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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

16. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Legal Matters

From time to time, the Company is subject to or otherwise involved in various lawsuits, claims, investigations and legal proceedings that arise out of or are incidental to the conduct of our business (collectively, “Legal Matters”), including those relating to employment matters, patent rights, regulatory compliance matters, stockholder claims, and contractual and other commercial disputes. Such Legal Matters, even if not meritorious, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. Additionally, an unfavorable outcome in a legal matter, including in a patent dispute, could require the Company to pay damages, entitle claimants to other relief, such as royalties, or could prevent the Company from selling some of its products in certain jurisdictions. The Company records an accrual for any Legal Matters that arise whenever it considers that it is probable that it is exposed to a loss contingency and the amount of the loss contingency can be reasonably estimated. Although the ultimate disposition of asserted claims cannot be predicted with certainty, it is our belief that the outcome of any such claims, either individually or on a combined basis, will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position.

DPLTA Appraisal Proceedings

In addition to such Legal Matters, the Company is a party to appraisal proceedings relating to the DPLTA which were originally filed with the Landgericht Meiningen (Meiningen District Court) on February 3, 2023. The DPLTA provides that Adtran Networks shareholders (other than the Company) be offered, at their election, (i) to put their Adtran Networks shares to the Company in exchange for compensation in cash of €17.21 per share, plus guaranteed interest or (ii) to remain Adtran Networks shareholders and receive recurring cash compensation of €0.52 per share for each full fiscal year of Adtran Networks. The appraisal proceedings, which were initiated by certain minority shareholders of Adtran Networks, challenge the adequacy of both forms of compensation. While the Company believes that the compensation offered in connection with the DPLTA is fair, it notes that German courts often adjudicate increases of the cash compensation to plaintiffs in varying amounts in connection with German appraisal proceedings. Therefore, the Company cannot rule out that the first instance court or an appellate court may increase the cash compensation owed to the minority Adtran Networks shareholders. Given the stage of the appraisal proceedings, the Company is currently unable to predict the likely outcome or estimate the potential financial impact, if any, of the appraisal proceedings. If a ruling were to occur and be upheld upon appeal that required the Company to pay significant additional cash compensation to the Adtran Networks minority shareholders, there exists the possibility of a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations for the period in which the ruling occurs or future periods.

DPLTA Exit and Recurring Compensation Costs and the Absorption of Adtran Network's Annual Net Loss

Pursuant to the terms of the DPLTA, each Adtran Networks shareholder (other than the Company) has received an offer to elect either (1) to remain an Adtran Networks shareholder and receive from us an Annual Recurring Compensation payment, or (2) to receive Exit Compensation plus guaranteed interest. The guaranteed interest under the Exit Compensation is calculated from the effective date of the DPLTA to the date the shares are tendered, less any Annual Recurring Compensation paid. The guaranteed interest rate is 5.0% plus a variable component (according to the German Civil Code) that was 2.27% as of March 31, 2025. Assuming all the minority holders of currently outstanding Adtran Networks shares were to elect the second option, the Company would be obligated to make aggregate Exit Compensation payments, including guaranteed interest, of approximately €338.5 million or approximately $366.1 million, based on an exchange rate as of March 31, 2025, and reflecting interest accrued through March 31, 2025, during the pendency of the appraisal proceedings discussed below. Shareholders electing the first option of Annual Recurring Compensation may later elect the second option. The opportunity for outside Adtran Networks shareholders to tender Adtran Networks shares in exchange for Exit Compensation had been scheduled to expire on March 16, 2023. However, due to the appraisal proceedings that were initiated in 2023 in accordance with applicable German law, this time period for tendering shares has been extended pursuant to the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz) and will end two months after the date on which a final decision in such appraisal proceedings has been published in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger). The Company expects to receive a ruling on a procedural matter in the DPLTA appraisal proceedings during the latter half of 2025 or 2026, which ruling, depending on outcome, will likely be appealed and may take 6-12 months to be decided on appeal. The Company does not expect that a trial on the merits of the DPLTA appraisal proceedings will commence until the procedural matter has been resolved. The proceeding for the trial on the merits of the DPLTA will likely take a minimum of 12 months for a ruling and such ruling may likewise be appealed, which would be expected to take an additional 12-24 months to be resolved. Accordingly, the Company does not expect a final decision on the DPLTA appraisal proceedings to be rendered and published prior to 2027, and most likely not until 2028 or beyond.

Our obligation to pay Annual Recurring Compensation under the DPLTA is a continuing payment obligation, which will amount to approximately €8.9 million (or $9.7 million based on the current exchange rate) per year assuming none of the minority Adtran Networks shareholders were to elect Exit Compensation. The foregoing amounts do not reflect any potential increase in payment obligations that we may have depending on the outcome of ongoing appraisal proceedings in Germany. The Annual Recurring Compensation is due on the third banking day following the ordinary general shareholders’ meeting of Adtran Networks for the respective preceding fiscal year (but in any event within eight months following expiration of the fiscal year). With respect to the 2024 fiscal year, Adtran Networks’ ordinary general shareholders meeting is scheduled for June 27, 2025 and, therefore, the Annual Recurring Compensation will be due on July 2, 2025. During the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, we accrued $2.4 million and $2.5 million, respectively, in Annual Recurring Compensation, which was reflected as an increase to retained deficit.

For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, less than one thousand shares of Adtran Networks stock were tendered to the Company and Exit Compensation payments of approximately €12 thousand and €4 thousand, respectively, or approximately $13 thousand and $5 thousand based on the applicable exchange rates at the time of the transactions, were paid to Adtran Networks shareholders.

In addition, under the DPLTA, subject to certain limitations pursuant to applicable law and the specific terms of the DPLTA, (i) the Company is entitled to issue binding instructions to the management board of Adtran Networks, (ii) Adtran Networks will transfer its annual profit to the Company, subject to, among other things, the creation or dissolution of certain reserves, and (iii) the Company will absorb the annual net loss incurred by Adtran Networks. The Company’s payment obligation in satisfaction of the requirement that it absorb Adtran Networks’ annual net loss applies to the net loss generated by Adtran Networks in 2024 and it will apply to any net loss generated by Adtran Networks in 2025.

Performance Bonds

Certain contracts, customers and jurisdictions in which we do business require us to provide various guarantees of performance such as bid bonds, performance bonds and customs bonds. As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we had commitments related to these bonds totaling $15.2 million and $15.7 million, respectively, which expire at various dates through April 2029. In general, we would only be liable for the amount of these guarantees in the event of default under each contract, the probability of which we believe is remote.

Purchase Obligations

The Company purchases components from a variety of suppliers and uses contract manufacturers to provide manufacturing services for our products. Our inventory purchase obligations are for product manufacturing requirements, as well as for commitments to suppliers to secure manufacturing capacity. Certain of our inventory purchase obligations with contract manufacturers and suppliers relate to arrangements to secure supply and pricing for certain product components for multi-year periods. As of March 31, 2025, purchase obligations totaled $203.9 million.