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Related party transactions | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2023
Related party transactions |
Related party transactions | Note 14 – Related party transactions: We may be deemed to be controlled by Ms. Simmons and the Family Trust. See Note 1. Corporations that may be deemed to be controlled by or affiliated with such individuals sometimes engage in (a) intercorporate transactions such as guarantees, management and expense sharing arrangements, shared fee arrangements, joint ventures, partnerships, loans, options, advances of funds on open account, and sales, leases and exchanges of assets, including securities issued by both related and unrelated parties and (b) common investment and acquisition strategies, business combinations, reorganizations, recapitalizations, securities repurchases, and purchases and sales (and other acquisitions and dispositions) of subsidiaries, divisions or other business units, which transactions have involved both related and unrelated parties and have included transactions which resulted in the acquisition by one related party of a publicly-held noncontrolling interest in another related party. While no transactions of the type described above are planned or proposed with respect to us other than as set forth in these financial statements, we continuously consider, review and evaluate, and understand that Contran and related entities consider, review and evaluate such transactions. Depending upon the business, tax and other objectives then relevant, it is possible that we might be a party to one or more such transactions in the future. Receivables from and payables to affiliates are summarized in the table below.
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
​ | ​ | December 31,
​ |  | 2022 |  | 2023
​ | ​ | (In millions)
Current receivables from affiliates: |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |
LPC | ​ | $ | - | ​ | $ | 16.9
Other | ​ |  | 2.7 | ​ |  | .4
​ | ​ | $ | 2.7 | ​ | $ | 17.3
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Current payables to affiliates: | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |
LPC | ​ | $ | 17.1 | ​ | $ | 19.9
Income taxes payable to Valhi | ​ |  | 5.8 | ​ |  | 10.8
Other | ​ | ​ | - | ​ | ​ | .6
​ | ​ | $ | 22.9 | ​ | $ | 31.3
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Noncurrent payable to affiliate - | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |
Income taxes payable to Valhi (See Note 12) | ​ | $ | 33.5 | ​ | $ | 18.6
​ Amounts payable to LPC are generally for the purchase of TiO2, while amounts receivable from LPC are generally from the sale of TiO2 feedstock. See Note 5. Purchases of TiO2 from LPC totaled $188.6 million in 2021, $225.6 million in 2022 and $231.7 million in 2023. Sales of feedstock to LPC totaled $85.4 million in 2021, $106.9 million in 2022 and $135.1 million in 2023. From time to time, we may have loans and advances outstanding between us and various related parties pursuant to term and demand notes. We generally enter into these loans and advances for cash management purposes. When we loan funds to related parties, we are generally able to earn a higher rate of return on the loan than we would earn if we invested the funds in other instruments, and when we borrow from related parties, we are generally able to pay a lower rate of interest than we would pay if we had incurred third-party indebtedness. While certain of these loans to affiliates may be of a lesser credit quality than cash equivalent instruments otherwise available to us, we believe we have considered the credit risks in the terms of the applicable loans. In this regard:
| ● | prior to 2020 we entered into an unsecured revolving demand promissory note with Valhi under which as amended, we have agreed to loan Valhi up to $25 million. Our loan to Valhi bore interest at prime plus 1.00%, payable quarterly, with all principal due on demand, but in any event no earlier than December 31, 2024. Loans made to Valhi at any time were at our discretion. At December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2023, we had no outstanding loans to Valhi under this promissory note. In February 2024, this note was cancelled by mutual agreement between us and Valhi.
| ● | In February 2024, we received a $53.7 million subordinated, unsecured term loan from Contran. See Note 8.
Interest income (including unused commitment fees) on our loan to Valhi was $.2 million in each of 2021 and 2022 and $.1 million in 2023. Under the terms of various intercorporate services agreements (ISAs) entered into between us and various related parties, including Contran, employees of one company will provide certain management, tax planning, financial and administrative services to the other company on a fee basis. Such fees are based upon the compensation of individual Contran employees providing services for us and/or estimates of the time devoted to our affairs by such persons. Because of the number of companies affiliated with Contran, we believe we benefit from cost savings and economies of scale gained by not having certain management, financial and administrative staffs duplicated at each entity, thus allowing certain individuals to provide services to multiple companies but only be compensated by one entity. We negotiate fees annually and agreements renew quarterly. The net ISA fee charged to us by Contran is included in selling, general and administrative expense and corporate expense and was $24.0 million in 2021, $24.5 million in 2022 and $22.6 million in 2023. Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us, purchase certain of their insurance policies and risk management services as a group, with the costs of the jointly-owned policies and services being apportioned among the participating companies. Tall Pines Insurance Company (Tall Pines), a subsidiary of Valhi, underwrites certain insurance policies for Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us. Tall Pines purchases reinsurance from highly rated (as determined by A. M. Best or another internationally recognized ratings agency) third-party insurance carriers for substantially all of the risks it underwrites. Consistent with insurance industry practices, Tall Pines receives commissions from the reinsurance underwriters and/or assesses fees for certain of the policies that it underwrites. During 2021, 2022 and 2023 we and our joint venture paid $23.2 million, $20.8 million and $24.8 million, respectively, under the group insurance program, which amounts principally represent insurance premiums, including $18.6 million, $17.3 million and $19.6 million, respectively, for policies written by Tall Pines. Amounts paid under the group insurance program also include payments to insurers or reinsurers for the reimbursement of claims within our applicable deductible or retention ranges that such insurers and reinsurers paid to third parties on our behalf, as well as amounts for claims and risk management services and various other third-party fees and expenses incurred by the program. We expect these relationships will continue in 2024. With respect to certain of such jointly-owned policies, it is possible that unusually large losses incurred by one or more insureds during a given policy period could leave the other participating companies without adequate coverage under that policy for the balance of the policy period. As a result, and in the event that the available coverage under a particular policy would become exhausted by one or more claims, Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us, have entered into a loss sharing agreement under which any uninsured loss arising because the available coverage had been exhausted by one or more claims will be shared ratably by those entities that had submitted claims under the relevant policy. We believe the benefits, in the form of reduced premiums and broader coverage associated with the group coverage for such policies, justifies the risk associated with the potential for any uninsured loss. Contran and certain of its subsidiaries, including us, participate in a combined information technology data services program that Contran provides for primary data processing and failover. The program apportions its costs among the participating companies. The aggregate amount we paid Contran for such services was $.3 million in each of 2021 and 2022 and $.4 million in 2023. Under the terms of a sublease agreement between Contran and us, we lease certain office space from Contran. We paid Contran $.4 million in 2021, $.5 million in 2022 and $.6 million in 2023 for such rent and related ancillary services. We expect that these relationships with Contran will continue in 2024.

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