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Note 18 - Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2024
Notes to Financial Statements  
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 18.  Contingencies

Litigation

Overview

 

From time to time, the Company may be subject to legal proceedings and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business, including, but not limited to, inquiries, investigations, audits and other regulatory proceedings, such as described below. The Company records a loss provision when it believes it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated.

 

           Unless otherwise disclosed, the Company is unable to estimate the possible loss or range of loss for the legal proceeding described below.

 

Arbitration filed by Yuhan Optoelectronic Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

 

On September 12, 2023, the Company delivered notice of termination with respect to that certain Agreement for the Sale and Purchase of a New Company to be Established in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (the “Purchase Agreement”), dated September 15, 2022, with Prime World International Holdings Ltd. (the “Seller”) and Yuhan Optoelectronic Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (the “Purchaser”), pursuant to which the Seller would divest its manufacturing facilities located in the People's Republic of China and certain assets related to its transceiver business and multichannel optical sub-assembly products for the internet data center, FTTH and telecom markets. The termination, in accordance with the terms of the Purchase Agreement, was a result of the Purchaser's failure to satisfy certain of its material obligations under the Purchase Agreement. In terminating the Purchase Agreement, we also asserted the right to recover a break-up fee from the Purchaser. On December 22, 2023, the Purchaser filed for arbitration in Hong Kong with the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”) challenging the validity of our termination notice and seeking specific performance with respect to the transactions contemplated in the Purchase Agreement, which in any case if specific performance is granted by HKIAC, the transaction contemplated by the Purchase Agreement would still have to be approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States prior to its consummation. On January 22, 2024, the Company filed its response, generally denying the Purchaser’s allegations and asserting counterclaims for recovery of a break-up fee. The Company intends to vigorously defend this matter.  The Company is not able to determine the outcome of this dispute or the likelihood or amount of the Company’s loss or recovery, if any, arising from this matter. The HKIAC Tribunal issued a procedural order on April 17, 2024 setting the evidentiary hearing to be held on September 2025.

 

Other Contingencies

 

On  August 9, 2021, the Company received a Taxes Notification of Audit Result ("Notice") from the Texas Comptroller’s Office (the "Comptroller"), for fiscal years between 2016 and 2019, informing the Company that the Comptroller believes the Company did not qualify for certain sales and use tax exemptions on various Research and Development purchases and accordingly the Company is liable for Sale and Use Tax in the amount of approximately $1.0 million including interest charges. The Company paid $0.4 million for the tax notice in May 2021, but challenged the remaining tax assessments and vigorously defended its position. The Comptroller’s office exhausted its redetermination period and therefore moved AOI’s case to the hearing process. No hearing date has yet been scheduled, and as a result the Company is not able to determine the outcome of this sales tax dispute or the likelihood or amount of the Company’s loss, if any, arising from this matter.