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Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Nov. 30, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | 16. Commitments and Contingencies Legal The Company and its subsidiaries are named defendants and plaintiffs in various routine lawsuits incidental to our business. These proceedings include labor and employment claims, various commercial disputes, worker’s compensation and environmental matters, all arising in the normal course of business. As discovery progresses on all outstanding legal matters, the Company continuously evaluates opportunities to either mediate the cases or settle the disputes for nuisance value or the cost of litigation as a way to resolve the disputes prior to trial. As the pending cases progress through additional discovery and potential mediation, our assessment of the likelihood of a favorable or an unfavorable outcome on the pending lawsuits may change. Although the actual outcome of these lawsuits or other proceedings cannot be predicted with any certainty, and the amount of any potential liability that could arise with respect to such lawsuits or other matters cannot be predicted at this time, management, after consultation with legal counsel believes it has strong claims or defenses to all of its legal matters and does not expect liabilities, if any, from these claims or proceedings, either individually or in the aggregate, to have a material effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In 2017, Southeast Texas Industries, Inc. ("STI") filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the Company in the 1st District Court of Jasper County, Texas (the "Court"). In 2020, we filed a counter suit against STI for amounts due to AZZ for work performed. On October 16, 2023, the case went to trial, and on October 27, 2023, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of STI and against AZZ Beaumont in the amount of $5.5 million in damages for breach of contract and breach of express warranty. A final judgment amount was entered by the Court on February 14, 2024. We filed our Notice of Appeal on May 14, 2024, and purchased our supersedeas bond on May 23, 2024. We are still waiting on the trial transcript from the court reporter and the appellate process is tolled until the transcript is delivered to the parties. We believe we have strong grounds for an appeal, and will pursue all available appellate options. The appeal process is expected to take two years. As of November 30, 2024, we have recorded a legal accrual of $5.5 million, which is included in "Other accrued liabilities" on our consolidated balance sheets, reflecting our best estimate of the probable loss. Our estimate of the probable loss may change throughout the appellate process. Our supersedeas bond was purchased to cover the final judgment amount throughout the duration of the appellate process. A litigation matter between AZZ, as Plaintiff, and a previous customer of an affiliate of the AIS business, which was retained following the disposition of the AIS business, is scheduled to go to trial in January 2025. As of November 30, 2024, we have a receivable due from the Defendant, net of allowance, of $5.2 million, which is included in "Trade accounts receivable, net of allowance for credit losses" in the consolidated balance sheets. This receivable balance represents our best estimate of the amount we expect to collect, which may change depending upon the outcome of the trial. Prior to AZZ's acquisition of Precoat Metals on May 13, 2022, Precoat Metals sold its Armorel Arkansas facility to Nucor Coatings Corporation ("Nucor") via a purchase agreement dated October 27, 2020 ("2020 Agreement"). On December 14, 2022, Nucor subsequently filed a lawsuit against Precoat Metals for indemnification for breach of environmental representations and warranties made in the 2020 Agreement. In the lawsuit, Nucor asserted that it has sustained certain damages resulting from Precoat Metal’s breach of its indemnification obligations that were set forth in the 2020 Agreement. The parties attended a mediation on March 18, 2024, and although the Company believed Nucor’s case was deficient and it had very strong defenses to the allegations asserted by Nucor, management determined that it was still in the best interest of the Company to settle all matters for the estimated cost of defense in an effort to retain and fortify its current commercial relationships with Nucor, who is both a customer and supplier to the Company. The parties mutually agreed to resolve all disputed matters for $5.25 million. The $5.25 million settlement amount was included in "Other accrued liabilities" in the consolidated balance sheet as of February 29, 2024. The settlement amount was paid by the Company to Nucor on September 9, 2024. On July 29, 2024, Gainesville Associates, LLC ("Gainesville Associates") filed a complaint (the "Complaint") in the Circuit Court of Prince William County, Virginia against AZZ, Atlantic Research, LLC ("ARC"), Precoat Metals Corporation, and Chromalloy Corporation (collectively "Defendants"), asserting claims for breach of contract against ARC and unjust enrichment against all Defendants. The Complaint arose out of a lease, dated January 1, 1976, between Gainesville Associates as landlord and ARC as tenant (as subsequently amended in 1982, 2012, 2013 and 2017, the "Lease") for property in Gainesville, Virginia (the "Property"). ARC ceased using the property in 2005 after which point ARC remained in the Lease to complete its obligations on the property pursuant to a consent decree entered into between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and ARC in 1992. ARC satisfied its obligations under the consent decree in 2018 (other than ongoing well water monitoring and testing) and terminated the Lease in 2019. In its Complaint, Gainesville Associates alleged that ARC breached certain provisions of the Lease. On September 3, 2024, Defendants removed the action to the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia. On September 24, 2024, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the Complaint. On October 30, 2024, the claim was denied and the court ordered the parties to mediate. The parties attended the court ordered mediation on December 3, 2024, and although the Company believed the Gainesville Associates' case was deficient and it had very strong defenses to the allegations asserted by Gainesville Associates, management determined that it was still in the best financial interest of the Company to settle all matters for the estimated cost of defense. The parties mutually agreed to resolve all disputed matters for $6.0 million, of which our portion was $1.9 million. We have recognized $0.5 million of legal expenses and have accrued an additional $3.0 million related to this matter. The accrual consists of estimated legal expenses of $1.1 million, as well as the settlement amount of $1.9 million, and is included in "Other accrued liabilities" in the consolidated balance sheet as of November 30, 2024. The settlement payment is expected to be made during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025. Environmental As of November 30, 2024, t he reserve balance for our environmental liabilities was $19.6 million, of which $2.2 million is classified as current. Environmental remediation liabilities include costs directly associated with site investigation and site remediation, such as materials, external contractor costs, legal and consulting expenses and incremental internal costs directly related to ongoing remediation plans. Estimates used to record environmental remediation liabilities are based on the Company's best estimate of probable future costs based on site-specific facts and circumstances known at the time of these estimates and they are updated on a quarterly basis. Estimates of the cost for the potential or ongoing remediation plans are developed using internal resources and third-party environmental engineers and consultants. The Company accrues the anticipated cost of environmental remediation when the obligation is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. If a range of amounts can be reasonably estimated and no amount within the range is a better estimate than any other amount, then the minimum of the range is accrued. While any revisions to the Company's environmental remediation liabilities could potentially be material to the operating results of any fiscal quarter or fiscal year, the Company does not expect such additional remediation expenses to have an adverse material effect on its financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Capital Commitments—Greenfield Aluminum Coil Coating Facility We are expanding our coatings capabilities by constructing a new 25-acre aluminum coil coating facility in Washington, Missouri that is expected to be operational in calendar year 2025 (the Company's fiscal year 2026). The new greenfield facility will be included in the AZZ Precoat Metals segment and is supported by a take-or-pay contract for approximately 75% of the output from the new plant. We expect to spend approximately $124.0 million in capital payments over the life of the project, of which $60.8 million was paid prior to fiscal 2025 and $46.8 million was paid during the nine months ended November 30, 2024. The remaining balance of $16.4 million is on schedule to occur by the first quarter of fiscal 2026, of which we have capital commitments of $9.7 million. Commodity pricing As of November 30, 2024, we had non-cancelable forward contracts to purchase approximately $4.7 million of zinc at various volumes and delivery prices for December 2024. We also had non-cancelable forward contracts to purchase approximately $8.6 million of natural gas at various volumes and commodity plus delivery prices between December 2024 and November 2025. All such contracts expire by the third quarter of fiscal 2026. We had no other contracted commitments for any other commodities including steel, aluminum, copper, zinc, nickel-based alloys, natural gas, except for those entered into under the normal course of business.

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