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Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Nov. 02, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Investment Commitments As of November 2, 2024, the Company had an unfunded commitment to invest €3.7 million ($4.0 million) in certain private equity funds. Refer to Note 16 for further information. Legal and Other Proceedings The Company is involved in legal proceedings, arising both in the ordinary course of business and otherwise, including the proceedings described below as well as various other claims and other matters incidental to the Company’s business. Unless otherwise stated, the resolution of any particular proceeding is not currently expected to have a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Even if such an impact could be material, the Company may not be able to estimate the reasonably possible loss or range of loss until developments in the proceedings have provided sufficient information to support an assessment. The Company has received customs tax assessment notices from the Italian Customs Agency (“ICA”) regarding its customs tax audit of one of the Company’s European subsidiaries for the period from July 2010 through December 2012. Such assessments totaled €9.8 million ($10.6 million), including potential penalties and interest through such assessment dates. The Company strongly disagreed with the ICA’s positions and therefore filed appeals with the Milan First Degree Tax Court (“MFDTC”). Those appeals were split into a number of different cases that were then heard by different sections of the MFDTC. The MFDTC ruled in favor of the Company on all of these appeals. The ICA subsequently appealed €9.7 million ($10.5 million) of these favorable MFDTC judgments with the Appeals Court. As of November 2, 2024, €8.5 million ($9.2 million) have been decided in favor of the Company and €1.2 million ($1.3 million) have been decided in favor of the ICA. The Company believes that the unfavorable Appeals Court ruling is incorrect and inconsistent with the prior rulings on similar matters by both the MFDTC and other judges within the Appeals Court, and has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The ICA has appealed most of the favorable Appeals Court rulings to the Supreme Court. As of November 2, 2024, of the cases that have been appealed to the Supreme Court, €1.5 million ($1.6 million) have been decided in favor of the Company based on the merits of the case and €0.2 million ($0.2 million) have been remanded back to the lower court for further consideration. There can be no assurances the Company will be successful in the remaining appeals. It also continues to be possible that the Company will receive similar or even larger assessments for periods subsequent to December 2012 or other claims or charges (including additional interest amounts) related to the matter in the future. Although the Company believes that it has a strong position and will continue to vigorously defend this matter, it is unable to predict with certainty whether or not these efforts will ultimately be successful or whether the outcome will have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. On January 11, 2022, Legion Partners Holdings, LLC (“Legion”), a stockholder of Guess common stock, sent two letters to the Board of Directors of Guess (the “Board”). One letter sought books and records pursuant to Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “220 Demand”) to purportedly investigate potential breaches of fiduciary duties by the Board in connection with the Board’s renomination of Mr. Maurice Marciano to the Board and certain related party transactions. The second letter demanded that the Board take action to cause the Company to investigate and commence legal proceedings for breach of fiduciary duty claims the Company may have in connection with alleged misconduct of Mr. Paul Marciano, the Board’s oversight of and response to such alleged misconduct, and the Board’s review and approval of certain related-party transactions (the “Litigation Demand”). On January 31, 2022, the Company responded to both letters informing Legion that the Company was reviewing the formation of a committee in response to the Litigation Demand and detailing the deficiencies with the 220 Demand under Delaware law, including that Legion failed to state a proper purpose and that the scope of Legion’s requested books and records was overbroad. The Company subsequently formed a Demand Review Committee, which engaged in a review of the matters detailed in the Litigation Demand. On April 14, 2022, the Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island (“ERSRI”), a stockholder of Guess common stock, sent a letter to the Company seeking books and records pursuant to Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law to purportedly investigate potential breaches of fiduciary duties by the Board in connection with alleged misconduct of Mr. Paul Marciano, the Board’s oversight of and response to such alleged misconduct, and the Board’s review and approval of certain related-party transactions. The Company responded to the letter on April 19, 2022, negotiated a Confidentiality Agreement, and completed its production of books and records to ERSRI. On September 19, 2022, ERSRI filed a stockholder derivative lawsuit styled Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island, derivatively on behalf of Guess?, Inc. v. Paul Marciano, et al., in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware against the Company, as the nominal defendant, Mr. Paul Marciano and other members of the Board, alleging breach of fiduciary duties relating to the continued service of Mr. Paul Marciano as a director of the Board and as the Company’s Chief Creative Officer following prior allegations of improper conduct by him relating to the treatment of models and other women. ERSRI did not make a demand on the Board before instituting the lawsuit and alleged such demand would have been futile. On October 28, 2022, ERSRI amended the complaint to include an additional basis for alleging demand futility. ERSRI sought monetary damages and possible injunctive relief. On September 29, 2023, the Company and all defendants in the ERSRI action entered into a Stipulation and Agreement of Compromise, Settlement, and Release (the “Stipulation”), which was approved by the Court on January 4, 2024 and resolved all claims asserted against all defendants in the ERSRI action without any admission or finding of wrongdoing attributed to them personally or to the Company. Under the terms of the Stipulation, the Company will implement certain governance and compliance enhancements. These enhancements include an agreement by the Company to appoint two new independent directors to the Board, including one to be selected by ERSRI and mutually agreed to by the Company, by no later than the Company’s 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The governance enhancements also include the establishment of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council (the “DEI Council”), which will be comprised of the aforementioned new independent director to be selected by ERSRI and two consultants, including one consultant to be selected by ERSRI. Once formed, the DEI Council will report directly to the Board and be responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the Company’s policies and procedures related to harassment, discrimination and retaliation, including, in certain circumstances, having the authority to conduct investigations and to recommend disciplinary action, up to and including termination, of senior executives or Board members found to have engaged in misconduct. The DEI Council will also be responsible for overseeing a commitment to be added to the Company’s Governance Guidelines regarding the Company’s measures to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and discrimination. The Stipulation also includes certain agreements by Mr. Paul Marciano relating to meetings or activities with current or prospective Company models. In addition to the governance enhancements, pursuant to the Stipulation, (a) the defendants in the ERSRI action caused the Company to receive (i) a payment of $22 million upon Court approval of the settlement pursuant to the terms of the Stipulation, and (ii) the right to receive an additional payment of $8 million contingent on the recovery from the insurers currently being sought by the Company and the insureds in pending litigation against the insurers, and (b) the Company was responsible to pay an attorney’s fee award to ERSRI’s counsel. The $22 million received by the Company and the related attorney’s fee award under the terms of the Stipulation was accounted for by the Company when approved by the Court. On February 16, 2023, Legion filed a stockholder derivative lawsuit styled Legion Partners Holdings, LLC, derivatively on behalf of Guess?, Inc. v. Paul Marciano, et al. in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware against the Company, as the nominal defendant, Mr. Paul Marciano and other members of the Board, alleging breach of fiduciary duties relating to the continued service of Mr. Paul Marciano to the Company following the prior allegations described in the ERSRI stockholder derivative lawsuit. Legion sought monetary damages and possible injunctive relief. On March 15, 2023, the Company moved for a more definite statement and moved to dismiss or stay the action. On May 9, 2023, Legion voluntarily dismissed the claims against Mr. Paul Marciano without prejudice. On April 3, 2024, based on the settlement of the derivative suit with ERSRI, as described above, the Court dismissed the Legion action with prejudice. On June 3, 2023, the Company received a letter from an individual seeking to settle certain claims against Mr. Paul Marciano and the Company relating to allegations of improper treatment of the individual by Mr. Paul Marciano in 2016. The letter did not make an assertion of damages. The individual was initially represented by the same attorney who represented plaintiffs in similar actions in 2021 and 2022, which were settled out of court in 2022 to avoid the cost of litigation and without admitting liability or fault. The individual subsequently retained a different attorney. No complaint has been filed with respect to the allegations in the June 2023 letter, and Mr. Paul Marciano and the Company dispute the allegations and intend to vigorously defend themselves with regard to this matter. On July 30, 2024, the Company received a letter from an individual seeking to settle certain claims against Mr. Paul Marciano, Mr. Maurice Marciano, certain current and former members of the Board, the Company’s former Chief Executive Officer and the Company. The letter provided notice of several potential claims based on allegations that the individual was treated improperly by Mr. Paul Marciano while discussing a prospective modeling opportunity between 2015 and 2016. No complaint has been filed with respect to the allegations in the July 2024 letter. The Company and Mr. Paul Marciano dispute the allegations and intend to vigorously defend this matter. Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests The Company is party to a put arrangement with respect to the common securities that represent the remaining noncontrolling interest for its majority-owned subsidiary, Guess Brasil Comércio e Distribuição S.A. (“Guess Brazil”). The put arrangement for Guess Brazil, representing 40% of the total outstanding equity interest of that subsidiary, may be exercised at the discretion of the noncontrolling interest holder by providing written notice to the Company every third anniversary beginning in March 2019, subject to certain time restrictions. The redemption value of the Guess Brazil put arrangement is based on a multiple of Guess Brazil’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization subject to certain adjustments and is classified as a redeemable noncontrolling interest outside of permanent equity in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet. As of November 2, 2024 and February 3, 2024, the carrying value of the redeemable noncontrolling interest related to Guess Brazil was $0.4 million and $0.5 million, respectively. The Company (through a wholly-owned European subsidiary) was previously party to a put arrangement with respect to the securities that represented the remaining noncontrolling interest for its majority-owned Russian subsidiary, Guess? CIS, LLC (“Guess CIS”), which was established through a majority-owned joint venture during fiscal 2016. The put arrangement for Guess CIS (the “Put Option”), representing 30% of the total outstanding equity interest of that subsidiary, was exercisable at the sole discretion of the noncontrolling interest holder (the “Minority Holder”) by providing written notice to the Company through December 31, 2025. The redemption value of the Put Option was based on a multiple of Guess CIS’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization subject to certain adjustments and was classified as a redeemable noncontrolling interest outside of permanent equity in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet. The carrying value of the redeemable noncontrolling interest related to Guess CIS was €8.0 million as of January 28, 2023. In November 2022, the Minority Holder exercised the Put Option, triggering a contractual obligation for the Company to purchase the Minority Holder’s 30% interest in Guess CIS. Following a comprehensive review of the various economic sanctions imposed by the United States and European governments with respect to Russia, and obtaining guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Company determined that its acquisition of the Minority Holder’s 30% interest in Guess CIS pursuant to the Company’s pre-sanctions contractual obligation to fulfill the Minority Holder’s exercise of the Put Option was not prohibited by current economic sanctions, including the U.S. ban on new investment in Russia. As such, following the exercise of the Put Option by the Minority Holder, the Company and the Minority Holder entered into an agreement to proceed with the Company’s acquisition of the Minority Holder’s 30% interest in Guess CIS for a purchase price of €8.0 million, subject to the formal approval of the acquisition by the relevant Russian government commission and certain other customary conditions. This formal approval was received, and the purchase was completed in May 2023. As a result of this transaction, there was no redeemable noncontrolling interest related to Guess CIS as of November 2, 2024 and February 3, 2024. A reconciliation of the total carrying amount of redeemable noncontrolling interests is (in thousands):
| Nine Months Ended
| Nov 2, 2024 |  | Oct 28, 2023
Beginning balance | $ | 522 |  |  | $ | 9,154 |
Foreign currency translation adjustment | (158) |  |  | (60) |
Purchase of redeemable noncontrolling interest | — |  |  | (8,581) |
Ending balance | $ | 364 |  |  | $ | 513 |

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