Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2016
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES  
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation

 

Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation

 

The unaudited consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“US GAAP”) and present the consolidated financial statements of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. In the preparation of consolidated financial statements of the Company, all intercompany transactions and balances were eliminated. All adjustments (consisting of normal recurring items) necessary to present fairly the Company’s consolidated financial position as of June 30, 2016, the results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 and the cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2016 have been included. The results of operations and cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. Other than where noted, the accounting policies and procedures employed in the preparation of these consolidated financial statements have been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2015, which are contained in Form 10-K as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 30, 2016. The consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 was derived from those financial statements.

 

 

Cash

 

Cash

 

The Company considers all highly liquid debt instruments and other short-term investments with maturity of three months or less, when purchased, to be cash equivalents.  The Company maintains cash and cash equivalent balances at one financial institution that is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Company’s accounts held at this institution, up to a limit of $250,000, are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). As of June 30, 2016, the Company had bank balances exceeding the FDIC insurance limit. To reduce its risk associated with the failure of such financial institution, the Company evaluates at least annually the rating of the financial institution in which it holds deposits.

 

 

Use of Estimates and Assumptions

 

Use of Estimates and Assumptions

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Significant estimates made by management include, but are not limited to, estimating the useful lives of patent assets, the assumptions used to calculate fair value of warrants and options granted, goodwill impairment, intangible asset impairment, realization of long-lived assets, deferred income taxes, unrealized tax positions and business combination accounting.

 

 

Accounts Receivable

 

Accounts Receivable

 

The Company has a policy of reserving for questionable accounts based on its best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in its existing accounts receivable.  The Company periodically reviews its accounts receivable to determine whether an allowance is necessary based on an analysis of past due accounts and other factors that may indicate that the realization of an account may be in doubt.  Account balances deemed to be uncollectible are charged to the bad debt expense after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote.  At June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company had recorded an allowance for bad debts in the amounts of $387,976 and $375,750, respectively.  Accounts receivable-net at June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, amounted to $128,337 and $136,842, respectively. As of June 30, 2016, there were no accounts receivable related to the issuance of one-time licenses, accounts receivable related to recurring royalties represented approximately 80% of total accounts receivable and the remainder of the accounts receivable is primarily related to trade receivables primarily associated with the terminated Uniloc merger. As of December 31, 2015, accounts receivable related to one license accounted for approximately 54% of the Company’s total accounts receivable and accounts receivable related to recurring royalties represented 46% of total accounts receivable. As of June 30, 2016, accounts receivable represented less than 1% of revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2016 and as of December 31, 2015, accounts receivable represented 2% of revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2015.

 

 

Concentration of Revenue and Geographic Area

 

Concentration of Revenue and Geographic Area

 

Patent license revenue from enforcement activities originates in either the United States or Germany. Revenue attributable to the United States involves US patents, revenue attributable to Germany is based on the enforcement of German patents and in the event that the Company enters into a worldwide license, the revenue is allocated between the two. The Company commenced enforcement actions in France in 2015, but has not yet had any revenue attributable to this country; the Company has not initiated enforcement actions in any other countries, but is evaluating a number of countries for future action.

 

Revenues from the five largest licenses accounted for approximately 99% of the Company’s operating revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2016 and revenue from the five largest licenses accounting for 63% of the revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2015 as set forth below.

 

For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2016

 

For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2015

Licensor

 

License
Amount

 

% of Revenue

 

Licensor

 

License
Amount

 

% of Revenue

Dynamic Advances, LLC

 

$

24,900,000 

 

72%

 

Sarif Biomedical LLC

 

$

325,000 

 

24%

Orthophoenix, LLC

 

$

4,500,000 

 

13%

 

Selene Communication Technologies, LLC

 

$

150,000 

 

11%

Orthophoenix, LLC

 

$

3,750,000 

 

11%

 

E2E Processing, Inc.

 

$

140,000 

 

10%

Orthophoenix, LLC

 

$

600,000 

 

2%

 

MedTech GmbH

 

$

131,420 

 

9%

Signal IP, Inc.

 

$

310,000 

 

1%

 

E2E Processing, Inc.

 

$

120,000 

 

9%

 

 

Total

 

99%

 

 

 

Total

 

63%

 

The remainder of the revenue is attributable to smaller licenses and running royalties in the Company’s Medtech portfolio.

 

While the Company has a growing portfolio of patents, the Company has historically received a significant portion of its revenue and expects that a significant portion of its future revenues were and will be based on one-time grants of similar non-recurring, non-exclusive, non-assignable licenses to a relatively small number of entities and their affiliates. Further, with the expected small number of firms with which the Company enters into license agreements, and the amount and timing of such license agreements, the Company also expects that its revenues may be highly variable from one period to the next.

 

In connection with our enforcement activities, we are currently involved in multiple patent infringement cases. As of June 30, 2016, the Company is involved in a total of 18 lawsuits against defendants in the following jurisdictions:

 

United States

 

 

District of Delaware

 

5

Central District of California

 

1

Eastern District of Michigan

 

1

US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

 

2

 

 

 

Foreign

 

 

Germany

 

9

 

 

Revenue Recognition

 

Revenue Recognition

 

The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with ASC Topic 605, “Revenue Recognition”. Revenue is recognized when (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (ii) all obligations have been substantially performed, (iii) amounts are fixed or determinable and (iv) collectability of amounts is reasonably assured.

 

The Company considers its licensing and enforcement activities as one unit of accounting under ASC 605-25, “Multiple-Element Arrangements” as the delivered items do not have value to customers on a standalone basis, there are no undelivered elements and there is no general right of return relative to the license. Under ASC 605-25, the appropriate recognition of revenue is determined for the combined deliverables as a single unit of accounting and revenue is recognized upon delivery of the final elements, including the license for past and future use, and the release.

 

Also, due to the fact that the settlement element and license element for past and future use are the major central business, the Company does not present these two elements as different revenue streams in its statement of operations. The Company does not expect to provide licenses that do not provide some form of settlement or release. The Company derived approximately 100% and 99% of its revenues for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, from the one-time issuance of non-recurring, non-exclusive, non-assignable licenses for certain of the Company’s patents, with the balance comprised of recurring royalties and approximately 79% and 91% of its revenues for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, respectively, from the one-time issuance of non-recurring, non-exclusive, non-assignable licenses for certain of the Company’s patents, with the balance comprised of recurring royalties.

 

The Company’s subsidiaries entered into 9 and 11 new license agreements that generated revenue during the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively.

 

 

Cost of Revenue

 

Cost of Revenue

 

Cost of revenues mainly includes expenses incurred in connection with the Company’s patent enforcement activities, such as legal fees, consulting costs, patent maintenance, royalty fees for acquired patents and other related expenses. Cost of revenues does not include patent amortization expenses, which are included as a separate line item in operating expenses and cost of revenues also does not include expenses related to product development, integration or support, as these are included in general and administrative expenses.

 

 

Prepaid Expenses, Bonds Posted and Other Current Assets

 

Prepaid Expenses, Bonds Posted and Other Current Assets

 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets of $177,745 and $338,598 at June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively, consist primarily of costs paid for future services, which will occur within a year. Prepaid expenses include prepayments in cash and equity instruments for public relation services, business advisory, consulting, and prepaid insurance, which are being amortized over the terms of their respective agreements.

 

In addition, the Company had outstanding litigation bonds in the amount of $2,383,069 and $1,748,311 at June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. These bonds were entered into in Germany after the successful ruling by the court in first instance trials related to some of the Company’s patents in German courts. The difference in the balance of the litigation bonds at June 30, 2016 compared to December 31, 2015 is attributable to $6,092 in currency translation impact, the return of $359,960 in bonds related to the litigation against Schrader and TRW, which were resolved in the fourth quarter of 2015 and returned in January and the placing of bonds in Germany related to the TLI litigations in the amount of $1,000,810.  The Company has filed the requisite documents with the court in Germany for the return of the Medtech bond now that the litigation against Stryker has been resolved.

 

 

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

 

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

 

The Company adopted FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC 820”), for assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis. ASC 820 establishes a common definition for fair value to be applied to existing US GAAP that require the use of fair value measurements, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure about such fair value measurements. The adoption of ASC 820 did not have an impact on the Company’s financial position or operating results, but did expand certain disclosures. ASC 820 defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Additionally, ASC 820 requires the use of valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. These inputs are prioritized below:

 

Level 1:

Observable inputs such as quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities

Level 2:

Observable market-based inputs or unobservable inputs that are corroborated by market data

Level 3:

Unobservable inputs for which there is little or no market data, which require the use of the reporting entity’s own assumptions.

 

The carrying amounts reported in the consolidated balance sheet for cash, accounts receivable, bonds posted with courts, accounts payable, and accrued expenses, approximate their estimated fair market value based on the short-term maturity of these instruments. The carrying value of notes payable and other long-term liabilities approximates fair value as the related interest rates approximate rates currently available to the Company.

 

Clouding IP earn out liability was determined to be a Level 3 liability, which requires the remeasurement of fair value at each period end by using discounted cash flow analysis using unobservable inputs, such as revenue and expenses forecasts, timing of proceeds, and a discount rate. Based on the remeasurement of fair value as of June 30, 2016, the Company determined that the Clouding IP earn out liability was $0 for current portion and $3,147,054 for the long-term portion, which resulted in gain from change in fair value of $169,172 and $167,830 for three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively and a gain from exchange in fair value adjustment of $2,304,301 for both the three and six months ended June 30, 2015.

 

Under certain circumstances related to litigations in Germany, the Company is either required to or may decide to enter into a bond with the courts. As of June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company had outstanding bonds in the amount of $2,383,069 and $1,748,311, respectively. The Company adjusted the value as of June 30, 2016 of the bonds to reflect changes to the exchange rate between the Euro and the US Dollar.

 

 

Accounting for Acquisitions

 

Accounting for Acquisitions

 

In the normal course of its business, the Company makes acquisitions of patent assets and may also make acquisitions of businesses.  With respect to each such transaction, the Company evaluates facts of the transaction and follows the guidelines prescribed in accordance with ASC 805 — Business Combinations to determine the proper accounting treatment for each such transaction and then records the transaction in accordance with the conclusions reached in such analysis.  The Company performs such analysis with respect to each material acquisition within the consolidated group of entities.

 

 

Income Taxes

 

Income Taxes

 

The Company accounts for income taxes pursuant to the provision of ASC 740-10, “Accounting for Income Taxes” which requires, among other things, an asset and liability approach to calculating deferred income taxes. The asset and liability approach requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts and the tax bases of assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance is provided to offset any net deferred tax assets for which management believes it is more likely than not that the net deferred asset will not be realized.

 

The Company follows the provision of the ASC 740-10 related to Accounting for Uncertain Income Tax Position. When tax returns are filed, it is highly certain that some positions taken would be situated upon examination by the taxing authorities, while others are subject to uncertainty about the merits of the position taken or the amount of the position that would be ultimately sustained. In accordance with the guidance of ASC 740-10, the benefit of a tax position is recognized in the financial statements in the period during which, based on all available evidence, management believes it is more likely that not that the position will be sustained upon examination, including the resolution of appeals or litigation processes, if any. Tax positions taken are not offset or aggregated with other positions.

 

Tax positions that meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold are measured as the largest amount of tax benefit that is more than 50 percent likely of being realized upon settlement with the applicable taxing authority. The portion of the benefits associated with tax positions taken that exceeds the amount measured as described above should be reflected as a liability for uncertain tax benefits in the accompanying balance sheet along with any associated interest and penalties that would be payable to the taxing authorities upon examination. The Company believes its tax positions are all highly certain of being upheld upon examination. As such, the Company has not recorded a liability for uncertain tax benefits.

 

The Company has adopted ASC 740-10-25 Definition of Settlement, which provides guidance on how an entity should determine whether a tax position is effectively settled for the purpose of recognizing previously unrecognized tax benefits and provides that a tax position can be effectively settled upon the completion and examination by a taxing authority without being legally extinguished. For a tax position considered effectively settled, an entity would recognize the full amount of tax benefit, even if the tax position is not considered more likely than not to be sustained based solely on the basis of its technical merits and the statute of limitations remains open. The federal and state income tax returns of the Company are subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities, generally for three years after they were filed. The Company is in the process of filing the 2015 tax returns. After review of the 2015 financial statements and the results of operations through June 30, 2016, the Company has recorded a deferred tax asset in the amount of $8,893,421, from which the Company expects to realize benefits in the future, and a deferred tax liability of $789,690.

 

The Company files U.S. and state income tax returns with varying statutes of limitations. The 2011 through 2014 tax years generally remain subject to examination by federal and state tax authorities.

 

 

Basic and Diluted Net Earnings (Loss) per Share

 

Basic and Diluted Net Earnings (Loss) per Share

 

Net earnings (loss) per common share is calculated in accordance with ASC Topic 260: Earnings Per Share (“ASC 260”). Basic earnings (loss) per share is computed by dividing net earnings (loss) by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. The Company has options to purchase 3,684,817 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 710,518 shares of common stock outstanding at June 30, 2016, which were included in the computation of diluted shares outstanding.

 

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share:

 

 

 

For the Three
Months Ended
June 30, 2016

 

For the Three
Months Ended
June 30, 2015

 

For the Six
Months Ended
June 30, 2016

 

For the Six
Months Ended
June 30, 2015

Net income (loss) attributable to Marathon Patent Group, Inc. common shareholders

 

7,906,279

 

(4,502,696)

 

4,012,866

 

(9,284,267)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denominator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted Average Common Shares - Basic

 

14,994,697

 

13,998,563

 

14,980,919

 

13,937,872

Weighted Average Common Shares - Diluted

 

16,031,564

 

13,998,563

 

16,017,786

 

13,937,872

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings (Loss) per common share:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income (Loss) - Basic

 

$

0.53

 

$

(0.32)

 

$

0.27

 

$

(0.67)

Income (Loss) - Diluted

 

$

0.49

 

$

(0.32)

 

$

0.25

 

$

(0.67)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intangible Assets

 

Intangible Assets

 

Intangible assets include patents purchased and patents acquired in lieu of cash in licensing transactions. The patents purchased are recorded based on the cost to acquire them and patents acquired in lieu of cash are recorded at their fair market value. The costs of these assets are amortized over their remaining useful lives. Useful lives of intangible assets are periodically evaluated for reasonableness and the assets are tested for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may no longer be recoverable. The Company recorded an impairment charge to its intangible assets during the three months ended June 30, 2016 in the amount of $620,696 associated with the end of life of one of the Company’s portfolios, compared to an impairment charge in the amount of $766,498 during the three months ended June 30, 2015 associated with the reduction in the carrying value of one the Company’s portfolios. Further, the Company recorded an impairment charge to its intangible assets during the six months ended June 30, 2016 in the amount of $993,890 associated with the end of life of three of the Company’s portfolios, compared to an impairment charge during the six months ended June 30, 2015 in the amount of $766,498 associated with the reduction in the carrying value of one the Company’s portfolios.

 

 

Goodwill

 

Goodwill

 

Goodwill is tested for impairment at the reporting unit level at least annually in accordance with ASC 350, and between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying value. In accordance with ASC 350-30-65, “Intangibles - Goodwill and Others”, the Company assesses the impairment of identifiable intangibles whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Factors the Company considers to be important which could trigger an impairment review include the following:

 

1.

Significant underperformance relative to expected historical or projected future operating results;

2.

Significant changes in the manner of use of the acquired assets or the strategy for the overall business;

3.

Significant negative industry or economic trends; and

4.

Significant reduction or exhaustion of the potential licenses of the patents which gave rise to the goodwill.

 

When the Company determines that the carrying value of intangibles may not be recoverable based upon the existence of one or more of the above indicators of impairment and the carrying value of the asset cannot be recovered from projected undiscounted cash flows, the Company records an impairment charge. The Company measures any impairment based on a projected discounted cash flow method using a discount rate determined by management to be commensurate with the risk inherent in the current business model. When conducting its annual goodwill impairment assessment, the Company initially performs a qualitative evaluation of whether it is more likely than not that goodwill is impaired. If it is determined by a qualitative evaluation that it is more likely than not that goodwill is impaired, the Company then applies a two-step impairment test. The two-step impairment test first compares the fair value of the Company’s reporting unit to its carrying or book value. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, goodwill is not impaired and the Company is not required to perform further testing. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the Company determines the implied fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill and if the carrying value of the reporting unit’s goodwill exceeds its implied fair value, then an impairment loss equal to the difference is recorded in the consolidated statement of operations. The Company performs the annual testing for impairment of goodwill at the reporting unit level during the quarter ended September 30.

 

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 the Company recorded an impairment charge to its goodwill in the amount of $83,000 and $83,000, respectively.  For the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 the Company recorded an impairment charge to its goodwill in the amount of $0 and $0, respectively.  The impairment charge to goodwill for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 resulted from the determination to end of life one of the Company’s portfolios.

 

 

Impairment of Long-lived Assets

 

Impairment of Long-lived Assets

 

The Company accounts for the impairment or disposal of long-lived assets according to the ASC 360 “Property, Plant and Equipment”.  The Company continually monitors events and changes in circumstances that could indicate that the carrying amounts of long-lived assets may not be recoverable.  Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to the estimated future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. When necessary, impaired assets are written down to estimated fair value based on the best information available. Estimated fair value is generally based on either appraised value or measured by discounting estimated future cash flows. Considerable management judgment is necessary to estimate discounted future cash flows. Accordingly, actual results could vary significantly from such estimates. The Company recognizes an impairment loss when the sum of expected undiscounted future cash flows is less than the carrying amount of the asset.

 

 

Stock-based Compensation

 

Stock-based Compensation

 

Stock-based compensation is accounted for based on the requirements of the Share-Based Payment Topic of ASC 718 which requires recognition in the consolidated financial statements of the cost of employee and director services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments over the period the employee or director is required to perform the services in exchange for the award (presumptively, the vesting period). The ASC also requires measurement of the cost of employee and director services received in exchange for an award based on the grant-date fair value of the award.

 

Pursuant to ASC Topic 505-50, for share-based payments to consultants and other third-parties, compensation expense is determined at the “measurement date.” The expense is recognized over the vesting period of the award. Until the measurement date is reached, the total amount of compensation expense remains uncertain. The Company initially records compensation expense based on the fair value of the award at the reporting date. As stock-based compensation expense is recognized based on awards expected to vest, forfeitures are also estimated at the time of grant and revised, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates. For both the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, the expected forfeiture rate was 11.03%, which resulted in an expense of $12,477 and $27,262 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, recognized in the Company’s compensation expenses. For both the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, the expected forfeiture rate was 12.8%, which resulted in an expense of $5,947 and $6,670 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, respectively, recognized in the Company’s compensation expenses. The Company will continue to re-assess the impact of forfeitures if actual forfeitures increase in future quarters.

 

 

 

Reclassification

 

Reclassification

 

Certain amounts in the financial statements of prior year have been reclassified to conform to the fiscal 2016 presentation, with no effect on net earnings.

 

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, “Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting” (“ASU 2016-09”). The standard is intended to simplify several areas of accounting for share-based compensation arrangements, including the income tax impact, classification on the statement of cash flows and forfeitures. ASU 2016-09 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2016, and early adoption is permitted. Accordingly, the standard is effective for us on September 1, 2017 and we are currently evaluating the impact that the standard will have on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842)” (“ASU 2016-02”). The standard requires a lessee to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for leases with lease terms greater than 12 months. ASU 2016-02 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, and early adoption is permitted. Accordingly, the standard is effective for us on September 1, 2019 using a modified retrospective approach. We are currently evaluating the impact that the standard will have on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-17, Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes.  This update requires an entity to classify deferred tax liabilities and assets as noncurrent within a classified statement of financial position.  ASU 2015-17 is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016.  This update may be applied either prospectively to all deferred tax liabilities and assets or retrospectively to all periods presented.  Early application is permitted as of the beginning of the interim or annual reporting period.  The Company adopted this standard for the annual period ending December 31, 2015.  The effect of adopting the new guidance on the balance sheet was not significant.

 

In September 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2015-16, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments, or ASU 2015-16. This amendment requires the acquirer in a business combination to recognize in the reporting period in which adjustment amounts are determined, any adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period, calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. Prior to the issuance of ASU 2015-16, an acquirer was required to restate prior period financial statements as of the acquisition date for adjustments to provisional amounts.  The new standard for an annual reporting period beginning after December 15, 2017 with an earlier effective application is permitted only as of annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016.  The new guidance is not expected to have significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

 

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-05, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other — Internal-Use Software; Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement. Prior to this ASU, U.S. GAAP did not include explicit guidance about a customer’s accounting for fees paid in a cloud computing arrangement. Examples of cloud computing arrangements include software as a service, platform as a service, infrastructure as a service, and other similar hosting arrangements. This ASU provides guidance to customers about whether a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license, in which case the customer should account for such license consistent with the acquisitions of other software licenses. If the cloud computing arrangement does not include a software license, the customer should account for the arrangement as a service contract. The ASU does not change the accounting for service contracts. The new standard is effective for us on January 1, 2016 with early adoption permitted. We do not expect the adoption of ASU 2015-05 to have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In April 2015, the FASB issued new guidance on the presentation of debt issuance costs (ASU 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs), effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years and should be applied retrospectively to all periods presented. Early adoption of the new guidance is permitted for financial statements that have not been previously issued. The new guidance will require that debt issuance costs be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the related debt liability rather than as an asset, consistent with debt discounts.  The Company adopted ASU 2015-03 and as such, the debt issuance costs for Fortress note was presented in the balance sheet as direct deduction from the related debt liability.

 

In August 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-15, Disclosure of Uncertainties About an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern. This standard update provides guidance around management’s responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern and to provide related footnote disclosures. The new guidance is effective for all annual and interim periods ending after December 15, 2016. The new guidance is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

 

In May 2014, the Financial Accountings Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, or ASU 2014-09, which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The standard will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP when it becomes effective and shall take effective on January 1, 2017. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method and the early application of the standard is not permitted. The Company is presently evaluating the effect that ASU 2014-09 will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures and has not yet selected a transition method.

 

There were other updates recently issued, most of which represented technical corrections to the accounting literature or application to specific industries and are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.