Commitments and Contingencies | Note 13. Commitments and Contingencies Legal Matters We are party to various legal actions that arise in the normal course of business. The most significant matters are described below. Under GAAP, loss contingency provisions are recorded when we deem it probable that we will incur a loss and we are able to formulate a reasonable estimate of that loss. Seresto Class Action Lawsuits Claims seeking actual damages, injunctive relief and/or restitution for allegedly deceptive marketing have been made against Elanco Animal Health Inc. and Bayer HealthCare LLC, along with other Elanco and Bayer entities, arising out of the use of Seresto™ , a non-prescription flea and tick collar for cats and dogs. During 2021, putative class action lawsuits were filed in federal courts in the U.S. alleging that the Seresto collars contain pesticides that can cause serious injury and death to cats and/or dogs wearing the product. In August 2021, the lawsuits were consolidated by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, and the cases were transferred to the Northern District of Illinois. In June 2023, the parties agreed on the monetary terms of a potential settlement of the consolidated class action lawsuits, and as a result, a charge of $15 million was recorded. As of December 31, 2023, the parties had agreed on the non-monetary terms of a potential settlement, in addition to the monetary terms agreed to in June 2023. In January 2024, the court preliminarily approved the settlement. The court set a hearing to consider final approval of the settlement in December 2024. If at that time all conditions of the settlement are met, and the settlement is approved, we anticipate the settlement amount will be payable in the first quarter of 2025. As such, the $15 million provision was included within other current liabilities on our condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2024. Additional Legal Matters For the legal matters discussed below, we either believe loss is not probable or are unable to estimate the possible loss or range of loss, if any. The process of resolving these matters is inherently uncertain and may develop over an extended period of time; therefore, at this time, the ultimate resolutions cannot be predicted. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we had no material liabilities established related to the matters discussed below. On May 20, 2020, a shareholder class action lawsuit captioned Hunter v. Elanco Animal Health Inc., et al. ( Hunter ) was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana against Elanco and certain executives. On September 3, 2020, the court appointed a lead plaintiff, and on November 9, 2020, the lead plaintiff filed an amended complaint adding additional claims against Elanco, certain executives and other individuals. The lawsuit alleged, in part, that Elanco and certain of its executives made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose certain facts about Elanco’s supply chain, inventory, revenue and projections. The lawsuit sought unspecified monetary damages and purports to represent purchasers of Elanco securities between September 30, 2018 and May 6, 2020, and purchasers of Elanco common stock issued in connection with Elanco's acquisition of Aratana Therapeutics, Inc. On January 13, 2021, we filed a motion to dismiss, and on August 17, 2022, the court issued an order granting our motion to dismiss the case without prejudice. On October 14, 2022, the plaintiffs filed a motion for leave to amend the complaint. On December 7, 2022, we filed an opposition to the plaintiffs' motion, and on September 27, 2023, the court denied the plaintiffs' motion for leave, issuing final judgment in favor of Elanco. On October 25, 2023, the plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal to the United Stated Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. We continue to believe the claims made in the case are meritless, and we intend to continue to vigorously defend our position. On October 16, 2020, a shareholder class action lawsuit captioned Saffron Capital Corporation v. Elanco Animal Health Inc., et al. was filed in the Marion Superior Court of Indiana against Elanco, certain executives and other individuals and entities. On December 23, 2020, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint adding an additional plaintiff. The lawsuit alleges, in part, that Elanco and certain of its executives made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose certain facts about Elanco’s relationships with third party distributors and revenue attributable to those distributors within the registration statement on Form S-3 dated January 21, 2020, and accompanying prospectus filed in connection with Elanco’s public offering which closed on or about January 27, 2020. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and purports to represent purchasers of Elanco common stock or TEUs issued in connection with the public offering. From February 2021 to August 2022, this case was stayed in deference to Hunter . On October 24, 2022, we filed a motion to dismiss. On December 23, 2022, the plaintiffs filed their opposition to the motion to dismiss. Prior to the ruling on the motion to dismiss, on June 8, 2023, the plaintiffs filed a motion for leave to file a second amended complaint, which is now the operative complaint. We filed a motion to dismiss the second amended complaint on August 7, 2023, to which the plaintiffs filed their opposition on October 13, 2023. On April 17, 2024, our motion to dismiss was granted. The dismissal is without prejudice to plaintiffs' right to re-file a claim, and it is possible the plaintiffs will attempt to file a third amended complaint. We continue to believe the claims made in the case are meritless, and we intend to vigorously defend our position. In the third quarter of 2019, Tevra Brands, LLC (Tevra) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, alleging that Bayer Animal Health (acquired by us in August 2020) had been involved in unlawful, exclusive dealing and tying of its flea and tick products Advantage , Advantix and Seresto and maintained a monopoly in the market. The complaint was amended in March 2020 and then dismissed in September 2020 with leave to amend. A second amended complaint was filed in March 2021 and realleges claims of unlawful exclusive dealing related to Advantage and Advantix and monopoly maintenance. A motion to dismiss the second amended complaint was denied in January 2022. Tevra’s demands include both actual and treble damages. On April 16, 2024, the court granted our motion for summary judgment to exclude all damages subsequent to our acquisition of Bayer Animal Health in August 2020. The trial is scheduled for July 2024. We intend to vigorously defend our position. Regulatory Matters On July 1, 2021, we received a subpoena from the SEC relating to our channel inventory and sales practices prior to mid-2020. We have cooperated in providing documents and information to the SEC and will continue to do so. We have engaged in discussions with the SEC about a possible resolution or settlement of potential disclosure claims. While we have not reached an agreement on a resolution or settlement of the potential disclosure claims, based on the ongoing discussions with the SEC, we believe a loss contingency is both probable and estimable. Accordingly, we have accrued a liability of $15 million as of March 31, 2024, which was an increase of $2.5 million from the liability we had recorded for this matter as of December 31, 2023. This liability was included within other current liabilities on our condensed consolidated balance sheets. It remains uncertain whether an agreement will be reached and the terms of any such agreement. Management continues to believe its actions were appropriate. Other Commitments As of March 31, 2024, we had a lease commitment that has not yet commenced for our new corporate headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. Total minimum lease payments are estimated to be approximately $378 million over a term of 25 years, excluding extensions. Final lease payments may vary depending on the actual cost of certain construction activities. Lease commencement is expected in 2025. The land for our new corporate headquarters is located in a Tax Increment Finance District, and the project is, in part, funded through Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) through an incentive agreement between us and the City of Indianapolis. The agreement provides for an estimated total incentive of $64 million to be funded by the City of Indianapolis in connection with the future tax increment revenue generated from the developed property. In December 2021, as part of a funding and development agreement entered into between us and the developer, we made a commitment to use the expected TIF proceeds towards the cost of developing and constructing the headquarters. In exchange, the developer reimbursed us up to the $64 million commitment in 2021. During 2022, we refunded approximately $15 million of the TIF proceeds to the developer. As a result, it is our expectation that our future lease payments will be reduced. The remaining accrued incentive was included in other noncurrent liabilities on our condensed consolidated balance sheets and will be amortized over the lease term beginning on the commencement date and offset future rent expense. |