Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Product liability

The Company and its subsidiaries face an inherent business risk of exposure to legal claims arising from the alleged failure of our products to prevent the types of personal injury or death against which they are designed to protect. Product liability claims are categorized as either single incident or cumulative trauma.

Single incident product liability claims. Single incident product liability claims involve incidents of short duration that are typically known when they occur and involve observable injuries, which provide an objective basis for quantifying damages. Management has established reserves for the single incident product liability claims of the Company's various subsidiaries, including asserted single incident product liability claims and incurred but not reported ("IBNR") single incident claims. To determine the reserves, Management makes reasonable estimates of losses for single incident claims based on the number and characteristics of asserted claims, historical experience, sales volumes, expected settlement costs, and other relevant information. The reserve for single incident product liability claims was $0.8 million at September 30, 2024 and $1.3 million at December 31, 2023. Single incident product liability benefit was $0.2 million and $0.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, respectively. Single incident product liability exposures are evaluated on an annual basis, or more frequently if changing circumstances warrant. Adjustments are made to the reserve as appropriate. The reserve has not been discounted to present value and does not include future amounts which will be spent to defend the claims.

During the first nine months of 2024, the Company recorded $5.0 million of net cost for product related legal matter. The expense is reflected within the selling, general and administration line of the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.

Cumulative trauma product liability claims. Cumulative trauma product liability claims involve alleged exposures to harmful substances (e.g., silica, asbestos and coal dust) that occurred years ago and may have developed over long periods of time into diseases such as silicosis, asbestosis, mesothelioma, or coal worker’s pneumoconiosis. Prior to the divestiture described below, one of the Company's former subsidiaries, MSA LLC, was named as a defendant in various lawsuits related to such claims. These lawsuits mainly involve respiratory protection products allegedly manufactured and sold by MSA LLC or its predecessors.

On January 5, 2023, the Company entered into a membership interest purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Sag Main Holdings, LLC (the “Buyer”). The Buyer was a joint venture between R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd. (“R&Q”) and Obra Capital, Inc. (“Obra”). Under the Purchase Agreement, on January 5, 2023, the Company transferred to the Buyer all of the issued and outstanding limited liability company interests of MSA LLC (the “Sale”). In connection with the closing, the Company contributed $341.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, while R&Q and Obra contributed an additional $35.0 million.

MSA LLC was the obligor for the claims to which the Company's legacy cumulative trauma product liability reserves relate and policyholder of the related insurance assets. The rights and obligations related to these items remained with MSA LLC upon the sale to the Buyer. In addition, pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the Buyer and MSA LLC have agreed to indemnify the Company and its affiliates for legacy cumulative trauma product liabilities and other product liabilities, and a subsidiary of the Company has agreed to indemnify MSA LLC for all other historical liabilities of MSA LLC. This indemnification is not subject to any cap or time limitation. In connection with the sale, the Company and its Board of Directors received a solvency opinion from an independent advisory firm that MSA LLC was solvent and adequately capitalized after giving effect to the transaction.

Following the completion of the transaction, the Company no longer has any obligation with respect to pending and future cumulative trauma product liability claims relating to these matters. As such, all legacy cumulative trauma product liability reserves, related insurance assets, and associated deferred tax assets of the divested subsidiary were derecognized from our balance sheet and the Company incurred a tax-effected loss on the divestiture of MSA LLC of $199.6 million, including transaction related costs of $5.6 million. The Buyer has assumed management of the divested subsidiary, including the management of its claims and associated assets.

Other Litigation

Globe, a subsidiary of the Company, is defending claims in which plaintiffs assert that certain products allegedly containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) have caused harm, including injury or health issues. PFAS are a large class of substances that are widely used in everyday products. Specifically, Globe builds firefighter turnout gear from technical fabrics sourced from a small pool of specialty textile manufacturers. These protective fabrics have been tested and certified to meet current National Fire Protection Association safety standards, and some of them as supplied to Globe contain or historically have contained PFAS to achieve performance characteristics such as water, oil, or chemical resistance.

Globe believes it has valid defenses to these claims. These matters are at a very early stage with numerous factual and legal issues to be resolved. Defense costs relating to these lawsuits are recognized in the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations as incurred. Globe is also pursuing insurance coverage and indemnification related to the lawsuits. As of October 15, 2024, Globe was named as a defendant in 535 lawsuits comprised of 7,850 claims, predominantly styled as individual personal injury claims and including two putative class actions. Certain of these lawsuits include MSA Safety Inc. or other Globe affiliates as defendants.

MSA LLC is also a defendant in a number of PFAS lawsuits predominantly relating to Aqueous Film-Forming Foam. The Buyer assumed responsibility for these and any similar future claims specific to MSA LLC, including such claims that have been or may be brought against MSA Safety Inc. or its subsidiaries, under the terms of the divestiture on January 5, 2023. Further information about the transaction can be found in the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2023.

Product Warranty

The Company provides warranties on certain product sales. Product warranty reserves are established in the same period that revenue from the sale of the related products is recognized, or in the period that a specific issue arises as to the functionality of the Company's product. The determination of such reserves requires the Company to make estimates of product return rates and expected costs to repair or to replace the products under warranty.

The amounts of the reserves are based on established terms and the Company's best estimate of the amounts necessary to settle future and existing claims on products sold as of the balance sheet date. If actual return rates and/or repair and replacement costs differ significantly from estimates, adjustments to recognize additional cost of sales may be required in future periods.

The following table reconciles changes in the Company's accrued warranty reserve:


(In thousands)	Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024		Year Ended December 31, 2023
Beginning warranty reserve	$	14,288	$	15,230
Warranty payments	(8,518)		(9,794)
Warranty claims	7,370		8,899
Provision for product warranties and other adjustments	515		(47)
Ending warranty reserve	$	13,655	$	14,288

Warranty expense was $7.9 million and $6.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, respectively, and is included in Costs of products sold on the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Outstanding Performance Obligations

The Company derives a portion of its revenue from various leasing arrangements where the Company is the lessor, primarily fire service contracts entered into by Bristol. Such arrangements provide for monthly payments covering equipment provided, maintenance and interest. These arrangements meet the criteria to be accounted for as sales-type leases under Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 842 and contain both lease and non-lease components.

Revenue from equipment provided is considered a lease component and recognized with point in time revenue recognition upon lease commencement. Maintenance revenue, which is considered a non-lease component, and interest is recognized monthly over the lease term. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had remaining maintenance performance obligations of approximately $28.7 million which are expected to be recognized to revenue in approximately three years.