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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Diamond Sourcing Activities. The Company has agreements with various diamond producers to purchase defined portions of their mines' output at prevailing fair market prices. In addition, the Company also regularly purchases rough and polished diamonds from other suppliers, although it has no contractual obligations to do so.

In consideration of its diamond supply agreements, the Company has provided financing to certain suppliers of its rough diamonds. In March 2011, Laurelton Diamonds, Inc. ("Laurelton"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, as lender, entered into a $50.0 million amortizing term loan facility agreement (the "Loan") with Koidu Limited (previously Koidu Holdings S.A.) ("Koidu"), as borrower, and BSG Resources Limited, as a limited guarantor. Koidu operates a kimberlite diamond mine in Sierra Leone (the "Mine") from which Laurelton acquires diamonds. Koidu was required under the terms of the Loan to apply the proceeds of the Loan to capital expenditures necessary to increase the output of the Mine, among other purposes. As of July 31, 2011, the Loan was fully funded. In consideration of the Loan, Laurelton entered into a supply agreement, pursuant to which Laurelton is required to purchase at fair market value certain diamonds recovered from the Mine that meet Laurelton's quality standards. The assets of Koidu, including all equipment and rights in respect of the Mine, are subject to the security interest of a lender that is not affiliated with the Company. The Loan is partially secured by diamonds that have been extracted from the Mine and that have not been sold to third parties. The Company has evaluated the variable interest entity consolidation requirements with respect to this transaction and has determined that it is not the primary beneficiary, as it does not have the power to direct any of the activities that most significantly impact Koidu's economic performance.

On March 29, 2013, the Company entered into an amendment relating to the Loan which deferred principal and interest payments due in 2013 to subsequent years, and, on March 31, 2014, the Company entered into a further amendment providing that the principal payments due in 2014 be paid on a monthly basis rather than on a semi-annual basis. In the first quarter of 2015, Koidu had requested that the principal and interest payments due in March 2015 be deferred pending the completion of certain technical studies with respect to the Mine and additional discussions between the parties regarding a further revised repayment schedule. On April 30, 2015, the Company entered into a further amendment (the “2015 Amendment”) providing that, upon the satisfaction of certain customary conditions relating to the addition of one of Koidu’s affiliates as an obligor under the Loan, the principal payment due on March 30, 2015 will be deferred until a date to be specified by the Company upon at least 30 days’ written notice to Koidu, or upon the occurrence of certain specified acceleration conditions. The Loan, as amended, is required to be repaid in full by March 2017 through semi-annual payments. Under the 2015 Amendment, the interest rate on the Loan was increased and, as of April 1, 2015, interest will accrue at a rate per annum that is the greater of (i) LIBOR plus 3.5% or (ii) 6.75%. Koidu also agreed to pay, and subsequently paid, an additional 2% per annum of interest on all deferred principal repayments. Koidu has noted that it may request a further revised repayment schedule following the completion of the previously mentioned technical studies. Based on management’s review, it has been determined that the full amount outstanding under the loan, including accrued interest, continues to be collectible.

Arbitration Award. On December 21, 2013, an award was issued (the "Arbitration Award") in favor of The Swatch Group Ltd. ("Swatch") and its wholly-owned subsidiary Tiffany Watch Co. ("Watch Company"; Swatch and Watch Company, together, the "Swatch Parties") in an arbitration proceeding (the "Arbitration") between the Registrant and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Tiffany and Company and Tiffany (NJ) Inc. (the Registrant and such subsidiaries, together, the "Tiffany Parties") and the Swatch Parties.

The Arbitration was initiated in June 2011 by the Swatch Parties, who sought damages for alleged breach of agreements entered into by and among the Swatch Parties and the Tiffany Parties in December 2007 (the "Agreements"). The Agreements pertained to the development and commercialization of a watch business and, among other things, contained various licensing and governance provisions and approval requirements relating to business, marketing and branding plans and provisions allocating profits relating to sales of the watch business between the Swatch Parties and the Tiffany Parties.

In general terms, the Swatch Parties alleged that the Tiffany Parties breached the Agreements by obstructing and delaying development of Watch Company’s business and otherwise failing to proceed in good faith. The Swatch Parties sought damages based on alternate theories ranging from CHF 73.0 million (or approximately $78.0 million at April 30, 2015) (based on its alleged wasted investment) to CHF 3.8 billion (or approximately $4.0 billion at April 30, 2015) (calculated based on alleged future lost profits of the Swatch Parties and their affiliates over the entire term of the Agreements).

The Registrant believes that the claims of the Swatch Parties are without merit. In the Arbitration, the Tiffany Parties defended against the Swatch Parties’ claims vigorously, disputing both the merits of the claims and the calculation of the alleged damages. The Tiffany Parties also asserted counterclaims for damages attributable to breach by the Swatch Parties, stemming from the Swatch Parties’ September 12, 2011 public issuance of a Notice of Termination purporting to terminate the Agreements due to alleged material breach by the Tiffany Parties, and for termination due to such breach. In general terms, the Tiffany Parties alleged that the Swatch Parties did not have grounds for termination, failed to meet the high standard for proving material breach set forth in the Agreements and failed to provide appropriate management, distribution, marketing and other resources for TIFFANY & CO. brand watches and to honor their contractual obligations to the Tiffany Parties regarding brand management. The Tiffany Parties’ counterclaims sought damages based on alternate theories ranging from CHF 120.0 million (or approximately $128.0 million at April 30, 2015) (based on its wasted investment) to approximately CHF 540.0 million (or approximately $575.0 million at April 30, 2015) (calculated based on alleged future lost profits of the Tiffany Parties).

The Arbitration hearing was held in October 2012 before a three-member arbitral panel convened in the Netherlands pursuant to the Arbitration Rules of the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (the "Rules"), and the Arbitration record was completed in February 2013.

Under the terms of the Arbitration Award, and at the request of the Swatch Parties and the Tiffany Parties, the Agreements were deemed terminated. The Arbitration Award stated that the effective date of termination was March 1, 2013. Pursuant to the Arbitration Award, the Tiffany Parties were ordered to pay the Swatch Parties damages of CHF 402.7 million (the "Arbitration Damages"), as well as interest from June 30, 2012 to the date of payment, two-thirds of the cost of the Arbitration and two-thirds of the Swatch Parties' legal fees, expenses and costs. These amounts were paid in full in January 2014.

Prior to the ruling of the arbitral panel, no accrual was established in the Company's consolidated financial statements because management did not believe the likelihood of an award of damages to the Swatch Parties was probable. As a result of the ruling, in the fourth quarter of 2013, the Company recorded a charge of $480.2 million, which included the damages, interest, and other costs associated with the ruling and which was classified as Arbitration award expense in the consolidated statement of earnings.

On March 31, 2014, the Tiffany Parties took action in the District Court of Amsterdam to annul the Arbitration Award. Generally, arbitration awards are final; however, Dutch law does provide for limited grounds on which arbitral awards may be set aside. The Tiffany Parties petitioned to annul the Arbitration Award on these statutory grounds. These grounds include, for example, that the arbitral tribunal violated its mandate by changing the express terms of the Agreements.
A three-judge panel presided over the annulment hearing on January 19, 2015, and, on March 4, 2015, issued a decision in favor of the Tiffany Parties. Under this decision, the Arbitration Award is set aside. However, the Swatch Parties have taken action in the Dutch courts to appeal the District Court’s decision, and the Arbitration Award may ultimately be upheld by the courts of the Netherlands. Registrant’s management expects that the annulment action will not be ultimately resolved until, at the earliest, Registrant's fiscal year ending January 31, 2017.

If the Arbitration Award is finally annulled, management anticipates that the claims and counterclaims that formed the basis of the Arbitration, and potentially additional claims and counterclaims, will be litigated in court proceedings between and among the Swatch Parties and the Tiffany Parties. The identity and location of the courts that would hear such actions have not been determined at this time. Management also anticipates that the Tiffany Parties would seek the return of the amounts paid by them under the Arbitration Award in court proceedings.

In any litigation regarding the claims and counterclaims that formed the basis of the arbitration, issues of liability and damages will be pled and determined without regard to the findings of the arbitral panel. As such, it is possible that the court could find that the Swatch Parties were in material breach of their obligations under the Agreements, that the Tiffany Parties were in material breach of their obligations under the Agreements or that neither the Swatch Parties nor the Tiffany Parties were in material breach. If the Swatch Parties’ claims of liability were accepted by the court, the damages award cannot be reasonably estimated at this time, but could exceed the Arbitration Damages and could have a material adverse effect on the Registrant’s consolidated financial statements or liquidity.

Although the District Court has issued a decision in favor of the Tiffany Parties, an amount will only be recorded for any return of amounts paid under the Arbitration Award when the District’s Court decision is final (i.e., after any right of appeal has been exhausted) and return of these amounts is deemed probable and collection is reasonably assured. As such, the Company has not recorded any amounts in its consolidated financial statements related to the District Court’s decision.

Additionally, management has not established any accrual in the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended April 30, 2015 related to the annulment process or any potential subsequent litigation because it does not believe that the final annulment of the Arbitration Award and a subsequent award of damages exceeding the Arbitration Damages is probable.

Royalties payable to the Tiffany Parties by Watch Company under the Agreements were not significant in any year and watches manufactured by Watch Company and sold in TIFFANY & CO. stores constituted 1% of worldwide net sales in 2013 and 2012. The Company is proceeding with the design, production, marketing and distribution of TIFFANY & CO. brand watches through certain of its Swiss subsidiaries. Management introduced new TIFFANY & CO. brand watches in April 2015.

Other Litigation Matters. The Company is from time to time involved in routine litigation incidental to the conduct of its business, including proceedings to protect its trademark rights, litigation with parties claiming infringement of patents and other intellectual property rights by the Company, litigation instituted by persons alleged to have been injured upon premises under the Company's control and litigation with present and former employees and customers. Although litigation with present and former employees is routine and incidental to the conduct of the Company's business, as well as for any business employing significant numbers of employees, such litigation can result in large monetary awards when a civil jury is allowed to determine compensatory and/or punitive damages for actions claiming discrimination on the basis of age, gender, race, religion, disability or other legally-protected characteristic or for termination of employment that is wrongful or in violation of implied contracts. However, the Company believes that all such litigation currently pending to which it is a party or to which its properties are subject will be resolved without any material adverse effect on the Company's financial position, earnings or cash flows.

Environmental Matter. In 2005, the US Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) designated a 17-mile stretch of the Passaic River (the “River”) part of the Diamond Alkali “Superfund” site. This designation resulted from the detection of hazardous substances at the site, which was previously home to the Diamond Shamrock Corporation, a manufacturer of pesticides and herbicides. Under the Superfund law, the EPA will negotiate with potentially responsible parties to agree on remediation approaches.

The Company, which operated a silverware manufacturing facility on a tributary of the River from approximately 1897 to 1985, is one of more than 300 parties (the "Potentially Responsible Parties") designated by the EPA as potentially responsible parties with respect to the River. Of these parties, the Company, along with approximately 70 other Potentially Responsible Parties (collectively, the “Cooperating Parties Group” or “CPG”) voluntarily entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent (“AOC”) with the EPA in May 2007 to perform a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (the “RI/FS”) of the lower 17 miles of the River. In June 2012, the CPG voluntarily entered into a second AOC related to focused remediation actions at Mile 10.9 of the River. The actions under the Mile 10.9 AOC are substantially complete, and the RI/FS submission under the 2007 AOC was completed on April 30, 2015. The Company has accrued for its financial obligations under both AOCs, which have not been material to its financial position or results of operations in previous financial periods or on a cumulative basis.

Separately, the EPA has issued and is reviewing comments on its proposed plan for remediating the lower eight miles of the River, which is supported by a Focused Feasibility Study (the “FFS”). The FFS provides multiple approaches to remediation, which range in cost from $360.0 million to $3.25 billion, with the cost of the EPA-recommended approach ranging from $950.0 million to $1.73 billion. It cannot be determined how any costs of remediation identified as a result of the FFS would be allocated among any of the potentially responsible parties.

The Remedial Investigation ("RI") portion of the RI/FS was submitted to the EPA on February 19, 2015. On April 30, 2015, the CPG submitted the Feasibility Study (the "FS") portion of the RI/FS to the EPA. The FS presented and evaluated four remedial alternatives, including the approach recommended by the EPA in the FFS, and recommended an alternative approach for a targeted remediation of the entire 17-mile stretch of the River. The estimated cost of the approach recommended by the CPG in the FS is approximately $483.0 million. The Company expects that the RI and FS will be reviewed and subject to comment by the EPA and other governmental agencies and stakeholders. Ultimately, the Company expects that the EPA will, after this review and review of the comments received on the FFS, identify and negotiate with any or all of the potentially responsible parties regarding any remediation action that may be necessary, and issue a Record of Decision with a proposed remediation approach.

Until one or more Records of Decision are issued, neither the ultimate remedial approaches and their costs, nor the Company’s participation, if any, relative to the other potentially responsible parties in these approaches and costs, can be determined. As such, the Company’s obligations, if any, beyond those already recorded for the 2007 AOC and the Mile 10.9 AOC cannot be determined at this time, and the Company has therefore not recorded any additional liability related to this matter. In light of the number of companies in the CPG participating in the 2007 AOC and the Mile 10.9 AOC and the Company’s relative participation in the costs related thereto, the Company does not expect that its ultimate liability, if any, related to these matters will be material to its financial position. However, it is possible that, when the uncertainties discussed above are resolved, such liability could be material to its results of operations or cash flows in the period in which such uncertainties are resolved.