2.    Fair Value Measurement

Fair value is the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. We apply the following fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value into three levels and bases the categorization within the hierarchy upon the lowest level of input that is available and significant to the fair value measurement:

Level 1 inputs:      Based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 inputs:      Based on observable inputs other than Level 1 prices such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets); or model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3 inputs:     Based on unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of fair value of assets or liabilities, and typically reflect management’s estimates of assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

For cash equivalents, receivables and certain other current assets and liabilities, the amounts reported approximate fair value due to their short-term nature. For debt, we believe that the amounts reported approximate fair value based upon the refinancing of our debt in December 2019. Refer to Note 9, Debt, for additional disclosures about our debt. The following table summarizes the fair value of our financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis by level within the fair value hierarchy (in thousands):

 

 

There were no transfers of financial instruments between Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 during the periods presented.

The phantom stock appreciation rights (“PSARs”) liability is remeasured to its fair value each reporting period until its settlement at the end of the four-year vesting period with changes in fair value recorded in “selling and administrative expenses” in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. The fair value of the PSARs is based on the fair value of one unit of the equity of Yandy Holdings, LLC (“Yandy”), our wholly owned subsidiary, which was estimated using a combination of market and income approaches to determine the enterprise value, weighting each approach and applying a discount for lack of marketability. The fair value of each PSAR was estimated based on a Black-Scholes model using the fair value per unit of Yandy’s equity of $50.46 as an input as well as the following: (i) base price of $13.00; (ii) volatility of 29.30%;  (iii) expected term of 2.8 years; and (iv) risk-free rate of 0.30%. The assumptions used to estimate the liability are based on estimates and any change in such assumptions could increase or decrease the liability by a material amount. The following table summarizes the change in the fair value of the PSARs liability for the three months ended March 31, 2021 (in thousands):