The following discussion contains references to periods prior to the Initial Public Offering, including the period from January 1, 2019 through October 27, 2019 and calendar year 2018. The financial information of BRP Group has been combined with that of BRP as of the earliest period presented.
We are a rapidly growing independent insurance distribution firm delivering solutions that give our clients the peace of mind to pursue their purpose, passion and dreams.
Interest expense, net for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $10.6 million, an increase of $4.0 million, or 61%, as compared to the same period of 2018. Interest expense, net increased as a result of higher total debt balances during the second and third quarters of 2019 resulting from draws on our Credit Agreements to fund cash consideration for Partnerships, a higher interest rate on the Villages Credit Agreement that went into effect in March 2019 until this facility was closed in October 2019, and higher amortization of deferred financing costs related to refinancing our Credit Agreements on several occasions during 2019.
Policy fee and installment fee revenue represents revenue earned for acting in the capacity of an MGA and providing payment processing and services and other administrative functions on behalf of Insurance Company Partners. We earned $8.2 million of policy fee and installment fee revenue during 2019 from our Specialty Operating Group.
Commissions, employee compensation and benefits expenses increased by $45.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the same period of 2018. This increase was primarily attributable to $28.7 million related to 2019 Partnerships, an additional $4.9 million attributable to Partners acquired in 2018, $1.9 million in bonuses and $1.3 million in share-based compensation related to the Initial Public Offering, increased compensation as a result of hiring new executive roles necessary as a public company, including a chief operating officer, chief accounting officer and general counsel, increased compensation for sales and support related to our growth and continued investments in Growth Services to support our growth.
Loss on extinguishment of debt was $6.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, of which $6.2 million related to our repayment in full of the outstanding indebtedness under the Villages Credit Agreement in connection with the Initial Public Offering. The remaining loss related to refinancing the JPMorgan Credit Agreement on several occasions during 2019.
Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Organic Revenue, Organic Revenue Growth, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share (“EPS”), are not measures of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered substitutes for GAAP measures, including commissions and fees (for Organic Revenue and Organic Revenue Growth), net income (loss) (for Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin) net income (loss) attributable to BRP Group, Inc. (for Adjusted Net Income) or diluted EPS (for Adjusted Diluted EPS), which we consider to be the most directly comparable GAAP measures. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools, and when assessing our operating performance, you should not consider these non-GAAP financial measures in isolation or as substitutes for commissions and fees, net income (loss) or other consolidated income statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Other companies in our industry may define or calculate these non-GAAP financial measures differently than we do, and accordingly these measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.
Adjusted EBITDA eliminates the effects of financing, depreciation and amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and certain items of income and expense, including share-based compensation expense, transaction-related expenses related to Partnerships including severance, and certain non-recurring costs, including those related to the Initial Public Offering and loss on modification and extinguishment of debt. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is an appropriate measure of operating performance because it eliminates the impact of expenses that do not relate to business performance, and that the presentation of this measure enhances an investor’s understanding of our financial performance.
do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;
The following table sets forth our commissions, employee compensation and benefits by Operating Group by amount and as a percentage of our commissions, employee compensation and benefits:
We earn policy fee revenue for acting in the capacity of a managing general agent on behalf of the Insurance Company Partner and fulfilling certain services and administrative functions during the term of the insurance policy. Policy fee revenue is deferred and recognized over the life of the policy. We earn installment fee revenue related to policy premiums paid on an installment basis for payment processing services performed on behalf of the Insurance Company Partner. The Company recognizes installment fee revenue in the period the services are performed.
As an emerging growth company, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (“JOBS”) Act permits the Company an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards affecting public companies. The Company has elected to use this extended transition period and adopt certain new accounting standards on the private company timeline, which means that the Company’s financial statements may not be comparable to the financial statements of public companies that comply with such new or revised accounting standards on a non-delayed basis. The Company has elected the extended transition period for the adoption of the Accounting Standards Updates (“ASU”) below, except those where early adoption was both permitted and elected.
The Company earns commission revenue by facilitating the arrangement between Insurance Company Partners and individuals or businesses by providing insurance placement services to insureds (“Clients”) with Insurance Company Partners. Commission revenues are usually a percentage of the premium paid by Clients and generally depend upon the type of insurance, the Insurance Company Partner and the nature of the services provided. In some limited cases, the Company shares commissions with other agents or brokers who have acted jointly with the Company in a transaction. The Company controls the fulfillment of the performance obligation and its relationship with its Insurance Company Partners and the outside agents. Commissions shared with downstream agents or brokers are recorded in commission, employee compensation and benefits expense in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss). Commissions are earned at a point in time upon the effective date of bound insurance coverage as no performance obligation exists after coverage is bound.
Topic 480 requires common units that are redeemable for cash or other assets to be classified outside of permanent equity if they are redeemable (i) at a fixed or determinable price on a fixed or determinable date, (ii) at the option of the holder, or (iii) upon the occurrence of an event that is not solely within the control of the issuer. Prior to the Reorganization Transactions, the Voting Common Units of two minority holders contained certain put and call rights in conjunction with termination at the greater of fair value or a floor, as defined in the BRP’s amended and restated limited liability operating agreement (the “Operating Agreement”). The Company had no control over whether the put option was exercised, and therefore, redemption was outside the Company’s control. As such, these equity securities were recorded as redeemable members’ capital, which were classified in mezzanine equity on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.
BRP Group’s certificate of incorporation authorized the issuance of two classes of common stock including Class A common stock and Class B common stock, each of which entitles its holder to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders;
The following is a description of the transactions to convert LLC Units held by each of the Pre-IPO LLC Members to shares of Class B common stock in an amount equal to the number of LLC Units held by each such member following the reclassification of the equity interest into LLC Units.
On March 13, 2019, the Company entered into the third amended and restated JPMorgan Credit Agreement (the “Third Amendment”), which (i) increased the borrowing capacity of the Acquisitions Line to $103.0 million; (ii) increased the outstanding balance of the Acquisitions Line by $50.8 million; (iii) paid off the outstanding balance of the Term Loan with funds from the Acquisitions Line; and (iv) extended the maturity date on the Revolving Lines of Credit to March 13, 2024. The remaining terms of the JPMorgan Credit Agreement remained substantially unchanged.
On September 21, 2019, the Company executed the first amendment to the Third Amendment (“Amendment No. 1”), which became effective concurrent with the Initial Public Offering and resulted in a borrowing capacity of $10.0 million for the Working Capital Line and $115.0 million for the Acquisitions Line. Amendment No. 1 also extended the maturity date of the JPMorgan Credit Agreement to October 28, 2024.
The Company had the right to redeem all (but not less than all) of Villages’ Units by sending a written notice of exercise of such option to the Company, provided that the Company has or can obtain the financial resources to pay the entire purchase price for Villages’ Units in cash at the closing of the purchase and sale. The Company’s call right can be redeemed at any time after the later of the date that all outstanding principal, accrued interest and all other charges due under the Related Party Debt are paid in full or sixty-six months after the date of the agreement (October 2021).
The Omnibus Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee, the majority of the members of which are independent members of the Board of Directors. Under the Omnibus Plan, the aggregate value of all compensation paid to a non-employee director under the plan in any calendar year may not exceed $250,000. Each contractual term of an option granted is fixed by the Compensation Committee, and except for limited circumstances, the term cannot exceed ten years from the grant date. Restricted stock awards, RSUs and performance-share awards have a vesting period as defined by the applicable award agreement.
Topic 820 established a framework for measuring fair value. That framework provides a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurement). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under Topic 820 are described below: