ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Our Company
Radiant Logistics, Inc. (the “Company”, “we” or “us”), operates as a third-party logistics company, providing multi-modal transportation and logistics services primarily to customers based in the United States and Canada. We service a large and diversified account base, which we support from an extensive network of locations across North America as well as an integrated international service partner network located in other key markets around the globe. We provide these services through a multi-brand network, which includes over 100 locations operated exclusively on our behalf by independent agents, who we also refer to as our “strategic operating partners”, as well as approximately 20 Company-owned offices. As a third-party logistics company, we have a vast carrier network of asset-based transportation companies, including motor carriers, railroads, airlines and ocean lines in our carrier network. We believe shippers value our services because we are able to objectively arrange the most efficient and cost-effective means, type and provider of transportation service without undue influence caused by the ownership of transportation assets. In addition, our minimal investment in physical assets affords us the opportunity for a higher return on invested capital and net cash flows than our asset-based competitors.
Through our operating locations across North America, we offer domestic and international air and ocean freight forwarding services and freight brokerage services including truckload services, less than truckload (“LTL”) services, and intermodal services, which is the movement of freight in trailers or containers by combination of truck and rail. Our primary business operations involve arranging the shipment, on behalf of our customers, of materials, products, equipment and other goods that are generally larger than shipments handled by integrated carriers of primarily small parcels, such as FedEx, DHL and UPS. Our services include arranging and monitoring all aspects of material flow activity utilizing advanced information technology systems. We also provide other value-added supply chain services, including order fulfillment, inventory management, warehouse and distribution services (collectively, “Materials Management and Distribution” or “MM&D” services), and customs brokerage services to complement our core transportation service offering.
The Company expects to grow its business organically and by completing acquisitions of other companies with complementary geographical and logistics service offerings. The Company’s organic growth strategy will continue to focus on strengthening existing and expanding new customer relationships leveraging the benefit of the Company’s truck brokerage and intermodal service offerings, while continuing its efforts on the organic build-out of the Company’s network of strategic operating partner locations. In addition, as the Company continues to grow and scale its business, the Company believes that it is creating density in its trade lanes, which creates opportunities for the Company to more efficiently source and manage its transportation capacity.
In addition to its focus on organic growth, the Company will continue to search for acquisition candidates that bring critical mass from a geographic and purchasing power standpoint, along with providing complementary service offerings to the current platform. As the Company continues to grow and scale its business, it also remains focused on leveraging its back-office infrastructure and technology systems to drive productivity improvement across the organization.
COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have widespread, rapidly evolving, and unpredictable impacts on global society, economies, financial markets, and business practices. The pandemic has created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. We are closely monitoring the impact of the pandemic on all aspects of our business, our customers, employees and business partners. The overall demand for transportation services have been significantly impacted. COVID-19 has adversely affected most of our operations, financial condition, and results of operations in the fourth quarter of our fiscal year 2020. Beginning in April of 2020, we have experienced decreased customer demands in many parts of our business while seeing improvements in the demand in certain segments of business.
We have been working hard to mitigate the negative financial impacts of COVID-19 with a number of initiatives in response to our declining revenues. However, the relative effectiveness will depend on the severity and duration of the pandemic. We face significant risks related to the spread of COVID-19 and the recent developments surrounding the global pandemic have had, and will continue to have, significant effects on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We are facing increased operational challenges from the need to protect employee health and safety. We expect to continue to incur additional costs as we continue to implement operational changes in response to the pandemic. We face significant risks related to the global economic downturn and severe reduction in revenues caused by the pandemic. These risks include materially reduced demand for our services and challenges to the ongoing viability of some of our customers. An extended period of remote work arrangements could strain our business continuity plans, introduce operational risk, including but not limited to cybersecurity risks, and impair our ability to manage our business.
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The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic may last for a significant period of time and may continue to adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition even after the COVID-19 outbreak has subsided. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts us will depend on numerous evolving factors and future developments that we are not able to predict, including: the severity and duration of the outbreak; governmental, business and other actions; the impact of the pandemic on economic activity; the effect on consumer confidence and spending, customer demand and buying patterns; the health of and the effect on our workforce and our ability to meet staffing needs; any impairment in value of our tangible or intangible assets that could be recorded as a result of weaker economic conditions; and the potential effects on our internal controls including those over financial reporting as a result of changes in working environments. Provisions for bad debt expense may increase given the financial difficulty faced by our customers, which could impact our ability to borrow under our revolving credit facility.
Due to the unprecedented and evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains very difficult to predict the extent of the impact on our industry generally and our business in particular. While we anticipate that our results of operations will continue to be impacted by this pandemic in fiscal year 2021, we are unable to reasonably estimate the extent of the impact on our full-year results of operations, our liquidity or our overall financial position. We may face similar risks in connection with any future public health crises.
Competitive Strengths
As a non-asset based third-party logistics provider, we believe that we are well-positioned to provide cost-effective and efficient solutions to address the demand in the marketplace for transportation and logistics services. We believe that the most important competitive factors in our industry are quality of service, including reliability, responsiveness, expertise and convenience, scope of operations, geographic coverage, information technology and price. We believe our primary competitive advantages are as follows:
Non-asset-based business model
As a non-asset-based logistics provider, we own only a minimal amount of equipment. By not owning the transportation equipment used to transport the freight, which results in relatively minimal fixed operating costs, we are able to leverage our network of locations to offer competitive pricing and flexible solutions to our customers. Moreover, our balanced product offering provides us with revenue streams from multiple sources and enables us to retain customers even as they shift across various modes of transportation. We believe our low capital intensity model allows us to provide low-cost solutions to our customers, operate our business with strong cash flow characteristics, and retain significant flexibility in responding to changing industries and economic conditions.
Offer significant advantages to our strategic operating partners
Our current network is predominantly represented by independent agents, who operate exclusively on our behalf, who we also refer to as our “strategic operating partners”, who rely on us for operating authority, technology, sales and marketing support, access to working capital, our carrier and international partner networks, and collective purchasing power. Through this collaboration, our strategic operating partners have the ability to focus on the operational and sales support aspects of their business without diverting costs or expertise to the structural aspect of their operations, thus, providing our strategic operating partners with the regional, national and global brand recognition that they would not otherwise be able to achieve acting alone.
Lower-risk operation of network of strategic operating partners
We derive a substantial portion of our revenue pursuant to agreements with our strategic operating partners operating under our various brands. These arrangements afford us with a relatively low risk growth model as each strategic operating partner is responsible for its own sales and costs of operations. Under shared economic arrangements, we are responsible to provide to our strategic operating partners centralized back-office infrastructure, transportation and accounting systems, billing and collection services.
Diverse customer base
We service a large and diversified account base of over 12,000 accounts consisting of consumer goods, food and beverage, manufacturing and retail customers. For the annual period up to the date of this report, no single customer and no strategic operating partner represented more than 15% of our consolidated revenue, reducing risks associated with any particular industry, geographic or customer concentration. For the year ended June 30, 2020, revenue from one customer of our US operating segment represents approximately $127 million, or 14.8%, of the Company’s consolidated revenues.
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Information technology resources
A primary component of our business strategy is the continued development of advanced information systems to provide accurate and timely information to our management, strategic operating partners and customers. We believe that the ability to provide accurate real-time information on the status of shipments has and will become increasingly important in our industry. Our customer delivery tools enable connectivity with our customers’ and trading partners’ systems, which leads to more accurate and up-to-date information on the status of shipments. Our centralized transportation management system (rating, routing, tender and financial settlement process) drives significant efficiency across our network.
Global network of transportation providers
We provide worldwide supply chain services, which include international air and ocean services that complement our domestic service offerings. Our offerings include heavyweight and small package air services, providing same day (next flight out) air charters, next day a.m./p.m., second day a.m./p.m. as well as time definite surface transport moves. Our non-asset-based business model allows us to use commercial passenger and cargo flights. Thus, we have thousands of daily flight options to choose from, and our pickup and delivery network provides us with zip code to zip code coverage throughout North America.
Sourcing and managing transportation
As we continue to grow and scale the business, we believe that we are developing density in our trade lanes, which creates opportunities for us to more efficiently source and manage our transportation capacity. With our acquisition of Wheels Group, Inc. in 2015, our network has access to truck brokerage and intermodal capabilities. We believe the benefit of our relative purchasing power along with our service line expansion will serve as a competitive differentiator in the marketplace to help us secure new customers and attract additional strategic operating partners to our network.
Value-added services
In addition to our core transportation service offerings, we also provide value-added supply chain services including order fulfillment, inventory management, MM&D, and customs brokerage services. We believe that our value-added services allow us to leverage our transportation services to generate additional revenue and provide additional convenience to our customers.
Industry Overview
The logistics industry is highly fragmented with thousands of companies of various sizes competing in the domestic and international markets. As business requirements for efficient and cost-effective logistics services have increased, so has the importance and complexity of effectively managing freight transportation. Businesses increasingly strive to minimize inventory levels, perform manufacturing and assembly operations in the lowest cost locations, and distribute their products in numerous global markets. As a result, companies are increasingly looking to third-party logistics providers to help them execute their supply chain strategies.
Shippers typically manage their supply chains using some combination of asset and non-asset-based service providers. We operate principally as a non-asset based third-party logistics provider focused on freight forwarding, truck brokerage and intermodal transportation services along with associated value-added services. According to Armstrong and Associates, the market for third-party logistics services in the United States and Canada is estimated at approximately $229.5 billion annually.
Because non-asset based companies select from various transportation options in routing customer shipments, they are often able to serve customers less expensively and with greater flexibility than their asset based competitors, who are typically focused on maximizing the utilization of their own captive fleets of trucks, aircraft and ships rather than the specific needs of the customer.
We believe there are several factors that are increasing demand for global logistics solutions. These factors include:
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outsourcing of non-core activities;
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globalization of trade;
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increased need for time-definite delivery;
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consolidation of global logistics providers; and
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increasing influence of e-business and the Internet.
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Our Growth Strategy
Our objective is to provide customers with comprehensive multi-modal transportation and logistics solutions offered by us through our Radiant®, Wheels™, Airgroup®, Adcom®, DBA™ and Service by Air™ brands. Since inception of our business in 2006, we have executed a strategy to expand operations through a combination of organic growth and the strategic acquisition of non-asset-based transportation and logistics providers meeting our acquisition criteria. We have successfully completed 19 acquisitions since our initial acquisition of Airgroup in January of 2006, including:
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Automotive Services Group, expanding our services into the automotive industry, in 2007;
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Adcom Express, Inc., (“Adcom”) adding domestic operating partner locations, in 2008;
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DBA Distribution Services, Inc., (“DBA”) adding two Company-owned locations and operating partner locations, in 2011;
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ISLA International Ltd., (“ISLA”) adding a Company-owned location in Laredo, Texas, providing us with bilingual expertise in both north and south bound cross-border transportation and logistics services, in 2011;
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Brunswicks Logistics, Inc., (“ALBS”) adding a strategic Company-owned location in New York-JFK, in 2012;
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Marvir Logistics, Inc., (“Marvir”) adding a Company location in Los Angeles from the conversion of a former operating partner since 2006, in 2012;
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International Freight Systems of Oregon, Inc., (“IFS”) adding a Company location in Portland, Oregon, from the conversion of a former operating partner since 2007, in 2012;
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On Time Express, Inc., (“On Time”) adding three Company-owned locations in Phoenix, Arizona, Dallas, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia, to providing additional line-haul and time critical logistics capabilities, in 2013;
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Phoenix Cartage and Air Freight, LLC, (“PCA”) opening a Company-owned location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2014;
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Trans-NET, Inc. (“TNI”) expanding Company-owned operations in Seattle, Washington and providing a gateway of services to the Russian Far East, in 2014;
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Don Cameron and Associates, Inc. (“DCA”), a Minnesota based, privately held company that provides a full range of domestic and international transportation and logistics services across North America, in 2014;
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Wheels Group, Inc. (“Wheels”), one of the largest third-party logistics providers in Canada, offering truck brokerage services and intermodal service offering throughout the United States and Canada along with value-added warehouse and distribution service offerings in support of U.S. shippers looking to access the Canadian markets, in 2015;
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Highways and Skyways, Inc. (“Highways”), a privately held Kentucky based company, adding a Company-owned location near the Cincinnati airport from the conversion of a former SBA operating partner in 2015;
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Service by Air, Inc. (“SBA”), a privately held corporation based in New York, adding three Company-owned operating locations and forty strategic operating partner locations across North America, in 2015;
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Copper Logistics, Incorporated (“Copper”), a Minneapolis, Minnesota based privately held company that provides a full range of domestic and international transportation and logistics services across North America, in 2015;
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Lomas Logistics (“Lomas”), a division of L.V. Lomas Limited, a Canada based third-party logistics provider that operates in Ontario and British Columbia, in 2017; and
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Dedicated Logistics Technologies, Inc. (“DLT”), a privately held company that has historically operated under the Company’s SBA brand in Newark, New Jersey and Los Angeles, California, in 2017;
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Sandifer-Valley Transportation and Logistics, Ltd. (“SVT”), a privately held company providing a full range of domestic and international cross-border services with Mexico, in 2017; and
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Alexandria, Virginia based Friedway Enterprises, Inc. (“Friedway”) and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania based CIC2, Inc. (“CIC2”), historically operated the Company’s Adcom agency locations, in 2020.
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We expect to grow our business organically and by completing acquisitions of other companies with complementary geographical and logistics service offerings. We will continue to make enhancements to our back-office infrastructure, transportation management, and accounting systems to support this growth. Our organic growth strategy will continue to focus on strengthening existing and expanding new customer relationships, while continuing our efforts on the organic build-out of our network of strategic operating partner locations. In addition, we will also be working to drive further productivity improvements enabled through our value-added truck brokerage and customs house brokerage service capabilities.
Our acquisition strategy has been designed to take advantage of shifting market dynamics. The third-party logistics industry continues to grow as an increasing number of businesses outsource their logistics functions to more cost effectively manage and extract value from their supply chains. The industry is positioned for further consolidation as it remains highly fragmented, and as customers are demanding the types of sophisticated and broad reaching service offerings that can more effectively be handled by larger more diverse organizations. We believe the highly fragmented composition of the marketplace, the industry participants’ need for capital, and their owners’ desire for liquidity has and will continue to produce a large number of attractive acquisition candidates. For the most part, our target acquisition candidates are generally smaller than those identified as acquisition targets of larger public companies and have limited ability to conduct their own public offerings or obtain financing that will provide them with capital for liquidity or rapid growth. We believe that many of these “smaller” companies are receptive to our acquisition program as a vehicle for liquidation or growth. We intend to be opportunistic in executing our acquisition strategy with a goal of expanding both our domestic and international capabilities.
Our Operating Strategy
Leverage the People, Process and Technology Available through a Central Platform. A key element of our operating strategy is to maximize our operational efficiencies by integrating general and administrative functions into our back-office operations and reducing or eliminating redundant functions and facilities at acquired companies. This is designed to enable us to quickly realize potential savings and synergies, efficiently control and monitor operations of acquired companies, and allow acquired companies to focus on growing their sales and operations.
Develop and Maintain Strong Customer Relationships. We seek to develop and maintain strong interactive customer relationships by anticipating and focusing on our customers’ needs. We emphasize a relationship-oriented approach to business, rather than the transaction or assignment-oriented approach used by many of our competitors. To develop close customer relationships, we and our network of operating partners regularly meet with both existing and prospective customers to help design solutions for, and identify the resources needed to execute, their supply chain strategies. We believe that this relationship-oriented approach results in greater customer satisfaction and reduced business development expense.
Operations
Through our operating locations across North America, we offer domestic and international air and ocean freight forwarding services and freight brokerage services including truckload services, LTL services, and intermodal services, which is the movement of freight in trailers or containers by combination of truck and rail. As a third-party logistics provider, our primary business operations involve arranging the shipment, on behalf of our customers, of materials, products, equipment and other goods that are generally larger than shipments handled by integrated carriers of primarily small parcels, such as FedEx, DHL and UPS, including arranging and monitoring all aspects of material flow activity utilizing advanced information technology systems. We also provide other value-added supply chain services, including order fulfillment, inventory management, warehousing and distribution services (“MM&D”), and customs brokerage services, to complement our core transportation service offering.
As a non-asset-based provider, we generally do not own the transportation equipment used to transport the freight. We generally expect to neither own nor operate any material transportation assets and, consequently, arrange for transportation of our customers’ shipments via trucking companies, commercial airlines, air cargo carriers, railroads, ocean carriers and other non-asset based third-party providers. We select the carrier for a shipment based on route, departure time, available cargo capacity and cost. We may charter cargo aircraft and/or ocean vessels from time to time depending upon seasonality, freight volumes and other factors. We generate our gross margin on the difference between what we charge to our customers for the services provided to them, and what we pay to the transportation providers to transport the freight.
We are organized functionally in two geographic operating segments: U.S. and Canada. Our transportation services for both the U.S. and Canada segments can be broadly placed into the categories of freight forwarding and freight brokerage services:
Freight forwarding. As a freight forwarder, we operate as a non-asset-based carrier providing domestic and international air and ocean freight forwarding services. Our freight forwarding operations involve obtaining shipment or material orders from customers, creating and delivering a wide range of logistics solutions to meet customers' specific requirements for transportation and related services, and arranging and monitoring all aspects of material flow activity utilizing advanced information technology systems. We arrange for transportation of our customers’ shipments via trucking companies, commercial airlines, air cargo carriers, ocean carriers and other asset and non-asset based third-party providers. We select the carrier for a shipment based on route, departure time, available cargo capacity and cost. We charter cargo aircraft from time to time depending upon seasonality, freight volumes and other factors.
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Freight brokerage. We also provide significant bi-modal brokerage capabilities providing truck load, LTL and intermodal services throughout the United States and Canada, which is managed through our centralized service centers in Chicago, Illinois and Toronto, Ontario. We offer temperature-controlled, dry van, intermodal drayage, and flatbed services and specialize in the transport of food and beverage, consumer packaged goods and frozen food and refrigerated products.
As a truck broker, we match the customers’ needs with carriers’ capacity to provide the most effective combination of service and price. We have contracts with a substantial number of carriers allowing us to meet the varied needs of our customers. As part of the truck brokerage services, we negotiate rates, track shipments in transit and handle claims for freight loss and damage on behalf of our customers. For our LTL service, we employ a point-to-point model that we believe serves as a competitive advantage over the traditional hub and spoke LTL model in terms of faster transit times, lower incidence of damage, and reduced fuel consumption.
As an intermodal services company, we arrange for the movement of our customers’ freight in containers, trailers and rail boxcars, typically over long distances of at least 750 miles. We contract with railroads to provide transportation for the long-haul portion of the shipment and with local trucking companies, known as “drayage companies,” for pickup and delivery. As part of our intermodal services, we negotiate rail and drayage rates, electronically track shipments in transit, consolidate billing and handle claims for freight loss or damage on behalf of our customers.
To complement our core transportation service offerings, we also provide a number of value-added services, including customs brokerage and MM&D solutions.
Information Services
The continued enhancement of our information systems and ultimate migration of acquired companies and additional strategic operating partners to a common set of customer-facing and back-office applications is a key component of our growth strategy. We believe that the ability to provide accurate real-time information on the status of shipments as well as enhanced reporting and visibility tools has become increasingly important and that our efforts in this area will result in competitive service advantages. In addition, we believe that centralizing our operations into a single transportation management system (rating, routing, tender and financial settlement processes) will continue to drive significant productivity improvement across our network.
In our forwarding operations, we use third-party transportation management system (Cargowise) and are migrating operations to SAP TM, that are integrated to our third-party accounting system (SAP). These systems combine to form the foundation of our supply-chain technologies, which provides us with a common set of back-office operating, accounting and customer facing applications. In our brokerage operations, we utilize the TEDS system for transportation management and Megatrans for intermodal services. In our warehousing operations, we use Microsoft’s Navision and are migrating to Highjump, which uses SAP for order management services. These systems are connected to Epicor and JD Edwards for accounting and financial reporting. We continue to make gradual progress in migrating these various operating and financial reporting systems to a singular SAP-based platform. We are taking a phased approach to these migrations and currently we continue to transition our domestic and international freight forwarding services to our new SAP-based transportation management system. Future phases will include the transition of our legacy brokerage transportation management and financial reporting systems to SAP.
Sales and Marketing
We principally market our services through our network of Company-owned and strategic operating partner locations across North America. Each office is staffed with operational employees to provide support for the sales team, develop frequent contact with the customer’s traffic department, and maintain customer service. Our current network is predominantly represented by strategic operating partners that rely on us for operating authority, technology, sales and marketing support, access to working capital, our carrier and international partners networks, and collective purchasing power. Through this collaboration, our strategic operating partners have the ability to focus on the operational and sales support aspects of the business without diverting costs or expertise to the structural aspect of their operations, providing our partners with the regional, national and global brand recognition that they would not otherwise be able to achieve by solely serving their local market. We have no customers or strategic operating partners that separately account for more than 15% of our consolidated revenue, although we do have a number of significant customers and strategic operating partner locations with volume and stature, the loss of one or more of which could negatively impact our ability to retain and service our customers. For the year ended June 30, 2020, revenue from one customer of our US operating segment represents approximately $127 million, or 14.8%, of the Company’s consolidated revenues.
Competition and Business Conditions
The logistics business is directly impacted by the volume of domestic and international trade. The volume of such trade is influenced by many factors, including economic and political conditions in the United States and abroad, major work stoppages, currency fluctuations, acts of war, terrorism and other armed conflicts, United States and international laws relating to tariffs, trade restrictions, foreign investments and taxation.
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The global transportation and logistics services industry is intensively competitive and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future. We compete against asset based and other non-asset based third-party logistics companies, consultants, information technology vendors and shippers’ transportation departments. This competition is based primarily on rates, quality of service (such as damage-free shipments, on-time delivery and consistent transit times), reliable pickup and delivery and scope of operations. Certain of our competitors have substantially greater financial resources than we do. However, we believe the incremental service offerings enabled through our acquisition strategy (e.g. Wheels’ truck brokerage and intermodal capabilities) will serve as a catalyst for margin expansion in our existing business and a competitive differentiator in the marketplace to help us secure new customers and attract additional strategic operating partners to our network.
Regulation
Interstate and international transportation of freight is highly regulated. Failure to comply with applicable state and federal regulations, or to maintain required permits or licenses, can result in substantial fines or revocation of operating permits or authorities imposed on both transportation intermediaries and their shipper customers. We cannot give assurance as to the degree or cost of future regulations on our business. Some of the regulations affecting our current and prospective operations are described below.
Air freight forwarding operations are subject to regulation, as an indirect air cargo carrier, under the Federal Aviation Act as enforced by the Federal Aviation Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Transportation Security Administration of the Department of Homeland Security. While air freight forwarders are exempted from most of the Federal Aviation Act’s requirements by the Economic Aviation Regulations, the industry is subject to ongoing regulatory and legislative developments that can impact the economics of the industry by requiring changes to operating practices or influencing the demand for, and the costs of, providing services to customers.
Surface freight forwarding operations are subject to various state and federal statutes and are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation and, to a very limited extent, the Surface Transportation Board. These federal agencies have broad investigatory and regulatory powers, including the power to issue a certificate of authority or license to engage in the business, to approve specified mergers, consolidations and acquisitions, and to regulate the delivery of some types of domestic shipments and operations within particular geographic areas.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also has the authority to regulate interstate motor carrier operations, including the regulation of certain rates, charges and accounting systems, to require periodic financial reporting, and to regulate insurance, driver qualifications, operation of motor vehicles, parts and accessories for motor vehicle equipment, hours of service of drivers, inspection, repair, maintenance standards and other safety related matters. The federal laws governing interstate motor carriers have both direct and indirect application to the Company. The breadth and scope of the federal regulations may affect our operations and the motor carriers that are used in the provisioning of the transportation services. In certain locations, state or local permits or registrations may also be required to provide or obtain intrastate motor carrier services.
The Federal Maritime Commission, or FMC, regulates and licenses ocean forwarding operations. Non-vessel operating common carriers are subject to FMC regulation, under the FMC tariff filing and surety bond requirements, and under the Shipping Act of 1984, particularly those terms proscribing rebating practices.
United States customs brokerage operations are subject to the licensing requirements of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security. Likewise, any customs brokerage operations must also be licensed in and subject to the regulations of countries into which freight is imported.
Employees
As of June 30, 2020, we have 603 employees, of which 579 are full time. This headcount excludes furloughed employees. None of these employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We have experienced no work stoppages and consider our relations with our employees to be good.
Available Information
We maintain a website at www.radiantdelivers.com. We are not including the information contained on our website as a part of, nor incorporating it by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We post on our website, free of charge, documents that we file with or furnish to the SEC, including our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and proxy statements, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the SEC. These reports are also available free of charge on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
RISKS PARTICULAR TO OUR BUSINESS
You should carefully consider the risk factors set forth below as well as the other information contained in or incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K before investing in our common stock. Any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In such a case, you may lose all or part of your investment. The risks described below are not the only risks facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or those we currently view to be immaterial may also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. The future trading price of shares of our common stock will be affected by the performance of our business relative to, among other things, competition, market conditions and general economic and industry conditions.
Risks Related to our Business
COVID-19 or other health crises may adversely affect our business.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have widespread, rapidly evolving, and unpredictable impacts on global society, economies, financial markets, and business practices. The pandemic has created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. We are closely monitoring the impact of the pandemic on all aspects of our business, our customers, employees and business partners. The overall demand for transportation services have been significantly impacted. COVID-19 has adversely affected most of our operations, financial condition, and results of operations in the fourth quarter of our fiscal year 2020. Beginning in April of 2020, we have experienced decreased customer demands in many parts of our business while seeing improvements in the demand in certain segments of business.
We have been working hard to mitigate the negative financial impacts of COVID-19 with a number of initiatives in response our declining revenues. However, the relative effectiveness will depend on the severity and duration of the pandemic. We face significant risks related to the spread of COVID-19 and the recent developments surrounding the global pandemic have had, and will continue to have, significant effects on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We are facing increased operational challenges from the need to protect employee health and safety. We expect to continue to incur additional costs as we continue to implement operational changes in response to the pandemic. We face significant risks related to the global economic downturn and severe reduction in revenues caused by the pandemic. These risks include materially reduced demand for our services and challenges to the ongoing viability of some of our customers. An extended period of remote work arrangements could strain our business continuity plans, introduce operational risk, including but not limited to cybersecurity risks, and impair our ability to manage our business.
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic may last for a significant period of time and may continue to adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition even after the COVID-19 outbreak has subsided. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts us will depend on numerous evolving factors and future developments that we are not able to predict, including: the severity and duration of the outbreak; governmental, business and other actions; the impact of the pandemic on economic activity; the effect on consumer confidence and spending, customer demand and buying patterns; the health of and the effect on our workforce and our ability to meet staffing needs; any impairment in value of our tangible or intangible assets that could be recorded as a result of weaker economic conditions; and the potential effects on our internal controls including those over financial reporting as a result of changes in working environments. Provisions for bad debt expense may increase given the financial difficulty faced by our customers, which could impact our ability to borrow under our revolving credit facility.
Due to the unprecedented and evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains very difficult to predict the extent of the impact on our industry generally and our business in particular. While we anticipate that our results of operations will continue to be impacted by this pandemic in fiscal year 2021, we are unable to reasonably estimate the extent of the impact on our full-year results of operations, our liquidity or our overall financial position. We may face similar risks in connection with any future public health crises.
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Risks related to our receipt of PPP funding.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting impact on our current and future operations we applied for funds under the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”). In April of 2020 we were approved for the amount of $5.9 million, which we received in May 2020. The PPP loan application required us to certify, among other things, that the current economic uncertainty made the PPP loan request necessary to support our ongoing operations. While we made this certification in good faith, the certification does not contain any objective criteria and is subject to interpretation. In early 2020, the Small Business Administration provided guidance that it would be unlikely that a public company with substantial market value and access to capital markets would be able to make the required certification in good faith, and such company should be prepared to demonstrate to the Small Business Administration, upon request, the basis for its certification. Further, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Small Business Administration Administrator announced that the government will conduct a full audit of all PPP loans of more than $2 million for which the borrower applies for forgiveness. While we believe we have satisfied all eligibility requirements for the PPP loans, there is a risk that we may be deemed to ineligible to receive the PPP loans or in violation of any of the laws or governmental regulations that apply to us in connection with the PPP loans; we may be required to repay the PPP loans in their entirety and we could be subject to additional penalties.
We need to maintain and expand our existing strategic operating partner network to increase revenues.
We sell our services through Company-owned locations operating under the Radiant brands and through a network of independently owned strategic operating partners throughout North America operating under the Airgroup, Adcom, DBA and Service by Air brands. For the years ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, approximately 55% and 56% of our consolidated net revenues (this is a non-GAAP measure, see further discussion and reconciliation to a GAAP measure in Item 7) was derived through our strategic operating partners. We believe our strategic operating partners will remain a critical component to our success for the foreseeable future. Although the terms of our strategic operating partner agreements vary widely, they generally cover the manner and amount of payments, the services to be performed, the length of the contract, and provide us with certain protections such as strategic operating partner-funded reserves against potential bad debts, indemnification obligations, and in certain instances include a personal guaranty of the independent owner(s) of the strategic operating partners. Additionally, certain of our strategic operating partner agreements may impose restrictions on us, including our ability to provide services in certain territories or to certain customers and our ability to hire employees of our strategic operating partners. Certain of our strategic operating partner agreements are for defined terms, while others are subject to “evergreen” terms, or contain automatic renewal provisions or are at-will on a month-to-month basis. Regardless of stated term, in most situations the agreements can be terminated by the strategic operating partner with prior notice. As certain agreements expire, there can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into new agreements that provide for the same terms and economics as those previously agreed upon, if at all. Thus, we are subject to the risk of strategic operating partner terminations and the failure or refusal of certain of our strategic operating partners to renew their existing agreements. This risk is often accentuated upon the acquisition of a new agency-based network. We have a number of customers and strategic operating partner locations with significant volume and stature; however, no single customer or strategic operating partner location represents more than 15% of our consolidated revenue. We cannot be certain that we will be able to maintain and expand our existing strategic operating partner relationships or enter into new strategic operating partner relationships, or that new or renewed strategic operating partner relationships will be available on commercially reasonable terms. If we are unable to maintain and expand our existing strategic operating partner relationships, renew existing strategic operating partner relationships, or enter into new strategic operating partner relationships, we may lose customers, customer introductions and co-marketing benefits, and our operating results may be negatively impacted. We may also be restricted from growing in certain territories or with certain customers, except through our strategic operating partners.
If our strategic operating partners fail to maintain adequate reserves against unpaid customer invoices, or if we are unable to offset against commissions earned and payable by us to our strategic operating partners for unpaid customer invoices, our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
We derive a substantial portion of our revenue pursuant to agreements with strategic operating partners operating under our various brands. Under these agreements, each individual strategic operating partner is responsible for some or all of the collection of amounts due from customers being serviced by such strategic operating partner. Certain of our strategic operating partners are required to maintain a security deposit with us to be used to fund those customer accounts ultimately not collected by us. We charge each of the strategic operating partners for any accounts receivable aged beyond 90 days. If the strategic operating partner’s deposit with us has been depleted, an amount will be owed to us by our strategic operating partner. Based on legacy contracts assumed upon acquisition, some strategic operating partners are not required to maintain a security deposit, however, they are still responsible for deficits and their strategic operating partner agreements provide that we may withhold all or a portion of future commissions payable to the strategic operating partner in satisfaction of any deficit. As of June 30, 2020, approximately $0.9 million was owed to us by our strategic operating partners. To the extent any of these strategic operating partners cease operations or are otherwise unable to replenish these deficit accounts, we would be at risk of loss for any such amount. We include such amounts in the allowance for doubtful accounts when it is probable the amounts owed will not be collected.
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Failure to comply with obligations as an “indirect air carrier” could result in penalties and fines and limit our ability to ship freight.
We are regulated, among other things, as “indirect air carriers” by the Transportation Security Administration of the Department of Homeland Security. These agencies provide requirements, guidance and, in some cases, administer licensing requirements and processes applicable to the freight forwarding industry. We monitor our compliance and the compliance of our subsidiaries with such agency requirements. We rely on our strategic operating partners to monitor their own compliance, except when we are notified of a violation, when we may become involved. Failure to comply with these requirements, policies and procedures could result in penalties and fines. To date, a limited number of our strategic operating partners have been out of compliance with the “indirect air carrier” regulations, resulting in fines to us, which we attempt to collect from the strategic operating partners. There is no assurance that additional violations will not take place, which could result in penalties or fines or, in the extreme case, limits on our ability to ship freight.
Our business will be seriously harmed if we fail to develop, implement, maintain, upgrade, enhance, protect and integrate information technology systems.
We rely heavily on our information technology systems to efficiently run our business, and they are a key component of our growth strategy. To keep pace with changing technologies and customer demands, we must correctly interpret and address market trends and enhance the features and functionality of our technology platform in response to these trends, which may lead to significant ongoing software development or licensing costs. We may be unable to accurately determine the needs of our customers and strategic operating partners and the trends in the transportation services industry, or to design or license and implement the appropriate features and functionality of our technology platform in a timely and cost-effective manner, which could result in decreased demand for our services and a corresponding decrease in our revenues. Despite testing, external and internal risks, such as malware, insecure coding, “Acts of God,” data leakage and human error pose a direct threat to our information technology systems and operations. We may also be subject to cybersecurity attacks and other intentional hacking. Any failure to identify and address such defects or errors or prevent a cyber-attack could result in service interruptions, operational difficulties, loss of revenues or market share, liability to customers or others, diversion of resources, injury to our reputation and increased service and maintenance costs. Addressing such issues could prove to be impossible or very costly and responding to resulting claims or liability could similarly involve substantial cost. We must maintain and enhance the reliability and speed of our information technology systems to remain competitive and effectively handle higher volumes of freight through our network and the various service modes we offer. If our information technology systems are unable to manage additional volume for our operations as our business grows, or if such systems are not suited to manage the various service modes we offer or businesses we acquire, our service levels and operating efficiency could decline. We expect customers and strategic operating partners to continue to demand more sophisticated, fully integrated information systems from their supply chain services providers. If we fail to hire and retain qualified personnel to implement, protect and maintain our information technology systems or if we fail to upgrade our systems to meet our customers’ and strategic operating partners’ demands, our business and results of operations could be seriously harmed. This could result in a loss of customers or a decline in the volume of freight we receive from customers.
In addition, acquired companies will need to be integrated with our information technology systems, which may cause additional training or licensing cost, along with potential delays and disruption. In such event, our revenue, financial results and ability to operate profitably could be negatively impacted. The challenges associated with integration of our acquisitions may increase these risks.
Our management information and financial reporting systems are spread across diverse platforms and geographies.
The growth of our business through acquisitions has resulted in our reliance on the accounting, business information, and other computer systems of these acquired entities to capture and transmit information concerning customer orders, carrier payment, payroll, and other critical business data. We continue to make progress towards migrating our various legacy operating and accounting systems to a new singular SAP-based system. As long as an acquired business remains on another information technology system, we face additional manual calculations, training costs, delays, and an increased possibility of inaccuracies in the data we use to manage our business and report our financial results. Any delay in compiling, assessing, and reporting information could adversely impact our business, our ability to timely react to changes in volumes, prices, or other trends, or to take actions to comply with financial covenants, all of which could negatively impact our stock price.
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We depend on third-party carriers to transport our customers’ cargo.
We rely on commercial airfreight carriers and air charter operators, ocean freight carriers, trucking companies, major U.S. railroads, other transportation companies, draymen and longshoremen for the movement of our customers’ cargo. Consequently, our ability to provide services for our customers could be adversely impacted by, among other things: shortages in available cargo capacity; changes by carriers and transportation companies in policies and practices such as scheduling, pricing, payment terms and frequency of service, increases in the cost of fuel, taxes and labor, changes in the financial stability or operating capabilities of carriers, and other factors not within our control. Reductions in airfreight or ocean freight capacity could negatively impact our yields. Material interruptions in service or stoppages in transportation, whether caused by strike, work stoppage, lock-out, slowdown or otherwise, could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, any determination that our third-party carriers have violated laws and regulations could seriously damage our reputation and brands, resulting in diminished revenue and profit and increased operating costs.
Our profitability depends on our ability to effectively manage our cost structure as we grow the business.
We have increased, and intend to further increase, our revenue through organic growth, adding strategic operating partners, and acquisitions. We believe that certain of our costs, such as those related to information technology, physical locations, senior management, and sales and general operations, and excluding non-cash amortization, should grow more slowly than our net revenue, which would lead to improved cash flow margins over time. Historically, our cash flow margins have fluctuated, and have not always improved as we have grown. To the extent we fail to manage our costs, including purchased transportation, strategic operating partner commissions, personnel expenses, and sales and general expenses, our profitability may not improve or may decrease. This could adversely impact our business, results of operation, financial condition, and the trading price of our common stock.
Our business is subject to seasonal trends.
Historically, our operating results have been subject to seasonal trends when measured on a quarterly basis. Our first and fourth fiscal quarters are traditionally weaker compared with our second and third fiscal quarters. As a result, our quarterly operating results are likely to continue to fluctuate. This trend is dependent on numerous factors, including the markets in which we operate, holiday seasons, climate, economic conditions and numerous other factors. A substantial portion of our revenue is derived from customers in industries whose shipping patterns are tied closely to consumer demand, which can sometimes be difficult to predict or are based on just-in-time production schedules. Therefore, our revenue is, to a large degree, affected by factors that are outside of our control. There can be no assurance that our historic operating patterns will continue in future periods as we cannot influence or forecast many of these factors.
Comparisons of our operating results from period to period are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indicator of future performance.
Our operating results have fluctuated in the past and likely will continue to fluctuate in the future because of a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. A substantial portion of our revenue is derived from customers in industries whose shipping patterns are tied closely to economic trends and consumer demand that can be difficult to predict or are based on just-in-time production schedules. Because our quarterly revenues and operating results vary significantly, comparisons of our results from period to period are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indicator of future performance. Additionally, the timing of acquisitions, as well as the revenue and expenses of the acquired operations, the transaction expenses, amortization of intangible assets, and interest expense associated with acquisitions can make our operating results from period to period difficult to compare. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that our historical operating patterns will continue in future periods or that comparisons to prior periods will be meaningful.
Economic recessions and other factors that reduce freight volumes could have a material adverse impact on our business.
The transportation industry historically has experienced cyclical fluctuations in financial results due to economic recession, downturns in business cycles of our customers, interest rate fluctuations and other economic factors beyond our control. Deterioration in the economic environment subjects our business to various risks that may have a material impact on our operating results and cause us to not reach our long-term growth goals, and which may include the following:
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a reduction in overall freight volumes in the marketplace reduces our opportunities for growth. In addition, if a downturn in our customers’ business cycles causes a reduction in the volume of freight shipped by those customers, our operating results could be adversely affected;
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some of our customers may face economic difficulties and may not be able to pay us, and some may go out of business. In addition, some customers may not pay us as quickly as they have in the past, causing our working capital needs to increase;
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a significant number of our transportation providers may go out of business and we may be unable to secure sufficient equipment or other transportation services to meet our commitments to our customers; and
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we may not be able to appropriately adjust our expenses to changing market demands. In order to maintain high variability in our business model, it is necessary to adjust staffing levels to changing market demands. In periods of rapid change, it is more difficult to match our staffing level to our business needs. In addition, we have other primarily variable expenses that are fixed for a period of time, and we may not be able to adequately adjust them in a period of rapid change in market demand.
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Higher carrier prices may result in decreased net revenues.
Carriers can be expected to charge higher prices if market conditions warrant, or to cover higher operating expenses. Our net revenues and income from operations may decrease if we are unable to increase our pricing to our customers. Increased demand for truckload services and pending changes in regulations may reduce available capacity and increase carrier pricing.
We face intense competition in the freight forwarding, freight brokerage, logistics and supply chain management industry.
The freight forwarding, freight brokerage, logistics and supply chain management industry is intensely competitive and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future. We face competition from a number of companies, including many that have significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources. Customers increasingly are turning to competitive bidding processes, in which they solicit bids from a number of competitors, including competitors that are larger than us. Increased competition may lead to revenue reductions, reduced profit margins, or a loss of market share, any one of which could harm our business. There are many factors that could impair our profitability, including the following:
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competition with other transportation services companies, some of which have a broader coverage network, a wider range of services, more fully developed information technology systems and greater capital resources than we do;
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reduction by our competitors of their rates to gain business, especially during times of declining growth rates in the economy, which reductions may limit our ability to maintain or increase rates, maintain our operating margins or maintain significant growth in our business;
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shift in the business of shippers to asset-based trucking companies that also offer brokerage services in order to secure access to those companies’ trucking capacity, particularly in times of tight industry-wide capacity;
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solicitation by shippers of bids from multiple transportation providers for their shipping needs and the resulting depression of freight rates or loss of business to competitors; and
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establishment by our competitors of cooperative relationships to increase their ability to address shipper needs.
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Our industry is consolidating and if we cannot gain sufficient market presence, we may not be able to compete successfully against larger companies in our industry.
There currently is a trend within our industry towards consolidation of the niche players into larger companies that are attempting to increase global operations through the acquisition of regional and local freight forwarders, brokers, and other freight logistics providers. If we cannot gain sufficient market presence or otherwise establish a successful strategy in our industry, we may not be able to compete successfully against larger companies in our industry.
If we are not able to limit our liability for customers’ claims for loss or damage to their goods through contract terms and limit our exposure through the purchase of insurance, we could be required to pay large amounts to our customers as compensation for their claims and our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
In our freight forwarding operations, we have liability under law to our customers for loss or damage to their goods. We attempt to limit our exposure through release limits, indemnification by the air, ocean, and ground carriers that transport the freight, and insurance. Moreover, because a freight forwarder relationship to an airline or ocean carrier is that of a shipper to a carrier, the airline or ocean carrier generally assumes the same responsibility to us as we assume to our customers. When we act in the capacity of an authorized agent for an air or ocean carrier, the carrier, rather than us, assumes liability for the safe delivery of the customer’s cargo to its ultimate destination, unless due to our own errors and omissions. However, these efforts may prove unsuccessful and we may be liable for loss and damage to the goods.
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In addition to legal liability, from time to time customers exert economic pressure when the underlying carrier fails to cover the costs of loss or damage. We have, from time to time, made payments to our customers for claims related to our services and may make such payments in the future. Should we experience an increase in the number or size of such claims or an increase in liability pursuant to claims or unfavorable resolutions of claims, our results could be adversely affected.
There can be no assurance that our insurance coverage will provide us with adequate coverage for such claims or that the maximum amounts for which we are liable in connection with our services will not change in the future or exceed our insurance levels. As with every insurance policy, there are limits, exclusions and deductibles that apply, and we could be subject to claims for which insurance coverage may be inadequate or even disputed and such claims could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, significant increases in insurance costs could reduce our profitability.
We may be subject to claims arising from transportation of freight by the carriers with which we contract.
We use the services of thousands of transportation companies in connection with our transportation operations. From time to time, the drivers employed and engaged by the carriers we contract with are involved in accidents, which may result in death or serious personal injuries. The resulting types and/or amounts of damages may be excluded from or exceed the amount of insurance coverage maintained by the contracted carrier. Although these drivers are not our employees and all of these drivers are employees, owner-operators, or independent contractors working for carriers, from time to time, claims may be asserted against us for their actions, or for our actions in retaining them. Claims against us may exceed the amount of our insurance coverage or may not be covered by insurance at all. A material increase in the frequency or severity of accidents, liability claims or workers’ compensation claims, or unfavorable resolutions of claims could materially and adversely affect our operating results. In addition, significant increases in insurance costs or the inability to purchase insurance as a result of these claims could reduce our profitability. Our involvement in the transportation of certain goods, including but not limited to hazardous materials, could also increase our exposure in the event one of our contracted carriers is involved in an accident resulting in injuries or contamination.
We are subject to various claims and lawsuits that could result in significant expenditures.
Our business exposes us to claims and litigation related to damage to cargo, labor and employment practices (including wage-and-hour, employment classification of independent contractor drivers, sales representatives, brokerage agents and other individuals, and other federal and state claims), personal injury, property damage, business practices, environmental liability and other matters. We carry insurance to cover most exposures, subject to specific coverage exceptions, aggregate limits, and self-insured retentions that we negotiate from time to time. However, not all claims are covered, and there can be no assurance that our coverage limits will be adequate to cover all amounts in dispute. To the extent we experience claims that are uninsured, exceed our coverage limits, or involve significant aggregate use of our self-insured retention amounts, the expenses could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, particularly in the quarter in which the amounts are accrued. In addition, in the future, we may be subject to higher insurance premiums or increase our self-insured retention amounts, which could increase our overall costs or the volatility of claims expense.
Our failure to comply with, or the costs of complying with, government regulation could negatively affect our results of operation.
Our business is subject to evolving, complex and increasing regulation by national and international sources. Regulatory changes could affect the economics of our industry by requiring changes in operating practices or influencing the demand for, and the costs of providing, services to customers. Future regulation and our failure to comply with any applicable regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business.
If we are unable to maintain our brand images and corporate reputation, our business may suffer.
Our success depends in part on our ability to maintain the image of the Radiant, Wheels, Airgroup, Adcom, DBA and Service by Air brands and our reputation for providing excellent service to our customers. Service quality issues, actual or perceived, even when false or unfounded, could tarnish the image of our brand and may cause customers to use other freight-forwarding companies. Damage to our reputation and loss of brand equity could reduce demand for our services and thus have an adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations, and could require additional resources to rebuild our reputation and restore the value of our brands.
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Issues related to the intellectual property rights on which our business depends, whether related to our failure to enforce our own rights or infringement claims brought by others, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We use both internally developed and purchased technology in conducting our business. Whether internally developed or purchased, it is possible that the user of these technologies could be claimed to infringe upon or violate the intellectual property rights of third parties. In the event that a claim is made against us by a third-party for the infringement of intellectual property rights, any settlement or adverse judgment against us either in the form of increased costs of licensing or a cease and desist order in using the technology could have an adverse effect on us and our results of operations.
We also rely on a combination of intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, domain names, trade secrets, intellectual property licenses and other contractual rights, to establish and protect our intellectual property and technology. Any of our owned or licensed intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed or misappropriated; our trade secrets and other confidential information could be disclosed in an unauthorized manner to third-parties or we may fail to secure the rights to intellectual property developed by our employees, contractors and others. Given our international operations, we seek to register our trademarks and other intellectual property domestically and internationally. The laws of certain foreign countries may not protect trademarks to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be time consuming and costly, distract management’s attention and resources and ultimately be unsuccessful. Moreover, our failure to develop and properly manage new intellectual property could adversely affect our market positions and business opportunities.
Our failure to obtain, maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights could therefore have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not successfully manage our growth.
We intend to grow rapidly and substantially, including by expanding our internal resources, by making acquisitions and entering into new markets. We may experience difficulties and higher-than-expected expenses in executing this strategy as a result of unfamiliarity with new markets and change in revenue and business models.
Our growth will place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources. We will need to continually improve existing procedures and controls as well as implement new transaction processing, operational and financial systems, and procedures and controls to expand, train and manage our employee base. Our working capital needs will increase substantially as our operations grow. Failure to manage growth effectively, or obtain necessary working capital, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, stock price and financial condition.
Our loans and credit facilities contain financial covenants that may limit current availability and impose ongoing operational limitations and risk of compliance.
We currently maintain (i) a USD$150.0 million revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”) with Bank of America Securities, Inc. as sole book runner and sole lead arranger, Bank of Montreal Chicago Branch, as lender and syndication agent, MUFG Union Bank, N.A as lender and documentation agent and Bank of America, N. A., KeyBank National Association and Washington Federal Bank, National Association as lenders (such named lenders are collectively referred to herein as “Lenders”), pursuant to a Credit Agreement dated as of March 13, 2020, (ii) a CAD$29.0 million senior secured Canadian term loan from Fiera Private Debt Fund IV LP (“FPD IV” formerly, Integrated Private Debt Fund IV LP) pursuant to a CAD$29,000,000 Credit Facilities Loan Agreement (the “FPD IV Loan Agreement”), and (iii) a CAD$10.0 million senior secured Canadian term loan from Fiera Private Debt Fund V LP (“FPD V” formerly, Integrated Private Debt Fund V LP) pursuant to a CAD$10,000,000 Credit Facilities Loan Agreement (the “FPD V Loan Agreement” and, together with the FPD IV Loan Agreement, the “FPD Loan Agreements”). Repayment of the foregoing credit facilities is secured by our assets and the assets of our subsidiaries, including, without limitation, all of the capital stock of our subsidiaries.
For general borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility, the Company is subject to the maximum consolidated leverage ratio of 3.00 and minimum consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.25. Additional minimum availability requirements and financial covenants apply in the event the Company seeks to use advances under the Revolving Credit Facility to pursue acquisitions or repurchase its common stock.
Our compliance with the financial covenants of our credit facilities is particularly important given the materiality of such facilities to our day-to-day operations and overall acquisition strategy. If we fail to comply with these covenants and are unable to secure a waiver or other relief, our financial condition would be materially weakened and our ability to fund day-to-day operations would be materially and adversely affected. Accordingly, we employ EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA as management tools to measure our historical financial performance and as a benchmark for future financial flexibility.
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We operate with a significant amount of indebtedness, which is secured by substantially all of our assets and subject to variable interest rates and restrictive covenants.
Our substantial indebtedness could have adverse consequences, such as:
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require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our indebtedness with our lenders, which could reduce the availability of our cash flow to fund future operating capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
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expose us to the risk of increased interest rates, as a substantial portion of our borrowings are at variable rates of interest;
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require us to sell assets to reduce indebtedness or influence our decisions about whether to do so;
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increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;
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limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry;
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restrict us from making strategic acquisitions, buying assets or pursuing business opportunities; and
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limit, along with the financial and other restrictive covenants in our indebtedness, among other things, our ability to borrow additional funds.
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In addition, violating covenants in these agreements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Consequences if the violations are not cured or waived could include substantially increasing our cost of borrowing, restricting our future operations, termination of our lenders’ commitments to supply us with further funds, cross defaults to other obligations, or acceleration of our obligations. If some or all of our obligations are accelerated, we may not be able to fully repay them.
Dependence on key personnel.
For the foreseeable future, our success will depend largely on the continued services of our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bohn H. Crain, as well as certain of our other key executives and executives of our acquired businesses because of their collective industry knowledge, marketing skills and relationships with vendors, customers and strategic operating partners. Should any of these individuals leave us, we could have difficulty replacing them with qualified individuals and it could have a material adverse effect on our future results of operations.
Our results of operations could vary as a result of the methods, estimates, and judgments that we use in applying our accounting policies.
The methods, estimates, and judgments that we use in applying our accounting policies have a significant impact on our results of operations (see “Critical Accounting Policies” in Part II, Item 7 of this report). Such methods, estimates, and judgments are, by their nature, subject to substantial risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, and factors may arise over time that lead us to change our methods, estimates, and judgments. Changes in those methods, estimates, and judgments could significantly affect our results of operations.
Terrorist attacks and other acts of violence, anti-terrorism measures or war may affect our operations and our profitability.
As a result of the potential for terrorist attacks, federal, state and municipal authorities have implemented and continue to follow various security measures, including checkpoints and travel restrictions on large trucks. Such measures may reduce the productivity of our independent contractors and transportation providers or increase the costs associated with their operations, which we could be forced to bear. For example, security measures imposed at bridges, tunnels, border crossings and other points on key trucking routes may cause delays and increase the non-driving time of our independent contractors and transportation providers, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. We also have higher costs due to mandated security screening of air cargo traveling on passenger airlines and ocean freight. War, risk of war, or a terrorist attack also may have an adverse effect on the economy. A decline in economic activity could adversely affect our revenues or restrict our future growth. Instability in the financial markets as a result of terrorism or war also could impact our ability to raise capital. In addition, the insurance premiums charged for some or all of the coverage currently maintained by us could increase dramatically or such coverage could be unavailable in the future.
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We intend to continue growing our international operations and will become increasingly subject to variations in the international trade market.
We provide services to customers engaged in international commerce and intend to grow our international business in the coming years. For the years ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, international transportation revenue accounted for 40% and 38% of our net revenues, respectively. International transportation revenue is defined as any shipment with an initiation or destination point outside of the United States. All factors that affect international trade have the potential to expand or contract our international business and impact our operating results. For example, international trade is influenced by, among other things:
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currency exchange rates and currency control regulations;
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interest rate fluctuations;
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changes in governmental policies, such as taxation, quota restrictions, tariffs, other forms of trade barriers and/or restrictions and trade accords;
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changes in and application of international and domestic customs, trade and security regulations;
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wars, strikes, civil unrest, acts of terrorism, and other conflicts, such as the conflict that has led to the imposition of economic sanctions by the United States and the European Union against Russia;
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natural disasters and pandemics;
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changes in consumer attitudes regarding goods made in countries other than their own;
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changes in availability of credit;
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economic conditions in other countries and regions;
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changes in supply chain design including those resulting from near shoring, widening and deepening of canals, and port congestion or disruption;
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changes in the price and readily available quantities of oil and other petroleum-related products; and
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increased global concerns regarding environmental sustainability.
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If any of the foregoing factors have a negative effect on the international trade market, we could suffer a decrease in our international business, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
In connection with our international business, we are subject to certain foreign regulatory requirements, and any failure to comply with these requirements could be detrimental to our business.
We provide services in parts of the world where common business practices could constitute violations of the anticorruption laws, rules, regulations and decrees of the United States, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and of all other countries in which we conduct business; as well as trade control laws, or laws, regulations and Executive Orders imposing embargoes and sanctions; and anti-boycott laws and regulations. Compliance with these laws, rules, regulations and decrees is dependent on our employees, subcontractors, consultants, agents, third-party brokers and customers, whose individual actions could violate these laws, rules, regulations and decrees. Failure to comply could result in substantial penalties, damages to our reputation and restrictions on our ability to conduct business. In addition, any investigation or litigation related to such violations may require significant management time and could cause us to incur extensive legal and related costs, all of which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and operating cash flows.
International operations expose us to currency exchange risk, and we cannot predict the effect of future exchange rate fluctuations on our business and operating results.
We generate a significant portion of revenues from our international operations, including a substantial amount in Canada. During the year ended June 30, 2020, approximately 40% of our net revenues were generated from international operations. Our international operations are sensitive to currency exchange risks. We have currency exposure arising from both sales and purchases denominated in foreign currencies, as well as intercompany transactions. Significant changes in exchange rates between foreign currencies in which we transact business and the U.S. dollar may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Historically, we have not entered into any hedging activities, and, to the extent that we continue not to do so in the future, we may be vulnerable to the effects of currency exchange-rate fluctuations.
In addition, our international operations also expose us to currency fluctuations as we translate the financial statements of our foreign operations to the U.S. dollar. There can be no guarantee that the effect of currency fluctuations will not be material in the future.
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Ineffective internal controls could impact our business and operating results as well as our public reporting and stock price.
We have grown rapidly and face additional challenges of disparate systems and geographically dispersed management. Our internal controls over financial reporting and disclosure are strained at times due to COVID-19, acquisitions, and other corporate development activities.
Our internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements because of its inherent limitations, including the possibility of human error, the circumvention or overriding of controls, or fraud. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable and accurate financial statements and to effectively prevent fraud. As further described in Part II Item 9A “Controls and Procedures” of this Annual Report, management has concluded that, because of a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting related to ineffective assessment of impairment of goodwill and intangibles, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of June 30, 2020. We are currently working on the remediation of this material weakness.
We cannot be certain that we will be able to prevent future significant deficiencies or material weaknesses. Any remediation efforts additionally may require us to incur unanticipated costs for various professional fees and services. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, including any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or if we experience difficulties in their implementation, our business and operating results could be harmed, and we could fail to meet our financial reporting obligations. Material inaccuracies in our financial statements would decrease the reliability of our financial reporting, which could adversely affect our business and reduce our stock price.
Risks Related to our Acquisition Strategy
There is a scarcity of and competition for acquisition opportunities.
There are a limited number of operating companies available for acquisition that we deem to be desirable targets. In addition, there is a very high level of competition among companies seeking to acquire these operating companies. We are and will continue to be a very minor participant in the business of seeking acquisitions of these types of companies. A large number of established and well-financed entities are active in acquiring interests in companies that we may find to be desirable acquisition candidates. Many of these entities have significantly greater financial resources, technical expertise and managerial capabilities than us. Consequently, we will be at a competitive disadvantage in negotiating and executing possible acquisitions of these businesses. Even if we are able to successfully compete with these entities, this competition may affect the terms of completed transactions and, as a result, we may pay more or receive less favorable terms than we expected for potential acquisitions. We may not be able to identify operating companies that complement our strategy, and even if we identify a company that complements our strategy, we may be unable to complete an acquisition of such a company for many reasons, including:
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failure to agree on the terms necessary for a transaction, such as the purchase price;
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incompatibility between our operational strategies or management philosophies with those of the potential acquiree;
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competition from other acquirers of operating companies;
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lack of sufficient capital to acquire a profitable logistics company;
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unwillingness of a potential acquiree to agree to subordinate any future payment of earn-outs or promissory notes to the payments due to our lenders; and
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unwillingness of a potential acquiree to work with our management.
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Risks related to acquisition financing.
We have a limited amount of financial resources and our ability to make additional acquisitions without securing additional financing from outside sources is limited. In order to continue to pursue our acquisition strategy, we may be required to obtain additional financing. We may obtain such financing through a combination of traditional debt financing or the placement of debt and equity securities. We may finance some portion of our future acquisitions by either issuing equity or by using shares of our common stock for all or a portion of the purchase price for such businesses. In the event that our common stock does not attain or maintain a sufficient market value, or potential acquisition candidates are otherwise unwilling to accept our common stock as part of the purchase price for the sale of their businesses, we may be required to use more of our cash resources, if available, in order to maintain our acquisition program. If we do not have sufficient cash resources, we will not be able to complete acquisitions and our growth could be limited unless we are able to obtain additional capital through debt or equity financings. The terms of our credit facility require that we obtain the consent of our lenders prior to securing additional debt financing. There could be circumstances in which our ability to obtain additional debt financing could be constrained if we are unable to secure such consent.
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Our credit facilities place certain limits on the acquisitions we may make.
Under the terms of our credit facilities, we may be required to obtain the consent of each of our lenders prior to making any additional acquisitions.
We are permitted to make additional acquisitions without the consent of the lenders only if certain conditions are satisfied. These conditions include the following: (i) no default shall have occurred or would result from such acquisition, (ii) the property acquired is used or useful in the same or a similar line of business as Radiant's, (iii) in the case of an acquisition of the equity interests, the board of directors of the target business shall have duly approved such Acquisition, (iv) we shall be in compliance with the financial covenants after giving effect to such acquisition and the consolidated leverage ratio shall be less than 3.25 to 1.00 for acquisitions valued above $25 million and 2.75 to 1.00 for any other acquisitions, (v) the representations and warranties made by Radiant in each loan document shall be true and correct, (vi) if such transaction involves the purchase of an interest in a partnership between Radiant as a general partner and entities unaffiliated with the borrower as the other partners, such transaction shall be effected by having such equity interest acquired by a corporate holding company directly or indirectly wholly owned by Radiant newly formed for the sole purpose of effecting such transaction, and (vii) immediately after giving effect to such acquisition, there shall be at least $25 million of availability under the Revolving Credit Facility.
In the event we are not able to satisfy the conditions of our credit facilities in connection with a proposed acquisition, we must either forego the acquisition, obtain the consent of the lenders, or retire the credit facility. This may prevent us from completing acquisitions that we determine are desirable from a business perspective and limit or slow our ability to achieve the critical mass we need to achieve our strategic objectives.
To the extent we make any material acquisitions, our earnings will be adversely affected by non-cash charges relating to the amortization of intangible assets, which may cause our stock price to decline.
Under applicable accounting standards, purchasers are required to allocate the total consideration paid in a business combination to the identified acquired assets and liabilities based on their fair values at the time of acquisition. The excess of the consideration paid to acquire a business over the fair value of the identifiable tangible assets acquired must be allocated among identifiable intangible assets including goodwill. The amount allocated to goodwill is not subject to amortization. However, it is tested at least annually for impairment. The amount allocated to identifiable intangible assets, such as customer relationships and the like, is amortized over the life of these intangible assets. We expect that this will subject us to periodic charges against our earnings to the extent of the amortization incurred for that period. Because our business strategy focuses, in part, on growth through acquisitions, our future earnings will be subject to greater non-cash amortization charges than a company whose earnings are derived solely from organic growth. As a result, we will experience an increase in non-cash charges related to the amortization of intangible assets acquired in our acquisitions. Our financial statements will show that our intangible assets are diminishing in value, even if the acquired businesses are increasing (or not diminishing) in value. Because of this discrepancy, we believe our EBITDA, a measure of financial performance that does not conform to generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) of the United States, provides a meaningful measure of our financial performance. However, the investment community generally measures a public company’s performance by its net income. Further, the financial covenants of our credit facility adjust EBITDA to exclude costs related to share-based compensation and other non-cash charges. Thus, we believe that EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA provide a meaningful measure of our financial performance. If the investment community elects to place more emphasis on net income, the future price of our common stock could be adversely affected.
We are not obligated to follow any particular criteria or standards for identifying acquisition candidates.
Other than as required under the credit facility, we are not obligated to follow any particular operating, financial, geographic or other criteria in evaluating candidates for potential acquisitions or business combinations. We will determine the purchase price and other terms and conditions of acquisitions. Our stockholders will not have the opportunity to evaluate the relevant economic, financial and other information that our management team will use and consider in deciding whether or not to enter into a particular transaction.
We may be required to incur a significant amount of indebtedness in order to successfully implement our acquisition strategy.
Subject to the restrictions contained under our current credit facilities, we may be required to incur a significant amount of indebtedness in order to complete future acquisitions. If we are not able to generate sufficient cash flow from the operations of acquired businesses to make scheduled payments of principal and interest on the indebtedness, then we will be required to use our capital for such payments. This will restrict our ability to make additional acquisitions. We may also be forced to sell an acquired business in order to satisfy indebtedness. We cannot be certain that we will be able to operate profitably once we incur this indebtedness or that we will be able to generate a sufficient amount of proceeds from the ultimate disposition of such acquired businesses to repay the indebtedness incurred to make these acquisitions.
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We may experience difficulties in integrating the operations, personnel and assets of acquired businesses that may disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our operating results.
A core component of our business plan is to acquire businesses and assets in the transportation and logistics industry. There can be no assurance that we will be able to identify, acquire or profitably manage businesses or successfully integrate acquired businesses into the Company without substantial costs, delays or other operational or financial problems. Such acquisitions also involve numerous operational risks, including:
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difficulties in integrating operations, technologies, services and personnel;
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the diversion of financial and management resources from existing operations;
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the risk of entering new markets;
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the potential loss of existing or acquired strategic operating partners following an acquisition;
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the potential loss of key employees following an acquisition and the associated risk of competitive efforts from such departed personnel;
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possible legal disputes with the acquired company following an acquisition; and
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the inability to generate sufficient revenue to offset acquisition or investment costs.
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As a result, if we fail to properly evaluate and execute any acquisitions or investments, our business and prospects may be seriously harmed.
In certain acquisitions, we may recognize non-cash gains or losses on changes in fair value of contingent consideration. We include contingent consideration based on future financial performance as a portion of the purchase price of certain acquisitions. To the extent that an acquired operation underperforms relative to anticipated earnings levels, we are able to set-off certain levels of future unpaid purchase price for such acquired operations. This will result in the recognition of a non-cash gain on the change in fair value of contingent consideration. In the alternative, to the extent an acquired operation outperforms anticipated earnings levels, we will recognize a non-cash expense on the change in fair value of contingent consideration. These non-cash gains and expenses may have a material impact on our financial results, and the impact could be opposite to the underlying results of the acquired operation.
Not every acquisition is structured utilizing contingent consideration. Our 2015 acquisitions of Wheels and SBA and our 2017 acquisition of Lomas were structured without using contingent consideration. We will be unable to reduce the purchase price of these entities if they underperform relative to anticipated earnings levels.
Claims against us or other liabilities we incur relating to any acquisition or business combination may necessitate our seeking claims against the seller for which the seller may not indemnify us or that may exceed the seller’s indemnification obligations.
There may be liabilities we assume in any acquisition or business combination that we did not discover or underestimated in the course of performing our due diligence investigation. A seller will normally have indemnification obligations to us under an acquisition or merger agreement, but these obligations will be subject to financial limitations, such as general deductibles and a cap, as well as time limitations. There can be no assurance that our right to indemnification from any seller will be enforceable, collectible or sufficient in amount, scope or duration to fully offset the amount of any undiscovered or underestimated liabilities. Any such liabilities, individually or in the aggregate, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
We may face competition from parties who sell us their businesses and from professionals who cease working for us.
In connection with our acquisitions, we generally obtain non-solicitation agreements from the professionals we hire, as well as non-competition agreements from senior managers and professionals. The agreements prohibit such individuals from competing with us during the term of their employment and for a fixed period afterwards and seeking to solicit our employees or clients. In some cases, but not all, we may obtain non-competition or non-solicitation agreements from parties who sell us their business or assets. Certain activities may be carved out of or otherwise may not be prohibited by these arrangements. We cannot assure that one or more of the parties from whom we acquire assets or a business or who do not join us or leave our employment will not compete with us or solicit our employees or clients in the future. Even if ultimately resolved in our favor, any litigation associated with the non-competition or non-solicitation agreements could be time consuming, costly and distract management’s focus from locating suitable acquisition candidates and operating our business. Moreover, states and foreign jurisdictions may interpret restrictions on competition narrowly and in favor of employees.
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Therefore, certain restrictions on competition or solicitation may be unenforceable. In addition, we may not pursue legal remedies if we determine that preserving cooperation and a professional relationship with the former employee or his clients, or other concerns, outweigh the benefits of any possible legal recourse or the likelihood of success does not justify the costs of pursuing a legal remedy. Such persons, because they have worked for us or a business that we acquire, may be able to compete more effectively with us, or be more successful in soliciting our employees and clients, than unaffiliated third parties.
Risks Related to our Common Stock
The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly, and this may make it difficult for you to resell our common stock at times or at prices you find attractive.
The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside our control. The current market price of our common stock may not be indicative of future market prices. Fluctuations may occur in response to the other risk factors listed in this prospectus supplement and for many other reasons, including:
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actual or anticipated variations in earnings, financial or operating performance or liquidity, including those resulting from the seasonality of our business;
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our financial performance or the performance of our competitors and similar companies;
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the public’s reaction to our press releases, other public announcements and filings with the SEC;
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changes in estimates of our performance or recommendations by securities analysts;
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failure to meet securities analysts’ quarterly and annual projections;
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the impact of new federal or state regulations;
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changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;
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the introduction of new services by us or our competitors;
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the arrival or departure of key personnel;
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acquisitions, strategic alliances or joint ventures involving us or our competitors;
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technological innovations or other trends in our industry;
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news affecting our customers;
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operating and stock performance of other companies deemed to be peers;
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regulatory or labor conditions applicable to us, our industry or the industries we serve;
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market conditions in our industry, the industries we serve, the financial markets and the economy as a whole;
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changes in our capital structure; and
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sales of our common stock by us or members of our management team.
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In addition, the stock market historically has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations are often unrelated to the operating performance of a particular company. These broad market fluctuations may cause declines in the market price of our common stock.
Volatility in the market price of our common stock may make it difficult for you to resell shares of our common stock when you want or at attractive prices. In addition, when the market price of a company’s common stock drops significantly, stockholders often institute securities class action lawsuits against the Company. A lawsuit against us could cause us to incur substantial costs, including settlement costs or awards for legal damages, and could divert the time and attention of our management and other resources.
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Provisions of our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law may make a contested takeover more difficult.
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (“DGCL”) could deter a change in our management or render more difficult an attempt to obtain control of us, even if such a proposal is favored by a majority of our stockholders. For example, we are subject to the provisions of the DGCL that prohibit a public Delaware corporation from engaging in a broad range of business combinations with a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns 15% or more of such corporation’s outstanding voting shares (an “interested stockholder”) for three years after the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Our certificate of incorporation provides that directors may only be removed for cause by the affirmative vote of 75% of our outstanding shares and that amendments to our bylaws require the affirmative vote of holders of two-thirds of our outstanding shares. Our certificate of incorporation also includes undesignated preferred stock, which may enable our board of directors to discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a tender offer, proxy contest, merger or otherwise. Finally, our bylaws include an advance notice procedure for stockholders to nominate directors or submit proposals at a stockholders meeting.
Our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer controls a large portion of our common stock and has substantial control over us, which could limit other stockholders’ ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including changes of control.
Under applicable SEC rules, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bohn H. Crain, beneficially owns approximately 20% of our outstanding common stock as of June 30, 2020. Accordingly, Mr. Crain can exert substantial influence over our management and affairs and matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and the approval of significant corporate transactions, such as mergers, consolidations or the sale of substantially all of our assets. Consequently, this concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control, including a merger, consolidation, or other business combination involving us, or discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control, even if that change of control would benefit our other stockholders. Further, this concentration of share ownership may adversely affect the trading price for our common stock because investors may perceive disadvantages in owning stock in companies with concentrated stockholders.
Trading in our common stock has been limited.
Although our common stock is traded on the NYSE American, it is traded not as frequently as compared to the volume of trading activity associated with larger companies whose shares trade on the larger national exchanges. Because of this limited liquidity, stockholders may be unable to sell their shares at the prices or volumes they desire. The trading price of our shares may from time to time fluctuate widely. The trading price may be affected by a number of factors including events described in the risk factors set forth in this report as well as our operating results, financial condition, announcements, general conditions in the industry and the financial markets, and other events or factors. In recent years, broad stock market indices, in general, and smaller capitalization companies, in particular, have experienced substantial price fluctuations. In a volatile market, we may experience wide fluctuations in the market price of our common stock. These fluctuations may have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock.
The influx of additional shares of our common stock onto the market may create downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock.
We have completed many acquisitions that often include the issuance of additional shares pursuant to the purchase agreements. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020, we issued approximately 45,000 unregistered shares of our common stock as part of the purchase price or associated with the financing of an acquisition. In addition, we may issue additional shares in connection with such acquisitions upon the achievement of certain earn-out thresholds or in connection with future acquisitions as part of the purchase consideration. The availability of additional shares for sale to the public under Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and sale of such shares in public markets could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. Such an adverse effect on the market price would make it more difficult for us to sell our equity securities in the future at prices we deem appropriate or to use our shares as currency for future acquisitions, which will make it more difficult to execute our acquisition strategy.
The issuance of additional shares may result in additional dilution to our existing stockholders.
At any time, we may make private offerings of our securities. We have issued, and may be required to issue, additional shares of common stock or common stock equivalents in payment of the purchase price of businesses we have acquired. This will have the effect of further increasing the number of shares outstanding. In connection with future acquisitions, we may undertake the issuance of more shares of common stock without notice to our then existing stockholders. We may also issue additional shares in order to, among other things, compensate employees or consultants or for other valid business reasons in the discretion of our board of directors, which could result in diluting the interests of our existing stockholders.
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The exercise or conversion of our outstanding options, or other convertible securities or any derivative securities we issue in the future will result in the dilution of the ownership interests of our existing stockholders and may create downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock. We are currently authorized to issue 100 million shares of common stock. As of September 1, 2020, we had 49,560,429 outstanding shares of common stock. As of September 1, 2020, we may in the future issue up to 1,924,861 additional shares of our common stock upon exercise of existing stock options.
We may issue shares of preferred stock with greater rights than our common stock.
Our certificate of incorporation authorizes our board of directors to issue shares of preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms for those shares without the approval of our stockholders. Any such preferred stock we may issue in the future could rank ahead of our common stock in many ways, including in terms of dividends, liquidation rights, and voting rights.
As we do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock, investors in our shares of common stock will not receive any dividend income.
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock since our inception and we do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any dividends that we may pay in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors, and will depend on our future earnings, any applicable regulatory considerations, our financial requirements and other similarly unpredictable factors. Our ability to pay dividends on our common stock is further limited by the terms of our credit facilities. Accordingly, investors seeking dividend income should not purchase our common stock.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock, to some extent, depends on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or lower their opinion of our shares, our share price may decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our business or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.
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