Note 22. Commitments and Loss Contingency

Lease and Purchase Commitments

The Company leases certain equipment and buildings under operating leases, which expire at various dates through 2035, many with options to cancel at varying points during the lease. Fair value renewal and escalation clauses exist for many of the operating leases. Rental expense under operating leases was as follows (in thousands):


	Years Ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
Rental expense	$	47,208	$	44,916	$	47,365

The following is a schedule of future minimum rental payments required under operating leases that have noncancelable lease terms as of December 31, 2015 (in thousands):


	Amount
2016	$	38,318
2017		33,923
2018		27,641
2019		22,480
2020		16,423
2021 and thereafter		30,973

Total minimum payments required	$	169,758

The Company enters into agreements with third-party vendors in the ordinary course of business whereby the Company commits to purchase goods and services used in its normal operations. These agreements generally are not cancelable, range from one to five year periods and may contain fixed or minimum annual commitments. Certain of these agreements allow for renegotiation of the minimum annual commitments based on certain conditions.

The following is a schedule of future minimum purchases remaining under the agreements as of December 31, 2015 (in thousands):


	Amount
2016	$	41,806
2017		15,975
2018		1,718
2019		1,477
2020		857
2021 and thereafter		470

Total minimum payments required	$	62,303

On July 2, 2015, the Company completed the Qelp acquisition, which included contingent consideration based on achieving targets tied to revenues and EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The estimated future value of the contingent consideration is $9.1 million and is expected to be paid over a three-year period.

Indemnities, Commitments and Guarantees

From time to time, during the normal course of business, the Company may make certain indemnities, commitments and guarantees under which it may be required to make payments in relation to certain transactions. These include, but are not limited to: (i) indemnities to clients, vendors and service providers pertaining to claims based on negligence or willful misconduct of the Company and (ii) indemnities involving breach of contract, the accuracy of representations and warranties of the Company, or other liabilities assumed by the Company in certain contracts. In addition, the Company has agreements whereby it will indemnify certain officers and directors for certain events or occurrences while the officer or director is, or was, serving at the Company’s request in such capacity. The indemnification period covers all pertinent events and occurrences during the officer’s or director’s lifetime. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is unlimited; however, the Company has director and officer insurance coverage that limits its exposure and enables it to recover a portion of any future amounts paid. The Company believes the applicable insurance coverage is generally adequate to cover any estimated potential liability under these indemnification agreements. The majority of these indemnities, commitments and guarantees do not provide for any limitation of the maximum potential for future payments the Company could be obligated to make. The Company has not recorded any liability for these indemnities, commitments and guarantees in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. In addition, the Company has some client contracts that do not contain contractual provisions for the limitation of liability, and other client contracts that contain agreed upon exceptions to limitation of liability. The Company has not recorded any liability in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets with respect to any client contracts under which the Company has or may have unlimited liability.

Loss Contingency

The Company, from time to time, is involved in legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business. With respect to these matters, management believes that the Company has adequate legal defenses and/or when possible and appropriate, provided adequate accruals related to those matters such that the ultimate outcome will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.