15. Commitments and Contingencies

Operating Leases

The Company leases certain equipment and facilities under operating lease agreements. Most of these lease agreements expire between 2017 and 2019. In the U.K., where longer lease terms are more common, the Company has a land lease that extends through 2078. During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, the Company recorded lease expense of $4.5 million, $4.1 million and $4.9 million, respectively. In addition to the base rent, the Company is generally required to pay insurance, real estate taxes and maintenance costs which is recorded in lease expense.

In connection with the sale of the Scientific Lasers business in 2014, the Company assigned to the buyer the lease for the facility in San Jose, California, where the Scientific Lasers business operated. The buyer assumed all of our rights and obligations under the original lease, including the duty to pay the rent for the remainder term of the lease. So long as the buyer performs its obligations as the tenant, as required by the Asset and Equity Purchase Agreement for its acquisition of the Scientific Lasers business, the Company has no responsibilities for the lease. Should the buyer cease performance under the lease, however, the landlord could still pursue the Company as the original tenant until February 28, 2019, the end of the lease term. In the meantime, the Company has indemnification rights against the buyer under the Asset and Equity Purchase Agreement for such buyer’s default. The lease associated with this facility has been excluded from the operating lease commitments table below.

Capital Leases

As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company has gross assets under capital lease of $13.2 and $12.7 million, respectively.

Future Lease Payments

Future minimum lease payments under operating and capital leases expiring subsequent to December 31, 2015, including operating leases associated with facilities that have been vacated as a result of the Company’s restructuring actions, are as follows (in thousands):

Year Ending December 31,	Operating Lease		Capital Lease⁽¹⁾
2016	$	4,973	$	1,498
2017		3,536		1,398
2018		2,723		968
2019		1,735		935
2020		154		907
Thereafter		5,361		8,139
Total minimum lease payments	$	18,482	$	13,845

(1)	Capital lease payments include interest payments of $3.8 million.

Purchase Commitments

As of December 31, 2015, the Company had unconditional commitments primarily for inventory purchases of $35.9 million. These purchase commitments are expected to be incurred as follows: $34.1 million in 2016, $1.5 million in 2017, and $0.3 million in 2018.

Legal Proceedings

The Company is subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. The Company does not believe that the outcome of these claims will have a material adverse effect upon its consolidated financial statements but there can be no assurance that any such claims, or any similar claims, would not have a material adverse effect upon its consolidated financial statements.

Guarantees and Indemnifications

In the normal course of its operations, the Company executes agreements that provide for indemnification and guarantees to counterparties in transactions such as business dispositions, sale of assets, sale of products and operating leases. Additionally, the by-laws of the Company require it to indemnify certain current or former directors, officers, and employees of the Company against expenses incurred by them in connection with each proceeding in which he or she is involved as a result of serving or having served in certain capacities. Indemnification is not available with respect to a proceeding as to which it has been adjudicated that the person did not act in good faith in the reasonable belief that the action was in the best interests of the Company. Certain of our officers and directors are also a party to indemnification agreements with the Company. These indemnification agreements provide, among other things, that the director and officer shall be indemnified to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law against all expenses, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such officer or director in connection with any proceeding by reason of his or her relationship with the Company. In addition, the indemnification agreements provide for the advancement of expenses incurred by such director or officer in connection with any proceeding covered by the indemnification agreement, subject to the conditions set forth therein and to the extent such advancement is not prohibited by law. The indemnification agreements also set out the procedures for determining entitlement to indemnification, the requirements relating to notice and defense of claims for which indemnification is sought, the procedures for enforcement of indemnification rights, the limitations on and exclusions from indemnification, and the minimum levels of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance to be maintained by the Company.

On July 1, 2013, the Company provided a Guarantee (the “Guarantee”) in favor of the trustees of the U.K. Plan with respect to all present and future obligations and liabilities (whether actual or contingent and whether owed jointly or severally and in any capacity whatsoever) of GSI Group Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of GSI Group Inc.

Credit Risks and Other Uncertainties

The Company maintains financial instruments such as cash and cash equivalents and trade receivables. From time to time, certain of these instruments may subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk whereby one institution may hold a significant portion of the cash and cash equivalents, or one customer may represent a large portion of the accounts receivable balances.

There was no significant concentration of credit risk related to the Company’s position in trade accounts receivable as no individual customer represented 10% or more of the Company’s outstanding accounts receivable at December 31, 2015 and 2014. Credit risk with respect to trade accounts receivables is generally minimized because of the diversification of the Company’s operations, as well as its large customer base and its geographical dispersion.

Certain of the components and materials included in the Company’s products are currently obtained from single source suppliers. There can be no assurance that a disruption of this outside supply would not create substantial manufacturing delays and additional cost to the Company.

The Company’s operations involve a number of other risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the effects of general economic conditions, rapidly changing technology, and international operations.