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Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies:
Guarantees and Letters of Credit
The Company has various bank guarantees and letters of credit which are available for use to support its ongoing business operations and to satisfy governmental requirements associated with pending litigation in various jurisdictions.
At June 30, 2017, we had total bank guarantees and standby letters of credit of approximately $37.1 million with various financial institutions. Included in the above aggregate amount is a total of $15.9 million in bank guarantees which the Company has posted for certain assessments in Brazil for other diverse income tax and indirect tax disputes related to fiscal years 1998-2011. There were no material amounts utilized under the standby letters of credit as of June 30, 2017.
In order to challenge the assessments in these cases in Brazil, the Company has been required to, and has separately pledged assets, principally property, plant and equipment, to cover assessments in the amount of approximately $15.2 million as of June 30, 2017.
Lines of Credit
The Company has various lines of credit which are available to support its ongoing business operations. At June 30, 2017, we had available lines of credit (in addition to the $921.6 million of capacity under the Credit Facility discussed in Note 9 of our 2016 Form 10-K) of approximately $75.0 million with various financial institutions. There were no significant amounts drawn down pursuant to these lines of credit as of June 30, 2017.
Litigation
The Company assesses contingencies related to litigation and/or other matters to determine the degree of probability and range of possible loss. A loss contingency is accrued in the Company’s consolidated financial statements if it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Because litigation is inherently unpredictable and unfavorable resolutions could occur, assessing contingencies is highly sensitive and requires judgments about future events. On at least a quarterly basis, the Company reviews contingencies related to litigation to determine the adequacy of accruals. The amount of ultimate loss may differ from these estimates and further events may require the Company to increase or decrease the amounts it has accrued on any matter.
Periodically, we assess our insurance coverage for all known claims, where applicable, taking into account aggregate coverage by occurrence, limits of coverage, self-insured retentions and deductibles, historical claims experience and claims experience with our insurance carriers. The liabilities are recorded at management’s best estimate of the probable outcome of the lawsuits and claims, taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the individual matters as well as past experience on similar matters. At each balance sheet date, the key issues that management assesses are whether it is probable that a loss as to asserted or unasserted claims has been incurred and if so, whether the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. We record the expected liability with respect to claims in Other liabilities and expected recoveries from our insurance carriers in Other assets. We recognize a receivable when we believe that realization of the insurance receivable is probable under the terms of the insurance policies and our payment experience to date.
Environmental
Over the past 20 years, various federal and state authorities and private parties have claimed that we are a Potentially Responsible Party (“PRP”) as a generator of waste materials for alleged pollution at a number of waste sites operated by third parties located principally in New Jersey and have sought to recover costs incurred and to be incurred to clean up the sites.
We have been identified as a PRP at eight facilities operated by third parties at which investigation and/or remediation activities may be ongoing. We analyze our potential liability on at least a quarterly basis. We accrue for environmental liabilities when they are probable and estimable. We estimate our share of the total future cost for these sites to be less than $5 million.

While joint and several liability is authorized under federal and state environmental laws, we believe the amounts we have paid and anticipate paying in the future for clean-up costs and damages at all sites are not material and will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. This assessment is based upon, among other things, the involvement of other PRPs at most of the sites, the status of the proceedings, including various settlement agreements and consent decrees, and the extended time period over which payments will likely be made. There can be no assurance, however, that future events will not require us to materially increase the amounts we anticipate paying for clean-up costs and damages at these sites, and that such increased amounts will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

China Facilities
Guangzhou Flavors plant
During 2015, the Company was notified by Chinese authorities of compliance issues pertaining to the emission of odors from several of its plants in China. As a result, the Company's Guangzhou Flavors plant in China was temporarily idled. The Company has made additional capital improvements in odor-abatement equipment at these plants to address these issues and is in the process of building a second Flavors plant in China, which is expected to begin operating in the first quarter of 2019.
During the fourth quarter of 2016, the Company was notified that certain governmental authorities have begun to evaluate a change in the zoning of the Guangzhou Flavors plant. The zoning, if changed, would prevent the Company from continuing to manufacture product at the existing plant. The ultimate outcome of any change that the governmental authorities may propose, the timing of such a change and the nature of any compensation arrangements that might be provided to the Company are uncertain.
The net book value of the existing plant was approximately $67 million as of June 30, 2017.
Zhejiang Ingredients plant
The Company has received a request from the Chinese government to relocate its Fragrance Ingredients plant in Zhejiang, China. The Company is in discussions with the government regarding the timing of the requested relocation and the amount and nature of government compensation to be provided to the Company. The Company expects to conclude discussions with the Government in 2017. The net book value of the current plant was approximately $25 million as of June 30, 2017. Depending upon the ultimate outcome of the discussions with the Chinese government, between $0-25 million of the remaining net book value may be subject to accelerated depreciation.
Total China Operations
The total carrying value of our six existing plants in China (two of which are currently under construction) was approximately $139 million as of June 30, 2017.
If the Company is required to close a plant, or operate one at significantly reduced production levels on a permanent basis, the Company may be required to record charges that could have a material impact on its consolidated financial results of operations, financial position and cash flows in future periods.
Other Contingencies
The Company has contingencies involving third parties (such as labor, contract, technology or product-related claims or litigation) as well as government-related items in various jurisdictions in which we operate pertaining to such items as value-added taxes, other indirect taxes, customs and duties and sales and use taxes. It is possible that cash flows or results of operations, in any period, could be materially affected by the unfavorable resolution of one or more of these contingencies.
The most significant government-related contingencies exist in Brazil. With regard to the Brazilian matters, we believe we have valid defenses for the underlying positions under dispute; however, in order to pursue these defenses, we are required to, and have provided, bank guarantees and pledged assets in the aggregate amount of $31.1 million. The Brazilian matters take an extended period of time to proceed through the judicial process and there are a limited number of rulings to date.
As previously disclosed, in March 2012, ZoomEssence, Inc. filed a complaint against the Company in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey alleging trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract and unjust enrichment in connection with certain spray dry technology disclosed to the Company. ZoomEssence sought an injunction and monetary damages. In November 2014, the Company filed a counterclaim against ZoomEssence alleging trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, misappropriation of confidential and proprietary information, common law unfair competition, tortious interference with contractual relations, and conversion. During the second quarter of 2017, the Company and ZoomEssence mutually agreed to settle all claims and counterclaims. The parties agreed to dismiss their claims against one another, with prejudice and without any admission of liability or wrongful conduct, to avoid any further expense and disruption from the litigation. The complaint was dismissed, with prejudice, on July 5, 2017. Under the settlement agreement, the Company made a one-time payment to ZoomEssence of $56 million during the second quarter of 2017 and the parties exchanged full mutual releases. Accordingly, the Company recorded an additional charge of $1 million during the second quarter of 2017.
The Company periodically incurs product liability claims based on product that is sold to customers that may be defective or otherwise not in accordance with the customer’s requirements. As previously disclosed, in the first quarter of 2017, the Company was made aware of a claim for product that was subject to a product recall. As of June 30, 2017, the Company had recorded a total charge of approximately $5.3 million with respect to this claim. In addition to the charge of $1.8 million recorded in the first quarter of 2017, an additional $3.5 million was recorded during the second quarter of 2017. The second quarter charge reflects additional information on specific volumes of affected products, which information became available in the second quarter of 2017. This amount principally represents an accrual for the claim based on management's best estimate of volumes of customer products subject to the recall. Additionally, appropriate reserves have been established for all remaining inventory at the Company's manufacturing site. While it is probable that the Company will incur additional losses related to this claim, the amount of the ultimate claim that will be paid is not currently estimable as the following information is not yet available: details as to the amount of product that will ultimately be returned and the customer’s direct manufacturing and other production costs; costs related to the customer’s recall efforts; costs to dispose of defective product; and other claims that the customer may make. While it is not currently possible to estimate the amount of losses, such losses when recorded will affect income from operations in future individual quarters. The Company does not believe that the ultimate settlement of the claim will have a material impact on its financial condition. Separately, the Company expects to pursue reimbursement of all or a portion of costs, once incurred, from insurance and/or the supplier; however, the nature, timing and amount of any such reimbursement cannot be determined at this time.
The Company determines estimates of reasonably possible losses or ranges of reasonably possible losses in excess of related accrued liabilities, if any, when it has determined that either a loss is reasonably possible or a loss in excess of accrued amounts is reasonably possible and the amount of losses or range of losses is determinable. For all third party contingencies (including labor, contract, technology, tax, product-related claims and business litigation), the Company currently estimates that the aggregate range of reasonably possible estimable losses in excess of any accrued liabilities is $0 to approximately $8 million. The estimates included in this amount are based on the Company’s analysis of currently available information and, as new information is obtained, these estimates may change. Due to the inherent subjectivity of the assessments and the unpredictability of outcomes of legal proceedings, any amounts accrued or included in this aggregate amount may not represent the ultimate loss to the Company from the matters in question. Thus, the Company’s exposure and ultimate losses may be higher or lower, and possibly significantly so, than the amounts accrued or the range disclosed above.
We are also a party to other litigation arising in the ordinary course of our business. We do not expect the outcome of these cases, singly or in the aggregate, to have a material effect on our consolidated financial condition.