COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
The Company has several liens granted to financial institutions mainly to secure various operating lease agreements in connection with its office space.
The Company rents its facilities in all locations under operating leases with lease periods expiring from 2019-2030. The lease agreements of VSL include extension options. VSL leases cars for its employees under operating lease agreements expiring at various dates from 2019-2021.
Aggregate minimum rental commitments under non-cancelable leases as of December 31, 2018 for the upcoming years were as follows:
|
| | | |
| Payments Due By Period |
2019 | $ | 7,174 |
|
2020 | 9,086 |
|
2021 | 8,865 |
|
2022 | 8,876 |
|
2023 | 8,690 |
|
Thereafter | 37,507 |
|
| $ | 80,198 |
|
Total rent expenses for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 were $6,570, $4,075 and $3,258, respectively.
For leases that contain predetermined fixed escalations of the minimum rent, the Company recognizes the related rent expense on a straight-line basis from the date of possession of the property to the end of the initial lease term. The Company records any differences between the straight-line rent amounts and amounts payable under the leases as part of deferred rent, in accrued liabilities or long-term liabilities, as appropriate. Cash or lease incentives received upon entering into certain leases (“tenant allowances”) are recognized on a straight-line basis as a reduction to rent from the date of possession of the property through the end of the initial lease term. The Company records the unamortized portion of tenant allowances as a part of deferred rent, in current liabilities or other long-term liabilities, as appropriate. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, deferred rent included $1,313 and $941, respectively, in current liabilities in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets, and deferred rent included $4,236 and $4,780, respectively, in long-term liabilities in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.
On March 31, 2014, the Company entered into a promissory note and related security documents with Bank Leumi USA, which the Company has extended a number of times. The Company may borrow up to $7,000 against certain of its accounts receivable outstanding amount, based on several conditions, at an annual interest rate of the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate plus 0.05%, provided that the annual interest rate applicable to advances will not be lower than 4.10%. As of December 31, 2018, that rate amounted to 5.55%. This promissory note enables the Company, among other things, to engage in foreign currency hedging transactions with Bank Leumi USA to manage exposure to foreign currency risk without restricted cash requirements. The Company may borrow under the promissory note until November 15, 2020 at which time the principal sum of each such loan, together with accrued and unpaid interest payable, will become due and payable. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had no balance outstanding under the promissory note. As part of the transaction, the Company granted the lender a security interest in its personal property, excluding intellectual property and other intangible assets. The promissory note also contains customary events of default.
About Commitments Disclosures
Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.
Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.