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IAC/InteractiveCorp. (IAC)
:IAC
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IAC/InteractiveCorp. (IAC) Risk Factors

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Public companies are required to disclose risks that can affect the business and impact the stock. These disclosures are known as “Risk Factors”. Companies disclose these risks in their yearly (Form 10-K), quarterly earnings (Form 10-Q), or “foreign private issuer” reports (Form 20-F). Risk factors show the challenges a company faces. Investors can consider the worst-case scenarios before making an investment. TipRanks’ Risk Analysis categorizes risks based on proprietary classification algorithms and machine learning.

IAC/InteractiveCorp. disclosed 32 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. IAC/InteractiveCorp. reported the most risks in the “Finance & Corporate” category.

Risk Overview Q3, 2022

Risk Distribution
32Risks
25% Finance & Corporate
22% Tech & Innovation
22% Production
19% Ability to Sell
9% Macro & Political
3% Legal & Regulatory
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.

Risk Change Over Time

2020
Q4
S&P500 Average
Sector Average
Risks removed
Risks added
Risks changed
IAC/InteractiveCorp. Risk Factors
New Risk (0)
Risk Changed (0)
Risk Removed (0)
No changes from previous report
The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.

The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.

Risk Highlights Q3, 2022

Main Risk Category
Finance & Corporate
With 8 Risks
Finance & Corporate
With 8 Risks
Number of Disclosed Risks
32
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 31
32
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 31
Recent Changes
0Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Sep 2022
0Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Sep 2022
Number of Risk Changed
0
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 3
0
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 3
See the risk highlights of IAC/InteractiveCorp. in the last period.

Risk Word Cloud

The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.

Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 32

Finance & Corporate
Total Risks: 8/32 (25%)Below Sector Average
Share Price & Shareholder Rights2 | 6.3%
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1
Mr. Diller, certain members of his family and Mr. Levin are able to exercise significant influence over the composition of IAC’s Board of Directors, matters subject to stockholder approval and IAC’s operations.
As of February 11, 2022, Mr. Diller, his spouse, Diane von Furstenberg, and his stepson, Alexander von Furstenberg, collectively held shares of IAC Class B common stock and IAC common stock that represented approximately 41.1 % of the total outstanding voting power of IAC (based on the number of shares of IAC common stock outstanding and entitled to vote as of February 11, 2022). As a result of IAC securities beneficially owned by these individuals, such individuals are and will be, collectively, in a position to influence (subject to IAC’s organizational documents and Delaware law), the composition of IAC’s Board of Directors and the outcome of corporate actions requiring shareholder approval, such as mergers, business combinations and dispositions of assets, among other corporate transactions. These shares are subject to a voting agreement with Mr. Levin, IAC’s Chief Executive Officer. As a result of the Voting Agreement, Mr. Levin is currently in a position, subject to IAC’s organizational documents and Delaware law, to influence his election to IAC’s board of directors and influence the outcome of Contingent Matters (as defined in the Voting Agreement). This concentration of investment and voting power could discourage others from initiating a potential merger, takeover or other change of control transaction that may otherwise be beneficial to IAC and its shareholders, which could adversely affect the market price of IAC securities. In addition, the holders of the Class B common stock could sell all or a portion of those shares to a third party, which could result in the purchaser obtaining significant influence over IAC, the composition of IAC’s Board of Directors, matters subject to stockholder approval and IAC’s operations, without consideration being paid to holders of shares of IAC common stock, and without holders of shares of IAC common stock having a right to consent to the identity of such purchaser. Pursuant to the Voting Agreement, if any of the holders of the Class B common stock were to determine to sell shares of Class B common stock to a person other than Mr. Diller, his family members or certain entities controlled by such persons, they have agreed that they will discuss with Mr. Levin selling such shares to him before selling to any other party.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2
You may experience dilution with respect to your investment in IAC, and IAC may experience dilution with respect to its investment in Angi Inc., as a result of compensatory equity awards.
IAC has issued various compensatory equity awards, including stock options, shares of restricted stock, stock appreciation rights and restricted stock unit awards denominated in shares of its common stock, as well as in equity of certain of its consolidated subsidiaries, including Angi Inc. Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries. The issuance of shares of IAC common stock in settlement of these equity awards could dilute your ownership interest in IAC. Angi Inc. compensatory equity awards that are settled in shares of Angi Inc. could dilute IAC’s ownership interest in Angi Inc. The dilution of IAC’s ownership stake in Angi Inc. could impact its ability, among other things, to maintain Angi Inc. as part of its consolidated tax group for U.S. federal income tax purposes, to effect a tax-free distribution of its Angi Inc. stake to its stockholders or to maintain control of Angi Inc. As IAC generally has the right to maintain its levels of ownership in Angi Inc. to the extent Angi Inc. issues additional shares of its capital stock in the future pursuant to an investor rights agreement, IAC does not intend to allow any of the foregoing to occur. With respect to awards denominated in shares of IAC’s non-publicly traded subsidiaries, IAC estimates the dilutive impact of those awards based on its estimated fair value of those subsidiaries. Those estimates may change from time to time, and the fair value determined in connection with vesting and liquidity events could lead to more or less dilution than reflected in IAC’s diluted earnings per share calculation.
Accounting & Financial Operations1 | 3.1%
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1
Revenue from our Print business is declining.
Our Print business generates revenue from various channels, the largest of which are the sale of print magazine subscriptions to consumers and magazine advertising, followed by newsstand sales. The profitability of our print magazine publications (and in turn, our Print business) depends, in substantial part, on our ability to both maintain a profitable audience and sell advertising based on that audience. The industry in which our Print business operates is extremely competitive and such business will continue to face increasing competition from alternative forms of media and entertainment (primarily digital channels). As a result, we recently eliminated the print component of certain of our publishing brands, which will negatively impact our Print revenue. We continue to expect Print revenue from print magazine subscriptions, advertisers and newsstand sales to decline over the next few years. If we do not offset the decrease in Print magazine subscriptions by increasing subscription prices, our revenue may decline more than we expect. And if we do not offset reductions in revenue with the implementation of cost-cutting measures, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Debt & Financing4 | 12.5%
Debt & Financing - Risk 1
Current and future indebtedness could affect our ability to operate our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
On December 1, 2021, Dotdash Meredith, Inc. entered into the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement, which provides for: (i) a five year $350 million Dotdash Meredith Term Loan A, (ii) a seven year Dotdash Meredith $1.25 billion Term Loan B and (iii) a five year $150 million Dotdash Meredith Revolving Facility. As of December 31, 2021, we had total debt outstanding of approximately $2.1 billion, consisting of $350 million and $1.25 billion under the Dotdash Meredith Term Loan A and Dotdash Meredith Term Loan B, respectively, and $500 million of ANGI Group Senior Notes. As of that date, there was borrowing availability of $150 million under the Dotdash Meredith Revolving Facility. The Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement contains a number of covenants that restrict the ability of Dotdash Meredith and certain of its subsidiaries to take specified actions, including, among other things (and subject to certain exceptions): (i) creating liens, (ii) incurring indebtedness, (iii) making investments and acquisitions, (iv) engaging in mergers, dissolutions and other fundamental changes, (v) making dispositions, (vi) making restricted payments (including dividends and certain prepayments of junior debt), (vii) consummating transactions with affiliates, (viii) entering into sale-leaseback transactions, (ix) placing restrictions on distributions from subsidiaries, and (x) changing its fiscal year. The Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement also contains customary affirmative covenants and events of default. The obligations under the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement are guaranteed by certain of Dotdash Meredith’s wholly owned subsidiaries and are secured by substantially all of the assets of Dotdash Meredith and certain of its subsidiaries. Neither we nor any of our subsidiaries (other than Dotdash Meredith and its subsidiaries in the case of obligations under the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement) guarantee any indebtedness of Dotdash Meredith nor are they subject to any of the covenants related to such indebtedness. The terms of the Dotdash Meredith indebtedness could: •limit our ability to obtain financings and the ability Dotdash Meredith to obtain additional financings to fund working capital needs, acquisitions, capital expenditures or debt service requirements or for other purposes; •limit our ability to use operating cash flow in other areas of our businesses in the event that we need to dedicate a substantial portion of these funds to service Dotdash Meredith indebtedness; •limit our ability and the ability of Dotdash Meredith to compete with other companies who are not as highly leveraged; •restrict us or Dotdash Meredith from making strategic acquisitions, developing properties or exploiting business opportunities; •restrict the way in which we or Dotdash Meredith conduct business; •expose us to potential events of default, which if not cured or waived, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results and that of Dotdash Meredith; •increase our and Dotdash Meredith’s vulnerability to a downturn in general economic conditions or in pricing of our various products and services; and •limit our ability and the ability of Dotdash Meredith to react to changing market conditions in the various industries in which we do business. We may incur, and subject to restrictions in the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement, Dotdash Meredith may incur, additional, indebtedness. Any additional indebtedness incurred by us (or Dotdash Meredith in compliance with applicable restrictions) that is significant could increase the risks described above. For additional information regarding the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement and indebtedness outstanding thereunder, see “Item 7-Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Financial Position, Liquidity and Capital Resources and Financial Position.”
Debt & Financing - Risk 2
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our indebtedness.
The ability of Dotdash Meredith to satisfy the debt obligations under the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement will depend upon, among other things: •Dotdash Meredith's future financial and operating performance, which will be affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control; and •our future ability to incur indebtedness and the future ability of Dotdash Meredith to borrow under the Dotdash Meredith Revolving Facility, which will depend on, among other things, the ability of Dotdash Meredith to comply with the covenants governing its existing indebtedness. Neither we nor Dotdash Meredith may be able to generate sufficient cash flow from our respective operations (and/or, in the case of Dotdash Meredith only, borrow under the Dotdash Meredith Revolving Facility) in amounts sufficient to meet scheduled debt obligations. See also “-We may not freely access the cash of Dotdash Meredith and Angi Inc. and its subsidiaries” below. If so, we could be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets or seek additional capital in a manner that complies with the terms (including certain restrictions and limitations) of the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement. If these efforts do not generate sufficient funds to meet scheduled debt obligations, we would need to seek additional financing and/or negotiate with lenders to restructure or refinance the indebtedness outstanding under the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement. Our ability to do so would depend on the condition of the capital markets and the financial condition of IAC and Dotdash Meredith at such time. Any such financing, restructuring or refinancing could be on less favorable terms than the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement and if Dotdash Meredith is the borrower, would need to comply with the terms (including certain restrictions and limitations) of such agreement.
Debt & Financing - Risk 3
Variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk.
As of December 31, 2021, we had total debt outstanding of approximately $2.1 billion, consisting of $350 million and $1.25 billion under the Dotdash Meredith Term Loan A and Dotdash Meredith Term Loan B, respectively, which bear interest at variable rates, and $500 million of ANGI Group Senior Notes, which bear interest at a fixed rate. As of that date, we had borrowing availability of $150 million under the Dotdash Meredith Revolving Facility. Borrowings under the Dotdash Meredith Term Loans A and B are, and any borrowings under the Dotdash Meredith Revolving Facility will be, at variable interest rates, which exposes us to interest rate risk. For details regarding interest rates applicable to indebtedness outstanding under the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2021 and how certain increases and decreases in applicable interest rates would affect related interest expense, see “Item 7A-Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”
Debt & Financing - Risk 4
We may not freely access the cash of Dotdash Meredith and/or Angi Inc. and their respective subsidiaries.
Our potential sources of cash include our available cash balances, net cash from the operating activities of certain of our subsidiaries and proceeds from asset sales, including marketable securities. While the ability of our operating subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other payments or advances to us depends on their individual operating results and applicable statutory, regulatory or contractual restrictions generally, in the case of Dotdash Meredith, the terms of the Dotdash Meredith Credit Agreement limit the ability of Dotdash Meredith to pay dividends or make distributions, loans or advances to stockholders (including IAC) in certain circumstances. In addition, because Angi Inc. is a separate and distinct legal entity with public shareholders, Angi Inc. has no obligation to provide us with funds.
Corporate Activity and Growth1 | 3.1%
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1
Our success depends, in part, on the ability of our Digital business to successfully expand the digital reach of our portfolio of publishing brands.
We intend to increasingly focus on digital content across our portfolio of publishing brands, and as a result, intend to increase our investment in our Digital business. If this shift in focus and increased investment does not generate increased revenue from our Digital business and/or if we otherwise do not successfully execute this strategy generally and/or in a cost-effective manner, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.
Tech & Innovation
Total Risks: 7/32 (22%)Above Sector Average
Innovation / R&D1 | 3.1%
Innovation / R&D - Risk 1
Our success depends, in part, on our continued ability to develop and monetize versions of our products and services for mobile and other digital devices.
As consumers increasingly access our products and services through mobile and other digital devices (including through digital voice assistants), we will need to continue to devote significant time and resources to ensure that our products and services are accessible across these platforms (and multiple platforms generally). If we do not keep pace with evolving online, market and industry trends (including the introduction of new and enhanced digital devices and changes in the preferences and needs of consumers generally), offer new and/or enhanced products and services in response to such trends that resonate with consumers, monetize products and services for mobile and other digital devices as effectively as its traditional products and services and/or maintain related systems, technology and infrastructure in an efficient and cost-effective manner, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, the success of our mobile and other digital products and services depends on their interoperability with various third party operating systems, technology, infrastructure and standards, over which we have no control. Any changes to any of these things that compromise the quality or functionality of our mobile and digital products and services could adversely affect their usage levels and/or our ability to attract consumers and advertisers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Cyber Security2 | 6.3%
Cyber Security - Risk 1
We may not be able to protect our systems, technology and infrastructure from cyberattacks and cyberattacks experienced by third parties may adversely affect us.
We are regularly subjected to attacks by cyber criminals through the use of botnets, malware or other destructive or disruptive software, distributed denial of service attacks, phishing, attempts to misappropriate user information and account login credentials and other similar malicious activities. The incidence of events of this nature (or any combination thereof) is on the rise worldwide. While we continuously develop and maintain systems designed to detect and prevent events of this nature from impacting our systems, technology, infrastructure, products, services and users, and have invested (and continue to invest) heavily in these efforts and related personnel and training and deploy data minimization strategies (where appropriate), these efforts are costly and require ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome preventative security measures become more sophisticated. Despite these efforts, some of our systems have experienced past security incidents, none of which had a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and we could experience significant or material events of this nature in the future. Any event of this nature that we experience could damage our systems, technology and infrastructure and/or those of our users, prevent us from providing our products and services, compromise the integrity of our products and services, damage our reputation, erode our brands and/or be costly to remedy, as well as subject us to investigations by regulatory authorities, fines and/or litigation that could result in liability to third parties. Even if we do not experience such events firsthand, the impact of any such events experienced by third parties upon which we rely and with which we contract for various products and services could have a similar effect. No assurances can be provided that we will not experience future events involving third party service providers that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations in a significant or material manner. We may not have adequate insurance coverage to compensate for losses resulting from any of these events. If we (or any third party with which we do business or otherwise rely upon) experience(s) an event of this nature, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Cyber Security - Risk 2
If personal, confidential or sensitive user information is breached or otherwise accessed by unauthorized persons, it may be costly to mitigate and our reputation could be harmed.
We receive, process, store and transmit a significant amount of personal, confidential and/or sensitive user and subscriber information and, in the case of certain of our products and services, enable users and subscribers to share their personal information with each other. While we continuously develop and maintain systems designed to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of this information (and only engage third parties to store this information who do the same), we cannot guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure will not occur or that third parties will not gain unauthorized access to this information. When such events occur, we may not be able to remedy them, we may be required by law to notify regulators and impacted individuals and it may be costly to mitigate the impact of such events and to develop and implement protections to prevent future events of this nature from occurring. When breaches of security (ours or that of any third party that we engage to store such information) occur, we could face governmental enforcement actions, significant fines, litigation (including consumer class actions) and the reputation of our brands and business could be harmed, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if any of the search engines, digital app stores or social media platforms through which we market, distribute and monetize our products and services were to experience a breach, third parties could gain unauthorized access to personal data about our users and subscribers, which could indirectly harm the reputation of our brands and business and, in turn, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Technology4 | 12.5%
Technology - Risk 1
Our ability to engage directly with our users, subscribers, consumers, service professionals and caregivers directly on a timely basis is critical to our success.
As consumers increasingly communicate via mobile and other digital devices and messaging and social media apps, usage of email (particularly among younger consumers) has declined and we expect this trend to continue. In addition, deliverability and other restrictions could limit or prevent our ability to send emails to users, subscribers, consumers, service professionals and caregivers. A continued and significant erosion in our ability to engage with users, subscribers, consumers, service professionals and caregivers via email could adversely impact the user experience, engagement levels and conversion rates, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We cannot assure you that any alternative means of communication (for example, push notifications and text messaging) will be as effective as email has been historically.
Technology - Risk 2
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to access, collect and use personal data about our users and subscribers.
We depend on search engines, digital app stores and social media platforms, in particular, those operated by Google, Apple and Facebook, to market, distribute and monetize its products and services. Our users and subscribers engage with these platforms directly, and in the case of digital app stores, may be subject to requirements regarding the use of their payment systems for various transactions. As a result, these platforms may receive personal data about our users and subscribers that we would otherwise receive if we transacted with our users and subscribers directly. Certain of these platforms have restricted our access to personal data about our users and subscribers obtained through their platforms. If these platforms limit or increasingly limit, eliminate or otherwise interfere with our ability to access, collect and use personal data about our users and subscribers that they have collected, our ability to identify and communicate with a meaningful portion of our user and subscriber bases may be adversely impacted. If so, our customer relationship management efforts, our ability to identify, target and reach new segments of our user and subscriber bases and the population generally, the efficiency of our paid marketing efforts, the rates we are able to charge advertisers seeking to reach users and subscribers on our various properties and our ability to develop and implement safety features, policies and procedures for certain of our products and services could be adversely affected. We cannot assure you that the search engines, digital app stores and social media platforms upon which we rely will not limit or increasingly limit, eliminate or otherwise interfere with our ability to access, collect and use personal data about our users and subscribers that they have collected. To the extent that any or all of them do so, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Technology - Risk 3
Our success depends, in part, on the integrity, quality, efficiency and scalability of our systems, technology and infrastructure, and those of third parties.
We rely on our systems, technology and infrastructure to perform well on a consistent basis. From time to time in the past, we have experienced (and in the future we may experience) occasional interruptions that make some or all of this framework and related information unavailable or that prevent us from providing products and services; any such interruption could arise for any number of reasons. We also rely on third party data center service providers and cloud-based, hosted web service providers, as well as third party computer systems and a variety of communications systems and service providers in connection with the provision of our products and services generally, as well as to facilitate and process certain payment and other transactions with users. We have no control over any of these third parties or their operations and the interruption of any of the services provided by these parties could prevent us from accessing user and subscriber information and providing our products and services. The framework described above could be damaged or interrupted at any time due to hackers, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, acts of God and other similar events or disruptions. Any event of this nature could prevent us from providing our products and services at all (or result in the provision of our products on a delayed or interrupted basis) and/or result in the loss of critical data. While we and the third parties upon whom we rely have certain backup systems in place for certain aspects of our and their respective frameworks, none of these frameworks are fully redundant and disaster recovery planning is not sufficient for all eventualities. In addition, we may not have adequate insurance coverage to compensate for losses from a major interruption. When such damages, interruptions or outages occur, our reputation could be harmed and the competitive positions of our various brands and businesses could be diminished, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We also continually work to expand and enhance the efficiency and scalability of our framework to improve the consumer and user experience, accommodate substantial increases in the number of visitors to our various platforms, ensure acceptable load times for our various products and services and keep up with changes in user and subscriber preferences. If we do not continue to do so in a timely and cost-effective manner, user and subscriber experiences and demand across our brands and businesses could be adversely affected, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Technology - Risk 4
We rely on search engines to drive traffic to our various properties. Certain search engine operators offer products and services that compete directly with our products and services. If links to websites offering our products and services are not displayed prominently in search results, traffic to our properties could decline and our business could be adversely affected.
As discussed above, the amount of traffic we attract through search engines is due in large part to how and where websites offering our products and services (and related information and links to those properties) are displayed on search engine results pages. Certain search engine operators offer products and services that compete directly with our products and services and may change their displays or rankings in order to promote their products or services, or the products or services of one or more of our competitors. Any such action could negatively impact the search rankings of links to websites offering our products and services, or the prominence with which such links appear in search results. Our success depends on the ability of links to websites offering our products and services to maintain a prominent position in search results, and in the event operators of search engines promote their own competing products in the future in a manner that has the effect of reducing the prominence or ranking of links to websites offering our products and services, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Production
Total Risks: 7/32 (22%)Above Sector Average
Employment / Personnel3 | 9.4%
Employment / Personnel - Risk 1
We depend on our key personnel.
Our future success will depend upon our continued ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled, diverse and talented individuals worldwide, particularly in the case of senior management. Competition for well-qualified employees across IAC and its various businesses has been (and will continue to be) intense and we must attract new (and retain existing) employees to compete effectively. While we have established programs to attract new (and retain existing) employees, we may not be able to attract new (or retain existing) key and other employees in the future. In addition, if we do not ensure the effective transfer of knowledge to successors and smooth transitions (particularly in the case of senior management) across our various businesses, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Employment / Personnel - Risk 2
Our pension plan obligations could increase.
In connection with the acquisition of Meredith Holdings Corp. in December 2021, our Dotdash Meredith business assumed certain pension plan obligations. The two largest of these pension plans are funded plans in the United Kingdom and the United States, both of which are overfunded on a U.S. GAAP basis (see “Item 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data —Note 17 — Pension and Postretirement Benefit Plans”). The pension plan in the United Kingdom relates to a business that was sold by Meredith Holdings Corp. prior to December 2021, and as of the date of this annual report, there are no active participants in such plan accruing benefits. In addition, as of the date of this annual report, the pension plan in the United States is closed to new participants and a substantial portion of plan participants are terminated participants, which means that benefits of terminated participants are immediately payable if they elect a lump sum payment option. Despite both pension plans being overfunded on a U.S. GAAP basis, additional funding may be required. We are obligated to fund these two pension plans in the event of an actual deficit, the amount of which changes daily and is determined by many factors (including changes in the fair value of the plan assets, inflation, and interest rates). If the fair value of plan assets were to decline, our actuarial assumptions are incorrect or, in the case of the value of accrued benefits, interest rates decline, our pension plan obligations would increase and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Employment / Personnel - Risk 3
Our success depends, in part, on the ability of Angi Inc. and Care.com to establish and maintain relationships with quality and trustworthy service professionals and caregivers.
We must continue to attract, retain and grow the number of skilled and reliable service professionals who can provide services across Angi Inc. platforms and caregivers who can provide care-related services through the Care.com platform. If we do not offer innovative products and services that resonate with consumers and service professionals (and subscribers and caregivers) generally, as well as provide service professionals and caregivers with an attractive return on their marketing and advertising investments, the number of service professionals and caregivers affiliated with Angi Inc. and Care.com platforms, respectively, would decrease. Any such decrease would result in smaller and less diverse networks and directories of service professionals and caregivers, and in turn, decreases in service requests, pre-priced bookings and directory searches, as well as subscriber requests for caregivers, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition to valuing the skill and reliability of service professionals and caregivers, consumers and families want to work with service professionals and caregivers who they can trust to work in their homes and with their family members and with whom they can feel safe. While there are screening processes and certain other safety-related measures in place at these businesses (which generally include certain, limited background checks) intended to prevent unsuitable service professionals and caregivers from joining and remaining on our platforms, these processes have limitations and, even with these safety measures, no assurances can be provided regarding the future behavior of any service provider or caregiver on our platforms. Inappropriate and/or unlawful behavior on the part of service professionals and caregivers generally (particularly any such behavior that compromises their trustworthiness and/or of the safety of consumers and families) could result in decreases in service requests and subscriber requests for caregivers and related care services, bad publicity and related damage to our reputation, brands and brand-building efforts and/or actions by governmental and regulatory authorities, criminal proceedings and/or litigation. The occurrence or any of these events could, in turn, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Supply Chain2 | 6.3%
Supply Chain - Risk 1
Certain of our businesses depend upon arrangements with Google.
A meaningful portion of our consolidated revenue (and a substantial portion of our net cash from operations that we can freely access) is attributable to a services agreement with Google. Pursuant to this agreement, we display and syndicate paid listings provided by Google in response to search queries generated through the businesses within our Search financial reporting segment. In exchange for making our search traffic available to Google, we receive a share of the revenue generated by the paid listings supplied to us, as well as certain other search related services. Our agreement with Google expires on March 31, 2024 and provides for an automatic renewal for an additional year absent a notice of non-renewal from either party on or before March 31, 2023. The amount of revenue we receive from Google depends on a number of factors outside of our control, including the amount Google charges for advertisements, the efficiency of Google’s system in attracting advertisers and serving up paid listings in response to search queries and parameters established by Google regarding the number and placement of paid listings displayed in response to search queries. In addition, Google makes judgments about the relative attractiveness (to advertisers) of clicks on paid listings from searches performed on our properties and these judgments factor into the amount of revenue we receive. Google also makes judgments about the relative attractiveness (to users) of paid listings from searches performed on our properties and these judgments factor into the number of advertisements that we can purchase. Changes to the amount Google charges advertisers, the efficiency of Google’s paid listings network, Google’s judgment about the relative attractiveness to advertisers of clicks on paid listings from our properties or to the parameters applicable to the display of paid listings generally could result in a decrease in the amount of revenue we receive from Google and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Such changes could come about for a number of reasons, including general market conditions, competition or policy and operating decisions made by Google. Our services agreement with Google also requires that we comply with certain guidelines for the use of Google brands and services, including the Chrome browser and Chrome Web Store. These guidelines govern which of our products and applications may access Google services or be distributed through its Chrome Web Store, and the manner in which Google’s paid listings are displayed within search results across various third party platforms and products (including our properties). Our services agreement also requires that we establish guidelines to govern certain activities of third parties to whom we syndicate paid listings, including the manner in which these parties drive search traffic to their websites and display paid listings. Google may generally unilaterally update its policies and guidelines without advance notice, whether under the services agreement or otherwise, which could in turn require modifications to, or prohibit and/or render obsolete certain of our products, services and/or business practices, which could be costly to address or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Noncompliance with Google’s guidelines by us or the third parties to whom we are permitted to syndicate paid listings or through which we secure distribution arrangements for the businesses within our Search financial reporting segment could result in the suspension of some or all Google services to us (or the websites of our third party partners) and/or the termination of the services agreement by Google. Google has, in the past, made policy changes generally and under the services agreement, which had a negative impact on the historical and expected future results of operations of our Desktop business, as well as suspended services with respect to some or our Desktop products, and may take continued or further action with respect to our products and businesses in the future. The termination of the services agreement by Google, the curtailment of our rights under the agreement, including the failure to allow our products to access Google services (whether pursuant to the terms thereof or otherwise), and/or the failure of Google to perform its obligations under the agreement and/or policy changes implemented by Google under the services agreement or otherwise would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If any of these events were to occur, we may not be able to find another suitable alternate provider of paid listings (or if an alternate provider were found, the economic and other terms of the agreement and the quality of paid listings may be inferior relative to our arrangements with (and the paid listings supplied by) Google) or otherwise replace the lost revenues.
Supply Chain - Risk 2
We rely on a single supplier to print our magazines.
In the case of our Print business, we produce print magazines in the United States and rely on one supplier (the only one capable of producing such print magazines) to do so. If this supplier fails to deliver our print magazines for whatever reason, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. If so, we may not be able to move the printing of our print magazines to an alternative supplier. And even if we were to fund an alternative supplier, the economic and other terms of the arrangement and the quality of the services provided could be inferior relative to the arrangement with our current supplier and/or we may not be able to replace lost revenues. Any transition in this regard would be costly and time consuming and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Costs2 | 6.3%
Costs - Risk 1
Increases in paper and postage prices are difficult to predict and control.
In the case of our Print business, paper and postage represent a significant component of costs. Paper is a commodity and its price can be subject to significant volatility. We rely on multiple third parties to supply us with paper for our print magazines, the largest of which are located in the European Union. Our paper supply contracts currently provide for price adjustments based on prevailing market prices and historically, we have been able to realize favorable paper pricing through volume discounts. Our paper suppliers and/or the paper mills upon which they rely for inventory may experience events outside of their and our control that result in supply chain disruptions (for example, labor force disruptions (strikes and union negotiations) and weather, among other events). The United States Postal Services (the “USPS”) distributes substantially all of our subscription magazines and many of our marketing materials. Postal rates are dependent on the operating efficiency of the USPS and on legislative mandates imposed upon the USPS. Although we work with others in the industry and through trade organizations to encourage the USPS to implement efficiencies that will minimize rate increases, we cannot predict with certainty the magnitude of future price changes for paper and postage. Volatility in paper prices, paper supply chain disruptions and/or USPS rate increases could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Costs - Risk 2
The Angi Inc. brand integration initiative may continue to involve substantial costs, including as a result of a continued negative impact on organic search placement, and may not be favorably received by customers and service professionals.
In March 2021, Angi Inc. updated one of its leading websites and brands, Angie’s List, to Angi, and concentrated its marketing investment on the Angi brand in order to focus its marketing, sales and branding efforts on a single brand. Angi Inc. has incurred (and we expect will continue to incur) substantial costs as a result of this brand integration initiative and the Angi brand may not be able to achieve or maintain brand name recognition or status that is comparable to the recognition and status previously enjoyed by Angie’s List, and customers and service professionals may be confused as Angi Inc. transitions and focuses on the Angi brand. Angi Inc. relies heavily on free and paid search engine marketing efforts to drive traffic to its platforms. The brand initiative has adversely affected the placement and ranking of Angi Inc. websites, particularly Angi.com, in organic search results as Angi does not have the same domain history as Angie’s List. In addition, Angi Inc. shifted marketing to support the Angi brand away from the HomeAdvisor brand, which has negatively affected the efficiency of Angi’s Inc.’s search engine marketing efforts. Since the beginning of the brand integration initiative, these efforts have had a pronounced negative impact on service requests from organic search results and via Angi Inc.'s mobile applications, which in turn has resulted in increased paid search engine marketing to generate service requests. The combined effect of this during the year ended December 31, 2021 has reduced revenue and increased marketing spend, materially more than expected at the launch of the brand initiative in the first quarter of 2021. Angi Inc. expects the pronounced negative impact to organic search results, the increased paid search engine marketing costs and the reduced monetization from Angi Inc’s mobile applications to continue until such time as the Angi brand establishes search engine optimization ranking and consumer awareness is established. Any or all of these impacts could continue to increase marketing costs (particularly if free traffic is replaced with paid traffic) and adversely affect the effectiveness of Angi Inc.’s marketing efforts overall. Finally, as Angi Inc. aligns and focuses its organization around the single Angi brand, it could experience financial and operational challenges and reduced service professional participation across its various businesses. Depending on market acceptance, the brand integration initiative could adversely affect the ability of Angi Inc. to attract and retain customers and service professionals, which could cause Angi Inc. not to realize some or all of the anticipated benefits contemplated by the brand integration initiative..
Ability to Sell
Total Risks: 6/32 (19%)Above Sector Average
Competition1 | 3.1%
Competition - Risk 1
Our businesses operate in especially competitive and evolving industries.
The industries in which our brands and businesses operate are competitive, with a consistent and growing stream of new products and entrants. Some of our competitors may enjoy better competitive positions in certain geographical areas, user demographics and/or other key areas that we currently serve or may serve in the future. Generally (and particularly in the case of the businesses within our Angi Inc. (formerly ANGI Homeservices Inc.) financial reporting segment, we compete with search engine providers and online marketplaces that can market their products and services online in a more prominent and cost-effective manner than we can. We also generally compete with social media platforms with access to large existing pools of potential users and their personal information, which means these platforms can drive visitors to their products and services, as well as better tailor products and service to individual users, at little to no cost relative to our efforts. Any of these advantages could enable our competitors to offer products and services that are more appealing to consumers than our products and services, respond more quickly and/or cost effectively than we do to evolving market opportunities and trends and/or display their own integrated or related products and services in a more prominent manner than our products and services in search results, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, costs to switch among products and services are low or non-existent and consumers generally have a propensity to try new products and services (and use multiple products and services simultaneously). As a result, we expect the continued emergence of new products and services, entrants and business models in the various industries in which our brands and businesses operate. Our inability to continue to innovate and compete effectively against new products, services and competitors could result in decreases in the size and levels of engagement of our various user and subscriber bases, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Demand1 | 3.1%
Demand - Risk 1
Our success depends, in part, upon the continued migration of certain markets and industries online and the continued growth and acceptance of online products and services as effective alternatives to traditional offline products and services.
Through our various businesses, we provide a variety of online products and services that continue to compete with their traditional offline counterparts. We believe that the continued growth and acceptance of online products and services generally will depend, to a large extent, on the continued growth in commercial use of the Internet (particularly abroad) and the continued migration of traditional offline markets and industries online. For example, the success of the businesses within our Angi Inc. (formerly ANGI Homeservices) financial reporting segment and our Care.com business depends, in substantial part, on the continued migration of the home services and care-related services markets online. If for any reason these markets do not migrate online as quickly as (or at lower levels than) we expect and consumers and service professionals (and subscribers and caregivers) continue, in large part, to rely on traditional offline efforts to connect with one another, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Lastly, the success of our advertising-supported businesses also depends, in part, on their ability to compete for a share of available advertising expenditures as more traditional offline and emerging media companies continue to enter the online advertising market, as well as on the continued growth and acceptance of online advertising generally. Any lack of growth in the market for online advertising could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Sales & Marketing3 | 9.4%
Sales & Marketing - Risk 1
Marketing efforts designed to drive visitors to our various brands and businesses may not be successful or cost-effective.
Traffic building and conversion initiatives involve considerable expenditures for online and offline advertising and marketing. We have made, and expect to continue to make, significant expenditures for search engine marketing (primarily in the form of the purchase of keywords, which we purchase primarily through Google and, to a lesser extent, Microsoft and Yahoo!), social media advertising (primarily in the form of Sponsored Posts on Facebook) and other online display advertising and traditional offline advertising (including television and radio campaigns) in connection with these initiatives, which may not be successful or cost-effective. Also, to continue to reach consumers and users, we will need to continue to identify and devote more of our overall marketing expenditures to newer digital advertising channels (such as online video and other digital platforms), as well as target consumers and users via these channels in a cost-effective manner. Since these channels are undeveloped and unproven relative to traditional channels (such as television), it could be difficult to assess returns on related marketing investments. Historically, we have had to increase advertising and marketing expenditures over time in order to attract and convert consumers, retain users of our various products and services and sustain our growth. Our ability to market our brands and businesses on any given property or channel is subject to the policies of the relevant third party seller, publisher (including search engines, web browsers and social media platforms with extraordinarily high levels of traffic and numbers of users) or marketing affiliate. As a result, we cannot assure you that these parties will not limit or prohibit us or our affiliate marketing partners from purchasing certain types of advertising (including the purchase by us of advertising with preferential placement or for certain of our products and services) and/or using one or more current or prospective marketing channels in the future. If a significant marketing channel took such an action generally, for a significant period of time and/or on a recurring basis, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, if we fail to comply with the policies of third party sellers, publishers and/or marketing affiliates, our advertisements could be removed without notice and/or our accounts could be suspended or terminated, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any phasing out (or blocking) of third party cookies by web browsers could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We rely heavily on free search engine marketing to drive traffic to our properties. The display, including rankings, of search results can be affected by a number of factors, many of which are not in our direct control, and may change frequently. Search engines have made changes in the past to their ranking algorithms, methodologies and design layouts that have reduced the prominence of links to websites offering our products and services, and negatively impacted traffic to such websites, and we expect that search engines will continue to make such changes from time to time in the future. However, we may not know how (or otherwise be in a position) to influence actions of this nature taken by search engines. With respect to search results in particular, even when search engines announce the details of their methodologies, their parameters may change from time to time, be poorly defined or be inconsistently interpreted. Our failure to respond successfully to rapid and frequent changes in the operating and pricing dynamics of search engines, as well as changing policies and guidelines applicable to keyword advertising (which may be unilaterally updated by search engines without advance notice), could adversely affect our paid and free search engine marketing efforts. Specifically, such changes could adversely affect paid listings (both their placement and pricing), as well as the ranking of links to websites offering our products and services within search results, any or all of which could increase our marketing costs (particularly if free traffic is replaced with paid traffic) and adversely affect the effectiveness of our marketing efforts overall. In addition, the failure to respond successfully to policy updates with respect to the phasing out (or blocking) of third party cookies by web browsers (which may be done unilaterally by web browsers without notice), as well as consumers increasingly choosing to use browsers that do not support third party cookies, could also adversely affect the effectiveness of our marketing efforts at those of our businesses that rely on cookies as a meaningful part of their overall marketing strategy. Lastly, certain of our businesses also enter into various arrangements with third parties (including advertising agencies) to drive traffic to their various brands and businesses and generate leads, which arrangements are generally more cost-effective than traditional marketing efforts. If these businesses are unable to renew existing (and enter into new) arrangements of this nature, sales and marketing costs as a percentage of revenue would increase over the long-term, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the quality and convertibility of traffic and leads generated through third party arrangements are dependent on many factors, most of which are outside our control. If the quality and/or convertibility of traffic and leads do not meet the expectations of the users of our various products and services, our paid listings providers and/or advertisers, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 2
Our success depends, in substantial part, on our continued ability to market, distribute and monetize our products and services through search engines, digital app stores, advertising networks and social media platforms.
The marketing, distribution and monetization of our products and services depends on our ability to cultivate and maintain cost-effective and otherwise satisfactory relationships with search engines, digital app stores, advertising networks and social media platforms, in particular, those operated by Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon. These platforms could decide not to market and distribute some or all of our products and services, change their terms and conditions of use or advertising policies at any time (and without notice), favor their own products and services over our products and services and/or significantly increase their fees. While we expect to maintain cost-effective and otherwise satisfactory relationships with these platforms, no assurances can be provided that we will be able to do so and our inability to do so in the case of one or more of these platforms could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In particular, as consumers increasingly access our products and services through applications (both mobile and desktop), we increasingly depend upon the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Google’s Chrome Web Store, Microsoft Store and Amazon App Store to distribute our mobile and desktop browser applications. The operators of these stores have broad discretion to change their respective terms and conditions applicable to the distribution of our applications, including those relating to the amount of (and requirement to pay) certain fees associated with purchases facilitated by such stores through our applications, their ability to interpret their respective terms and conditions in ways that may limit, eliminate or otherwise interfere with our ability to distribute our applications through such stores, the features we may provide in our products and services, our ability to access information about our subscribers and users that they collect and the manner in which we market in-app products. The operators of these stores could also make changes to their operating systems or payment services that could negatively affect us. No assurances can be provided that the operators of these stores will not interpret their respective terms and conditions in the manner described above and to the extent any of them do so, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. While some of our mobile applications are generally free to download from these stores, many of them are subscription-based. While we determine the prices at which these subscriptions are sold, currently, all related purchases must be processed through the in-app payment systems provided by these stores, for which we pay these stores a meaningful share of the related revenue we receive. Given the increasing distribution of our mobile applications through digital app stores and strict in-app payment system requirements, we may need to offset increased digital app store fees by decreasing traditional marketing expenditures as a percentage of revenue, increasing user volume or monetization per user or engaging in other efforts to increase revenue or decrease costs generally, or our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 3
Our success depends, in part, on the ability of Angi Inc. to expand pre-priced offerings, while balancing the overall mix of service requests and directory services on Angi platforms generally.
Through our Angi Services business, we provide pre-priced offerings, pursuant to which we contract with service professionals to perform a specific task for a consumer at contracted price. Increases in pre-priced offerings (which we expect to be the case over time) could reduce the level of service professional participation in our Angi Ads and Angi Leads businesses, and in turn, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, while pre-priced offerings offer potentially higher profit opportunities, they also involve greater financial risk because we bear the impact of cost overruns, which could result in increased costs. For example, we could miscalculate the costs, materials and/or or time needed to complete consumer requests or consumers could provide us with inaccurate information, which could result in us charging consumers too little for contracted tasks, which in turn would result in us having to absorb the actual, higher cost for contracted tasks or risk not being able to find service professionals to perform contracted tasks at contracted rates. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected if actual costs exceed the assumptions used in offering contracted tasks through pre-priced offerings.
Brand / Reputation1 | 3.1%
Brand / Reputation - Risk 1
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to build, maintain and/or enhance our various brands.
Through our various businesses, we own and operate a number of widely known consumer brands with strong brand appeal and recognition within their respective markets and industries, as well as a number of emerging brands that we are in the process of building. We believe that our success depends, in large part, on our continued ability to maintain and enhance our established brands, as well as build awareness of (and loyalty to) our emerging brands. Events that could adversely impact our brands and brand-building efforts include (among others): product and service quality concerns, consumer complaints or lawsuits, lack of awareness of the policies of our various businesses and/or how they are applied in practice, our failure to respond to user, service professional and caregiver feedback, ineffective advertising, inappropriate and/or unlawful actions taken by users, service professionals and caregivers, actions taken by governmental or regulatory authorities, data protection and security breaches and related bad publicity. The occurrence or any of these events could, in turn, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. See also “? — Risks Relating to Our Business, Operations and Ownership? — The Angi Inc. brand integration initiative may continue to involve substantial costs, including as a result of a continued negative impact on organic search placement, and may not be favorably received by customers and service professionals.”
Macro & Political
Total Risks: 3/32 (9%)Below Sector Average
Economy & Political Environment2 | 6.3%
Economy & Political Environment - Risk 1
We are sensitive to general economic events and trends, particularly those that adversely impact consumer confidence and spending behavior.
Events and trends that result in decreased levels of consumer confidence and discretionary spending could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The businesses within our Angi Inc. (formerly ANGI Homeservices Inc.) financial reporting segment are particularly sensitive to events and trends that could result in consumers delaying or foregoing home services projects (including difficulties obtaining financing for such projects) and service professionals being less likely to pay for consumer matches, subscriptions and/or time-based advertising, which could result in decreases in service requests, pre-priced bookings and directory searches. Any such decreases could adversely impact the number and quality of service professionals affiliated with our Angi Leads and Angi Services businesses and listed in Angi directories and/or adversely impact the reach of (and breath of services offered through) our Angi Leads and Angi Services businesses and Angi branded directories, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, negative changes in capital markets could adversely impact the ability of the third party with which Angi Inc. has contracted to continue to offer a consumer financing option through the Angi Pro Leads mobile app, which could adversely impact the adoption and use of this feature by consumers, and in turn, our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Economy & Political Environment - Risk 2
Advertising revenue represents a significant portion of our consolidated revenue. Accordingly, we are sensitive to general economic events and trends that adversely impact advertising spending levels.
A significant portion of our consolidated revenue is attributable to digital and other advertising, primarily revenue from the businesses within our Dotdash Meredith and Search financial reporting segments. Accordingly, events and trends that result in decreased advertising expenditures could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, demand for advertising is highly dependent upon the strength of the economy in the United States, so any economic downturn could adversely affect demand for advertising, and in turn, our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, the growth in alternative forms of media and entertainment (primarily digital advertising channels) has increased competition for advertising. This trend could adversely affect demand for advertising through our various platforms, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Natural and Human Disruptions1 | 3.1%
Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 1
The global outbreak of COVID-19 and other similar outbreaks could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected by the outbreak of a widespread health epidemic or pandemic, including the continuing outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), which has been declared a “pandemic” by the World Health Organization. The continuing outbreak of COVID-19 has caused a widespread global health crisis, and governments in affected regions have implemented measures designed to curb its spread, such as social distancing, government-imposed quarantines and lockdowns, travel bans and other public health safety measures. These measures have resulted in significant social disruption and have had (and may continue to have) an adverse effect on economic conditions generally, advertising expenditures and consumer confidence and spending, all of which could have an adverse effect on our businesses, financial condition and results of operations. As previously disclosed, the initial impact of COVID-19 on the businesses within our Angi Inc. (formerly ANGI Homeservices Inc.) financial reporting segment initially resulted in a decline in demand for service requests, driven primarily by decreases in demand in certain categories of jobs (particularly discretionary indoor projects). While these businesses experienced a rebound in service requests in the second half of 2020 and through early 2021, service requests did start to decline in May 2021 compared to the comparable months of 2020 as a result of the surge in 2020 and due to impacts of the Angi Inc. brand integration initiative. Moreover, many service professionals have been adversely impacted by labor and material constraints and have had limited capacity to take on new business, which continues to negatively impact the ability of the businesses within our Angi Inc. financial reporting segment to monetize the increased level of service requests. Although the ability to monetize service requests rebounded modestly in the second half of 2021, it still has not returned to levels experienced pre-COVID-19. No assurances can be provided that the businesses with our Angi Inc. financial reporting segment will continue to be able to improve monetization, or that service professionals' businesses (and, as a consequence, revenue and profitability) will not be adversely impacted in the future. In addition, our Search financial reporting segment has experienced an increase in revenue in the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the prior year due, in part, to lower advertising rates in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19. See “Item 7? — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for IAC ? — Overview — Consolidated and Combined Results.” Resurgences of COVID-19 and government-imposed measures to control the spread of COVID-19 may continue to adversely impact our ability to conduct ordinary course business activities for the foreseeable future, and could adversely impact employee productivity and increase operating costs. Moreover, we may also experience business disruption if the ordinary course operations of our contractors, vendors and/or business partners are adversely affected. Any of these measures could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The extent to which developments related to COVID-19 and measures designed to curb its spread continue to impact our business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, all of which are highly uncertain and many of which are beyond our control, including the continuing spread of COVID-19, the severity of resurgences of COVID-19 caused by variant strains of the virus, the effectiveness of vaccines and attitudes towards receiving them, material and supply chain constraints, labor shortages, the scope of governmental and other restrictions on travel, discretionary services and other activity and public reactions to these developments. For example, these developments and measures have resulted in rapid and adverse changes to the operating environment in which we do business, as well as continued significant uncertainty concerning the near and long term economic ramifications of the COVID-19 outbreak, which have adversely impacted our ability to forecast our results and respond in a timely and effective manner to trends related to COVID-19. The longer the global outbreak and measures designed to curb the spread of COVID-19 continue to adversely affect levels of consumer confidence, discretionary spending and the willingness of consumers to interact with other consumers, vendors and service providers face-to-face (and in turn, adversely affect demand for our various products and services), the greater the adverse impact is likely to be on our business, financial condition and results of operations and the more limited our ability will be to try and make up for delayed or lost revenues. The COVID-19 outbreak may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus. IAC will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on its business, financial condition and results of operations. The volatile nature of our operating results in 2020 due to COVID-19 will impact the comparability of our year-over-year results of operations and the impact of COVID-19 on IAC’s revenues and expenses may also continue to fluctuate into 2022.
Legal & Regulatory
Total Risks: 1/32 (3%)Below Sector Average
Environmental / Social1 | 3.1%
Environmental / Social - Risk 1
The processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal data could give rise to liabilities and increased costs.
We receive, transmit and store a large volume of personal information and other user and subscriber data (including private content, such as videos and correspondence) in connection with the processing of search queries, the provision of online products and services generally and the display of advertising on our various properties. The manner in which we share, store, use, disclose and protect this information is determined by the respective privacy and data security policies of our various businesses, as well as federal, state and foreign laws and regulations and evolving industry standards and practices, which are changing, and in some cases, inconsistent and conflicting and subject to differing interpretations. In addition, new laws, regulations, standards and practices of this nature are proposed and adopted from time to time. For a description of laws, regulations and rules concerning the processing, storage and use of disclosure of personal data, see “Item 1 ?—? Business?—?Description of IAC Businesses?—?Government Regulation.” While we believe that we comply with applicable privacy and data protection policies, laws and regulations and industry standards and practices in all material respects, we could still be subject to claims of non-compliance that we may not be able to successfully defend and/or may result in significant fines and penalties. Moreover, any non-compliance or perceived non-compliance by us (and/or any third party we engage) or any compromise of security that results in unauthorized access to (or use or transmission of) personal information could result in a variety of claims against us, including governmental enforcement actions, significant fines, litigation (including consumer class actions), claims of breach of contract and indemnity by third parties and adverse publicity. When such events occur, our reputation could be harmed and the competitive positions of our various brands and businesses could be diminished, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, to the extent multiple U.S. state-level (and/or European Union member-state level) laws continue to be introduced with inconsistent or conflicting standards and there is no federal or European Union regulation to preempt such laws, compliance could be even more difficult to achieve and our potential exposure to the risks discussed above could increase. Lastly, ongoing compliance with existing (and compliance with future) privacy and data protection laws worldwide is (and we expect that it will continue to be) costly. The devotion of significant costs to compliance (versus to the development of products and services) could result in delays in the development of new products and services, us ceasing to provide problematic products and services in existing jurisdictions and us being prevented from introducing products and services in new and existing jurisdictions, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.

FAQ

What are “Risk Factors”?
Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.
    The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.
      They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.
        It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.
          How do companies disclose their risk factors?
          Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.
            Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.
              Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.
                According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.
                  How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?
                  Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.
                    You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.
                      Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.
                        A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.
                          What are all the risk factor categories?
                          TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.
                          1. Financial & Corporate
                          • Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
                          • Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
                          • Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
                          • Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.
                          2. Legal & Regulatory
                          • Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
                          • Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
                          • Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
                          • Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.
                          3. Production
                          • Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
                          • Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
                          • Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
                          • Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.
                          4. Technology & Innovation
                          • Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
                          • Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
                          • Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
                          • Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.
                          5. Ability to Sell
                          • Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
                          • Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
                          • Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
                          • Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.
                          6. Macro & Political
                          • Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
                          • Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
                          • International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
                          • Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.
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