Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jul. 30, 2022

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Investment Commitments

As of July 30, 2022, the Company had an unfunded commitment to invest €11.0 million ($11.2 million) in a private equity fund. Refer to Note 15 for further information.

Legal and Other Proceedings

The Company is involved in legal proceedings, arising both in the ordinary course of business and otherwise, including the proceedings described below as well as various other claims and other matters incidental to the Company’s business. Unless otherwise stated, the resolution of any particular proceeding is not currently expected to have a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Even if such an impact could be material, the Company may not be able to estimate the reasonably possible loss or range of loss until developments in the proceedings have provided sufficient information to support an assessment.

The Company has received customs tax assessment notices from the Italian Customs Agency (“ICA”) regarding its customs tax audit of one of the Company’s European subsidiaries for the period from July 2010 through December 2012. Such assessments totaled €9.8 million ($10.0 million), including potential penalties and interest. The Company strongly disagreed with the ICA’s positions and therefore filed appeals with the Milan First Degree Tax Court (“MFDTC”). Those appeals were split into a number of different cases that were then heard by different sections of the MFDTC. The MFDTC ruled in favor of the Company on all of these appeals. The ICA subsequently appealed €9.7 million ($9.9 million) of these favorable MFDTC judgments with the Appeals Court. To date, €8.5 million ($8.7 million) have been decided in favor of the Company and €1.2 million ($1.2 million) have been decided in favor of the ICA. The Company believes that the unfavorable Appeals Court ruling is incorrect and inconsistent with the prior rulings on similar matters by both the MFDTC and other judges within the Appeals Court, and has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The ICA has appealed most of the favorable Appeals Court rulings to the Supreme Court. To date, of the cases that have been appealed to the Supreme Court, €0.4 million ($0.4 million) have been decided in favor of the Company based on the merits of the case and €1.1 million ($1.1 million) have been remanded back to the lower court for further consideration. There can be no assurances the Company will be successful in the remaining appeals. It also continues to be possible that the Company will receive similar or even larger assessments for periods subsequent to December 2012 or other claims or charges related to the matter in the future. Although the Company believes that it has a strong position and will continue to vigorously defend this matter, it is unable to predict with certainty whether or not these efforts will ultimately be successful or whether the outcome will have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

On January 19, 2021, a former model for the Company filed an action against the Company’s Chief Creative Officer and the Company in the California Superior Court in Los Angeles (Jane Doe v. Paul Marciano, et al.). The complaint asserted several claims based on allegations that the former model was treated improperly by Mr. Paul Marciano and retaliated against by the Company. The complaint sought an unspecified amount of general damages, medical expenses, lost earnings, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. As described in more detail below, the Company and Mr. Paul Marciano entered into a settlement agreement in August 2022 with the plaintiff in the January 2021 action, resolving the January 2021 action.

In March and April 2021, the Company received separate communications from two other individuals containing similar allegations against Mr. Paul Marciano and the Company. Each individual who contacted the Company in March 2021 and April 2021 was represented by the same attorney who represented the plaintiff in the January 2021 action. Though no complaint was filed with respect to the allegations in the March 2021 letter and Mr. Paul Marciano and the Company disputed each of those allegations fully, in order to avoid the cost of litigation and without admitting liability or fault, the Company and Mr. Paul Marciano entered into a settlement agreement with the individual who sent the March 2021 letter, resolving the claims for an aggregate total amount of $300,000 in July 2021.

On October 22, 2021, the individual who sent the April 2021 letter filed an action against Mr. Paul Marciano and the Company in the United States District Court for the Central District of California (Jane Doe 3 v. Paul Marciano, et al.). The complaint asserted a claim under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act based on allegations that the individual was treated improperly by Mr. Paul Marciano. The complaint sought an unspecified amount of compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. Though Mr. Paul Marciano and the Company also disputed these claims fully, in order to avoid the cost of litigation and without

admitting liability or fault, the Company and Mr. Paul Marciano entered into a settlement agreement with the individual who sent the April 2021 letter and filed the October 2021 action, resolving the claims for an aggregate total amount of $120,000 in March 2022.

On March 16, 2022, the plaintiff in the January 2021 action and another former model for the Company filed an action against those individuals who were on the Company’s Board of Directors in January 2019 (the “Defendants”) in the California Superior Court in Los Angeles (Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 v. Maurice Marciano, et al.). The complaint asserted that the Defendants aided and abetted the alleged improper behavior of Mr. Paul Marciano described in the January 2021 action and discomfort felt by the other individual during interactions with Mr. Paul Marciano described in the March 2022 action. The complaint sought an unspecified amount of general damages and attorneys’ fees and sought an order for the Defendants to remove Mr. Paul Marciano from the Board of Directors and relieve him of his day-to-day duties at the Company. The individual plaintiffs in the March 2022 action were represented by the same attorney who represented the plaintiffs in the January 2021 and October 2021 actions.

Though Mr. Paul Marciano and the Company disputed in full each of the allegations in the January 2021 action, and the Defendants in the March 2022 action disputed in full each of the allegations therein, in order to avoid the cost of litigation and without admitting liability or fault, the Company and Mr. Paul Marciano entered into settlement agreements in August 2022 for an aggregate total amount of $1,000,000 with the plaintiffs in the March 2022 action, resolving the January 2021 action and their individual claims in the March 2022 action.

All previously pending claims of individuals alleging personal mistreatment by Mr. Paul Marciano have now been resolved.

Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests

The Company is party to a put arrangement with respect to the common securities that represent the remaining noncontrolling interest for its majority-owned subsidiary, Guess Brasil Comércio e Distribuição S.A. (“Guess Brazil”). The put arrangement for Guess Brazil, representing 40% of the total outstanding equity interest of that subsidiary, may be exercised at the discretion of the noncontrolling interest holder by providing written notice to the Company every third anniversary beginning in March 2019, subject to certain time restrictions. The redemption value of the Guess Brazil put arrangement is based on a multiple of Guess Brazil’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization subject to certain adjustments and is classified as a redeemable noncontrolling interest outside of permanent equity in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet. The carrying value of the redeemable noncontrolling interest related to Guess Brazil was $0.5 million and $0.4 million as of July 30, 2022 and January 29, 2022, respectively.

The Company is also party to a put arrangement with respect to the securities that represent the remaining noncontrolling interest for its majority-owned Russian subsidiary, Guess? CIS, LLC (“Guess CIS”), which was established through a majority-owned joint venture during fiscal 2016. The put arrangement for Guess CIS, representing 30% of the total outstanding equity interest of that subsidiary, may be exercised at the discretion of the noncontrolling interest holder by providing written notice to the Company during the period after December 28, 2020, the fifth anniversary of the agreement, through December 31, 2025. The redemption value of the Guess CIS put arrangement is based on a multiple of Guess CIS’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization subject to certain adjustments and is classified as a redeemable noncontrolling interest outside of permanent equity in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet. The carrying value of the redeemable noncontrolling interest related to Guess CIS was $9.8 million and $9.1 million as of July 30, 2022 and January 29, 2022, respectively. The parties are evaluating the potential purchase of the 30% interest held by the noncontrolling interest holder in light of the various sanctions recently imposed by the United States and European governments with respect to Russia, including the U.S. ban on new investment in Russia. The Company’s European subsidiary, Guess Europe SAGL has also counter guaranteed up to $900,000 of Guess CIS’s obligations under its local Russian guarantee line, as required by certain lease agreements.

The redeemable noncontrolling interests of the Guess Brazil and Guess CIS put arrangements are recorded at the greater of their carrying values, adjusted for their share of the allocation of income or loss, dividends and foreign currency translation adjustments, or redemption values. During the six months ended July 30, 2022 and July 31, 2021, the Company had no redeemable noncontrolling interest redemption value adjustment.

A reconciliation of the total carrying amount of redeemable noncontrolling interests is (in thousands):


	Six Months Ended
	Jul 30, 2022		Jul 31, 2021
Beginning balance	$	9,500	$	3,920

Foreign currency translation adjustment	777		154




Ending balance	$	10,277	$	4,074