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Brazil Transaction
3 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2016
Transactions [Abstract]  
Transactions [Text Block]
17.
Brazil Transaction
 
On March 9, 2015, Lakeland Brazil changed its legal form to a Limitada and changed its name to Lake Brasil Industria E Comercio de Roupas E Equipamentos de Protecao Individual LTDA.
 
Settlement Agreement – Arbitration Debt
On June 18, 2015, Lakeland and its then wholly-owned subsidiary Lakeland Brazil (together with Lakeland, the “Brazil Co”), entered into an Amendment (the “Amendment”) to a Settlement Agreement, dated as of September 11, 2012 (the “Settlement Agreement”), with two former officers (the “former officers”) of Lakeland Brazil. As part of the original Settlement Agreement, the parties resolved all alleged outstanding claims against the Brazil Co arising from an arbitration proceeding in Brazil involving Brazil Co and the former officers of Brazil Co for an aggregate amount of approximately US $8.5 million payable by Brazil Co to the former officers over a period of six (6) years. As of the June 18, 2015 settlement date, there was a balance of US $3.750 million (the “Outstanding Amount”) owed under the Settlement Agreement, which Outstanding Amount was to be paid by the Company in quarterly installments of US $250,000 through December 31, 2018.
 
Pursuant to the Amendment, the former officers agreed to fully and finally settle the Outstanding Amount owed by the Company for an aggregate lump sum payment of US $3.413 million, resulting in a gain of US $224,000 after allowing for imputed interest on the original Settlement Agreement. Within five days of receipt of such payment, the former officers provided to Lakeland Brazil the documents needed to have their lien securing payment of the Outstanding Amount removed on certain real estate owned by Lakeland Brazil and such lien was removed. The Amendment also contains a general release of claims by the former officers in favor of the Company and its past or present officers, directors, and other affiliates. The Company’s senior lender, Alostar Bank of Commerce, has consented to the transactions contemplated by the Amendment.
 
Shares Transfer Agreement
On July 31, 2015 (the “Closing Date”), Lakeland and Lakeland Brazil, completed a conditional closing of a Shares Transfer Agreement (the “Shares Transfer Agreement”) with Zap Comércio de Brindes Corporativos Ltda (“Transferee”), a company owned by an existing Lakeland Brazil manager, entered into on June 19, 2015. Pursuant to the Shares Transfer Agreement, the Transferee has acquired all of the shares of Lakeland Brazil owned by the Company. Pursuant to the Shares Transfer Agreement, Transferee paid R$1.00 to the Company and assumed all liabilities and obligations of Lakeland Brazil, whether arising prior to, on or after the Closing Date, including, without limitation (i) liabilities, such as severance obligations, in respect of the current and former employees of Lakeland Brazil, (ii) liabilities arising from any labor claims already existing or which may thereafter be filed against Lakeland Brazil and its current or former affiliates, officers and shareholders, (iii) liabilities with respect to taxes imposed on the Brazilian business, including Value Added Tax (“VAT”) tax liabilities, (iv) liabilities arising under leases, contracts, licenses or governmental permits pursuant to which Lakeland Brazil is a party or otherwise bound, (v) product warranty liabilities, product return obligations pursuant to any stock balancing program and rebates pursuant to any marketing program, to the extent such liabilities arose from sales of products made in the course of the Brazilian business, (vi) accounts payable of Lakeland Brazil, whether or not invoiced, and (vii) all other obligations and liabilities with respect to the Brazilian business of Lakeland Brazil (collectively, the “Brazilian Liabilities”). In order to help enable Lakeland Brazil to have sufficient funds to continue to operate for a period of at least two years following the Closing Date, the Company provided funding to Lakeland Brazil in the aggregate amount of US $1,130,000, in cash, in the form of a capital raise, on or prior to the Closing Date, and has agreed to provide an additional R$582,000 (approximately US $188,000) (the “Additional Amount”), in the form of a capital raise, to be utilized by Lakeland Brazil to pay off the Brazilian Liabilities and other potential contingent liabilities. Pursuant to the Shares Transfer Agreement, the Company paid R$992,000 (approximately US $320,000) in cash, on July 1, 2015 and issued a non-interest bearing promissory note for the payment to be due for the Additional Amount (R$582,000) (approximately US $188,000) on the Closing Date which was paid to Lakeland Brazil in two (2) installments of (i) R$288,300 (approximately US $82,000) which was paid on August 1, 2015, and (ii) R$294,500 (approximately US $84,000) on September 1, 2015.
 
In addition, we may continue to be exposed to certain liabilities arising in connection with the prior operations of Lakeland Brazil, including, without limitation, from lawsuits pending in the labor courts in Brazil in which plaintiffs were seeking, as at July 31, 2015, a total of nearly US $8,000,000 in damages from our then Brazilian subsidiary. We believe many of these labor court claims are without merit and the amount of damages being sought is significantly higher than any damages which may have been incurred. Pursuant to the Shares Transfer Agreement, we are required to fully fund amounts owed by Lakeland Brazil in connection with the then existing labor claims by Lana dos Santos and to pay amounts potentially owed for future labor claims up to an aggregate amount of $375,000 plus 60% of the excess of such amount until the earlier of (i) the date all labor claims against Lakeland Brazil deriving from events prior to the sale are settled, (ii) by our mutual agreement with Lakeland Brazil or (iii) on the two (2) year anniversary of closing of the sale. As of April 30, 2016, the Lana dos Santos claim was settled for $272,000 and $79,000 was paid in respect of other labor claims. With respect to continuing claims, $278,000 is being sought, of which management estimates the aggregate liability will be less than that amount.
 
The Company believes that these amounts contributed to its now former subsidiary Lakeland Brazil will be more than offset by a benefit for USA taxes of approximately US $9.5 million generated by a worthless stock deduction for Brazil that the Company claimed on its corporate tax returns. Although the Company’s tax advisors believe that the worthless stock deduction is valid, there can be no assurance that the IRS will not challenge it and, if challenged, that the Company will prevail.
 
The closing of this agreement was subject to Brazilian government approval of the shares transfer, which was received in October 2015 (The “Final Closing Date”). Even after the Final Closing Date for transactions contemplated by the Shares Transfer Agreement, the Company may be exposed to certain liabilities arising in connection with the prior operations of Lakeland Brazil, including, without limitation, from lawsuits pending in the labor courts in Brazil and VAT taxes, as more fully described in Note 12. The Company understands that under the laws of Brazil, a concept of fraudulent bankruptcy exists, which may hold a parent company liable for the liabilities of its Brazilian subsidiary in the event some level of fraud or misconduct is shown during the period that the parent company owned the subsidiary. While the Company believes that there has been no such fraud or misconduct relating to the proposed transfer of stock of Lakeland Brazil and the transactions contemplated by the Shares Transfer Agreement, as evidenced by the Company’s funding support for continuing operations of Lakeland Brazil, there can be no assurance that the courts of Brazil will not make such a finding nonetheless. The risk of exposure to the Company continues to diminish as the Transferee continues to operate Lakeland Brazil, as the risk of a finding of fraudulent bankruptcy lessens and pre-sale liabilities are paid off. Should the Transferee operate Lakeland Brazil for a period of two years, the Company believes the risk of a finding of fraudulent bankruptcy is eliminated. The Company believes that the loan transaction with its former Brazilian subsidiary resulting in a substantial reduction of the VAT tax liability, as described in Note 12, significantly reduced such potential liability. In addition, as discussed above in this Note, the potential labor claims liability has substantially diminished. The Shares Transfer Agreement, which is governed by United States law, contains customary representations, warranties and covenants of the parties for a transaction of this type. The Company and Transferee have agreed to indemnify each other from and against certain liabilities, subject to certain exceptions. Under the Shares Transfer Agreement, the Company will be subject to certain non-solicitation provisions for a period of two years following the Closing Date.
 
The Company estimated that the transactions involved with the completion of its exit from Brazil result in a loss of approximately $1.2 million (net of tax benefit of $0.7) reflected on its statement of operations and a decrease of approximately $0.5 million to stockholders equity as a result of recording the exit transactions. This included a reclassification of approximately $1.3 million from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss to the Statement of Operations and Retained Earnings which did not impact net stockholders equity. Further losses on the sale were reflected in Q4 FY16 as a result of the reserves against the loans related to the VAT taxes as described elsewhere in Note 12. Since this is a resolution of contingencies that arise from and that are directly related to the operations of the Brazil component prior to its disposal, it has been accounted for as discontinued operations.
 
The following tables summarize the results of the Brazil business included in the statements of operations for the years ended April 30, 2016 and April 30, 2015. 
 
 
 
 
Statement of Operations
(000’s)
 
 
 
Years Ended April 30,
 
 
 
2016
 
2015
 
Net sales from discontinuing operations
 
$
 
$
444
 
Gross profit from discontinuing operations
 
 
 
 
32
 
Operating expenses from discontinuing operations
 
 
 
 
484
 
Operating loss from discontinuing operations
 
 
 
 
(452)
 
Other (income) expense from discontinuing operations, net
 
 
 
 
(479)
 
Loss from operation of discontinuing operations before income tax
 
 
 
 
(931)
 
Net loss from discontinued operations
 
$
 
$
(931)