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CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER MATTERS
9 Months Ended
Sep. 27, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER MATTERS CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER MATTERS
General
Numerous claims, complaints and proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business have been asserted or are pending against us or certain of our subsidiaries (collectively, “claims”). These claims relate to litigation matters (e.g., contracts, intellectual property and competitive claims), environmental matters, product liability matters, and other risk management matters (e.g., general liability, automobile, and workers’ compensation claims). Additionally, we may become subject to other claims of which we are currently unaware, which may be significant, or the claims of which we are aware may result in our incurring significantly greater loss than we anticipate. While we (and our subsidiaries) maintain property, cargo, auto, product, general liability, environmental, and directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and have acquired rights under similar policies in connection with acquisitions that we believe cover a significant portion of these claims, this insurance may be insufficient or unavailable (e.g., in the case of insurer insolvency) to protect us against potential loss exposures. Also, while we believe we are entitled to indemnification from third parties for some of these claims, these rights may be insufficient or unavailable to protect us against potential loss exposures.
Our recorded liabilities related to these matters, primarily associated with environmental remediation matters, totaled $42.2 and $39.9 at September 27, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. Of these amounts, $34.7 and $32.0 are included in “Other long-term liabilities” within our condensed consolidated balance sheets at September 27, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively, with the remainder included in “Accrued expenses.” The liabilities we record for these matters are based on a number of assumptions, including historical claims and payment experience. While we base our assumptions on facts currently known to us, they entail inherently subjective judgments and uncertainties. As a result, our current assumptions for estimating these liabilities may not prove accurate, and we may be required to adjust these liabilities in the future, which could result in charges to earnings. These variances relative to current expectations could have a material impact on our financial position and results of operations.
Large Power Projects in South Africa
On February 5, 2021, DBT received payment of $6.7 on bonds issued in support of performance by one of DBT’s subcontractors that is currently in liquidation. The subcontractor maintains rights to seek recovery of such amount and, thus, the amount received by DBT has not been reflected in our condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Claim for Contingent Consideration Related to ULC Acquisition

In connection with our acquisition of ULC in September 2020, the seller of ULC was eligible to receive additional contingent consideration of up to $45.0 under an earn-out provision. During the third quarter of 2021, we concluded that none of the milestones for the payment of any of the contingent consideration were achieved.

On May 20, 2024, we entered into a settlement agreement with the seller of ULC to resolve a lawsuit it commenced in August 2022 seeking contingent consideration of $15.0, prejudgment interest on that amount, and attorney's fees. The settlement agreement required a payment by us to the seller of ULC of $8.4, which was paid during the second quarter of 2024,
with a corresponding charge recorded within “Other operating expense, net” within the condensed consolidated statement of operations for the nine months ended September 28, 2024. We expect this payment to be tax deductible in future periods.

Resolution of Dispute with Former Representative

On January 18, 2024, a jury ruled that one of our businesses within the Detection and Measurement reportable segment had breached its contract and implied duties of good faith and fair dealings in connection with an agreement entered into with a former representative. On January 26, 2024, we negotiated a settlement requiring a payment, paid during the first quarter of 2024, to the former representative of $9.0 to resolve all claims related to the matter.

Litigation Matters
We are subject to other legal matters that arise in the normal course of business. We believe these matters are either without merit or of a kind that should not have a material effect, individually or in the aggregate, on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows; however, we cannot give assurance that these proceedings or claims will not have a material effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Environmental Matters
Our operations and properties are subject to federal, state, local and foreign regulatory requirements relating to environmental protection. It is our policy to comply fully with all applicable requirements. As part of our effort to comply, we have a comprehensive environmental compliance program that includes environmental audits conducted by internal and external independent professionals, as well as regular communications with our operating units regarding environmental compliance requirements and anticipated regulations. Based on current information, we believe that our operations are in substantial compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations, and we are not aware of any violations that could have a material effect, individually or in the aggregate, on our business, financial condition, and results of operations or cash flows. We had liabilities for site investigation and/or remediation at 16 sites that we own or control, as of September 27, 2025 and December 31, 2024.
Our environmental accruals cover anticipated costs, including investigation, remediation, and maintenance of clean-up sites. Our estimates are based primarily on investigations and remediation plans established by independent consultants, regulatory agencies and potentially responsible third parties. Accordingly, our estimates may change based on future developments, including new or changes in existing environmental laws or policies, differences in costs required to complete anticipated actions from estimates provided, future findings of investigation or remediation actions, changes in our allocation of shared remediation costs, or alteration to the expected remediation plans. It is our policy to revise an estimate once it becomes probable and the amount of change can be reasonably estimated. We generally do not discount our environmental accruals and do not reduce them by anticipated insurance, litigation or other recoveries. We take into account third-party indemnification from financially viable parties in determining our accruals where there is no dispute regarding the right to indemnification.
In the case of contamination at offsite, third-party disposal sites, as of September 27, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we have been notified that we are potentially responsible and have received other notices of potential liability pursuant to various environmental laws at 9 sites, at which the liability has not been settled, and all of which have been active in the past few years. These laws may impose liability on certain persons that are considered jointly and severally liable for the costs of investigation and remediation of hazardous substances present at these sites, regardless of fault or legality of the original disposal. These persons include the present or former owners or operators of the site and companies that generated, disposed of or arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances at the site. We are considered a “de minimis” potentially responsible party at most of the sites, and we estimate that our aggregate liability, if any, related to these sites is not material to our condensed consolidated financial statements. We conduct extensive environmental due diligence with respect to potential acquisitions, including environmental site assessments and such further testing as we may deem warranted. If an environmental matter is identified, we estimate the cost and either establish a liability, purchase insurance or obtain an indemnity from a financially sound seller; however, in connection with our acquisitions or dispositions, we may assume or retain significant environmental liabilities, some of which we may be unaware. The potential costs related to these environmental matters and the possible impact on future operations are uncertain due in part to the complexity of government laws and regulations and their interpretations, the varying costs and effectiveness of various clean-up technologies, the uncertain level of insurance or other types of recovery, and the questionable level of our responsibility. We record a liability when it is both probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated.
In our opinion, after considering accruals established for such purposes of $29.7 and $27.4 at September 27, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively, the cost of remedial actions for compliance with the present laws and regulations governing the protection of the environment are not expected to have a material impact, individually or in the aggregate, on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. That said, we cannot provide assurance that new matters, developments, laws and
regulations, or stricter interpretations of existing laws and regulations will not materially affect our business or operations in the future.
Self-Insured Risk Management Matters
We are self-insured for certain of our workers’ compensation, automobile, product and general liability, disability and health costs, and we believe that we maintain adequate accruals to cover our retained liability. Our accruals for risk management matters are determined by us, are based on claims filed and estimates of claims incurred but not yet reported, and are not discounted. We consider a number of factors, including third-party actuarial valuations, when making these determinations. We maintain third-party stop-loss insurance policies to cover certain liability costs in excess of predetermined retained amounts, however, this insurance may be insufficient or unavailable (e.g., because of insurer insolvency) to protect us against loss exposures.