Polaris 2015 Annual Report Download - page 90

remain open to examination by certain tax jurisdictions to which the Company is subject. A reconciliation of
the beginning and ending amounts of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows (in thousands):
For the Years Ended
December 31,
2015 2014
Balance at January 1, .............................. $ 9,836 $13,199
Gross increases for tax positions of prior years ............ 9,683 55
Gross increases for tax positions of current year ........... 4,961 1,456
Decreases due to settlements and other prior year tax
positions ...................................... (178) (2,346)
Decreases for lapse of statute of limitations .............. (1,364) (1,586)
Currency translation effect on foreign balances ............ (429) (942)
Balance at December 31, ............................ 22,509 9,836
Reserves related to potential interest at December 31, ...... 907 732
Unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, .............. $23,416 $10,568
Note 7. Shareholders’ Equity
Stock repurchase program. The Polaris Board of Directors has authorized the cumulative repurchase of up to
75,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. In addition, in 2013 the Polaris Board of Directors
authorized the one-time repurchase of all the shares of Polaris stock owned by Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.
(‘‘Fuji’’). On November 12, 2013, Polaris entered into and executed a Share Repurchase Agreement with Fuji
under which Polaris purchased 3,960,000 shares of Polaris stock held by Fuji for an aggregate purchase price
of $497,474,000.
As of December 31, 2015, 2,871,000 shares remain available for repurchases under the Board’s authorization.
During 2015, Polaris paid $293,616,000 to repurchase and retire approximately 2,179,000 shares. During 2014,
Polaris paid $81,812,000 to repurchase and retire approximately 554,000 shares, and in 2013 Polaris paid
$530,033,000 to repurchase and retire approximately 4,337,000 shares.
Shareholder rights plan. During 2000, the Polaris Board of Directors adopted a shareholder rights plan. Under
the plan, a dividend of preferred stock purchase rights will become exercisable if a person or group should
acquire 15 percent or more of the Company’s stock. The dividend will consist of one purchase right for each
outstanding share of the Company’s common stock held by shareholders of record on June 1, 2000. The
shareholder rights plan was amended and restated in April 2010. The amended and restated rights agreement
extended the final expiration date of the rights from May 2010 to April 2020, expanded the definition of
‘‘Beneficial Owner’’ to include certain derivative securities relating to the common stock of the Company and
increased the purchase price for the rights from $75 to $125 per share. The Board of Directors may redeem
the rights earlier for $0.01 per right.
Stock purchase plan. Polaris maintains an employee stock purchase plan (‘‘Purchase Plan’’). A total of
3,000,000 shares of common stock are reserved for this plan. The Purchase Plan permits eligible employees to
purchase common stock monthly at 95 percent of the average of the beginning and end of month stock prices.
As of December 31, 2015, approximately 1,286,000 shares had been purchased under the Purchase Plan.
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