Liberty Global Plc (Exact Name of Registrant As Specified in Its Charter)
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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 Form 10-K/A (As Amended by Amendment No. 1) ☑ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 OR ☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF For the transition period from to Commission file number 001-35961 Liberty Global plc (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter) England and Wales 98-1112770 (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer incorporation or organization) Identification No.) Griffin House 161 Hammersmith Rd London United Kingdom W6 8BS (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: +44.208.483.6449 or 303.220.6600 Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered Class A ordinary shares LBTYA Nasdaq Global Select Market Class B ordinary shares LBTYB Nasdaq Global Select Market Class C ordinary shares LBTYK Nasdaq Global Select Market Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: none Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☑ No ☐ Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☑ 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 and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐ 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 during the preceding 12 months. Yes ☑ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Check one: Large Accelerated Filer ☑ Accelerated Filer ☐ Non-Accelerated Filer ☐ Smaller Reporting Company ☐ Emerging Growth Company ☐ 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 ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑ Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☑ State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates, computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and ask price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter: $12.3 billion. The number of outstanding ordinary shares of Liberty Global plc as of January 31, 2021 was: 181,355,249 shares of class A ordinary shares, 12,561,444 shares of class B ordinary shares and 383,495,825 shares of class C ordinary shares. DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE Portions of the definitive proxy statement for the Registrant’s 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K. ** This copy of our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K/A omits certain items. See Table of Contents for additional information** LIBERTY GLOBAL PLC 2020 ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K/A TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Number PART I Item 1. Business......................................................................................................................................................... I-1 Item 1A. Risk Factors................................................................................................................................................... I-31 Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments......................................................................................................................... I-43 Item 2. Properties....................................................................................................................................................... I-43 Item 3. Legal Proceedings......................................................................................................................................... I-43 Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures................................................................................................................................ I-43 PART II Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.................................................................................................................................................... II-1 Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations....................... II-4 Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk...................................................................... II-36 Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data............................................................................................. II-41 Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure....................... II-41 Item 9A. Controls and Procedures................................................................................................................................ II-41 Item 9B. Other Information.......................................................................................................................................... II-41 PART III Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance............................................................................ III-1 Item 11. Executive Compensation............................................................................................................................... III-1 Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters..... III-1 Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.............................................. III-1 Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services....................................................................................................... III-1 PART IV Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules....................................................................................................... IV-1 Item 16. Form 10-K Summary.................................................................................................................................... IV-6 * This copy of our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K/A omits the exhibits and financial statement schedules that are included in Part IV of our complete Annual Report, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 16, 2021 and amended on March 30, 2021. A complete copy of our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K/A that includes the omitted items, other than the exhibits, is available upon request. PART I Item 1. BUSINESS Who We Are We are Liberty Global plc (Liberty Global), an international converged broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony and mobile services company. We are focused on building a strong convergence of fixed and mobile communication opportunities, and we are constantly striving to enhance and simplify our customers’ lives through quality services and products that give them the freedom to connect, converse, work and be entertained anytime, anywhere they choose. To that end, we deliver market-leading products through next-generation networks that connect customers subscribing to 49.3 million (at December 31, 2020) broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony and mobile services across our brands. Our primary business operations are listed below, all of which we consolidate, with the exception of the VodafoneZiggo JV (defined below). We also have significant investments in ITV plc, Skillz Inc., All3Media Group, Univision Holdings Inc., CANAL+ Polska S.A. (formerly known as ITI Neovision S.A.), EdgeConneX Inc., Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, the Formula E racing series and several regional sports networks. Primary Business Operations: (1) Brand Entity Location Ownership Virgin Media United Kingdom & Ireland 100.0% Telenet Belgium 60.7% UPC Switzerland UPC Switzerland 100% (2) Sunrise Switzerland Sunrise 98.9% UPC Poland Poland 100.0% UPC Slovakia Slovakia 100.0% VodafoneZiggo Netherlands 50.0% (1) As of December 31, 2020. (2) UPC Switzerland and Sunrise are referred to throughout the document as Sunrise UPC; however the two entities are currently operating independently until the statutory “squeeze-out” procedure under Swiss law is completed and the entities can fully integrate. For more information see General Development of Business - Expansion and Acquisition discussion below