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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies  
Commitments and Contingencies

14. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation

The Company is, from time to time, involved in certain legal proceedings, inquiries, claims and disputes, which arise in the ordinary course of business. Although management cannot predict the outcomes of these matters, management does not believe these actions will have a material, adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets, consolidated statements of operations or consolidated statements of cash flows.

Appraisal Action

On September 21, 2017, former stockholders of SourceHOV Holdings, Inc. (“SourceHOV”), who owned 10,304 shares of SourceHOV common stock, filed a petition for appraisal pursuant to 8 Del. C. § 262 in the Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Court”), captioned Manichaean Capital, LLC, et al. v. SourceHOV Holdings, Inc., C.A. No. 2017 0673 JRS (the “Appraisal Action”). The Appraisal Action arose out of a preliminary transaction in connection with the acquisition of SourceHOV and Novitex Holdings, Inc., by Quinpario in July 2017 (“Novitex Business Combination”), and the petitioners sought, among other things, a determination of the fair value of their SourceHOV shares at the time of the Novitex Business Combination; an order that SourceHOV pay that value to the petitioners, together with interest at the statutory rate; and an award of costs, attorneys’ fees, and other expenses. During the trial the parties and their experts offered competing valuations of the SourceHOV shares as of the date of the Novitex Business Combination. SourceHOV argued the value was no more than $1,633.85 per share and the petitioners argued the value was at least $5,079.28 per share. On January 30, 2020, the Court issued its post-trial Memorandum Opinion in the Appraisal Action, in which it found that the fair value of SourceHOV as of the date of the Novitex Business Combination was $4,591 per share, and on March 26, 2020, the Court issued its final order awarding the petitioners $57,698,426 inclusive of costs and interest. Per the Court’s opinion, the legal rate of interest, compounded quarterly, accrues on the per share value from the July 2017 closing date of the Novitex Business Combination until the date of payment to petitioners.

On December 31 2021, we agreed to settle the Appraisal Action along with a separate case brought by the same plaintiffs for $63.4 million. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2021, the Company accrued a liability of $63.4 million for these matters, all of which is expected to be paid during the first half of 2022 ($40 million having already been paid as of March 16, 2022).

As a result of the Appraisal Action and following repayment of the Margin Loan (as defined below) by Ex-Sigma 2, 1,523,578 shares of our Common Stock issued to Ex-Sigma 2 (the “Ex-Sigma 2”), our largest shareholder following the Novitex Business Combination, were returned to the Company during the first quarter of 2020.

Adverse Arbitration Order

In April 2020, one of the Company’s Nordic subsidiaries commenced an arbitration in Finland against a customer alleging breach of contract and other damages in connection with an outsourcing services agreement and transition services agreement executed in 2017. In September 2020, the customer submitted counterclaims against the Company in an aggregate amount in excess of €10.0 million. Following an expedited arbitration, in late November 2020, the arbitrator awarded the customer approximately $13.0 million in the aggregate for the counterclaimed damages and costs. The Company filed an application to annul the award in late January 2021 with the relevant court asserting, among other bases, that the arbitrator violated due process and procedural rules by disallowing the Company’s witness and expert testimony and maintaining the expedited format following the assertion of significant counterclaims which would ordinarily have required the application of normal rather than expedited rules. On May 28, 2021, the parties entered into a settlement agreement resolving this dispute for a total of $8.8 million including the reimbursement of certain third party charges. The Company had accrued a liability balance of $9.7 million for this matter as of the settlement date. Accordingly, on settlement the Company reversed the additional $0.9 million accrued for the matter. As of December 31, 2021, there was a net outstanding balance of $3.3 million for this matter included in Accrued liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Contract-Related Contingencies

The Company has certain contingent obligations that arise in the ordinary course of providing services to its customers. These contingencies are generally the result of contracts that require the Company to comply with certain performance measurements or the delivery of certain services to customers by a specified deadline. The Company believes the adjustments to the transaction price, if any, under these contract provisions will not result in a significant revenue reversal or have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets, consolidated statements of operations or consolidated statements of cash flows.