Commitments and Contingencies |
12 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dec. 31, 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies |
Litigation
The Company is involved, at times, in claims, legal and regulatory proceedings and governmental inquiries arising in the ordinary course of its business, including but not limited to: breach of contract, fraud and bad faith claims with franchisees in connection with franchise agreements and with owners in connection with management contracts, as well as negligence, breach of contract, fraud, employment, consumer protection and other statutory claims asserted in connection with alleged acts or occurrences at owned, franchised or managed properties or in relation to guest reservations and bookings. The Company may also at times be involved in claims, legal and regulatory proceedings and governmental inquiries relating to bankruptcy proceedings involving efforts to collect receivables from a debtor in bankruptcy, employment matters, claims of infringement upon third parties’ intellectual property rights, claims relating to information security, privacy and consumer protection, fiduciary duty/trust claims, tax claims, environmental claims and landlord/tenant disputes. Along with many of its competitors, the Company and/or certain of its subsidiaries have been named as defendants in litigation matters filed in state and federal courts, alleging statutory and common law claims related to purported incidents of sex trafficking at certain franchised and managed hotel facilities. These matters are in the pleading or discovery stages at this time. As of December 31, 2021, the Company is aware of approximately 35 pending matters filed naming the Company and/or subsidiaries. Based upon the status of these matters, the Company has not made a determination as to the likelihood of loss of any one of these matters and is unable to estimate a range of losses at this time.
The Company records an accrual for legal contingencies when it determines, after consultation with outside counsel, that it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. In making such determinations, The Company evaluates, among other things, the degree of probability of an unfavorable outcome, and when it is probable that a liability has been incurred, its ability to make a reasonable estimate of loss. The Company reviews these accruals each reporting period and makes revisions based on changes in facts and circumstances, including changes to its strategy in dealing with these matters.
The Company believes that it has adequately accrued for such matters with reserves of $6 million and $4 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The Company also had receivables of $3 million as of December 31, 2021 and immaterial receivables as of December 31, 2020, for certain matters which are covered by insurance and were included in other current assets on its Consolidated Balance Sheets. Litigation is inherently unpredictable and, although the Company believes that its accruals are adequate and/or that it has valid defenses in these matters, unfavorable results could occur. As such, an adverse outcome from such proceedings for which claims are awarded in excess of the amounts accrued, if any, could be material to the Company with respect to earnings and/or cash flows in any given reporting period. As of December 31, 2021, the potential exposure resulting from adverse outcomes of such legal proceedings could, in the aggregate, range up to approximately $5 million in excess of recorded accruals. However, the Company does not believe that the impact of such litigation will result in a material liability to the Company in relation to its combined financial position or liquidity.
Guarantees
Hotel-management guarantees
The Company had previously entered into hotel-management agreements that provide the hotel owner with a guarantee of a certain level of profitability based upon various metrics. Under such agreements, the Company was required to compensate the hotel owner for any profitability shortfall over the life of the management agreement up to a specified aggregate amount. For certain agreements, the Company may have been able to recapture all or a portion of the shortfall payments in the event that future operating results exceed targets.
As a result of COVID-19, on June 30, 2020, the Company provided notice of termination of its one remaining hotel performance guarantee pursuant to a force majeure provision in the hotel-management agreement. The notice provides for termination of the management agreement as of the 90th day following the notice date. Such termination has not yet occurred as the hotel’s owner and the Company are engaged in alternate dispute resolution. As a result of the Company’s notice of termination of the management agreement, the Company’s receivable of $4 million became fully impaired as of June 30, 2020 with the charge recorded within impairments, net on the Consolidated Statements of Income/(Loss). As of December 31, 2021, the Company had no other hotel-management guarantee contracts.
Separation-Related Guarantees
The Company assumed one-third of certain contingent and other corporate liabilities of former Parent incurred prior to the spin-off, including liabilities of former Parent related to, arising out of or resulting from certain terminated or divested businesses, certain general corporate matters of former Parent and any actions with respect to the separation plan or the distribution made or brought by any third party.
Credit Support Provided and Other Indemnifications Relating to former Parent’s Sale of its European Vacation Rentals Business
In May 2018, former Parent completed the sale of its European Vacation Rentals business to Compass IV Limited, an affiliate of Platinum Equity, LLC (“Buyer”). In connection with the sale of the European Vacation Rentals business, the Company provided certain post-closing credit support in the form of guarantees to help ensure that the business meets the requirements of certain credit card service providers, travel association and regulatory authorities. Such post-closing credit support may be enforced or called upon if the European vacation rentals business fails to meet its primary obligation to pay certain amounts when due. The European vacation rentals business has provided an indemnity to former Parent in the event that the post-closing credit support is enforced or called upon.
Pursuant to the terms of the Separation and Distribution Agreement that was entered into in connection with the Company’s spin-off, the Company will assume one-third and former Parent will assume two-thirds of losses that may be incurred by former Parent or the Company in the event that these credit support arrangements are enforced or called upon by any beneficiary in respect of any indemnification claims made.
The table below summarizes the post-closing credit support guarantees related to the sale of the European Vacation Rentals business, the fair values of such guarantees and the receivables from its former Parent representing two-thirds of such guarantees at December 31, 2021:
The fair value of the guarantees were $61 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 and were included in other non-current liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. In connection with these guarantees the Company had receivables from its former Parent of $41 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, which were included in other non-current assets on its Consolidated Balance Sheets.
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