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Commitments and Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Guarantees and Letters of Credit
The Company has various bank guarantees, letters of credit and surety bonds which are used to support its ongoing business operations, satisfy governmental requirements associated with pending litigation in various jurisdictions and the payment of customs duties.
As of March 31, 2024, the Company had a total of approximately $226 million of bank guarantees, commercial guarantees, standby letters of credit and surety bonds with various financial institutions. Included in the above aggregate amount was a total of approximately $10 million for other assessments in Brazil for various income tax and indirect tax disputes related to fiscal years 1998-2011. There was a total of approximately $60 million outstanding under the bank guarantees, standby letters of credit and commercial guarantees as of March 31, 2024.
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 $8 million as of March 31, 2024.
Lines of Credit
The Company has various lines of credit which are available to support its ongoing business operations. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had a total capacity of approximately $1.860 billion of lines of credit with various financial institutions, in addition to the $1.791 billion of capacity under the Revolving Credit Facility. Pursuant to these lines of credit as of March 31, 2024, there were total drawdowns of approximately $1.089 billion primarily related to the issuances of commercial paper and borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility for approximately $836 million and $250 million, respectively. See Note 13 for additional information.
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, the Company assesses its 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 its 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. The Company records the expected liability with respect to claims in Other liabilities and expected recoveries from its insurance carriers in Other assets. The Company recognizes a receivable when it believes that realization of the insurance receivable is probable under the terms of the insurance policies and its payment experience to date.
Litigation Matters
Two motions to approve securities class actions were filed in the Tel Aviv District Court, Israel, in August 2019, alleging, among other things, false and misleading statements largely in connection with IFF’s acquisition of Frutarom and improper payments made by Frutarom businesses operating principally in Russia and Ukraine to representatives of customers. One motion (“Borg”) asserted claims under the U.S. federal securities laws against IFF, its former Chairman and CEO, and its former CFO. The Borg case is now dismissed. The other motion (“Oman”) (following an initial amendment) asserted claims under the Israeli Securities Act-1968 against IFF, its former Chairman and CEO, and its former CFO, and against Frutarom and certain former Frutarom officers and directors, as well as claims under the Israeli Companies Act-1999 against certain former Frutarom officers and directors. On July 14, 2022, the court approved the parties’ motion to mediate the dispute, which postpones all case deadlines until after the mediation. The parties held mediation meetings on September 13, 2022, November 22, 2022, March 1, 2023, November 2023, March 3, 2024 and April 1, 2024.
On October 29, 2019, IFF and Frutarom filed a claim in the Tel Aviv District Court, Israel, against Ori Yehudai, the former President and CEO of Frutarom, and against certain former directors of Frutarom, challenging the bonus of US $20 million granted to Yehudai in 2018. IFF and Frutarom allege, among other things, that Yehudai was not entitled to receive the bonus because he breached his fiduciary duty by, among other things, knowing of the above-mentioned improper payments and failing to prevent them from being made. The parties agreed, pursuant to the court’s recommendation, to attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation, and a court decision is pending with regard to the order in which this claim and the class action described below will be heard.
On March 11, 2020, an IFF shareholder filed a motion to approve a class action in Israel against, among others, Frutarom, Yehudai, and Frutarom’s former board of directors, alleging that former minority shareholders of Frutarom were harmed as a result of the US $20 million bonus paid to Yehudai. The court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion to approve a class action in March 2024.
Since March 2023, various putative class action lawsuits have been filed against IFF, Firmenich International SA, Givaudan SA, and Symrise AG and/or certain affiliates thereof in the Quebec Superior Court, the Federal Court of Canada, Ontario Superior Court, the Supreme Court of British Columbia and, in several cases, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. These actions allege violations of the Canadian Competition Act and the Sherman Act, as applicable, and other related claims, and seek damages and other relief. In December 2023, the Federal Court of Canada proceeding was discontinued in its entirety. IFF may face additional civil suits, in the United States or elsewhere, relating to such alleged conduct. At this time, IFF is unable to predict the potential outcome of these lawsuits or any potential effect they may have on the Company’s results of operations, liquidity or financial condition.
Investigations
On June 3, 2020, the Israel Police’s National Fraud Investigation Unit and the Israeli Securities Authority commenced an investigation into Frutarom and certain of its former executives, based on suspected bribery of foreign officials, money laundering, and violations of the Israeli Securities Act-1968. On February 26, 2024, the Israeli authorities informed Frutarom that the authorities decided to close the criminal investigation.
On March 7, 2023, the European Commission (“EC”) and the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) carried out unannounced inspections of certain of IFF’s facilities. On the same day, IFF was served with a grand jury subpoena by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). IFF understands the EC, CMA, DOJ and the Swiss Competition Commission are investigating potential anticompetitive conduct as it relates to IFF’s fragrance businesses. IFF has been and intends to continue cooperating with these investigations. During the first quarter of 2024, IFF has recognized a provision related to a procedural aspect of the investigation, which was not material to the financial statements. IFF is currently unable, however, to predict or determine the duration or outcome of the investigations, or whether the outcome of the investigations will materially impact the Company’s results of operations, liquidity or financial condition. Additionally, the Company from time to time does receive complaints from customers regarding product quality, performance or other aspects of its ongoing relationships. The Company is unable to determine whether the potential settlement of customer claims, if any, will materially impact the Company’s results of operations, liquidity or financial condition.
Environmental Proceedings
The Company is reporting the following environmental matter in compliance with SEC requirements to disclose environmental proceedings where a governmental authority is a party and that involve potential monetary sanctions of $300,000 or greater. Effective March 22, 2024, the Solae, LLC Memphis site (“Solae”) signed an Administrative Order on Consent (the “Consent Order”) resolving violations and penalties pertaining to the Administrative Order and Assessment received from the City of Memphis on May 27, 2022 related to alleged wastewater discharge violations. In view of the Consent Order, Solae withdrew its previously filed appeal. Pursuant to the Consent Order, Solae is completing its capital project efforts in accordance with the agreed schedule for attaining compliance with current wastewater permit requirements. This matter is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, cash flows or results of operations.
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 it operates 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, the Company believes it has valid defenses for the underlying positions under dispute; however, in order to pursue these defenses, the Company is required to, and has provided, bank guarantees and pledged assets in the aggregate amount of approximately $18 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.
Other
The Company is subject to various legal proceedings and claims that have arisen in the ordinary course of business and have not been fully resolved. Due to the inherent subjectivity and unpredictability of outcomes of legal proceedings, the Company is unable to determine, with certainty, the probability of the outcome of these matters or the range of reasonably possible losses, if any.