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Commitments and contingencies
9 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2012
Commitments and contingencies

16. Commitments and contingencies:

Guarantees and Indemnification Obligations

The Company’s standard OEM and supply agreements entered into in the ordinary course of business typically contain an indemnification provision pursuant to which the Company indemnifies, holds harmless, and agrees to reimburse the indemnified party for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party in connection with any United States patent, or any copyright or other intellectual property infringement claim by any third party with respect to the Company’s products. Such provisions generally survive termination or expiration of the agreements. The potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification provisions is, in some instances, unlimited. The Company has never incurred costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnification agreements. As a result, the Company believes that its estimated exposure on these agreements is currently minimal. Accordingly, the Company has no liabilities recorded for these agreements as of April 30, 2012.

Generally, the Company warrants that its products will perform in all material respects in accordance with its standard published specifications in effect at the time of delivery of the products to the customer for a period ranging from 12 to 26 months from the date of delivery. The Company provides for the estimated cost of product and service warranties based on specific warranty claims, claim history, and engineering estimates, where applicable.

The following table presents the Company’s product warranty liability for the three and nine months ended April 30, 2012 and 2011:

 

     Three Months Ended
April 30,
    Nine Months Ended
April 30,
 
             2012                     2011                     2012                     2011          

Balance at the beginning of the period

   $ 5,767      $ 5,640      $ 5,174      $ 6,103   

Accrual

     1,492        1,477        5,321        4,571   

Settlements made in cash or in kind during the period

     (1,233     (1,277     (4,469     (4,834

Balance at the end of the period

   $ 6,026      $ 5,840      $ 6,026      $ 5,840   

At April 30, 2012 and July 31, 2011, the Company had deferred revenue for product and extended warranty contracts of $6,823 and $6,528, respectively.

 

Revolving Credit Agreements

On October 11, 2011, the Company entered into a five-year revolving credit agreement (“Credit Agreement”) with three banks for which Sovereign Bank acts as Administrative Agent. The Credit Agreement provides $100,000 in available credit and expires on October 10, 2016, when any outstanding borrowings will be payable in full. The credit facility does not require amortization of principal and may be reduced before maturity in whole or in part at the Company’s option without penalty. The Credit Agreement replaces a $20,000 credit facility with Sovereign Bank which had been renewed annually since 2001 and was terminated in connection with the new facility.

Borrowings under the Credit Agreement may be used for general corporate purposes, including permitted acquisitions. The amount of available credit can be increased under specified circumstances up to $150,000 in aggregate. The Company is the sole borrower under the Credit Agreement. The obligations under the new credit facility are guaranteed by the Company’s material domestic subsidiaries and are supported by a pledge of 65% of the capital stock and equity equivalents of the Company’s principal international subsidiary.

Interest rates on borrowings outstanding under the credit facility would range from 1.25% to 2.00% above the LIBOR rate, or, at the Company’s option would range from 0.00% to 1.00% above the defined base rate, in each case based upon the Company’s leverage ratio. A quarterly commitment fee ranging from 0.20% to 0.35% per annum is applicable on the undrawn portion of the credit facility, based upon the Company’s leverage ratio.

The Credit Agreement limits the Company and its subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things: incur additional indebtedness; incur liens or guarantee obligations; pay dividends or make other distributions; make investments; dispose of assets; and engage in transactions with affiliates except on an arms-length basis. In addition, the Credit Agreement requires the Company to maintain the following financial ratios:

 

   

A leverage ratio, defined as consolidated funded indebtedness to consolidated trailing four quarters EBITDA of no greater than 2.75:1.00 at any time; and

 

   

An interest coverage ratio, defined as the ratio of consolidated trailing four quarters EBITDA to consolidated interest charges of no less than 3.00:1.00 at any time.

At April 30, 2012, the Company’s leverage ratio was 0.007 and the Company’s interest coverage ratio was infinite as it had no attributable interest expense. As of April 30, 2012, the Company was in full compliance with all financial and operating covenants.

Any failure to comply with the financial or operating covenants of the credit facility would prevent the Company from being able to borrow and would also constitute a default, permitting the lenders to, among other things, accelerate repayment of outstanding borrowings, including all accrued interest and fees, and to terminate the credit facility. A change in control of the Company, as defined in the Credit Agreement, would also constitute an event of default, permitting the lenders to accelerate repayment and terminate the Credit Agreement.

In connection with the entering into this facility, the Company incurred approximately $500 of transactions costs, which are being expensed over the five-year life of the credit facility.

The Company also has approximately $4,000 in other revolving credit facilities with banks available for direct borrowings. The Company did not have any borrowing outstanding under credit facilities at April 30, 2012 and July 31, 2011.

Investigation Regarding our Danish Subsidiary

As previously disclosed in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2011, the Company has identified transactions involving its Danish subsidiary, B-K Medical, and certain of its foreign distributors, with respect to which the Company has raised questions concerning compliance with law, including Danish law and the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and its business policies. The Company has voluntarily disclosed this matter to the Danish government, the United States Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is unable to estimate the potential penalties and/or sanctions, if any, that might be assessed in connection with this matter. The Company has concluded that the identified transactions have been properly accounted for in its reported financial statements in all material respects. The Company has terminated the employment of certain B-K Medical employees that were involved in the transactions. The Company has wound down, or is in the process of winding down, its relationship with certain of the B-K Medical distributors that were involved in the transactions. Replacing these employees and distributors could have an adverse impact on B-K Medical’s distributor sales until their replacements are in place and productive. Revenue from sales to the B-K Medical distributors, with whom the Company has decided to wind down B-K Medical’s relationship, represented less than 1% of the Company’s total revenue in fiscal year 2011 and less than 0.5% and 1.75% of the Company’s total revenue in the three and nine months ended April 30, 2012, respectively. During the nine months ended April 30, 2012, the Company incurred employee termination costs of approximately $400 and inquiry-related costs of approximately $1,203 in connection with this matter.