Note 7 – Taxes Payable
Taxes payable is an estimate of tax liabilities, net of the estimated impact of any refund claims, deposits and net operating losses (“NOL”). Taxes payable have been allocated among the members of the LBHI Tax Group pursuant to the Debtor Allocation Agreement (the “DAA”) (see below for further information).
As of October 3, 2019, the Company recorded an estimate of $41 million for potentialpre- and post-petition amounts owed to federal, state, local and international taxing authorities, net of expected refund claims. Between June 20, 2019 and October 3, 2019, the Company decreased its taxes payable estimate by approximately $7 million as a result of continuous progress with global audits.
Debtor Allocation Agreement
The Debtor Allocation Agreement, which became effective on the Effective Date, addresses the relationship among the Debtors and certain Affiliates with respect to consolidated federal/combined state/local income taxes forpre-petition and post-petition years. Pursuant to the DAA, any tax receivables or payables related topre-petition, consolidated group taxes, including the IRS refund, are treated as allowedpre-petition claims between LBHI and other Debtors and Debtor-Controlled Entities and subject toset-off or recoupment.
Net Operating Losses
The NOLs of the LBHI Tax Group (including Debtor-Controlled Entities) are subject to audit and adjustment by the IRS and primarily expire in or about 2028. Substantially all of the LBHI Tax Group’s current consolidated net operating loss carryovers are attributable to the Debtors. The Plan provides for an orderly liquidation of the Debtors. As previously disclosed in the Company’s Quarterly Financial Report as of March 31, 2012 [Docket No. 29731], the LBHI Tax Group received a private letter ruling from the IRS in connection with the Plan going effective that stated (i) the liquidation of the Debtors for U.S. federal income tax purposes may occur over an extended period, and (ii) the reduction of the LBHI Tax Group’s NOLs as a result of the discharge of debt pursuant to the Plan generally would not occur until completion of the liquidation. The Company has filed with the IRS a request for an extension of the ruling. All remaining Debtor NOLs not previously utilized to absorb taxable income of the LBHI Tax Group are expected to be fully utilized to offset the discharge of debt on the final date of liquidation of the Debtors.
Note 8 – Subsequent Events
Claims Consolidation Auction
On September 11, 2019, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order (Docket No. 59928) approving the Plan Administrator’s proposed Claims Consolidation Auction, in which LBHI as Plan Administrator would facilitate the voluntary sale and assignment of eligible claims against LBHI to third-party purchasers (“Sponsors”).
LBHI sent multiple notices to holders of claims eligible for participation in the Claims Consolidation Auction beginning September 30, 2019, and conducted a market-based auction process to solicit Sponsor bids in early November 2019. The selected Sponsors and rates were filed on November 8, 2019, and on November 12, 2019, the Court entered an order (Docket No. 60221) authorizing the Plan Administrator to effectuate the Claims Consolidation Auction.
In aggregate, 1,590 eligible creditors tendered 4,438 claims with an aggregate Allowed Amount of approximately $2.6 billion in the Claims Consolidation Auction. The total purchase price paid by the Sponsors was approximately $24 million.
Further information on the Claims Consolidation Auction can be found at https://dm.epiq11.com/lehman.
Sale of LCPI Assets to LBHI
On December 27, 2019, in order to facilitate the ultimate wind down of LCPI, LBHI and LCPI executed a sale and purchase agreement, pursuant to which LBHI agreed to purchase LCPI’s remaining assets and certain obligations for total consideration of $63.2 million. The purchase price was paid in January 2020.
The purchased assets include LCPI’s Allowed Claims into LBHI, the prices for which were determined by the Claims Consolidation Auction (see above).
Sale of Certain LBSF Assets to LBHI
On December 20, 2019, LBHI and LBSF executed a sale and purchase agreement, pursuant to which LBHI agreed to purchase LBSF’s Allowed Claims into LBHI for total consideration of $17.7 million. The prices for the Allowed Claims into LBHI were determined by the Claims Consolidation Auction (see above). The purchase price was paid in January 2020.