Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

The Company is not a party to any litigation other than litigation in the ordinary course of business. The Company's management and legal counsel do not expect that the ultimate outcome of any of its currently ongoing legal proceedings, individually or collectively, will have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Contingencies

The Company entered into various limited payment guaranties with regards to the Company’s VIEs in order to support their efforts to develop and own hotels that are franchised under the Company’s brands. Under these limited payment guaranties, the Company has agreed to guarantee a portion of the outstanding debt until certain conditions are met, such as (a) the loan matures, (b) certain debt covenants are achieved, (c) the maximum amount guaranteed by the Company is paid in full, or (d) the Company, through its affiliates, ceases to be a member of the VIE. As of September 30, 2023, the maximum unrecorded exposure of principal incidental to these limited payment guaranties is $4.5 million, plus unpaid expenses and accrued unpaid interest. The Company believes the likelihood of having to perform under these guaranties is remote. In the event of performance, the Company has recourse for certain of the guaranties in the form of partial guaranties from third parties.

Commitments

The Company has the following outstanding commitments as of September 30, 2023:

•The Company provides financing in the form of franchise agreement acquisition payments to franchisees for property improvements, hotel development efforts and other purposes. These payments are typically made at the commencement of construction or hotel opening, in accordance with agreed upon provisions in the individual franchise agreements. As of September 30, 2023, the Company had commitments for an additional $350.3 million in franchise agreement acquisition payments, provided the conditions for the payments are met by the franchisees.

•As part of the acquisition of Radisson Hotels Americas, the Company entered into a long-term management arrangement, with an expiration date of July 31, 2031, to manage eight hotels owned by a third-party. In conjunction with the management arrangement, the Company entered into a guarantee with the third-party to fund any shortfalls in the payment of the third-party owner’s priority that is stipulated in the management agreement. The maximum guarantee under the agreement is $22 million. The Company believes the future performance of the hotels is expected to be sufficient on both an annual basis and over the duration of the agreement. Accordingly, no liability was recognized as of September 30, 2023 in the consolidated balance sheets.

•The Company’s legacy Choice franchise agreements require the payment of franchise fees, which include marketing and reservation system fees. In accordance with the terms of our legacy Choice franchise agreements, the Company is obligated to use the marketing and reservation system revenues it collects from the current franchisees to provide marketing and reservation services that are appropriate to support the operation of the overall system. The legacy Radisson Hotels Americas franchise agreements have similar provisions regarding the marketing fees that need to be used for marketing activities. To the extent the revenues collected exceed the expenditures incurred, the Company has a commitment to the franchisee system to make expenditures in future years. Conversely, to the extent the expenditures incurred exceed the revenues collected, the Company has the contractual enforceable right to assess and collect such amounts from the franchisees.

In the ordinary course of business, the Company enters into numerous agreements that contain standard indemnities whereby the Company indemnifies another party for breaches of representations and warranties. Such indemnifications are granted under various agreements, including those governing (i) purchases or sales of assets or businesses, (ii) leases of real estate, (iii) licensing of trademarks, (iv) access to credit facilities, (v) issuances of debt or equity securities, and (vi) certain operating agreements. The indemnifications issued are for the benefit of the (i) buyers in sale agreements and sellers in purchase agreements, (ii) landlords in lease contracts, (iii) franchisees in licensing agreements, (iv) financial institutions in credit facility arrangements, (v) underwriters in debt or equity security issuances, and (vi) parties under certain operating agreements. In addition, these parties are also generally indemnified against any third-party claim resulting from the transaction that is contemplated in the underlying agreement. While some of these indemnities extend only for the duration of the underlying agreement, many survive the expiration of the term of the agreement or extend into perpetuity (unless subject to a legal statute of limitations). There are no specific limitations on the maximum potential amount of future payments that the Company could be required to make under these indemnities, nor is the Company able to develop an estimate of the maximum potential amount of the future payments that could be made under these indemnifications as the triggering events are not subject to predictability. With respect to certain of the aforementioned indemnities, such as the indemnifications of the landlords against third-party claims for the use of real estate property leased by the Company, the Company maintains insurance coverage that mitigates potential liability.