Joint Ventures, VIEs and Other Investments

3 Months Ended

Dec. 30, 2022

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]

Joint Ventures, VIEs and Other Investments

Joint Ventures, VIEs and Other Investments

We execute certain contracts jointly with third parties through various forms of joint ventures. Although the joint ventures own and hold the contracts with the clients, the services required by the contracts are typically performed by us and our joint venture partners, or by other subcontractors under subcontracting agreements with the joint ventures. Many of these joint ventures are formed for a specific project. The assets of our joint ventures generally consist almost entirely of cash and receivables (representing amounts due from clients), and the liabilities of our joint ventures generally consist almost entirely of amounts due to the joint venture partners (for services provided by the partners to the joint ventures under their individual subcontracts) and other subcontractors. Many of the joint ventures are deemed to be variable interest entities (“VIE”) because they lack sufficient equity to finance the activities of the joint venture.

The assets of a joint venture are restricted for use to the obligations of the particular joint venture and are not available for general operations of the Company. Our risk of loss on these arrangements is usually shared with our partners. The liability of each partner is usually joint and several, which means that each partner may become liable for the entire risk of loss on the project. Furthermore, on some of our projects, the Company has granted guarantees that may encumber both our contracting subsidiary company and the Company for the entire risk of loss on the project. The Company is unable to estimate the maximum potential amount of future payments that we could be required to make under outstanding performance guarantees related to joint venture projects due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, the nature and extent of any contractual defaults by our joint venture partners, resource availability, potential performance delays caused by the defaults, the location of the projects, and the terms of the related contracts. Refer to Note 17- Commitments and Contingencies and Derivative Financial Instruments for further discussion relating to performance guarantees.

For consolidated joint ventures, the entire amount of the services performed, and the costs associated with these services, including the services provided by the other joint venture partners, are included in the Company's results of operations. Likewise, the entire amount of each of the assets and liabilities are included in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. For the consolidated VIEs, the carrying value of assets and liabilities was $358.2 million and $218.4 million, respectively, as of December 30, 2022 and $353.9 million and $228.1 million, respectively, as of September 30, 2022. There are no consolidated VIEs that have debt or credit facilities.

Unconsolidated joint ventures are accounted for under proportionate consolidation or the equity method. Proportionate consolidation is used for joint ventures that include unincorporated legal entities and activities of the joint venture that are construction-related. For those joint ventures accounted for under proportionate consolidation, only the Company’s pro rata share of assets, liabilities, revenue, and costs are included in the Company’s balance sheet and results of operations.

For the proportionate consolidated VIEs, the carrying value of assets and liabilities was $118.7 million and $139.2 million, respectively, as of December 30, 2022, and $109.3 million and $129.2 million, respectively, as of September 30, 2022. For those joint ventures accounted for under the equity method, the Company's investment balances for the joint venture are included in Other Noncurrent Assets: Miscellaneous on the balance sheet and the Company’s pro rata share of net income is included in Revenues. In limited cases, there are basis differences between the equity in the joint venture and the Company's investment created when the Company purchased its share of the joint venture. These basis differences are amortized based on an internal allocation to underlying net assets, excluding allocations to goodwill. As of December 30, 2022, the Company does not have any equity method investments that exceed its share of venture net assets. Our investments in equity method joint ventures on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 30, 2022 and September 30, 2022 were $55.9 million and $56.6 million, respectively. During the three months ended December 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we recognized income from equity method joint ventures of $10.0 million and $6.8 million, respectively.

Accounts receivable from unconsolidated joint ventures accounted for under the equity method was $23.1 million and $21.1 million as of December 30, 2022 and September 30, 2022, respectively.