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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Contractual Obligations We have entered into non-cancelable arrangements with third-parties, primarily related to cloud computing and other information technology services. As of December 31, 2024 and through the date of this report, future payments under these contractual purchase obligations were as follows (in thousands):
2025 | $ | 10,441 |
2026 | 19,137 |
2027 | 2,620 |
2028 | — |
2029 | — |
Thereafter | — |
Total contractual purchase obligations | $ | 32,198 |
Additionally, Groupon S.r.l sought and obtained approval of installment plans whereby the provisional payments may be deposited pro rata in monthly installments. Refer to 14, Income Taxes, for additional information. Legal Matters and Other Contingencies From time to time, we are party to various legal proceedings incident to the operation of our business. For example, we currently are involved in proceedings brought by merchants, employment and related matters, intellectual property infringement suits, customer lawsuits, stockholder claims relating to U.S. securities law, consumer class actions and suits alleging, among other things, violations of state consumer protection or privacy laws. As of December 31, 2024, we had an appeal lodged in the Portuguese courts relating to a Portugal VAT assessment for the periods from 2013 to 2015 of approximately $4.0 million, inclusive of penalties and interest through December 31, 2024. After negative rulings at lower level courts in November 2023 and May 2024, we lodged a final appeal to the highest-level court. On October 31, 2024, we learned the highest-level court declined to hear our appeal and the related assessment became final and due during the fourth quarter of 2024. The related assessment is expected to be paid in 2025. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we recorded a contingent liability of $4.1 million in our Consolidated Balance Sheets and recognized expenses in our Consolidated Statements of Operations for $3.3 million of taxes and penalties within Selling, general and administrative and $0.8 million of interest expense within Other income (expense), net. We currently have a bank guarantee of $3.6 million in place relating to the assessment that is classified as restricted cash in our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2024. In 2015, we lodged an appeal in the Portuguese courts relating to a Portugal VAT assessment for the periods from 2011 to 2012 of up to $4.3 million, inclusive of penalties and interest through December 31, 2024. On October 31, 2024, we learned we received a negative ruling at the lowest level court. We lodged an appeal to the second-level court to assert factual and legal challenges to the assessment. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we recorded a contingent liability of $4.6 million in our Consolidated Balance Sheets and recognized expenses in our Consolidated Statement of Operations for $3.7 million of taxes and penalties within Selling, general and administrative and $0.9 million of interest expense within Other income (expense), net. The Company recorded this liability after concluding that an adverse outcome is now probable, in light of the developments described above. We currently have a bank guarantee of $3.9 million in place relating to the assessment that is classified as restricted cash in our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2024. A Groupon subsidiary in Italy, Groupon S.r.l., is presently litigating a tax dispute with the Italian tax authorities relating to a $122.3 million Assessment, inclusive of taxes, penalties and interest through December 31, 2024. In December 2024, we received an unfavorable ruling in the second-level appellate court in favor of the Italian tax authorities. The decision was based on legal determinations by the Court that the Company assesses can be appealed to the Italian Supreme Court including the application or misapplication of the applicable statute of limitations. Groupon S.r.l. intends to file a prompt appeal to the Italian Supreme Court. If Groupon S.r.l. loses that appeal, Groupon S.r.l. plans to further challenge the Assessment and seek relief in an international mutual agreement procedure that involves the tax authorities of Ireland and Italy. The international mutual agreement procedure would adjudicate issues that are not currently under review by the Italian courts. The Company continues to believe that the Assessment, which primarily relates to transfer pricing on transactions occurring in 2011, is without merit. The subsidiary continues to vigorously defend itself in this matter and believes it will prevail on the merits of the case. Refer to Note 14, Income Taxes for additional information. We subleased a portion of 600 West Chicago to Uptake. In the first quarter of 2023, we initiated a lawsuit against Uptake in the Circuit Court of Cook County for breach of the lease agreement. In the fourth quarter of 2023, that lawsuit was settled amicably for $4.25 million. The matter has been concluded and the full settlement was received as of December 31, 2023. The settlement was recorded within Restructuring and related charges in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. In addition, third parties have from time to time claimed, and others may claim in the future, that we have infringed their intellectual property rights. We are subject to intellectual property disputes, including patent infringement claims, and expect that we will continue to be subject to intellectual property infringement claims as our services expand in scope and complexity. In the past and/or at present, we have litigated patent infringement and other intellectual property-related claims, including pending litigation or trademark disputes relating to, for example, our Goods category, some of which involved or could have involved potentially substantial claims for damages or injunctive relief. We may also become more vulnerable to third-party claims as laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are interpreted by the courts, and we become subject to laws in jurisdictions where the underlying laws with respect to the potential liability of online intermediaries are either unclear or less favorable. We believe that additional lawsuits alleging that we have violated patent, copyright or trademark laws may be filed against us. Intellectual property claims, whether meritorious or not, are time consuming and often costly to resolve, could require expensive changes in our methods of doing business or the goods we sell, or could require us to enter into costly royalty or licensing agreements. We also are subject to consumer claims or lawsuits relating to alleged violations of consumer protection or privacy rights and statutes, some of which could involve potentially substantial claims for damages, including statutory or punitive damages. Consumer and privacy-related claims or lawsuits, whether meritorious or not, could be time consuming, result in costly litigation, damage awards, fines and penalties, injunctive relief or increased costs of doing business through adverse judgment or settlement, or require us to change our business practices, sometimes in expensive ways. We are also subject to, or in the future may become subject to, a variety of regulatory inquiries, audits, and investigations across the jurisdictions where we conduct our business, including, for example, inquiries related to consumer protection, employment matters and/or hiring practices, marketing practices, tax, unclaimed property and privacy rules and regulations. Any regulatory actions against us, whether meritorious or not, could be time consuming, result in costly litigation, damage awards, fines and penalties, injunctive relief or increased costs of doing business through adverse judgment or settlement, require us to change our business practices in expensive ways, require significant amounts of management time, result in the diversion of significant operational resources, materially damage our brand or reputation, or otherwise harm our business. We establish an accrued liability for loss contingencies related to legal and regulatory matters when the loss is both probable and reasonably estimable. Those accruals represent management's best estimate of probable losses and, in such cases, there may be an exposure to loss in excess of the amounts accrued. For certain of the matters described above, there are inherent and significant uncertainties based on, among other factors, the stage of the proceedings, developments in the applicable facts of law, or the lack of a specific damage claim. However, we believe that the amount of reasonably possible losses in excess of the amounts accrued for those matters would not have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Our accrued liabilities for loss contingencies related to legal and regulatory matters may change in the future as a result of new developments, including, but not limited to, the occurrence of new legal matters, changes in the law or regulatory environment, adverse or favorable rulings, newly discovered facts relevant to the matter, or changes in the strategy for the matter. Regardless of the outcome, litigation and other regulatory matters can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors. Indemnifications In connection with the disposition of our operations in Latin America in 2017, we recorded $5.4 million in indemnification liabilities for certain tax and other matters upon the closing of the transactions as an adjustment to the net loss on the dispositions within discontinued operations at their fair value. We estimated the indemnification liabilities using a probability-weighted expected cash flow approach. Our remaining indemnification liabilities were $2.8 million as of December 31, 2024. We estimate that the total amount of obligations that are reasonably possible to arise under the indemnifications in excess of amounts accrued as of December 31, 2024 were approximately $11.7 million. In the normal course of business to facilitate transactions related to our operations, we indemnify certain parties, including employees, lessors, service providers, merchants, and counterparties to investment agreements and asset and stock purchase agreements with respect to various matters. We have agreed to hold certain parties harmless against losses arising from a breach of representations or covenants, or other claims made against those parties. These agreements may limit the time within which an indemnification claim can be made and the amount of the claim. We are also subject to increased exposure to various claims as a result of our divestitures and acquisitions. We may also become more vulnerable to claims as we expand the range and scope of our services and are subject to laws in jurisdictions where the underlying laws with respect to potential liability are either unclear or less favorable. In addition, we have entered into indemnification agreements with our officers, directors and underwriters, and our bylaws contain similar indemnification obligations that cover officers, directors, employees and other agents. Except as noted above, it is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Historically, any payments that we have made under these agreements have not had a material impact on our operating results, financial position or cash flows.

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