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Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees
Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees
Deferred Acquisition Consideration. In addition to the consideration paid by the Company in respect of certain of its acquisitions at closing, additional consideration may be payable, or may be potentially payable based on the achievement of certain threshold levels of earnings. See Note 2 and Note 4.
Options to purchase. Noncontrolling shareholders in certain subsidiaries have the right in certain circumstances to require the Company to acquire the remaining ownership interests held by them. The noncontrolling shareholders’ ability to exercise any such option right is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including conditions requiring notice in advance of exercise and specific employment termination conditions. In addition, these rights cannot be exercised prior to specified staggered exercise dates. The exercise of these rights at their earliest contractual date would result in obligations of the Company to fund the related amounts during the remainder of 2016 to 2024. It is not determinable, at this time, if or when the owners of these rights will exercise all or a portion of these rights.
The amount payable by the Company in the event such rights are exercised is dependent on various valuation formulas and on future events, such as the average earnings of the relevant subsidiary through the date of exercise, the growth rate of the earnings of the relevant subsidiary during that period and, in some cases, the currency exchange rate at the date of payment.
Management estimates, assuming that the subsidiaries owned by the Company at March 31, 2016, perform over the relevant future periods at their trailing twelve-months earnings levels, that these rights, if all exercised, could require the Company, in future periods, to pay an aggregate amount of approximately $16,710 to the owners of such rights to acquire such ownership interests in the relevant subsidiaries. Of this amount, the Company is entitled, at its option, to fund approximately $120 by the issuance of share capital.
In addition, the Company is obligated under similar contractual rights to pay an aggregate amount of approximately $50,841 only upon termination of such owner’s employment with the applicable subsidiary or death.
The amount the Company would be required to pay to the noncontrolling interest holders should the Company acquire the remaining ownership interests is $3,449 less than the initial redemption value recorded in redeemable noncontrolling interests.
Included in redeemable noncontrolling interests at March 31, 2016 was $71,000 of these options to purchase because they are not within the control of the Company. The ultimate amount payable relating to these transactions will vary because it is dependent on the future results of operations of the subject businesses and the timing of when these rights are exercised.
Natural Disasters. Certain of the Company’s operations are located in regions of the United States which typically are subject to hurricanes. During the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, these operations did not incur any costs related to damages resulting from hurricanes.
Guarantees. Generally, the Company has indemnified the purchasers of certain assets in the event that a third party asserts a claim against the purchaser that relates to a liability retained by the Company. These types of indemnification guarantees typically extend for a number of years. Historically, the Company has not made any significant indemnification payments under such agreements and no amount has been accrued in the accompanying consolidated financial statements with respect to these indemnification guarantees. The Company continues to monitor the conditions that are subject to guarantees and indemnifications to identify whether it is probable that a loss has occurred, and would recognize any such losses under any guarantees or indemnifications in the period when those losses are probable and estimable.
Legal Proceedings. The Company’s operating entities are involved in legal proceedings of various types. While any litigation contains an element of uncertainty, the Company has no reason to believe that the outcome of such proceedings or claims will have a material adverse effect on its financial condition or results of operations of the Company, except as set forth below in connection with the SEC investigation and the related class action litigation claims.
SEC Investigation Update
The Special Committee of the Board of Directors (the “Special Committee”) and management have continued to fully cooperate with the SEC in connection with its ongoing investigation of the Company, including with respect to payments made to or on behalf of Miles Nadal and Nadal Management Limited. Mr. Nadal resigned from his position as CEO and as a Director of the Company’s Board of Directors, effective July 20, 2015, and agreed to repay to the Company specified expenses paid by the Company on his behalf and prior cash bonus awards. 
Specifically, as of December 31, 2015, Mr. Nadal repaid to the Company an aggregate amount equal to $11,285 in respect of perquisites and improper payments identified by the Special Committee. No additional amounts have been identified during the three months ended March 31, 2016.
Separately, Mr. Nadal agreed to repay to the Company $10,582 in connection with amounts required to be repaid pursuant to cash bonus awards previously paid to Mr. Nadal, with such repayments to be made in five installments, with the last to be paid on December 31, 2017. Mr. Nadal repaid to the Company the first installment of $1,000 in September 2015 and the second installment of $1,500 in December 2015. The Company recorded a charge of approximately $5,338 in the third quarter of 2015 for the balance of prior cash bonus award amounts that will not be recovered.
The SEC investigation of these expenses and related matters remains ongoing. For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company has incurred $1,486 and $5,762, respectively, of professional expenses relating to the ongoing SEC investigation.
Class Action Litigation
On July 31, 2015, North Collier Fire Control and Rescue District Firefighter Pension Plan filed a putative class action suit in the Southern District of New York, naming as defendants the Company, CFO David Doft, former CEO Miles Nadal, and former CAO Michael Sabatino. The plaintiff alleges violations of § 10(b), Rule 10b-5, and § 20 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, based on allegedly materially false and misleading statements in the Company’s SEC filings and other public statements regarding executive compensation, goodwill accounting, and the Company’s internal controls. The Company is vigorously defending this suit.
On August 7, 2015, Roberto Paniccia issued a Statement of Claim in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in the City of Brantford, Ontario seeking to certify a class action suit naming as Defendants the Company, former CEO Miles S. Nadal, former CAO Michael C. Sabatino, CFO David Doft and BDO USA LLP. The Plaintiff alleges violations of section 138.1 of the Ontario Securities Act (and equivalent legislation in other Canadian provinces and territories) as well as common law misrepresentation based on allegedly materially false and misleading statements in the company’s public statements, as well as omitting to disclose material facts with respect to an SEC investigation. The Company is also vigorously defending this suit.
Commitments.  At March 31, 2016, the Company had issued $4,597 of undrawn outstanding letters of credit. In addition, the Company has commitments to fund investments in an aggregate amount of $3,182.