to make

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cash dividends or we may make a portion of the required dividend in the form of a taxable distribution of stock or debt securities.

The following table below sets out details regarding our cash dividends on our common stock:

Period

 

Payment Date

 

Cash Dividend Per Share

 

 

Record Date

October 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020

 

January 4, 2021

 

$

0.15

 

 

December 15, 2020

January 1, 2021 - March 31, 2021

 

April 16, 2021

 

$

0.15

 

 

April 1, 2021

April 1, 2021 - June 30, 2021

 

July 2, 2021

 

$

0.15

 

 

June 18, 2021

July 1, 2021 - September 30, 2021

 

October 1, 2021

 

$

0.15

 

 

September 17, 2021

PeriodPayment DateCash Dividend Per ShareRecord Date
October 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021January 3, 2022$0.15 December 17, 2021
January 1, 2022 - March 31, 2022April 15, 2022$0.15 April 1, 2022
April 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022July 1, 2022$0.15 June 17, 2022

Any dividends must be declared by our Board of Directors, which will take into account various factors including our current and anticipated operating results, our financial position, REIT requirements, conditions prevailing in the market, restrictions in our debt documents and additional factors they deem appropriate. Dividend payments are not guaranteed, and our Board of Directors may decide, in its absolute discretion, at any time and for any reason, not to pay dividends or to change the amount paid as dividends. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we may take further measures to conserve cash, which may include a suspension, delay or reduction in our dividend.  In addition, until such time our
We have achieved a consolidated net leverage ratio (asas defined in the indenture governing the 7.875% senior secured notes due 2025 (the "2025 Secured Notes) is no greater thanNotes") below 5.75 to 1.0 and, therefore, the covenant reversion date (as defined in the 2025 Secured Notes indenture) has occurred. As a result, the restriction imposed by our 2025 Secured Notes generally limit our ability to payfrom paying cash dividends in excess of 90% of our REIT taxable income determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains.

has been lifted.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

We make certain judgments and use certain estimates and assumptions when applying accounting principles in the preparation of our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. The nature of the estimates and assumptions are material due to the levels of subjectivity and judgment necessary to account for highly uncertain factors or the susceptibility of such factors to change. We have identified the accounting for income taxes, revenue recognition, the impairment of property, plant and equipment, goodwill

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impairment and business combinations as critical accounting estimates, as they are the most important to our financial statement presentation and require difficult, subjective and complex judgments.

We believe the current assumptions and other considerations used to estimate amounts reflected in our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are appropriate. However, if actual experience differs from the assumptions and other considerations used in estimating amounts reflected in our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, the resulting changes could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations and, in certain situations, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

For further information on our critical accounting estimates, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the notes to our audited financial statements included in our Annual Report. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, there has been no material change to these estimates.

Recent Accounting Guidance

New accounting rules and disclosures can impact our reported results and comparability of our financial statements. These matters are describedSee Note 2 of Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report.

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt - Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470- 20) and Derivatives and Hedging - Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies the accounting for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity. ASU 2020-06 (1) simplifies the accounting for convertible debt instruments and convertible preferred stock by removing the existing guidance in ASC 470-20, Debt: Debt with Conversion and Other Options, that requires entities to account for beneficial conversion features and cash conversion features in equity, separately from the host convertible debt or preferred stock; (2) revises the scope exception from derivative accounting in ASC 815-40 for freestanding financial instruments and embedded features that are both indexed to the issuer’s own stock and classified in stockholders’ equity, by removing certain criteria required for equity classification; and (3) revises the guidance in ASC 260, Earnings Per Share, to require entities to calculate diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) for convertible instruments by using the if-converted method.

In addition, entities must presume share settlement for purposes of calculating diluted EPS when an instrument may be settled in cash or shares. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, and interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. The Company elected to early adopt the guidance ASU 2020-06 as of JanuaryPart I Item 1 2021 using the modified retrospective transition method. Pursuant to the transition guidance, the Company is required to apply the guidance to all impacted financial instruments that were outstanding as of January 1, 2021 with the cumulative effect recognized as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings.

As a result of early adopting ASU 2020-06, the Company made certain adjustments to its accounting for the outstanding exchangeable senior unsecured notes. The adoption of ASU 2020-06 resulted in the re-combination of the liability and equity components of these notes into a single liability instrument. The carrying value as of December 31, 2020, totaled approximately $275.4 million and as a result of the adoption increased by $61.1 million to $336.5 million as of January 1, 2021.  Because of this adoption, the effective interest rate on the exchangeable senior unsecured notes went from 11.1% to 4.8%.  Additional paid-in-capital was reduced by $59.9 million and deferred tax liabilities were reduced by $15.8 million.  Approximately $14.6 million of cumulative effect of adoption was recognized to the opening balance of retained earnings as of January 1, 2021.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

10-Q.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

There have been no material changes from the information reported under Item 7A of our Annual Report.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We have established disclosure controls and procedures, as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act, of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the

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submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our principal executive and principal financial officers as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of SeptemberJune 30, 2021,2022, and based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of SeptemberJune 30, 2021, due to the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting that was disclosed in our Annual Report2022..

Internal Control over Financial Reporting

As disclosed in “Part II. Item 9A. Controls and Procedures” in our Annual Report, during the fourth quarter of 2020, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting due to ineffective controls over the annual goodwill impairment assessment, specifically, the control activities over the determination of the carrying value to be used in the assessment of goodwill impairment did not operate effectively due to an insufficient complement of qualified personnel.As of September 30, 2021, management is continuing to implement the remediation plan as disclosed in “Part II. Item 9A. Controls and Procedures” in our Annual Report, which is described below.

Management believes that our condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our principal executive officer and principal financial officer have certified that, based on such officer’s knowledge, the condensed consolidated financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act, that occurred during the quarter ended SeptemberJune 30, 20212022 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Remediation Plan

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Management is continuing to implement the remediation plan as disclosed in “Part II. Item 9A. Controls and Procedures” in our Annual Report, to ensure that the deficiency contributing to the material weakness is remediated such that this control will operate effectively.  We believe that these actions, and the improvements we expect to achieve as a result, will effectively remediate the material weakness. However, the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting will not be considered remediated until management has concluded, through testing, that this control is designed effectively. We expect that the remediation of this material weakness will be completed later in fiscal 2021.

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PART II—OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings.

A description of legal proceedings can be found in Note 14 13 - Commitments and Contingencies to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, included in this report at Part I, Item 1-Financial Statements, and is incorporated by reference into this Item 1.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

There have been no material changes to the risk factors affecting our business that were discussed in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our Annual Report.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The table below provides information regarding shares withheld from Uniti employees to satisfy minimum statutory tax withholding obligations arising from the vesting of restricted stock granted under the Uniti Group Inc. 2015 Equity Incentive Plan. The shares of common stock withheld to satisfy tax withholding obligations may be deemed purchases of such shares required to be disclosed pursuant to this Item 2.

Period

 

Total Number of Shares Purchased

 

Average Price Paid per Share(1)

 

Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs

 

Maximum Number of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs

 

July 1, 2021 to July 31, 2021

 

 

957

 

$

11.10

 

 

 

 

 

August 1, 2021 to August 31, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021

 

 

89,513

 

 

12.94

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

 

90,470

 

$

12.92

 

 

 

 

 

PeriodTotal Number of Shares Purchased
Average Price Paid per Share(1)
Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or ProgramsMaximum Number of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs
April 1, 2022 to April 30, 2022209,717$13.85 
May 1, 2022 to May 31, 202297610.65 
June 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022— — 
Total210,693$13.83 

(1) The average price paid per share is the weighted average of the fair market prices at which we calculated the number of shares withheld to cover tax withholdings for the employees.

Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities.

None

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not Applicable

Item 5. Other Information.

None
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Item 6. Exhibits.

Exhibit

Number

Description

Exhibit
Number

Description

4.1

10.1*

4.2

Form of 6.000% Senior Notes due 2030 (included in Exhibit 4.1) ((incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K dated and filed with the SEC as of October 13, 2021 (File No. 001-36708))

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31.1*

31.2*

32.1*

32.2*

101.INS

Inline XBRL Instance Document – the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.

101.SCH

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

101.CAL

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document

101.DEF

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

101.LAB

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document

101.PRE

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

104

Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

*Filed herewith.

Filed herewith.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

UNITI GROUP INC.

Date:

NovemberAugust 4, 2021

2022

/s/ Paul E. Bullington

Paul E. Bullington


Senior Vice President – Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer


(Principal Financial Officer)


Date:

NovemberAugust 4, 2021

2022

/s/ Travis T. Black

Travis T. Black

Interim
Vice President –
Chief Accounting Officer


(Principal Accounting Officer)

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