Adjusted EBITDA and Covenant Adjusted EBITDA (Pre-SAC) arenon-GAAP measures that we believe is useful to investors to measure the operational strength and performance of our business and to provide additional information to investors about certainnon-cash items and about unusual items that we do not expect to continue at the same level in the future, as well as other items. Further, we believe Adjusted EBITDA and Covenant Adjusted EBITDA (Pre-SAC) provide a meaningful measure of operating profitability because we use it for evaluating our business performance, making budgeting decisions, and comparing our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures.
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income or loss adjusted for (i) interest, (ii) taxes, (iii) depreciation and amortization, including depreciation of subscriber system assets and other fixed assets and amortization of dealer and other intangible assets, (iv) amortization of deferred costs and deferred revenue associated with subscriber acquisitions, (vi) merger, restructuring, integration, and other, (vii) losses on extinguishment of debt, (viii) radio conversion costs, (ix) financing and consent fees, (x) foreign currency gains/losses, (xi) acquisition related adjustments, and (xii) other charges andnon-cash items. We define Covenant Adjusted EBITDA (Pre-SAC) as Adjusted EBITDA adjusted for costs in our statement of operations associated with the acquisition of customers, net of revenue associated with the sale of equipment (expensed net SAC).
There are material limitations to using Adjusted EBITDA and Covenant Adjusted EBITDA (Pre-SAC). Adjusted EBITDA do not take into account certain significant items, including depreciation and amortization, interest, taxes, and other adjustments, including subscriber acquisition costs, which directly affect our net income or loss. These limitations are best addressed by considering the economic effects of the excluded items independently and by considering Adjusted EBITDA and Covenant Adjusted EBITDA (Pre-SAC) in conjunction with net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP.
The table below reconciles Adjusted EBITDA and Covenant Adjusted EBITDA (Pre-SAC) to net (loss) income for the periods presented.
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| | Twelve Months Ended September 30, 2019 | | | Nine Months Ended September 30, | | | Years Ended December 31, | |
(in thousands) | | 2019 | | | 2018 | | | 2018 | | | 2017 | | | 2016 | |
Net (loss) income | | $ | (501,626 | ) | | $ | (352,157 | ) | | $ | (459,686 | ) | | $ | (609,155 | ) | | $ | 342,627 | | | $ | (536,587 | ) |
Interest expense, net | | | 627,964 | | | | 465,977 | | | | 501,217 | | | | 663,204 | | | | 732,841 | | | | 521,491 | |
Income tax benefit | | | (85,199 | ) | | | (81,576 | ) | | | (19,840 | ) | | | (23,463 | ) | | | (764,313 | ) | | | (266,151 | ) |
Depreciation and intangible asset amortization | | | 1,986,735 | | | | 1,502,574 | | | | 1,446,768 | | | | 1,930,929 | | | | 1,863,299 | | | | 1,232,967 | |
Amortization of deferred subscriber acquisition costs | | | 75,596 | | | | 58,544 | | | | 42,876 | | | | 59,928 | | | | 51,491 | | | | 16,769 | |
Amortization of deferred subscriber acquisition revenue | | | (101,261 | ) | | | (78,506 | ) | | | (56,381 | ) | | | (79,136 | ) | | | (46,454 | ) | | | (10,717 | ) |
Share-based compensation expense | | | 87,233 | | | | 65,126 | | | | 112,905 | | | | 135,012 | | | | 11,276 | | | | 4,625 | |
Merger, restructuring, integration and other | | | 17,955 | | | | 23,069 | | | | 1,770 | | | | (3,344 | ) | | | 64,828 | | | | 393,788 | |
Goodwill impairment | | | 133,444 | | | | 45,482 | | | | — | | | | 87,962 | | | | — | | | | — | |
Loss on business held for sale | | | 55,489 | | | | 55,489 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | |
Loss on extinguishment of debt | | | 103,004 | | | | 103,004 | | | | 274,836 | | | | 274,836 | | | | 4,331 | | | | 28,293 | |
Radio conversion costs(a) | | | 12,985 | | | | 12,637 | | | | 4,751 | | | | 5,099 | | | | 12,244 | | | | 34,405 | |
Financing and consent fees(b) | | | 32,136 | | | | 23,279 | | | | — | | | | 8,857 | | | | 63,593 | | | | 5,302 | |
Foreign currency losses / (gains)(c) | | | 1,580 | | | | (531 | ) | | | 1,117 | | | | 3,228 | | | | (23,804 | ) | | | 16,042 | |
Acquisition related adjustments(d) | | | 21,737 | | | | 16,725 | | | | 11,166 | | | | 16,178 | | | | 2,588 | | | | 62,845 | |
Licensing fees(e) | | | — | | | | — | | | | (21,533 | ) | | | (21,533 | ) | | | — | | | | — | |
Other(f) | | | 12,068 | | | | 16,914 | | | | (49 | ) | | | (4,895 | ) | | | 38,256 | | | | 29,817 | |
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Adjusted EBITDA(g) | | $ | 2,489,630 | | | $ | 1,876,050 | | | $ | 1,839,917 | | | $ | 2,453,497 | | | $ | 2,352,803 | | | $ | 1,532,889 | |
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Subscriber acquisition costs, net(h) | | | 285,107 | | | | 216,507 | | | | 227,117 | | | | 295,717 | | | | 334,764 | | | | 272,351 | |
Covenant Adjusted EBITDA (Pre-SAC)(i) | | $ | 2,774,737 | | | $ | 2,092,557 | | | $ | 2,067,034 | | | $ | 2,749,214 | | | $ | 2,687,567 | | | $ | 1,805,240 | |
(a) | Represents costs associated with upgrading cellular technology used in many of our security systems, offset by any incremental revenue earned. |
(b) | Represents fees incurred associated with the issuance, restatement, and amendment of debt. |
(c) | Represents the conversion of intercompany loans that are denominated in Canadian dollars to U.S. dollars. |
(d) | Represents amortization of purchase accounting adjustments and compensation arrangements related to acquisitions. |
(e) | The year ended December 31, 2018 and the nine months ended September 30, 2018 include other income related to approximately $22 million ofone-time licensing fees. |
(f) | Represents certain advisory and other costs associated with our transition to a public company as well as other charges andnon-cash items. The nine months ended September 30, 2019 include an estimated legal settlement, net of insurance, of $6 million. The nine months ended September 30, 2018 and the year ended December 31, 2018 include a gain of $7.5 million from the sale of equity in a third party that we received as part of a settlement. The years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 include fees of $20 million and $13 million, respectively, under a management consulting agreement, which was terminated in connection with the consummation of the initial public offering. |
(g) | Does not give effect to (a) the disposition of ADT Security Services Canada, Inc. (“ADT Canada”), which we consummated on November 5, 2019, or (b) the acquisition of Defenders Holdings, Inc. (“Defenders”), which we consummated on January 6, 2020. For more information on the disposition of ADT Canada, refer to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 12, 2019, including the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated financial information of the Company and its subsidiaries giving effect to the disposition of ADT Canada that were filed as Exhibit 99.1 thereto. Prior to the acquisition, the cost of acquiring accounts from Defenders was capitalized. Subsequent to the acquisition, account generation costs will be expensed all or in part. As a result, while we are unable to quantify the impact currently, we expect that this change will have a negative impact on our Adjusted EBITDA, and we expect such impact to be material. We do not expect that these two transactions in aggregate will have a significant impact on Free Cash Flow before special items. |
(h) | Represents expensed costs associated with the acquisition of new customers, net of revenue associated with the sale of equipment. |
(i) | Does not give effect to (a) the disposition of ADT Canada, which we consummated on November 12, 2019, or (b) the acquisition of Defenders, which we consummated on January 6, 2020. For more information on the disposition of ADT Canada, refer to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 5, 2019, including the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated financial information of the Company and its subsidiaries giving effect to the disposition of ADT Canada that were filed as Exhibit 99.1 thereto. We do not expect that the acquisition of Defenders will impact Covenant Adjusted EBITDA (Pre-SAC), which includes gross subscriber acquisition cost expenses, net. We do not expect that these two transactions in aggregate will have a significant impact on our Free Cash Flow before special items. |