NOTE 10 — COMMITMENTS & CONTINGENCIES

Operating Leases

The Company leases logistics centers, office facilities and certain equipment under non-cancelable operating leases. Future minimum lease payments at October 31, 2017, under all such leases, including minimum commitments under an agreement for data center services, for succeeding fiscal years and thereafter are as follows (in thousands):



Fiscal year:
2018 (remaining 3 months)	$	19,600
2019	60,500
2020	51,900
2021	46,800
2022	28,600
Thereafter	53,000
Total payments	$	260,400

Synthetic Lease Facility

On October 25, 2017, the Company terminated its synthetic lease arrangement with a group of financial institutions (the "Synthetic Lease") under which the Company leased certain logistics centers and office facilities and purchased the real property that was subject to the Synthetic Lease for $156.2 million. The properties acquired as a result of the termination of the Synthetic Lease are located in Clearwater and Miami, Florida; Fort Worth, Texas; Fontana, California; Suwanee, Georgia; Swedesboro, New Jersey; and South Bend, Indiana.

Guarantees

The Company has arrangements with certain finance companies that provide inventory financing facilities to the Company’s customers. In conjunction with certain of these arrangements, the Company would be required to purchase certain inventory in the event the inventory is repossessed from the customers by the finance companies. As the Company does not have access to information regarding the amount of inventory purchased from the Company still on hand with the customer at any point in time, the Company’s repurchase obligations relating to inventory cannot be reasonably estimated. Repurchases of inventory by the Company under these arrangements have been insignificant to date. The Company believes that, based on historical experience, the likelihood of a material loss pursuant to these inventory repurchase obligations is remote.

The Company provides additional financial guarantees to finance companies on behalf of certain customers. The majority of these guarantees are for an indefinite period of time, where the Company would be required to perform if the customer is in default with the finance company related to purchases made from the Company. The Company reviews the underlying credit for these guarantees on at least an annual basis. As of October 31, 2017 and January 31, 2017, the outstanding amount of guarantees under these arrangements totaled $4.1 million and $3.7 million, respectively. The Company believes that, based on historical experience, the likelihood of a material loss pursuant to the above guarantees is remote.

Contingencies

Prior to fiscal 2004, one of the Company’s subsidiaries, located in Spain, was audited in relation to various value added tax (“VAT”) matters. As a result of those audits, the Spanish subsidiary received notices of assessment from the Regional Inspection Unit of Spain’s taxing authority that allege the subsidiary did not properly collect and remit VAT. The Spanish subsidiary appealed these assessments to the Madrid Central Economic Administrative Courts beginning in March 2010. During the nine months ended October 31, 2017, the Spanish National Appellate Court issued an opinion upholding the assessments for fiscal years 1994 and 1995. Although the Company believes that the Spanish subsidiary's defense to the assessments has solid legal grounds and is continuing to vigorously defend its position by appealing to the Spanish Supreme Court, certain of the amounts assessed for fiscal years 1994 and 1995 are not eligible to be appealed to the Spanish Supreme Court. As a result, the Company increased its accrual for costs associated with this matter by $2.6 million during the nine months ended October 31, 2016, including $1.5 million recorded in "value added tax assessments" and $1.1 million recorded in "interest expense" in the Consolidated Statement of Income. The Company estimates the probable liability for these assessments, including various penalties and interest, was approximately $8.0 million at October 31, 2017, which is included in "accrued expenses and other liabilities" in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

In December 2010, in a non-unanimous decision, a Brazilian appellate court overturned a 2003 trial court which had previously ruled in favor of the Company’s Brazilian subsidiary related to the imposition of certain taxes on payments abroad related to the licensing of commercial software products, commonly referred to as “CIDE tax.” The Company estimates the total exposure related to the CIDE tax, including interest, was approximately $22.8 million at October 31, 2017. The Brazilian subsidiary has appealed the unfavorable ruling to the Supreme Court and Superior Court, Brazil's two highest appellate courts. Based on the legal opinion of outside counsel, the Company believes that the chances of success on appeal of this matter are favorable and the Brazilian subsidiary intends to vigorously defend its position that the CIDE tax is not due. However, due to the lack of predictability of the Brazilian court system, the Company has concluded that it is reasonably possible that the Brazilian subsidiary may incur a loss up to the total exposure described above. The Company believes the resolution of this litigation will not be material to the Company’s consolidated net assets or liquidity.

The Company is subject to various other legal proceedings and claims arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company’s management does not expect that the outcome in any of these other legal proceedings, individually or collectively, will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.