ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Funko: At the Nexus of Pop Culture
We are a leading pop culture consumer products company. Our business is built on the principle that almost everyone is a fan of something and the evolution of pop culture is leading to increasing opportunities for fan loyalty. We create whimsical, fun and unique products that enable fans to express their affinity for their favorite “something”—whether it is a movie, TV show, video game, musician or sports team. We typically infuse our distinct designs and aesthetic sensibility into one of the industry’s largest portfolios of licensed content over a wide variety of product categories, including figures, plush, accessories, apparel, handbags and homewares. With our unique style, expertise in pop culture, broad product distribution and highly accessible price points, we have developed a passionate following for our products that has underpinned our growth. We believe we sit at the nexus of pop culture—content providers value us for our broad network of retail customers, retailers value us for our broad portfolio of licensed pop culture products and pop culture insights, and consumers value us for our distinct, stylized products and the content they represent. We believe our innovative product design and market positioning have disrupted the licensed product markets and helped to define today’s pop culture products category.
Pop culture pervades modern life and almost everyone is a fan of something. In the past, pop culture fandom was often associated with stereotypical images of fans from narrow demographics, such as Star Trek fans attending conventions to speak Klingon to each other or friends getting together to play Dungeons & Dragons. Today, more quality content is available and technology innovation has made content accessible anytime, anywhere. As a result, the breadth and depth of pop culture fandom resembles, and in many cases exceeds, the type of fandom previously associated only with sports. Social media has further allowed for fans to share their love and form communities more easily than before. Everyday interactions at home, work or with friends, whether in person or through social media, are increasingly influenced by pop culture.
We have invested strategically in our relationships with key constituents in pop culture. Content providers value us for our broad network of retail customers and retailers value us for our broad portfolio of licensed pop culture products, pop culture insights and ability to drive consumer traffic. Consumers, who value us for our distinct, stylized products, remain at the center of everything we do.
•Content Providers: We have strong licensing relationships with many established content providers, such as Disney, HBO, LucasFilm, Marvel, Blizzard Entertainment, the National Football League and Warner Brothers. We have also recently entered into licensing relationships to develop products based on Fortnite and Pokémon. We strive to license every pop culture property that we believe is relevant to consumers. In 2019, we had license agreements with over 200 content providers covering over 800 active licensed properties. We believe our numerous licensing relationships have allowed us to build one of the largest portfolios in our industry, from which we can create multiple products based on each character within those properties. Content providers trust us to create unique extensions of their intellectual property that extend the relevance of their content with consumers through ongoing engagement, helping to maximize the lifetime value of their content. For the year ended December 31, 2019, sales of our Pop! branded products grew 20% year-over-year in the United States, which is the most mature market for our Pop! branded products. We believe we have benefited from a trend of content providers consolidating their relationships to do more business with fewer licensees. We believe our track record of obtaining licenses from content providers, together with our proven ability to renew and extend the scope of our licenses, demonstrates the trust content providers place in us.
•Retail Channels: We sell our products through a diverse network of retail customers across multiple retail channels, including specialty retailers, mass-market retailers and e-commerce sites. We can provide our retail customers a customized product mix designed to appeal to their particular customer bases. Our current retail customers include GameStop, Amazon, Hot Topic, Target and Walmart in the United States, and Micromania, HEO, E.M.P. Merchandising and Smyths Toys, internationally. Additionally, for the year ended December 31, 2019, sales of our products on third party e-commerce websites increased 23% compared to the prior year. Retailers recognize the opportunity presented by the demand for pop culture products and are continuing to dedicate additional shelf space as well as increased presence on their e-commerce platforms to our products
and the pop culture category. Additionally, we believe some of our retail customers, such as Target and Walmart, view us as pop culture experts, and we help them manage their pop culture category. We believe we drive meaningful traffic to our retail customers’ stores because our products have their own built-in fan base, are refreshed regularly creating a “treasure hunt” shopping experience for consumers, and are often supplemented with exclusive, limited-time products that are highlighted on social media. We believe these merchandising strategies create a sense of urgency with consumers that encourages repeat visits to our retail customers.
•Consumers: Fans are increasingly looking for ways to express their affinity for and engage with their favorite pop culture content. Over time, many of our consumers evolve from occasional buyers to more frequent purchasers, whom we categorize as enthusiasts or collectors. We estimate that enthusiasts, who are more engaged in pop culture, and collectors, who regularly purchase our products and self-identify as collectors, each make up approximately one-third of our customers. We create products to appeal to a broad array of fans across consumer demographic groups—men, women, boys and girls—not a single, narrow demographic. Most of our products are generally priced under $10, excluding apparel and handbags, which allows our diverse consumer base to express their fandom frequently and impulsively. We continue to introduce innovative products designed to facilitate fan engagement across different price points and styles in different categories. In addition, our fans routinely express their passion for our products and brands through social media and live pop culture events, such as Comic-Con or Star Wars Celebration.
We have developed a nimble and low fixed-cost production model. The strength of our in-house creative team and relationships with content providers, retailers and third-party manufacturers allows us to move from product concept to pre-selling a new product in as few as 24 hours. We typically have a new figure on the store shelf between 110 and 200 days and can have it shipped from the factory in as few as 70 days in certain circumstances. As a result, we can dynamically manage our business to balance current content releases and pop culture trends with content based on classic evergreen properties, such as Harry Potter, Mickey Mouse or classic Batman. This has allowed us to deliver significant growth while lessening our dependence on individual content releases.
The Pop Culture Industry
Pop culture encompasses virtually everything that someone can be a fan of—movies, TV shows, video games, music and sports. The global licensed pop culture product industry in which we compete sits within the global licensed entertainment and character products market, which had $122.7 billion in total sales in 2018 according to a Global Licensing Survey released by Licensing International. We believe that many retailers have seen traffic decline across traditional consumer categories. In contrast, demand for pop culture content, consumer products and experiences has grown rapidly.
The Forces At Work In The Pop Culture Industry
The pop culture industry is being driven by several major forces. Technology advances have made it easier to access, consume and engage with content. Content providers have produced more quality content to drive fan engagement, often with a focus on franchise properties. Dedicated, active and enduring fan bases have emerged across the pop culture landscape. These fans seek out opportunities to interact with their favorite content and with
like-minded fans through social media and content-centric experiences. At the same time, social norms have shifted, making fandom culturally accepted and mainstream. These trends reinforce one another leading to a substantial increase in pop culture fandom and to significant growth in the industry.
Technology Innovation
The proliferation of powerful mobile technology, such as tablets and smartphones, and the emergence of new content distribution services, such as Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix, have enabled fans to connect and engage with content anywhere, at any time, in larger “binge” quantities. More content and greater access have led to more fans spending more time per day consuming content. In addition, fans are able to develop a deeper affinity for content due to the increased prevalence of platforms and events where they can share their passion with other fans (such as through social media, blogs, YouTube, podcasts and online games). The accelerated pace of content discovery and sharing has created an environment where niche content can quickly become mainstream, resulting in more content becoming part of pop culture.
Evolution of Content
Content providers have increasingly focused on creating original scripted and franchise content that has broad global appeal and potential for sequels and brand extensions. During the 1990s, the top ten annual grossing movies included an average of 2.5 franchise films and from 2000 through 2018, the top ten annual grossing movies included an average of 6.6 franchise films. The growth of a healthy franchise ecosystem across content types has fostered fan loyalty and stimulated licensed product purchases. We expect the number of scripted original series to continue to grow, with content providers such as Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix spending or announcing the intention to spend substantial capital on new original content. For example, based on public filings, Netflix invested more than $13 billion in content in 2018, compared to $8.7 billion in 2016.
Dedicated and Active Fan Base
We believe pop culture fans possess distinguishing characteristics that make them highly valuable consumers. Like sports fans, fans of other forms of pop culture identify strongly with their favored properties, and have a natural tendency to form social communities around them. For context, in 2018, retail sales of licensed entertainment and character products totaled $122.7 billion, compared to $27.8 billion for retail sales of licensed sports products. Furthermore, as it becomes increasingly easy to access a large quantity of quality content, fans seek more ways to expand and express connectivity to their favored characters or properties as they share their passion with others. As a result, consumers are participating in the story of these properties via social media platforms and conventions, such as Comic-Con, AnimeExpo and Star Wars Celebration, rather than being solely consumers of content. By being a part of the conversation regarding their favored content, fans reinforce their love for it, thereby creating a cycle of fandom.
Growing Cultural Relevance and Acceptance
As pop culture engagement has increased, we believe it has become more culturally acceptable to be openly passionate about all forms of pop culture, not just sports. Social media is driving the importance of pop culture as fans increasingly want to engage with the content and their social communities to show affinity for pop culture content. Three of the top U.S. pop culture-related conventions, including New York Comic Con, Comic Con International: San Diego and Anime Expo 2018, drew close to half a million attendees in 2018, representing a sharp increase of over 82% from 2010. This represents a cultural shift supporting the acceptability of fan affinity for pop culture content across multiple demographic categories of fans, and the growth beyond the traditional narrow, male-dominated demographic.
Our Strategic Differentiation
Leading Design and Creative Capabilities
Our in-house creative team layers our own whimsical, fun and distinct stylization onto content providers’ characters, creating unique products for which there is substantial consumer demand. With the help of our in-house creative team, we have also begun to develop our own proprietary intellectual property, including our Wetmore Forest line of characters. Our creative team also includes animators at Funko Animation Studios, who create video shorts that we have increasingly used to market our products in collaboration with some of our key licensors. In 2019 we also acquired Forrest-Pruzan Creative LLC (“FPC”), a leading board game development studio, which has enabled us to deliver a new pop culture product category to our fans. Our creative team is passionate about pop culture. We enjoy a strong pipeline of talent for our creative team given our culture and the opportunity we provide to work with the most relevant pop culture content. We believe content providers trust us with their properties, and consumers passionately engage with our products and brands because of our creativity. In addition, we reinvigorate classic evergreen or back catalog content by infusing a fresh, unique aesthetic and design into characters that enjoy enduring passion and nostalgia from fans. As a result of our creative capabilities and broad portfolio of licenses, we create a substantial number of new products each year, including approximately 5,000 new products introduced in 2019.
Diversity of Products and Accessible Price Points Create Broad Appeal
We create products to appeal to a broad array of fans across consumer demographic groups. We believe our broad appeal comes through our large selection of items, a large variety of licenses and properties and varied form factors across a number of product categories. We do not limit ourselves by targeting discrete demographics such as the stereotypical collector or the child seeking the latest (and often short-lived) toy craze. We estimate based on market and internal data that (1) occasional buyers, which we define as those consumers who are mainstream movie and TV fans, but do not self-identify as enthusiasts, (2) enthusiasts, who are more engaged in pop culture than occasional buyers but who do not self-identify as collectors, and (3) collectors each make up approximately one-third of our customers. To continue to broaden our offerings beyond figures, we have launched new or expanded categories such as plush, and accessories, and with the acquisition of FPC, we have expanded into the board game category. We believe we have one of the largest and most engaged fan bases in our industry, driven by their passion and love of our unique products and the properties we represent.
Trusted Steward of the Most Important Pop Culture Content
We strive to license every pop culture property that we believe is relevant to our consumers. Over the last decade, we have built strong relationships with content providers and currently have a catalog of content licenses covering a large number of properties that we believe is one of the industry’s largest. We believe there is a trend of content providers consolidating their relationships to do more business with fewer licensees. As a trusted steward with a strong retail distribution network and connection with the end user, we believe we have benefited from this trend. We often work collaboratively with content providers in advance of new content releases to create unique, stylized products to maximize the value of their properties. In some cases, the input we have provided has influenced the content provider’s creative choices for its original content. We believe we are well positioned to continue to obtain licenses for new important movie franchises and other properties. Further, we have historically been able to renew productive licenses on commercially reasonable terms, which positions us to benefit from the ongoing desire of consumers to engage with and show affinity for their favorite pop culture content.
Deep, Mutually Beneficial Relationships with a Broad Network of Retail Customers
We partner with a diverse group of retail customers through which we sell our products. We believe many of our retail customers view us as experts in pop culture and in some cases, we help manage their pop culture category within their stores and can provide a curated experience by catering to their particular customer bases. We believe this enables us to enhance the productivity of the pop culture category for our retail customers, resulting in increased sales and expanded shelf space or online placement for our products—a major driver of our growth historically. Additionally, we believe our pop culture expertise and omnichannel sales model position us well to capture the industry shift from traditional brick and mortar to channel-agnostic content consumerism. In addition, we often release exclusive new products with a specific retail customer, which can drive traffic and sales for them.
Nimble Speed to Market Reflects “Fast Fashion” Product Development Process
Speed to market has become increasingly important as technological innovation has accelerated the pace of content discovery and sharing and the speed at which niche content can become mainstream. Our flexible and low-fixed cost production model enables us to go from product design of a figure to the store shelf between 110 and 200 days and we can have it shipped from the factory in as few as 70 days, with a minimal upfront investment for most figures of $5,000 to $7,500 in tooling, molds and internal design costs. Because of the strength of our in-house creative team, we are able to move from product design to pre-selling certain new products in as few as 24 hours. This ability, coupled with the valuable data insights we have developed over the past decade, and the increasing use of repeated franchise properties by content providers, reduces potential product risk to us while better positioning us to benefit from trends in content creation and consumption. As an example of our “fast fashion” product development process, we announced and were able to pre-sell a Baby Yoda figure, which was a surprise character in an episode of Disney's Star Wars: The Mandalorian, within three weeks of the episode's original release date on Disney+.
Dynamic Business Model Drives Revenue Visibility and Growth
Our business is diversified across content providers and properties, product categories, and sales channels. As a result, we can dynamically manage our business to capitalize on pop culture trends, which has allowed us to deliver significant growth while lessening our dependence on individual content releases. Our content provider relationships are highly diversified. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, no single property accounted for more than 6%, 6% and 5% of our sales, respectively, and the portion of our sales for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 attributable to our top five properties was 23%, 20% and 16%, respectively. Our products are balanced across our licensed property categories. In 2019, we generated approximately 51% of sales from classic evergreen properties, approximately 20% from movie release properties, approximately 18% from current TV properties and approximately 11% from current video game properties. In 2018, we generated approximately 47% of sales from classic evergreen properties, approximately 20% from movie release properties, approximately 17% from current video game properties and approximately 16% from current TV properties. In 2017, we generated approximately 45% of sales from classic evergreen properties, approximately 21% from movie release properties, approximately 18% from current TV properties and approximately 15% from current video game properties.
We have visibility into the new release schedule of our content providers and our expansive license portfolio allows us to dynamically manage new product creation. This allows us to adjust the mix of products based on classic evergreen properties and new releases, depending on the media release cycle. In addition, we typically sell our products worldwide through a diverse group of sales channels, including specialty retailers, distributors, mass-market retailers, e-commerce sites and direct-to-consumer sales.
Visionary Management Team and Employees with Genuine Passion for Pop Culture
Our highly experienced management team is led by Brian Mariotti, an industry pioneer. A long-time pop culture fan, Brian recognized early on the impact that trends in media and entertainment would have on the pop culture industry and the value of having a diverse portfolio of licenses. Passion for pop culture pervades our company and our openness to new ideas from anywhere in the organization has resulted in some of our most innovative and differentiated products.
How We Plan to Grow
We are pursuing the following strategies that we believe will drive substantial future growth.
Increase Sales with Existing Retail Customers
We intend to continue to increase our sales by expanding our shelf space and deepening our relationships with our retail customers. Our products have driven traffic to our retail customers’ previously less productive square footage, which has resulted in increased shelf space for our products. In addition to designing unique, stylized products that resonate with pop culture fans and drive traffic, both online and in store, we intend to increase the number of retail customers for whom we curate pop culture selections. We believe doing so deepens our relationships with our retail customers and encourages them to allocate more shelf space to our products and pop culture products generally
and, in some cases, create pop culture departments where none existed before, which we believe will drive additional brand awareness and sales growth.
Add New Retail Customers and Expand Into New Channels
We regularly evaluate and add new retail customers as we believe consumers demand Funko products regardless of the retail channel through which they purchase them. While we believe we have opportunities to add new retailers within existing channels, we also plan to selectively target new or underdeveloped sales channels, such as dollar, drug, grocery and convenience stores. By adding new retail customers, we will increase the awareness and availability of our products to consumers, which we believe will increase sales.
Broaden Our Product Offerings
In addition to designing products to address new content that licensors continually produce, we plan to add new product categories, lines and brands to leverage our existing sales channels to continue to drive sales. For example, we have recently expanded our line of figures with our 5 Star line, which can be configured in different poses and allow collectors to creatively display their figures. We also continually evaluate product innovations and potential acquisition targets to complement our existing product categories, lines and brands. In June 2017, we completed the acquisition of Loungefly, LLC (“Loungefly”), a designer of a variety of licensed pop culture fashion handbags, small leather goods and accessories, to expand and diversify our product offerings in our accessories category (the “Loungefly Acquisition”). In February 2019, we acquired FPC, a leading board game development studio, to help us expand our product offerings into the board game category.
Expand Internationally
We believe that the forces at work first observed in the U.S. pop culture industry are global. We believe we are currently underpenetrated internationally, and we generate the majority of our net sales in the United States; however, we are also focused on growing our international business. Sales generated from customers outside of the United States accounted for approximately 34%, 32% and 27% of our sales for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. We are continuing to invest in the growth of our international business, primarily in Europe, both directly and through third party distributors. In the future we may pursue similar acquisitions or expand our direct sales force or distributor relationships to further penetrate Asia Pacific, Latin America, Australia or other regions.
Leverage the Funko Brand Across Multiple Channels
We believe there is a significant opportunity to leverage our distinctive style and designs across numerous underserved channels such as digital content, as well as potentially movies and television. In March 2019, we launched a new mobile application, which allows Funko fans to track their collection, display their wish list and browse an expansive catalog of our products. Additionally, we are in the process of creating an online portal that will serve as an online destination for our consumers. This online community will allow consumers to create personal avatars, purchase digital products and interact with other consumers. We believe this opportunity will drive brand awareness with new audience segments, deepen consumer engagement to drive customer lifetime value, strengthen our direct connection with our consumers and grow our direct-to-consumer business, as well as support our retail customers.
Product Lines and Licenses
We sell a broad array of licensed pop culture consumer products featuring characters from an extensive range of media and entertainment content, including movies, TV shows, video games, music and sports. Our products combine our proprietary brands and distinct designs and aesthetic sensibilities into properties we license from content providers. We seek to license content that will allow us to capitalize on the popularity of current movies, TV shows, video games, music and other content releases, as well as classic evergreen properties, which are not tied to a current release, and which are less subject to pop culture trends. We also continue to develop our own content and intellectual property, such as our Wetmore Forest property.
Our Products
Our current products principally fall within the following product categories.
Figures. Our figures category includes figures that celebrate pop culture icons in the form of stylized vinyl, blind-packed miniatures and action figures. These figures combine the pop culture properties we license with our own distinctive designs to create pop culture figures that appeal to a broad range of consumers at an affordable price point, often under one of our proprietary brands, such as Pop!, Mystery Minis, 5 Star and Pint Size Heroes.
Other. Our other category includes plush products that are soft-sculpt figures that blend licensed content with our distinctive designs to create an array of product lines and are intended for consumers of all ages; accessories products that mix pop culture fandom with functionality, and feature everything from pens and pins to buttons and keychains, all based on pop culture icons; apparel (including t-shirts and hats); homewares (including drinkware, party lights and other home accessories); stylized bags, purses and wallets and board games.
Our Brands and Designs
Under the Funko brand, we have multiple proprietary brands under which we market most of our products. Currently, our principal proprietary brands include Pop! and Loungefly. Pop!, introduced in 2010, is our most well-recognized brand. The Pop! stylized design incorporates a rounded square head that typically consists of no mouth and a very simple nose. Pop! figures typically stand about four inches tall. The Pop! brand has also been applied across all of our other product categories, including games, plush, accessories, apparel and homewares. As a brand, Pop! represented 79%, 76% and 70% of our sales in 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively.
Loungefly, acquired in June 2017, includes fashion focused stylized handbags, backpacks, clothing, small leather goods and accessories. Loungefly products currently are based on a limited set of licenses, however, we anticipate expanding the licenses and content used to create our Loungefly products in the future.
Other brands we market under include Mystery Minis, Paka Paka, 5 Star and SuperCute. In addition, we also develop product lines that we market under the broader Funko brand, rather than under any of our proprietary brands. We typically do so when we believe our speed to market or other competitive advantages uniquely position us to take advantage of certain opportunities. While these products may not initially be associated with one of our proprietary brands, they can still reflect our whimsical and creative style, and may develop into a distinct brand over time. We also continuously develop new product designs and lines, which may develop into proprietary brands in the future.
Our Licenses
Licensors. We have strong licensing relationships with many established content providers, such as Disney, HBO, LucasFilm, Marvel, the National Football League, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers. We also seek to establish licensing relationships with newer content providers in order to capitalize on new and emerging trends in pop culture. For example, in recent years, we have established relationships and entered into licensing arrangements with Netflix and Epic Games. We believe we provide value to content providers by maximizing the lifetime value of their content by extending its relevance to consumers through ongoing fan engagement.
License Agreements. Our license agreements permit us to use the intellectual property of our licensors in connection with the products we design and sell. These license agreements typically provide that our licensors own intellectual property rights in the products we design and sell under the license, and as a result, upon termination of the license, we no longer have the right to sell these products. A number of these license agreements relate to properties that are significant to our business and operations. Our license agreements typically have terms of between two and three years and are not automatically renewable. However, we believe we have strong relationships with our licensors, and have historically been able to renew productive licenses on commercially reasonable terms.
Our license agreements require us to make royalty payments to the licensor based on our sales of the licensed product and, in some cases, require us to incur other charges. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the average royalty rate was 15.9%, 16.1% and 14.9%, respectively. Our royalty expense for any given year will vary depending on the mix of products sold during that year. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, we incurred royalty expenses of $126.8 million, $110.7 million and $77.1 million, respectively. Our licenses are generally not exclusive. In addition, the rights that licensors grant to us are typically limited to specific properties,
product categories, territories and, in some cases, sales channels. In addition, our license agreements usually require us to obtain the licensor’s approval of products we develop under the license prior to making any sales. They also typically provide for a minimum guarantee that covers all licensed properties under that license agreement, a portion of which is generally required to be paid in advance, and the amount of which is negotiated based on a variety of factors, including past and expected sales and the licensor’s expected line-up of new releases. Historically, we have a strong track record for meeting minimum guarantees under our license agreements. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, we recorded reserves of $2.4 million, $5.5 million and $2.9 million, respectively, related to prepaid royalties we estimated would not be recovered through sales. The increase in the reserves in 2018 was primarily due to our subscription box business, which we began phasing out in 2018. In addition, 2018 reflected higher reserves for minimum guarantees on international sales.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, 13%, 11% and 11% of sales were related to the Company’s three largest license agreements with no other license agreements accounting for more than 10% of sales. For the year ended December 31, 2018, 15%, 11% and 10% of sales were related to the Company’s three largest license agreements with no other license agreements accounting for more than 10% of sales. For the year ended December 31, 2017, there were no license agreements that accounted for more than 10% of sales.
Licensed Properties. We strive to license every pop culture property that we believe is relevant to consumers. What we consider to be a property will vary based on the terms of the underlying license agreement. In general, we consider each content title to constitute a single property. In some instances, however, a property may consist of an entire franchise or even a single character, particularly in our classic evergreen category. We divide our licensed properties into four main categories: classic evergreen, movie release, current TV and current video game. We also license certain properties that fall outside of these four main categories.
•Classic Evergreen. Properties in the classic evergreen category are based on movies, TV shows, video games, music, sports or other entertainment content that is not tied to a new or current release at the time we release the product. As a result, products that we design and sell based on these properties generally do not have a defined duration of market demand. Examples of our classic evergreen properties include Star Wars, Harry Potter, DC Comics, Marvel Comics and WWE.
•Movie Release. Properties in the movie release category are tied to new movie releases and are intended to capitalize on the excitement of fans surrounding these releases. Products that we design and sell based on these properties are expected to have a limited duration of market demand, depending on the popularity of the movie release. Examples of our movie release properties include Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars Episode IX, and Frozen 2.
•Current TV. Properties in the current TV category are tied to TV shows that are currently airing new content. These properties are expected to have a market demand depending on the popularity and longevity of the TV show, which is generally expected to be between three and seven years. Examples of our current TV properties include Stranger Things, Rick & Morty, The Walking Dead and Dragonball Z.
•Current Video Game. Properties in the current video game category are tied to new video game releases that are intended to capitalize on the excitement of fans surrounding these releases. Products that we design and sell based on these properties are expected to have a market demand depending on the popularity and longevity of the video game, which is generally expected to be three to seven years. Examples of our current video game properties include Fortnite and Overwatch.
•Other. We also occasionally license properties that do not fit within the four categories described above, including those associated with current events and limited-duration pop culture phenomena, which we are able to capitalize on due to our speed to market and low cost of production.
We expect these categories and the properties they encompass to evolve over time as current content becomes classic evergreen and as new forms of pop culture content emerge. In addition, while the percentage of sales attributable to our classic evergreen properties has been between approximately 51% and 45% over the past three years, it may fluctuate in any given year based on the number and popularity of new content releases.
Product Design and Development
We believe our creative product designs and nimble speed to market are key reasons why content providers trust us with their properties and consumers passionately engage with our brands and products. We leverage our creative, art and sculpting teams to design and develop products in-house from inception to production. Our creative team layers our whimsical, fun and unique style onto the content we license to create product designs that resonate with consumers. Our creative team is passionate about pop culture, and we have a strong pipeline of talent given our culture and the opportunity we provide to work with the most relevant pop culture content. Our designers often work collaboratively with content providers in advance of new content releases to create unique, stylized products to maximize the value of their properties and, in some cases, the input we have provided has influenced the content provider’s creative choices for their original content.
Our product development team oversees all aspects of new product development in order to ensure a timely product design and development process, including submitting the initial design to the content provider for approval, developing the product prototype, receiving final content provider approval and coordinating
manufacturing with our supply chain team and third-party manufacturer. Our flexible and low-fixed cost production model enables us to move from product design of a figure to shipping from the factory in as few as 70 days and typically between 110 and 200 days, with a minimal upfront investment for most figures of $5,000 to $7,500 in tooling, molds and internal design costs. Because of the strength of our in-house creative team, we are able to move from product design to pre-selling a new product in as few as 24 hours. This ability, coupled with the valuable data insights we have developed over the past decade and the increasing use of repeated franchise properties by content providers, reduces potential product risk to us.
Manufacturing and Materials
Our products are produced by third-party manufacturers primarily in Vietnam and China, which we choose on the basis of performance, capacity, capability and price. We also manufacture or assemble certain apparel and other products in the United States and Mexico. The use of third-party manufacturers enables us to avoid incurring fixed manufacturing costs, while maximizing flexibility, capacity and capability. Though our manufacturing base has diversified over time as we have grown our sales and expanded our product offerings, we have historically concentrated production with a small number of manufacturers and factories as part of a continuing effort to monitor quality, reduce manufacturing costs and ensure speed to market. In the case of most of the factories in which our products are manufactured, our products represent a significant percentage of each factory’s total capacity, which we believe provides us greater flexibility in supply chain management. We do not have long-term contracts with our manufacturers. We believe that alternative sources of supply are available to us although we cannot be assured that we can obtain adequate supplies of manufactured products on a timely basis or at all.
We base our production schedules for products on our internal forecasts, taking into account historical trends of similar products and properties, current market information and communications with customers. The accuracy of our forecasts is affected by consumer acceptance of our products, which is based on the strength of the underlying licensed property, the strength of competing products, the marketing strategies of retailers, changes in buying patterns of both our retail customers and our consumers, and overall economic conditions. Unexpected changes in these factors could result in a lack of product availability or excess inventory of a particular product.
Although we do not conduct the day-to-day manufacturing of our products, we are responsible for designing both the product and the packaging. We seek to ensure quality control by actively reviewing the product, both in-house and via image at multiple stages in development and sample finished goods to validate the quality control process. In addition to quality control testing, safety testing of our products is done by independent third-party testing laboratories.
While we purchase finished products from our manufacturers, the cost of our products is impacted by the cost of labor, as well as the cost of the principal raw materials used in the production and sale of our products, including vinyl, fabric, ceramics and plastics. All of these materials are readily available but may be subject to significant fluctuations in price. Although we do not manufacture our products, we own most of the tools and molds used in the manufacturing process, and generally these are transferable among manufacturers if we choose to employ alternative manufacturers.
Sales
We sell our products to a diverse network of customers throughout the world. Domestically, we sell our products to specialty retailers, mass-market retailers and e-commerce sites. Our key retail partners in the United States include Amazon, GameStop, Hot Topic, Target and Walmart. We also plan to target new or underdeveloped sales channels, including dollar, drug, grocery and convenience stores. Internationally, we sell our products directly to similar retailers, primarily in Europe, through our subsidiary Funko UK, Ltd. Our key international retail customers include Micromania, HEO, E.M.P. Merchandising and Smyths Toys.
In addition to major retailers, we also sell our products to distributors for sale to small retailers in the United States and in certain countries internationally, typically where we do not currently have a direct presence. We also sell certain of our products directly to consumers through our e-commerce business and, to a lesser extent, at specialty licensing and comic book shows, conventions and exhibitions in cities throughout the United States including at Comic-Con events. Our direct-to-consumer sales accounted for approximately 4% of our sales for both 2019 and 2018 and 6% of our sales for 2017. Though our direct-to-consumer efforts have historically represented a small portion of our net sales, we intend to increase our focus on these efforts in the future.
We believe we have a diverse customer base, with our top ten customers representing approximately 44%, 46% and 45%, of our 2019, 2018 and 2017 sales, respectively. No single customer accounted for over 10% of revenues during these periods.
We maintain a full-time sales staff, many of whom make on-site visits to our customers for the purpose of showing products and soliciting orders. Many of our retail customers view us as experts in pop culture and, in some cases, we help manage their growing pop culture category within their stores, providing a curated experience by catering to their particular customer bases. For example, we have curated products based on Dr. Seuss and Harry Potter books for Barnes & Noble, and video game-based products, such as Fallout and Overwatch, for GameStop. We believe this creates a mutually beneficial relationship between us and our retail customers by providing us with an opportunity to enhance the productivity of the pop culture category within their stores, which may also result in expanded shelf space for our products. In addition to our full-time sales staff, we also retain a number of independent sales representatives to sell and promote our products both domestically and internationally.
We sell our products to our customers with payment terms typically varying from 30 to 90 days. As discussed above, we contract the manufacture of most of our products to third-party unaffiliated manufacturers primarily located in Vietnam, China and Mexico and ship those products to our warehouse facilities in the United States and the United Kingdom. While most of our sales originate in the United States and the United Kingdom from inventory we hold in our warehouses, certain of our customers may take title to our products upon shipment from the factory or at the port.
We establish reserves for sales allowances, including promotional and other allowances, at the time of sale. The reserves are determined as a percentage of sales based upon either historical experience or upon estimates or programs agreed upon by our customers and us. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, we had reserves for sales allowances of $22.6 million and $13.0 million, respectively.
Marketing
We believe Funko’s trendsetting and nostalgia-based product assortment is a unique voice in the pop culture marketplace. We have experienced significant growth in brand engagement as our product offerings continue their appeal to all ages. We believe that our expansive retailer presence, high engagement rates across our owned channels, and devout fan base create fervor for the Funko brand. Our ability to effectively engage with our customers has resulted in a deep affinity for Funko and our products.
Funko continues to acquire new fans through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch and YouTube. In July of 2019 Funko’s Twitter handle, @originalfunko, reached one million followers. In comparison, Mattel and Hasbro average approximately 150,000 followers. The quality of our owned content also resulted in a 140% year-over-year increase in YouTube subscribers to over 500,000 subscribers as of December 31, 2019. We continue to expand our reach globally through our engaging content, events and personal engagement with our fan base.
Connection to pop culture through a lifestyle product line that includes vinyl figures, action toys, plush, apparel, board games, housewares and accessories is our core business. Entertainment enthusiasts display their fandom through the lens of Funko products.
The desire to tap into this fandom has resulted in strategic collaborations with companies like Microsoft and NBCU. In August 2019, we collaborated with Microsoft to launch Gears Pop!, a mobile game that utilizes Funko's unique Pop! characters.
Our fan base has also demanded the attention of studio partners and retailers. In 2019, Funko served as an official press junket partner for Disney, appearing at notable Disney, Marvel & LucasFilm junkets to interact with influencers and talent whose characters appear in the Funko brand and product line.
The recent opening of a 40,000-square foot retail-tainment experience in the heart of Hollywood has further increased our brand presence.
Competition
We are a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of licensed pop culture products, in a highly competitive industry. We compete with toy companies in many of our product categories, some of which have substantially more resources, stronger name recognition, and longer operating histories than us, and which benefit from greater economies of scale. We also increasingly compete with large toy companies for shelf space at leading mass market and other retailers. We also compete with numerous smaller domestic and foreign collectible product designers and manufacturers in each of our product categories. Our competitive advantage is based primarily on the creativity and quality of the design of our products and their perceived value, our price points, our license portfolio and our ability to bring new products to market quickly.
We produce most of our products under trademarks and copyrights that we own, utilizing the intellectual property of our licensors. Certain of our licensors have reserved the rights to manufacture, distribute and sell similar or identical products. Some of these products could directly compete with our products and could be sold to our customers or directly to consumers at lower prices than those at which our products are sold.
Although we believe we have one of the largest portfolios of licensed content in the pop culture industry, with strong relationships with many of our licensors, we must vigorously compete to obtain these licenses from leading content providers on commercially reasonable terms, and to expand our license rights into additional licensed product categories. This competition is based primarily on the creativity of our product designs, our ability to bring new products to market quickly, our ability to increase fan engagement, the breadth of our sales channels and the quality of our products. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
Intellectual Property
We believe that our trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property rights have significant value and are important to the marketing of our brand and the favorable perception of our products. We track our trademark registrations to ensure that marks used in commerce are renewed and maintained to prevent expiration of trademark rights. As of December 31, 2019, we owned approximately 66 registered U.S. trademarks, 146 registered international trademarks, 55 pending U.S. trademark applications and 94 pending international trademark applications. Most of our products are produced and sold under trademarks owned by or licensed to us. We register many of our trademarks related to our brands and seek protection under the trademark and copyright laws of the United States and other countries where our products are produced or sold. These intellectual property rights can be significant assets. Accordingly, while we believe we are sufficiently protected, the failure to obtain or the loss of some of these rights could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
Government Regulation
Our products sold in the United States are subject to the provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act (“CPSA”), the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (“FHSA”), the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (“CPSIA”) and the Flammable Fabrics Act (“FFA”), and the regulations promulgated pursuant to such statutes. These statutes and the related regulations ban from the market any consumer products that fail to comply with applicable product safety laws, regulations, and standards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission may require the recall,
repurchase, replacement, or repair of any such banned products or products that otherwise create a substantial risk of injury and may seek penalties for regulatory noncompliance under certain circumstances. Similar laws exist in some U.S. states and our products sold worldwide are subject to the provisions of similar laws and regulations in many jurisdictions, including Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia.
We maintain a quality control program to help ensure compliance with applicable product safety requirements. We use independent third-party laboratories that employ testing and other procedures intended to maintain compliance with the CPSA, the FHSA, the CPSIA, the FFA, other applicable domestic and international product standards, as well as our own standards and those of some of our larger retail customers and licensors. Nonetheless, there can be no assurance that our products are or will be hazard free, and we may in the future experience issues in products that result in recalls, withdrawals, or replacements of products. A product recall could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition, depending on the product affected by the recall and the extent of the recall efforts required. A product recall could also negatively affect our reputation and the sales of other Funko products. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
We are subject to various other federal, state, local and international laws and regulations applicable to our business, including export controls, and have established processes for compliance with these laws and regulations.
Employees
As of December 31, 2019, we employed 1,006 full-time employees. We employed 744 people in the United States, 252 people in Europe and 10 people in Asia. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or are party to a collective bargaining agreement, and we have had no labor-related work stoppages. We believe that we have good relationships with our employees.
Seasonality
While our customers in the retail industry, and many of our competitors, typically operate in highly seasonal businesses, we have historically experienced only moderate seasonality in our business. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 approximately 55%, 60% and 61%, respectively, of our net sales were made in the third and fourth quarters, as our customers build up their inventories in anticipation of the holiday season. In the fourth quarter of 2019, net sales were below expectations due to the challenging retail environment, which resulted in lower than expected purchases among Funko’s top customers throughout the holiday season as well as softness in sales related to certain tentpole movie releases.
Generally, the first quarter of the year represents the lowest volume of shipments and sales in our business and in the retail and toy industries generally, and it is also the least profitable quarter due to the various fixed costs of the business. However, the rapid growth we have experienced in recent years may have masked the full effects of seasonal factors on our business to date, and as such, seasonality may have a greater effect on our results of operations in future periods.See Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
Information about our Executive Officers and Board of Directors
The following table provides information regarding our executive officers and members of our board of directors (ages as of March 5, 2020):
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Name
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Age
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Position(s)
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Brian Mariotti
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52
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Chief Executive Officer, Director
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Jennifer Fall Jung
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49
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Chief Financial Officer
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Andrew Perlmutter
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42
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President
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Tracy Daw
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54
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Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
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Ken Brotman
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54
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Chairman of the Board of Directors
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Gino Dellomo
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41
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Director
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Charles Denson
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63
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Director
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Diane Irvine
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61
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Director
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Adam Kriger
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53
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Director
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Sarah Kirshbaum Levy
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49
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Director
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Michael Lunsford
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52
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Director
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Executive Officers
Brian Mariotti has served as Funko, Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer and as a member of Funko, Inc.’s board of directors since its formation in April 2017, as the Chief Executive Officer of FAH, LLC and as a member of FAH, LLC’s board of directors since October 2015, and as Chief Executive Officer of FHL and as a member of FHL’s board of directors since May 2013. Mr. Mariotti has also served as Chief Executive Officer of Funko, LLC since he acquired the business with a small group of investors in 2005. We believe Mr. Mariotti’s knowledge of the pop culture industry and many years of experience as our Chief Executive Officer make him well-qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
Jennifer Fall Jung has served as Funko, Inc.’s Chief Financial Officer since August 2019. Ms. Fall Jung previously served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations of Gap, Inc. (“Gap”), a global clothing and accessories retailer, from January 2017 to March 2018. Prior to January 2017, Ms. Fall Jung served in various other roles at Gap, including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Old Navy Global and Head of International from November 2012 to January 2017, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Gap North America from February 2011 to November 2012, and Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Strategy and Real Estate for Gap, Inc. Outlet from April 2007 to February 2011. Ms. Fall Jung received her B.B.A. in Finance and her M.B.A., with an emphasis in International Business from San Diego State University.
Andrew Perlmutter has served as the President of Funko, Inc. and FAH, LLC since October 2017. Mr. Perlmutter was the Senior Vice President of Sales of FAH, LLC from June 2013 until October 2017. Prior to joining FAH, LLC, he was a co-founder of Bottle Rocket Collective, a board and travel games company, where he oversaw product manufacturing and sales from December 2012 until December 2013. Prior to his time at Bottle Rocket Collective, he was a National Account Manager at The Wilko Group from August 2001 until December 2012, where he managed sales to a variety of major mass-market, specialty and online retailers. Mr. Perlmutter received a B.A. in Interpersonal Communications from Southern Illinois University.
Tracy Daw has served as Funko, Inc.’s Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary since its formation in April 2017, and as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of FAH, LLC since July 2016. Mr. Daw served as the General Counsel of INRIX, Inc. from April 2012 until July 2016, where he was responsible for global legal affairs, with emphasis on corporate and intellectual property matters. He also previously served in various roles at RealNetworks, Inc. from February 2000 until April 2012, including as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, where he managed the company’s global legal affairs and corporate development efforts. From 1990 to 2000, Mr. Daw was a member of the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP, where he was a partner. Mr. Daw received a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
Directors
Ken Brotman has served on the board of directors of Funko, Inc. since its formation in April 2017, and on the board of directors of FAH, LLC since October 2015. Mr. Brotman is a Founder and Managing Partner at ACON Investments, which he co-founded in 1996. Before that, Mr. Brotman was a partner at Veritas Capital, Inc. from 1993 until 1996, and, between 1987 and 1993, held positions at various private equity firms including Bain Capital and Wasserstein Perella Management Partners. Mr. Brotman has served on the board of directors of various ACON Investments portfolio companies since 1997 including several in the retail and consumer products sectors. Mr. Brotman received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. We believe Mr. Brotman’s extensive private equity investment and company strategy and oversight experience and background with respect to acquisitions, debt financings and equity financings makes him well-qualified to serve as a member and as the chairman of our board of directors.
Gino Dellomo has served on the board of directors of Funko, Inc. since its formation in April 2017, and on the board of directors of FAH, LLC since October 2015. Mr. Dellomo is a Director at ACON Investments, which he joined in October 2006. Since October 2006, he has also served on the board of directors of various ACON Investments portfolio companies. Between 2001 and 2006, Mr. Dellomo held various positions at various investment banks, including Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc., FBR Capital Markets & Co. and MCG Capital Corp. Mr. Dellomo received a B.S. in Finance from Georgetown University. We believe Mr. Dellomo’s private equity investment and company oversight experience and background with respect to acquisitions, debt financings and equity financings makes him well-qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
Charles Denson has served on the board of directors of Funko, Inc. since its formation in April 2017, and on the board of directors of FAH, LLC since June 2016. Mr. Denson has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Anini Vista Advisors, an advisory and consulting firm, since March 2014. From February 1979 until January 2014, Mr. Denson held various positions at NIKE, Inc., where he was appointed to several management roles, including, in 2001, President of the NIKE Brand, a position he held until January 2014. Mr. Denson also serves on the board of directors of several privately held organizations. Mr. Denson received a B.A. in Business from Utah State University. We believe Mr. Denson’s extensive experience in brand building, brand management and organizational leadership in the public company context makes him well-qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Diane Irvine has served on the board of directors of Funko, Inc. and FAH, LLC since August 2017. Ms. Irvine previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Blue Nile, Inc., an online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, from February 2008 until November 2011, as President from February 2007 until November 2011, and as Chief Financial Officer from December 1999 until September 2007. From February 1994 until May 1999, Ms. Irvine served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc., and from September 1981 until February 1994, she worked at accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand LLP in various capacities, most recently as partner. Ms. Irvine currently serves on the boards of directors of Casper Sleep Inc. (on whose board she has served since August 2019), Yelp Inc. (on whose board she has served since September 2011), and D.A. Davidson & Co. (on whose board she has served since January 2018), and previously served on the boards of directors of XO Group Inc. from November 2014 to December 21, 2018, Rightside Group Ltd. from August 2014 until July 2017, CafePress, Inc. from July 2012 until May 2015, and Blue Nile, Inc. from May 2001 until November 2011. Ms. Irvine received an M.S. in Taxation and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Golden Gate University, and a B.S. in Accounting from Illinois State University. We believe Ms. Irvine’s extensive public company management experience and financial expertise make her well-qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Adam Kriger has served on the board of directors of Funko, Inc. since its formation in April 2017, and on the board of directors of FAH, LLC since June 2016. Mr. Kriger is an Executive Partner at ACON Investments, which he joined in August 2017. Before that, Mr. Kriger served as the Senior Vice President of Global Strategy for McDonald’s Corporation from December 2001 until March 2015. He also previously served as the Senior Vice President of Global Strategy for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide from 1998 until 1999, and as the Vice President of Strategy and Development for The Walt Disney Company from 1988 until 1990, and then again from 1992 until 1998. Mr. Kriger serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations and private companies. Mr. Kriger received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Quantitative Economics from Stanford University. We believe Mr. Kriger’s extensive strategic, risk management and organizational leadership experience in the public company context make him well-qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Sarah Kirshbaum Levy has served on the board of directors of Funko, Inc. since September 2019. Ms. Levy served as the Chief Operating Officer of Viacom Media Networks, a division of the entertainment and media company, ViacomCBS, from 2016 through 2019, where she was responsible for overseeing global strategy, finance and operations for the division. Prior to her appointment at Viacom Media Networks, Ms. Levy was Chief Operating Officer at Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2016. She also currently sits on the board of the Lucius Littauer Foundation, which makes grants in the areas of education, social welfare, health care, and Jewish studies. Ms. Levy received an M.B.A. and B.A. in Economics from Harvard University. We believe Ms. Levy’s extensive experience in entertainment and media, in particular her familiarity with consumer products licensing, make her well-qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Michael Lunsford has served on the board of directors of Funko, Inc. since October 2018. Mr. Lunsford previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of SK Planet, Inc. from 2013 until 2018 and as interim Chief Executive Officer of shopkick, Inc. in 2016. From 2008 to 2013, Mr. Lunsford held various management roles with RealNetworks, Inc., including interim Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President and General Manager of RealNetworks’ Core Business and Chief Executive Officer of Rhapsody. Mr. Lunsford also served on the board of directors of shopkick, Inc. from 2013 to 2018, and on the boards of directors of various portfolio companies owned by SK Planet, Inc. from 2013 to 2018. Since 2014, Mr. Lunsford has served on the board of directors of the University of North Carolina Board of Visitors and IslandWood. Mr. Lunsford received an M.B.A. and a B.A. in Economics from The University of North Carolina. We believe Mr. Lunsford’s broad management, retail and e-commerce experience make him well-qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Segment Information
We identify our reportable segments according to how the business activities are managed and evaluated, for which discrete financial information is available and is regularly reviewed by our Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”) to allocate resources and assess performance. Because our CODM reviews financial performance and allocates resources at a consolidated level on a regular basis, we have one reportable segment.
Our History
Funko, Inc. was formed as a Delaware corporation on April 21, 2017 for the purpose of completing our IPO. FAH LLC, a holding company with no operating assets or operations, was formed on September 24, 2015. On October 30, 2015, ACON Funko Investors, L.L.C., through FAH, LLC and the ACON Acquisition, acquired a controlling interest in FHL, which is also a holding company with no operating assets or operations. FAH, LLC owns 100% of FHL and FHL owns 100% of Funko, LLC, which is the operating entity.
Available Information
Our Internet address is www.funko.com. At our Investor Relations website, investor.funko.com, we make available free of charge a variety of information for investors, including:
•our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file that material with or furnish it to the SEC;
•press releases on quarterly earnings, product and service announcements, events and legal developments;
•corporate governance information including our corporate governance guidelines, codes of conduct and ethics and committee charters;
•other news and announcements that we may post from time to time that investors might find useful or interesting; and
•opportunities to sign up for email alerts and RSS feeds to have information pushed in real time.
The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Our business faces significant risks and uncertainties. Certain important factors may have a material adverse effect on our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations, and they should be carefully considered. Accordingly, in evaluating our business, we encourage you to consider the following discussion of risk factors in its entirety, in addition to other information contained in or incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Other events that we do not currently anticipate or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our success depends on our ability to execute our business strategy.
Our net sales and profitability have grown rapidly in recent periods; however, this should not be considered indicative of our future performance. Our future growth, profitability and cash flows depend upon our ability to successfully execute our business strategy, which is dependent upon a number of factors, including our ability to:
•expand our market presence in existing sales channels and enter additional sales channels;
•anticipate, gauge and respond to rapidly changing consumer preferences and pop culture trends;
•acquire or enter into new licenses in existing product categories or in new product categories and renew existing licenses;
•expand our geographic presence to take advantage of opportunities outside of the United States;
•enhance and maintain favorable brand recognition for our Company and product offerings;
•maintain and expand margins through sales growth and efficiency initiatives;
•effectively manage our relationships with third-party manufacturers;
•effectively manage our debt, working capital and capital investments to maintain and improve the generation of cash flow; and
•execute any acquisitions quickly and efficiently and integrate businesses successfully.
There can be no assurance that we can successfully execute our business strategy in the manner or time period that we expect. Further, achieving these objectives will require investments which may result in short-term costs without generating any current sales or countervailing cost savings and, therefore, may be dilutive to our earnings, at least in the short term. In addition, we may decide to divest or discontinue certain brands or products or streamline operations and incur other costs or special charges in doing so. We may also decide to discontinue certain programs or sales to certain retailers based on anticipated strategic benefits. The failure to realize the anticipated benefits from our business strategy could have a material adverse effect on our prospects, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is dependent upon our license agreements, which involve certain risks.
Products from which we generate substantially all of our net sales are produced under license agreements which grant us the right to use certain intellectual property in such products. These license agreements typically have short terms (between two and three years), are not automatically renewable, and, in some cases, give the licensor the right to terminate the license agreement at will.
Our license agreements typically provide that our licensors own the intellectual property rights in the products we design and sell under the license. As a result, upon termination of the license, we would no longer have the right to sell these products, while our licensors could engage a competitor to do so. We believe our ability to retain our license agreements depends, in large part, on the strength of our relationships with our licensors. Any events or developments adversely affecting those relationships, or the loss of one or more members of our management team, particularly our chief executive officer, could adversely affect our ability to maintain and renew our license agreements on similar terms or at all. Our top ten licensors collectively accounted for approximately 73%, 72% and 72% of our sales for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Moreover, while we have separate licensing arrangements with Disney, LucasFilm and Marvel, these parties are all under common ownership by Disney and collectively these licensors accounted for approximately 38%, 34% and 33% of our sales for the
years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The termination or lack of renewal of one or more of our license agreements, or the renewal of a license agreement on less favorable terms, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, in January 2019 we renewed our licensing agreements with Disney, LucasFilm and Marvel. In connection with such renewals, we were required to provide Disney certain benefits and fees in addition to paying Disney approximately $2.0 million as a consent fee under our previous licensing agreements. While we may enter into additional license agreements in the future, the terms of such license agreements may be less favorable than the terms of our existing license agreements.
Our license agreements are complex, and typically grant our licensors the right to audit our compliance with the terms and conditions of such agreements. Any such audit could result in a dispute over whether we have paid the proper royalties and a requirement that we pay additional royalties, the amounts of which could be material. As of December 31, 2019, we had a reserve of $7.8 million on our balance sheet related to ongoing and future royalty audits, based on estimates of the costs we expect to incur. In addition to royalty payments, these agreements as a whole impose numerous other obligations on us, including obligations to, among other things:
•maintain the integrity of the applicable intellectual property;
•obtain the licensor’s approval of the products we develop under the license prior to making any sales;
•permit the licensor’s involvement in, or obtain the licensor’s approval of, advertising, packaging and marketing plans;
•maintain minimum sales levels or make minimum guaranteed royalty payments;
•actively promote the sale of the licensed product and maintain the availability of the licensed product throughout the license term;
•spend a certain percentage of our sales of the licensed product on marketing and advertising for the licensed product;
•sell the products we develop under the license only within a specified territory or within specified sales channels;
•indemnify the licensor in the event of product liability or other claims related to the licensed product and advertising or other materials used to promote the licensed product;
•obtain the licensor’s approval of the retail price of the licensed products;
•sell the licensed products to the licensor at a discounted price or at the lowest price charged to our customers;
•obtain the licensor’s consent prior to assigning or sub-licensing to third parties; and
•provide notice to, obtain approval from, or, in limited circumstances, make certain payments to the licensor in connection with certain changes in control.
If we breach any of these obligations or any other obligations set forth in any of our license agreements, we could be subject to monetary penalties and our rights under such license agreements could be terminated, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success is also partially dependent on the reputation of our licensors, the goodwill associated with their intellectual property, and their ability to protect and maintain the intellectual property rights that we use in connection with our products, all of which may be harmed by factors outside our control. See also “If we are unable to obtain, maintain and protect our intellectual property rights, in particular trademarks and copyrights, or if our licensors are unable to maintain and protect their intellectual property rights that we use in connection with our products, our ability to compete could be negatively impacted.”
As a purveyor of licensed pop culture consumer products, we may not be able to design and develop products that will be popular with consumers, and we may not be able to maintain the popularity of successful products.
The interests of consumers evolve extremely quickly and can change dramatically from year to year. To be successful we must correctly anticipate both the products and the movies, TV shows, video games, music, sports
and other content releases (including the related characters), that will appeal to consumers and quickly develop and introduce products that can compete successfully for consumers’ limited time, attention and spending. Evolving consumer tastes and shifting interests, coupled with an ever changing and expanding pipeline of products and content that compete for consumers’ interest and acceptance, create an environment in which some products and content can fail to achieve consumer acceptance, while others can be popular during a certain period of time but then be rapidly replaced. As a result, consumer products, particularly those based on pop culture such as ours, can have short life cycles. In addition, given the growing market for digital products and the increasingly digital nature of pop culture, there is also a risk that consumer demand for physical products may decrease over time. If we devote time and resources to developing and marketing products that consumers do not find appealing enough to buy in sufficient quantities, our sales and profits may decline, and our business performance may be damaged. Similarly, if our product offerings fail to correctly anticipate consumer interests, our sales and earnings will be adversely affected.
Additionally, our business is increasingly global and depends on interest in and acceptance of our products and our licensors’ brands by consumers in diverse markets around the world with different tastes and preferences. As such, our success depends on our ability to successfully predict and adapt to changing consumer tastes and preferences in multiple markets and geographies and to design products that can achieve popularity globally over a broad and diverse consumer audience. There is no guarantee that we will be able to successfully develop and market products with global appeal.
Consumer demand for pop culture products can and does shift rapidly and without warning. As a result, even if our product offerings are initially successful, there can be no guarantee that we will be able to maintain their popularity with consumers. Accordingly, our success will depend, in part, on our ability to continually design and introduce new products that consumers find appealing. To the extent we are unable to do so, our sales and profitability will be adversely affected. This is particularly true given the concentration of our sales under certain of our brands, particularly Pop!. Sales of our Pop! branded products accounted for approximately 79%, 76% and 70% of our sales for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. If consumer demand for our Pop! branded products were to decrease, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected unless we were able to develop and market additional products that generated an equivalent amount of net sales at a comparable gross margin, which there is no guarantee we would be able to do.
Changes in the retail industry and markets for consumer products affecting our retail customers or retailing practices could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our products are primarily sold to consumers through retailers that are our direct customers or customers of our distributors. As such, trends and changes in the retail industry can negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, the retail industry, and in particular the toys sector, experienced softness during the 2019 holiday season, which adversely impacted our sales.
Due to the challenging environment for traditional “brick-and-mortar” retail locations caused by declining in-store traffic, many retailers are closing physical stores, and some traditional retailers are engaging in significant reorganizations, filing for bankruptcy and going out of business. For example, in September 2017, Toys “R” Us, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, and in March 2018, Toys “R” Us, Inc. announced the wind down of its U.S. operations and the potential insolvency proceedings of certain of its subsidiaries. Toys “R” Us, Inc. accounted for approximately 3.4% of our sales for the year ended December 31, 2017. In addition to furthering consolidation in the retail industry, such a trend could have a negative effect on the financial health of our retail customers and distributors, potentially causing them to experience difficulties in fulfilling their payment obligations to us or our distributors, reduce the amount of their purchases, seek extended credit terms or otherwise change their purchasing patterns, alter the manner in which they promote our products or the resources they devote to promoting and selling our products or cease doing business with us or our distributors. If any of our retail customers were to file for bankruptcy, we could be unable to collect amounts owed to us and could even be required to repay certain amounts paid to us prior to the bankruptcy filing. The occurrence of any of these events would have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
If we do not effectively maintain and further develop our relationships with retail customers and distributors, our growth prospects, business and results of operations could be harmed.
Historically, substantially all of our net sales have been derived from our retail customers and distributors, upon which we rely to reach the consumers who are the ultimate purchasers of our products. In the United States, we primarily sell our products directly to specialty retailers, mass-market retailers and e-commerce sites. In international markets, we sell our products directly to similar retailers, primarily in Europe, through our subsidiary Funko UK, Ltd. We also sell our products to distributors for sale to retailers in the United States and in certain countries internationally, typically in those countries in which we do not currently have a direct presence. Our top ten customers represented approximately 44%, 46% and 45% of our sales for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
We depend on retailers to provide adequate and attractive space for our products and point of purchase displays in their stores. We further depend on our retail customers to employ, educate and motivate their sales personnel to effectively sell our products. If our retail customers do not adequately display our products or choose to promote competitors’ products over ours, our sales could decrease, and our business could be harmed. Similarly, we depend on our distributors to reach retailers in certain market segments in the United States and to reach international retailers in countries where we do not have a direct presence. Our distributors generally offer products from several different companies, including our competitors. Accordingly, we are at risk that these distributors may give higher priority to selling other companies’ products. If we were to lose the services of a distributor, we might need to find another distributor in that area, and there can be no assurance of our ability to do so in a timely manner or on favorable terms.
In addition, our business could be adversely affected if any of our retail customers or distributors were to reduce purchases of our products. Our retail customers and distributors generally build inventories in anticipation of future sales and will decrease the size of their future product orders if sales do not occur as rapidly as they anticipate. Our customers make no long-term commitments to us regarding purchase volumes and can therefore freely reduce their purchases of our products. Any reduction in purchases of our products by our retail customers and distributors, or the loss of any key retailer or distributor, could adversely affect our net sales, operating results and financial condition.
Furthermore, consumer preferences have shifted, and may continue to shift in the future, to sales channels other than traditional retail, including e-commerce, in which we have more limited experience, presence and development. Consumer demand for our products may be lower in these channels than in traditional retail channels. In addition, our entry into new product categories and geographies has exposed, and may continue to expose, us to new sales channels in which we have less expertise. If we are not successful in developing our e-commerce channel and other new sales channels, our net sales and profitability may be adversely affected.
Our industry is highly competitive and the barriers to entry are low. If we are unable to compete effectively with existing or new competitors, our sales, market share and profitability could decline.
Our industry is, and will continue to be, highly competitive. We compete with toy companies in many of our product categories, some of which have substantially more resources than us, stronger name recognition, longer operating histories and greater economies of scale. We also compete with numerous smaller domestic and foreign collectible product designers and manufacturers. Across our business, we face competitors who are constantly monitoring and attempting to anticipate consumer tastes and trends, seeking ideas that will appeal to consumers and introducing new products that compete with our products for consumer acceptance and purchase.
In addition to existing competitors, the barriers to entry for new participants in our industry are low, and the increasing use of digital technology, social media and the internet to spark consumer interest has further increased the ability for new participants to enter our markets and has broadened the array of companies against which we compete. New participants can gain access to retail customers and consumers and become a significant source of competition for our products in a very short period of time. Additionally, since we do not have exclusive rights to any of the properties we license or the related entertainment brands, our competitors, including those with more resources and greater economies of scale, can obtain licenses to design and sell products based on the same properties that we license, potentially on more favorable terms. Any of these competitors may be able to bring new products to market more quickly, respond more rapidly than us to changes in consumer preferences and produce products of higher quality or that can be sold at more accessible price points. To the extent our competitors’
products achieve greater market acceptance than our products, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.
In addition, certain of our licensors have reserved the rights to manufacture, distribute and sell identical or similar products to those we design and sell under our license agreements. These products could directly compete with our products and could be sold at lower prices than those at which our products are sold, resulting in higher margins for our customers compared to our products, potentially lessening our customers’ demand for our products and adversely affecting our sales and profitability.
Furthermore, competition for access to the properties we license is intense, and we must vigorously compete to obtain licenses to the intellectual property we need to produce our products. This competition could lessen our ability to secure, maintain, and renew our existing licenses, or require us to pay licensors higher royalties and higher minimum guaranteed payments in order to obtain new licenses or retain our existing licenses. To the extent we are unable to license properties on commercially reasonable terms, or on terms at least as favorable as our competitors, our competitive position and demand for our products will suffer. Because our ability to compete for licensed properties is based largely on our ability to increase fan engagement and generate royalty revenues for our licensors, any reduction in the demand for and sales of our products will further inhibit our ability to obtain licenses on commercially reasonable terms or at all. As a result, any such reduction in the demand for and sales of our products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We also increasingly compete with toy companies and other product designers for shelf space at specialty, mass-market and other retailers. Our retail customers will allocate shelf space and promotional resources based on the margins of our products for our customers, as well as their sales volumes. If toy companies or other competitors produce higher margin or more popular merchandise than our products, our retail customers may reduce purchases of our products and, in turn, devote less shelf space and resources to the sale of our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our sales and profitability.
If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our financial performance may suffer.
We have experienced rapid growth over the last several years, which has placed a strain on our managerial, operational, product design and development, sales and marketing, administrative and financial infrastructure. For example, we increased our total number of full-time employees from 66 as of December 31, 2013 to 1,006 as of December 31, 2019. As a result of our acquisition of Underground Toys Limited in January 2017, we now have distribution operations in the United Kingdom, our first distribution center outside of our headquarters in Everett, Washington. In June 2017, with the acquisition of Loungefly, LLC, we added an additional distribution center in Chatsworth, California. Our success depends in part upon our ability to manage our growth effectively. To do so, we must continue to increase the productivity of our existing employees and to hire, train and manage new employees as needed, which we may not be able to do successfully or without compromising our corporate culture. See “Our success is critically dependent on the efforts and dedication of our officers and other employees, and the loss of any one or more key employees, or our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel and maintain our corporate culture, could adversely affect our business.” To manage domestic and international growth of our operations and personnel, we will need to continue to improve our product development, supply chain, financial and management controls and our reporting processes and procedures and implement more extensive and integrated financial and business information systems. These additional investments will increase our operating costs, which will make it more difficult for us to offset any future revenue shortfalls by reducing expenses in the short term. Moreover, if we fail to scale our operations or manage our growth successfully, our business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.
Our gross margin may not be sustainable and may fluctuate over time.
Our gross margin has historically fluctuated, primarily as a result of changes in product mix, changes in our costs, price competition and acquisitions. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, our gross margins (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) were 35.5%, 37.2% and 38.5%, respectively. Our current gross margin may not be sustainable, and our gross margin may decrease over time. A decrease in gross margin can be the result of numerous factors, including, but not limited to:
•changes in customer, geographic, or product mix;
•introduction of new products, including our expansion into additional product categories;
•increases in the royalty rates under our license agreements;
•inability to meet minimum guaranteed royalties;
•increases in, or our inability to reduce, our costs;
•entry into new markets or growth in lower margin markets;
•increases in raw materials, labor or other manufacturing- and inventory-related costs;
•increases in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, and increased shipping costs to meet customer demand;
•increased price competition;
•changes in the dynamics of our sales channels, including those affecting the retail industry and the financial health of our customers;
•increases in sales discounts and allowances provided to our customers;
•acquisitions of companies with a lower gross margin than ours; and
•overall execution of our business strategy and operating plan.
If any of these factors, or other factors unknown to us at this time, occur, then our gross margin could be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is largely dependent on content development and creation by third parties.
We spend considerable resources in designing and developing products in conjunction with planned movie, television, video game, music and other content releases by various third-party content providers. The timing of the development and release, and the ultimate consumer interest in and success of, such content depends on the efforts of these third parties, as well as conditions in the media and entertainment industry generally. We do not control when or if any particular project will be greenlit, developed or released, and the creators of such projects may change their plans with respect to release dates or cancel development altogether. This can make it difficult for us to successfully develop and market products in conjunction with a given content release, given the lead times involved in product development and successful marketing efforts. Additionally, unforeseen factors in the media and entertainment industry, including labor strikes and unforeseen developments with talent such as accusations of a star’s wrongdoing, may also delay or cancel the release of such projects. Any such delay or cancellation may decrease the number of products we sell and harm our business.
We may not realize the full benefit of our licenses if the properties we license have less market appeal than expected or if sales from the products that use those properties are not sufficient to satisfy the minimum guaranteed royalties.
We seek to fulfill consumer preferences and interests by designing and selling products primarily based on properties owned by third parties and licensed to us. The popularity of the properties we license can significantly affect our sales and profitability. If we produce products based on a particular movie, TV show or video game, the success of the underlying content has a critical impact on the level of consumer interest in the associated products we are offering. Although we license a wide variety of properties, sales of products tied to major movie franchises have been significant contributors to our business. In addition, the theatrical duration of movie releases has decreased over time and we expect this trend to continue with the increase of content made available on video streaming services. This may make it increasingly difficult for us to sell products based on such properties or lead our customers to reduce demand for our products to minimize their inventory risk. If the performance of one or more of such movie franchises failed to meet expectations or if there was a shift in consumer tastes away from such franchises generally, our results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, competition in our industry for access to licensed properties can lessen our ability to secure, maintain, and renew our existing licenses on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, and to attract and retain the talented employees necessary to design, develop and market successful products based on these properties.
Our license agreements usually also require us to pay minimum royalty guarantees, which may in some cases be greater than what we are ultimately able to recoup from actual sales. When our licensing agreements require minimum royalty guarantees, we accrue a royalty liability based on the contractually required percentage, as revenues are earned. In the case that a minimum royalty guarantee is not expected to be met through sales, we will
accrue up to the minimum amount required to be paid. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, we recorded reserves of $2.4 million, $5.5 million and $2.9 million, respectively, related to prepaid royalties we estimated would not be recovered through sales. Acquiring or renewing licenses may require the payment of minimum guaranteed royalties that we consider to be too high to be profitable, which may result in losing licenses that we currently hold when they become available for renewal, or missing business opportunities for new licenses. Additionally, we have no guarantee that any particular property we license will translate into a successful product. Products tied to a particular content release may be developed and released before demand for the underlying content is known. The underperformance of any such product may result in reduced sales and operating profit for us.
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to successfully manage our inventories.
We must maintain sufficient inventory levels to operate our business successfully, but we must also avoid accumulating excess inventory, which increases working capital needs and lowers gross margin. We obtain substantially all of our inventory from third-party manufacturers located outside the United States and must typically order products well in advance of the time these products will be offered for sale to our customers. As a result, it may be difficult to respond to changes in consumer preferences and market conditions, which, for pop culture products, can change rapidly. If we do not accurately anticipate the popularity of certain products, then we may not have sufficient inventory to meet demand. Alternatively, if demand or future sales do not reach forecasted levels, we could have excess inventory that we may need to hold for a long period of time, write down, sell at prices lower than expected or discard. If we are not successful in managing our inventory, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2019, we wrote-down $16.8 million of inventory due to our decision to dispose of slower moving inventory to increase operational capacity which contributed to the Company's net loss for the period.
We may also be negatively affected by changes in retailers’ inventory policies and practices. As a result of the desire of retailers to more closely manage inventory levels, there is a growing trend to make purchases on a “just-in-time” basis. This requires us to more closely anticipate demand and could require us to carry additional inventory. Policies and practices of individual retailers may adversely affect us as well, including those relating to access to and time on shelf space, price demands, payment terms and favoring the products of our competitors. Our retail customers make no binding long-term commitments to us regarding purchase volumes and make all purchases by delivering purchase orders. Any retailer can therefore freely reduce its overall purchase of our products, including the number and variety of our products that it carries, and reduce the shelf space allotted for our products. If demand or future sales do not reach forecasted levels, we could have excess inventory that we may need to hold for a long period of time, write down, sell at prices lower than expected or discard. If we are not successful in managing our inventory, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
An inability to develop and introduce products in a timely and cost-effective manner may damage our business.
Our sales and profitability depend on our ability to bring products to market to meet customer demands and before consumers begin to lose interest in a given property. There is no guarantee that we will be able to manufacture, source and ship new or continuing products in a timely manner or on a cost-effective basis to meet constantly changing consumer demands. This risk is heightened by our customers’ increasingly compressed shipping schedules and the seasonality of our business. Furthermore, our license agreements typically require us to obtain the licensor’s approval of the products we develop under a particular license prior to making any sales, which can have the effect of delaying our product releases. Additionally, for products based on properties in our movie, TV show and video game categories, this risk may also be exacerbated by our need to introduce new products on a timeframe that corresponds with a particular content release. These time constraints may lead our customers to reduce their demand for these products in order to minimize their inventory risk. Moreover, unforeseen delays or difficulties in the development process, significant increases in the planned cost of development, manufacturing or distribution delays or changes in anticipated consumer demand for our products and new brands, or the related third party content, may cause the introduction date for products to be later than anticipated, may reduce or eliminate the profitability of such products or, in some situations, may cause a product or new brand introduction to be discontinued.
If we are unable to obtain, maintain and protect our intellectual property rights, in particular trademarks and copyrights, or if our licensors are unable to maintain and protect their intellectual property rights that we use in connection with our products, our ability to compete could be negatively impacted.
Our intellectual property is a valuable asset of our business. As of December 31, 2019, we owned approximately 66 registered U.S. trademarks, 146 registered international trademarks, 55 pending U.S. trademark applications and 94 pending international trademark applications. The market for our products depends to a significant extent upon the value associated with our product design, our proprietary brands and the properties we license. Although certain of our intellectual property is registered in the United States and in several of the foreign countries in which we operate, there can be no assurances with respect to the rights associated with such intellectual property in those countries, including our ability to register, use, maintain or defend key trademarks and copyrights. We rely on a combination of trademark, trade dress, copyright and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual restrictions, to establish and protect our intellectual property or other proprietary rights. However, these laws, procedures and restrictions provide only limited and uncertain protection and any of our intellectual property rights may be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed or misappropriated, including by counterfeiters and parallel importers. In addition, our intellectual property portfolio in many foreign countries is less extensive than our portfolio in the United States, and the laws of foreign countries, including many emerging markets in which our products are produced or sold, may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. The costs required to protect our trademarks and copyrights may be substantial.
In addition, we may fail to apply for, or be unable to obtain, protection for certain aspects of the intellectual property used in or beneficial to our business. Further, we cannot provide assurance that our applications for trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property rights will be granted, or, if granted, will provide meaningful protection. In addition, third parties have in the past and could in the future bring infringement, invalidity or similar claims with respect to any of our current trademarks and copyrights, or any trademarks or copyrights that we may seek to obtain in the future. Any such claims, whether or not successful, could be extremely costly to defend, divert management’s attention and resources, damage our reputation and brands, and substantially harm our business and results of operations.
In order to protect or enforce our intellectual property and other proprietary rights, or to determine the enforceability, scope or validity of the intellectual or proprietary rights of others, we may initiate litigation or other proceedings against third parties. Any lawsuits or proceedings that we initiate could be expensive, take significant time and divert management’s attention from other business concerns. Litigation and other proceedings also put our intellectual property at risk of being invalidated, or if not invalidated, may result in the scope of our intellectual property rights being narrowed. In addition, our efforts to try to protect and defend our trademarks and copyrights may be ineffective. Additionally, we may provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits or other proceedings that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially valuable. The occurrence of any of these events may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, most of our products bear the trademarks and other intellectual property rights of our licensors, and the value of our products is affected by the value of those rights. Our licensors’ ability to maintain and protect their trademarks and other intellectual property rights is subject to risks similar to those described above with respect to our intellectual property. We do not control the protection of the trademarks and other intellectual property rights of our licensors and cannot ensure that our licensors will be able to secure or protect their trademarks and other intellectual property rights. The loss of any of our significant owned or licensed trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our licensors may engage in activities or otherwise be subject to negative publicity that could harm their reputation and impair the value of the intellectual property rights we license from them, which could reduce consumer demand for our products and adversely affect our business financial condition and results of operations.
Our success depends on our ability to operate our business without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the trademarks, copyrights and proprietary rights of other parties.
Our commercial success depends at least in part on our ability to operate without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the trademarks, copyrights and other proprietary rights of others. However, we cannot be certain that the conduct of our business does not and will not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate such rights. Many companies have employed intellectual property litigation as a way to gain a competitive advantage, and to the
extent we gain greater visibility and market exposure as a public company, we may also face a greater risk of being the subject of such litigation. For these and other reasons, third parties may allege that our products or activities, including products we make under license, infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate their trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights. While we typically receive intellectual property infringement indemnities from our licensors, the indemnities are often limited to third-party copyright infringement claims to the extent arising from our use of the licensed material. Defending against allegations and litigation could be expensive, take significant time, divert management’s attention from other business concerns, and delay getting our products to market. In addition, if we are found to be infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating third-party trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights, we may need to obtain a license, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or may need to redesign or rebrand our products, which may not be possible. We may also be required to pay substantial damages or be subject to a court order prohibiting us and our customers from selling certain products or engaging in certain activities. Any claims of violating others’ intellectual property, even those without merit, could therefore have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operating results may be adversely affected and damage to our reputation may occur due to production and sale of counterfeit versions of our products.
As we have expanded internationally, and the global popularity of our products has increased, our products are increasingly subject to efforts by third parties to produce counterfeit versions of our products. There can be no guarantee that our efforts, including our work with customs officials and law enforcement authorities, to block the manufacture of counterfeit goods, prevent their entry in end markets, and detect counterfeit products in customer networks will be successful or result in any material reduction in the availability of counterfeit goods. Any such counterfeit sales, to the extent they replace otherwise legitimate sales, could adversely affect our operating results and damage our reputation.
Our success is critically dependent on the efforts and dedication of our officers and other employees, and the loss of one or more key employees, or our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel and maintain our corporate culture, could adversely affect our business.
Our officers and employees are at the heart of all of our efforts. It is their skill, creativity and hard work that drive our success. In particular, our success depends to a significant extent on the continued service and performance of our senior management team, including our chief executive officer, Brian Mariotti. We are dependent on his talents and believe he is integral to our relationships with our licensors and certain of our key retail customers. The loss of any member of our senior management team, or of any other key employees, or the inability to successfully complete planned management transitions, could impair our ability to execute our business plan and could therefore have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We do not currently maintain key man life insurance policies on any member of our senior management team or on our other key employees.
In addition, competition for qualified personnel is intense. We compete with many other potential employers in recruiting, hiring and retaining our senior management team and our many other skilled officers and other employees around the world. Our headquarters is located near Seattle and competition in the Seattle area for qualified personnel, particularly those with technology-related skills and experience, is intense due to the increasing number of technology and e-commerce companies with a large or growing presence in Seattle, some of whom have greater resources than us and may be located closer to the city of Seattle than we are.
Furthermore, as we continue to grow our business and hire new employees, it may become increasingly challenging to hire people who will maintain our corporate culture. We believe our corporate culture, which fosters speed, teamwork and creativity, is one of our key competitive strengths. As we continue to grow, we may be unable to identify, hire or retain enough people who will maintain our corporate culture, including those in management and other key positions. Our corporate culture could also be adversely affected by the increasingly global distribution of our employees, as well as their increasingly diverse skill sets. If we are unable to maintain the strength of our corporate culture, our competitive ability and our business may be adversely affected.
Our operating results may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year due to the seasonality of our business, as well as due to the timing and popularity of new product releases.
The businesses of our retail customers are highly seasonal, with a majority of retail sales occurring during the period from October through December in anticipation of the holiday season. As a consequence, we have experienced moderate seasonality in our business. Approximately 55%, 60% and 61%, of our net sales for the
years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, were made in the third and fourth quarters, as our customers build up their inventories in anticipation of the holiday season.
This seasonal pattern requires significant use of working capital, mainly to manufacture inventory during the portion of the year prior to the holiday season and requires accurate forecasting of demand for products during the holiday season in order to avoid losing potential sales of highly popular products or producing excess inventory of less popular products. During the 2019 holiday season, for example, we experienced lower than expected purchases by our top customers as well as softness in sales related to certain tentpole movie releases, both of which adversely affected our financial results. In addition, as a result of the seasonal nature of our business, we would be significantly and adversely affected, in a manner disproportionate to the impact on a company with sales spread more evenly throughout the year, by unforeseen events such as a terrorist attack or economic shock that harm the retail environment or consumer buying patterns during our key selling season, or by events such as strikes or port delays that interfere with the shipment of goods during the critical months leading up to the holiday shopping season.
The timing and mix of products we sell in any given year will depend on various factors, including the timing and popularity of new releases by third-party content providers and our ability to license properties based on these releases. Sales of a certain product or group of products tied to a particular content release can dramatically increase our net sales in any given quarter or year.
Our results of operations may also fluctuate as a result of factors such as the delivery schedules set by our customers and holiday shut down schedules set by our third-party manufacturers. Additionally, the rapid growth we have experienced in recent years may have masked the full effects of seasonal factors on our business to date, and as such, these factors may have a greater effect on our results of operations in future periods.
Our use of third-party manufacturers to produce our products presents risks to our business.
We use third-party manufacturers to manufacture all of our products and have historically concentrated production with a small number of manufacturers and factories. As a result, the loss or unavailability of one of our manufacturers or one of the factories in which our products are produced, even on a temporary basis, could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. This risk is exacerbated by the fact that we do not have written contracts with certain of our manufacturers. While we believe our external sources of manufacturing could be shifted, if necessary, to alternative sources of supply, we would require a significant period of time to make such a shift. Because we believe our products represent a significant percentage of the total capacity of each factory in which they are produced, such a shift may require us to establish relationships with new manufacturers, which we may not be able to do on a timely basis, on similar terms, or at all. We may also be required to seek out additional manufacturers in response to increased demand for our products, as our current manufacturers may not have the capacity to increase production. If we were prevented from or delayed in obtaining a material portion of the products produced by our manufacturers, or if we were required to shift manufacturers (assuming we would be able to do so), our sales and profitability could be significantly reduced.
In addition, while we require that our products supplied by third-party manufacturers be produced in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and we have the right to monitor compliance by our third-party manufacturers with our manufacturing requirements and to oversee the quality control process at our manufacturers’ factories, there is always a risk that one or more of our third-party manufacturers will not comply with our requirements, and that we will not immediately discover such non-compliance. For example, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, or the CPSIA, limits the amounts of lead and phthalates that are permissible in certain products and requires that our products be tested to ensure that they do not contain these substances in amounts that exceed permissible levels. In the past, products manufactured by certain of our third-party manufacturers have tested positive for phthalates. Though the amount was not in excess of the amount permissible under the CPSIA, we cannot guarantee that products made by our third-party manufacturers will not in the future contain phthalates in excess of permissible amounts, or will not otherwise violate the CPSIA, other consumer or product safety requirements, or labor or other applicable requirements. Any failure of our third-party manufacturers to comply with such requirements in manufacturing products for us could result in damage to our reputation, harm our brand image and sales of our products and potentially create liability for us.
Monitoring compliance by independent manufacturers is complicated by the fact that expectations of ethical business practices continually evolve, may be substantially more demanding than applicable legal requirements and are driven in part by legal developments and by diverse groups active in publicizing and organizing public responses to perceived ethical shortcomings. Accordingly, we cannot predict how such expectations might develop
in the future and cannot be certain that our manufacturing requirements, even if complied with, would satisfy all parties who are active in monitoring and publicizing perceived shortcomings in labor and other business practices worldwide. Additionally, the third-party manufacturers that produce most of our products are located in Vietnam, China and Mexico. As a result, we are subject to various risks resulting from our international operations. See “Our substantial sales and manufacturing operations outside the United States subject us to risks associated with international operations.”
The novel coronavirus outbreak could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In January 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak originating in Wuhan, China to be a public health emergency. Certain of our suppliers and the manufacturers of certain of our products have been and may continue to be adversely impacted by the novel coronavirus outbreak. As a result, we have faced and may continue to face delays or difficulty sourcing products, which could negatively affect our business and financial results. Even if we are able to find alternate sources for such products, they may cost more, which could adversely impact our profitability and financial condition.
At this time, there is significant uncertainty relating to the potential effect of the novel coronavirus on our business. Infections may become more widespread, including to other countries where we source products or have operations, which may worsen the supply shortage or force us to restrict our third-party manufacturing or other operations. In addition, because the outbreak has spread to the greater Seattle, Washington area, where our headquarters and primary warehouse facility are located, we may need to restrict access to our facilities, which could negatively impact productivity. The outbreak may also reduce foot traffic in the stores where our products are sold or temporarily reduce demand for our products. Any of these occurrences may have a negative impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our operations, including our corporate headquarters, primary distribution facilities and third-party manufacturers, are concentrated in certain geographic regions, which makes us susceptible to adverse conditions in those regions.
Our corporate headquarters and primary distribution facilities are located in Everett, Washington. We also have additional warehouse facilities and/or offices located in Coventry, England; London, England; Maldon, England; Bath, England; Burbank, California; Chatsworth, California; and Puyallup, Washington. In addition, the factories that produce most of our products are located in Vietnam, China and Mexico. As a result, our business may be more susceptible to adverse conditions in these regions than the operations of more geographically diverse competitors. Such conditions could include, among others, adverse economic and labor conditions, as well as demographic trends. Furthermore, Everett is the location from which most of the products we sell are received, stored and shipped to our customers. We depend heavily on ocean container delivery to receive products from our third-party manufacturers located in Asia and contracted third-party delivery service providers to deliver our products to our distribution facilities. Any disruption to or failures in these delivery services, whether as a result of extreme or severe weather conditions, natural disasters, labor unrest or otherwise, affecting western Washington in particular or the West Coast in general, or in other areas in which we operate could significantly disrupt our operations, damage or destroy our equipment and inventory and cause us to incur additional expenses, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, in the fall of 2014, longshoreman work stoppages created a significant backlog of cargo containers at ports. We experienced delays in the shipment of our products as a result of this backlog and were unable to meet our planned inventory allocations for a limited period of time. Although we possess insurance for damage to our property and the disruption of our business, this insurance, and in particular earthquake insurance, which is subject to various limitations and requires large deductibles or co-payments, may not be sufficient to cover all of our potential losses, and may be cancelled by us in the future or otherwise cease to be available to us on reasonable terms or at all. Similarly, natural disasters and other adverse events or conditions affecting east or southeast Asia, where most of our products are produced, could halt or disrupt the production of our products, impair the movement of finished products out of those regions, damage or destroy the molds and tooling necessary to make our products and otherwise cause us to incur additional costs and expenses, any of which could also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our substantial sales and manufacturing operations outside the United States subject us to risks associated with international operations.
We operate facilities and sell products in numerous countries outside the United States. Sales to our international customers comprised approximately 34%, 32% and 27% of our sales for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. We expect sales to our international customers to account for an increasing portion of our sales in future fiscal years, including as a result of the Underground Toys Acquisition and the formation of our subsidiary Funko UK, Ltd., through which we now sell directly to certain of our customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In fact, over time, we expect our international sales and operations to continue to grow both in dollars and as a percentage of our overall business as a result of a key business strategy to expand our presence in emerging and underserved international markets. Additionally, as discussed above, we use third-party manufacturers located in Vietnam, China and Mexico to produce most of our products. These international sales and manufacturing operations, including operations in emerging markets, are subject to risks that may significantly harm our sales, increase our costs or otherwise damage our business, including:
•currency conversion risks and currency fluctuations;
•limitations on the repatriation of earnings;
•potential challenges to our transfer pricing determinations and other aspects of our cross-border transactions, which can materially increase our taxes and other costs of doing business;
•political instability, civil unrest and economic instability;
•greater difficulty enforcing intellectual property rights and weaker laws protecting such rights;
•complications in complying with different laws and regulations in varying jurisdictions, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, similar anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws and local and international environmental, labor, health and safety laws, and in dealing with changes in governmental policies and the evolution of laws and regulations and related enforcement;
•difficulties understanding the retail climate, consumer trends, local customs and competitive conditions in foreign markets which may be quite different from the United States;
•changes in international labor costs and other costs of doing business internationally;
•the imposition of and changes in tariffs, quotas, border adjustment taxes or other protectionist measures by any major country or market in which we operate, which could make it significantly more expensive and difficult to import products into that country or market, raise the cost of such products, decrease our sales of such products or decrease our profitability;
•proper payment of customs duties and/or excise taxes;
•natural disasters and pandemics, including related to the 2019 coronavirus outbreak, and the greater difficulty and cost in recovering therefrom;
•transportation delays and interruptions;
•difficulties in moving materials and products from one country to another, including port congestion, strikes or other labor disruptions and other transportation delays and interruptions; and
•increased investment and operational complexity to make our products compatible with systems in various countries and compliant with local laws.
Because of the importance of international sales, sourcing and manufacturing to our business, our financial condition and results of operations could be significantly harmed if any of the risks described above were to occur or if we are otherwise unsuccessful in managing our increasingly global business.
Increases in tariffs, trade restrictions or taxes on our products could have an adverse impact on our operations.
The commerce we conduct in the international marketplace makes us subject to tariffs, trade restrictions and other taxes when the raw materials or components we purchase, and the products we ship, cross international borders. Trade tensions between the United States and China, and other countries have been escalating in recent years. U.S. tariff impositions against Chinese exports have been followed by retaliatory Chinese tariffs on U.S. exports to
China. Certain of the products we purchase from manufacturers in China have been or may in the future be subject to these tariffs, which could make our products less competitive than those of our competitors whose inputs are not subject to these tariffs. In addition, the U.S. administration has threatened to impose tariffs on all products imported from China, which would impact all of our products and supplies imported from China to the United States. If this were to occur, we may not be able to mitigate the impacts of these tariffs, and our business, results of operations and financial position would be materially adversely affected. Products we sell into certain foreign markets could also become subject to similar retaliatory tariffs, making the products we sell uncompetitive compared to similar products not subjected to such import tariffs. Further changes in U.S. trade policies, tariffs, taxes, export restrictions or other trade barriers, or restrictions on raw materials or components may limit our ability to produce products, increase our manufacturing costs, decrease our profit margins, reduce the competitiveness of our products, or inhibit our ability to sell products or purchase raw materials or components, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The results of the United Kingdom’s referendum on withdrawal from the European Union may have a negative effect on global economic conditions, financial markets and our business.
Following a national referendum and enactment of legislation by the government of the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union ("Brexit") on January 31, 2020 and entered into a transition period during which it will continue its ongoing and complex negotiations with the European Union relating to the future trading relationship between the parties. Significant political and economic uncertainty remains about whether the terms of the relationship will differ materially from the terms before withdrawal, as well as about the possibility that a so-called "no deal" separation will occur if negotiations are not completed by the end of the transition period.
These developments, or the perception that any of them could occur, have had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on global economic conditions and the stability of global financial markets, and may significantly reduce global market liquidity and restrict the ability of key market participants to operate in certain financial markets. Asset valuations, currency exchange rates and credit ratings may be especially subject to increased market volatility. Lack of clarity about future United Kingdom laws and regulations, including financial laws and regulations, tax and free trade agreements, intellectual property rights, privacy and data protection, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations and employment laws, could increase costs and depress economic activity. If the United Kingdom and the European Union are unable to negotiate acceptable withdrawal terms or if other European Union member states pursue withdrawal, barrier-free access between the United Kingdom and other European Union member states or among the European economic area overall could be diminished or eliminated.
Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our operations in the United Kingdom subject us to revenue risk with respect to our customers in the United Kingdom and adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates, in addition to risks related to the general economic and legal uncertainty related to Brexit described above.
Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and the United Kingdom, and our tax liabilities will be subject to the allocation of expenses in differing jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
•changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities;
•expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances;
•tax effects of equity-based compensation;
•costs related to intercompany restructurings; or
•changes in tax laws, regulations or interpretations thereof.
In addition, we may be subject to audits of our income, sales and other transaction taxes by the U.K., U.S. federal and state authorities. Outcomes from these audits could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
Changes in foreign currency exchange rates can significantly impact our reported financial performance.
Our increasingly global operations mean we produce, buy, and sell products in many different markets with many different currencies. As a result, if the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and a local currency for an international market in which we have significant sales or operations changes, our financial results as reported in U.S. dollars may be meaningfully impacted even if our business in the local currency is not significantly affected. Similarly, our expenses can be significantly impacted, in U.S. dollar terms, by exchange rates, meaning the profitability of our business in U.S. dollar terms can be negatively impacted by exchange rate movements which we do not control. In recent years, certain key currencies, such as the euro and the British pound sterling, depreciated significantly compared to the U.S. dollar. Depreciation in key currencies during 2020 and beyond may have a significant negative impact on our sales and earnings as they are reported in U.S. dollars.
Global and regional economic downturns that negatively impact the retail and credit markets, or that otherwise damage the financial health of our retail customers and consumers, can harm our business and financial performance.
We design, manufacture and market a wide variety of consumer products worldwide for sale to our retail customers and directly to consumers. Our financial performance is impacted by the level of discretionary consumer spending in the markets in which we operate. Recessions, credit crises and other economic downturns, or disruptions in credit markets, in the United States and in other markets in which our products are sold can result in lower levels of economic activity, lower employment levels, less consumer disposable income, and lower consumer confidence. The retail industry is subject to volatility, especially during uncertain economic conditions. A downturn in the retail industry in particular may disproportionately affect us because a substantial majority of our net sales are to retail customers. Significant increases in the costs of other products which are required by consumers, such as gasoline, home heating fuels, or groceries, may reduce household spending on our products. Such cost increases and weakened economic conditions may result from any number of factors, including terrorist attacks, wars and other conflicts, natural disasters, increases in critical commodity prices or labor costs, or the prospect of such events. Such a weakened economic and business climate, as well as consumer uncertainty created by such a climate, could harm our sales and profitability. Similarly, reductions in the value of key assets held by consumers, such as their homes or stock market investments, can lower consumer confidence and consumer spending power. Any of these factors can reduce the amount which consumers spend on the purchase of our products. This in turn can reduce our sales and harm our financial performance and profitability.
In addition to experiencing potentially lower sales of our products during times of economic difficulty, in an effort to maintain sales during such times, we may need to reduce the price of our products, increase our promotional spending or sales allowances, or take other steps to encourage retailer and consumer purchases of our products. Those steps may lower our net sales or increase our costs, thereby decreasing our operating margins and lowering our profitability.
Our business depends in large part on our vendors and outsourcers, and our reputation and ability to effectively operate our business may be harmed by actions taken by these third parties outside of our control.
We rely significantly on vendor and outsourcing relationships with third parties for services and systems including manufacturing, transportation, logistics and information technology. In 2018, we initiated a relationship with a third party logistics company to process and fulfill customer orders in Europe. Any shortcoming of one of our vendors or outsourcers, including our third party logistics provider in Europe, particularly one affecting the quality of these services or systems, may be attributed by customers to us, thus damaging our reputation and brand value, and potentially affecting our results of operations. In addition, problems with transitioning these services and systems to, or operating failures with, these vendors and outsourcers could cause delays in product sales, reduce the efficiency of our operations and require significant capital investments to remediate.
We are subject to various government regulations and may be subject to additional regulations in the future, violation of which could subject us to sanctions or otherwise harm our business.
As a company that designs and sells consumer products, we are subject to significant government regulation, including, in the United States, under the CPSA, the FHSA, the CPSIA and the FFA, as well as under product safety and consumer protection statutes in our international markets. There can be no assurance that we will be in compliance, and failure to comply with these acts could result in sanctions which could have a negative impact on
our business, financial condition and results of operations. This risk is exacerbated by our reliance on third parties to manufacture our products. See “Our use of third-party manufacturers to produce our products presents risks to our business.”
Governments and regulatory agencies in the markets in which we manufacture and sell products may enact additional regulations relating to product safety and consumer protection in the future and may also increase the penalties for failing to comply with such regulations. In addition, one or more of our customers might require changes in our products, such as the non-use of certain materials, in the future. Complying with any such additional regulations or requirements could impose increased costs on our business. Similarly, increased penalties for non-compliance could subject us to greater expense in the event any of our products were found to not comply with such regulations. Such increased costs or penalties could harm our business.
As discussed above, our international operations subject us to a host of other governmental regulations throughout the world, including antitrust, customs and tax requirements, anti-boycott regulations, environmental regulations and the FCPA. Complying with these regulations imposes costs on us which can reduce our profitability, and our failure to successfully comply with any such legal requirements could subject us to monetary liabilities and other sanctions that could further harm our business and financial condition.
For example, in 2019 we identified that our subsidiary, Loungefly, historically underpaid certain duties owed to U.S. Customs. In May 2019, we notified U.S. Customs of potential underpayments of customs duties and commenced an internal investigation to determine the cause of the underpayments and the proper amount of duties owed for the applicable five-year statute of limitations period. We identified a total of approximately $7.8 million in underpayments to U.S. Customs during the period from May 24, 2014 through June 30, 2019, $6.3 million of which related to previously issued financial statements. In July 2019, we submitted payment of $7.8 million to U.S. Customs along with a report explaining the nature of the underpayments. The fact that such underpayments occurred could lead to government investigation or litigation, which could result in additional payments and potential penalties. Pursuant to the applicable statute, for an importer that meets all of the requirements for self-reporting underpayments, the maximum civil potential penalty is 100% of the lawful duties, taxes, and fees due to U.S. Customs and the civil penalty for an importer who fails to meet the self-reporting requirements is up to the value of the merchandise associated with underpayment. We have recorded a contingent liability of $0.5 million related to potential penalties that may be assessed by U.S. Customs in this matter. This amount is recorded under the caption “Accrued expenses and other current liabilities” in our consolidated balance sheet, as of December 31, 2019. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we are not aware of any investigation that has been initiated by U.S. Customs or any other governmental body. If U.S. Customs or any other governmental body elects to investigate us and decides to impose penalties, the imposition of penalties could be in excess of the contingent liability that we have recorded in our consolidated balance sheet. The imposition of any penalties or other remedial measures could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. We could also incur additional expenses related to remedial measures, including those that we are implementing in response to our conclusion that we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
Our e-commerce business is subject to numerous risks that could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Although sales through our websites have constituted a small portion of our net sales historically, we expect to continue to grow our e-commerce business in the future. Though sales through our websites generally have higher profit margins and provide us useful insight on the sales impact of certain of our marketing campaigns, further development of our e-commerce business also subjects us to a number of risks. Our online sales may negatively impact our relationships with our retail customers and distributors if they perceive that we are competing with them. In addition, online commerce is subject to increasing regulation by states, the federal government and various foreign jurisdictions. Compliance with these laws will increase our costs of doing business, and our failure to comply with these laws could also subject us to potential fines, claims for damages and other remedies, any of which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Additionally, some jurisdictions have implemented, or may implement, laws that require remote sellers of goods and services to collect and remit taxes on sales to customers located within the jurisdiction. In particular, the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (an ongoing, multi-year effort by U.S. state and local governments to pursue federal legislation that would require collection and remittance of sales tax by out-of-state sellers) could allow states that meet certain simplification and other criteria to require out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales taxes on goods purchased by in-state residents. Furthermore, in June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in South Dakota v. Wayfair that a U.S. state may require an online retailer with no in-state property or personnel to collect and remit sales taxes on
sales made to the state’s residents, which may permit wider enforcement of sales tax collection requirements. These collection responsibilities and the complexity associated with tax collection, remittance and audit requirements would also increase the costs associated with our e-commerce business.
Furthermore, our e-commerce operations subject us to risks related to the computer systems that operate our websites and related support systems, such as system failures, viruses, computer hackers and similar disruptions. If we are unable to continually add software and hardware, effectively upgrade our systems and network infrastructure and take other steps to improve the efficiency of our systems, system interruptions or delays could occur that adversely affect our operating results and harm our brand. While we depend on our technology vendors to manage “up-time” of the front-end e-commerce store, manage the intake of our orders, and export orders for fulfillment, we could begin to run all or a greater portion of these components ourselves in the future. Any failure on the part of our third-party e-commerce vendors or in our ability to transition third-party services effectively could result in lost sales and harm our brand.
There is a risk that consumer demand for our products online may not generate sufficient sales to make our e-commerce business profitable, as consumer demand for physical products online may be less than in traditional retail sales channels. To the extent our e-commerce business does not generate more net sales than costs, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.
We could be subject to future product liability suits or product recalls which could have a significant adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
As a company that designs and sells consumer products, we may be subject to product liability suits or involuntary product recalls or may choose to voluntarily conduct a product recall. While costs associated with product liability claims and product recalls have generally not been material to our business, the costs associated with future product liability claims or product recalls in any given fiscal year, individually or in the aggregate, could be significant. In addition, any product recall, regardless of the direct costs of the recall, could harm consumer perceptions of our products, subject us to additional government scrutiny, divert development and management resources, adversely affect our business operations and otherwise put us at a competitive disadvantage compared to other companies in our industry, any of which could have a significant adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We are currently subject to securities class action litigation and may be subject to similar or other litigation in the future, all of which will require significant management time and attention, result in significant legal expenses and may result in unfavorable outcomes, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition, and negatively affect the price of our Class A common stock.
We are, and may in the future become, subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in or outside the ordinary course of business. For example, on November 16, 2017, a purported stockholder of the Company filed a putative class action lawsuit in the Superior Court of Washington in and for King County against us, certain of our officers and directors, and the underwriters of our IPO, entitled Robert Lowinger v. Funko, Inc. et. al. In January and March 2018, five additional putative class action lawsuits were filed in Washington state court, four in the Superior Court of Washington in and for King County and one in the Superior Court of Washington in and for Snohomish County. Two of the King County lawsuits, Surratt v. Funko, Inc. et. al. (filed on January 16, 2018) and Baskin v. Funko, Inc. et. al. (filed on January 30, 2018), were filed against us and certain of our officers and directors. The other two King County lawsuits, The Ronald and Maxine Linde Foundation v. Funko, Inc. et. al. (filed on January 18, 2018) and Lovewell v. Funko, Inc. et al (filed on March 27, 2018), were filed against us, certain of our officers and directors, ACON, Fundamental and certain other defendants. The Snohomish County lawsuit, Berkelhammer v. Funko, Inc. et. al. (filed on March 13, 2018), was filed against us, certain of our officers and directors, and ACON. On May 8, 2015, the Berkelhammer action was voluntarily dismissed, and on May 15, 2018 a substantially similar action was filed by the same plaintiff in the Superior Court of Washington in and for King County. On April 2, 2018, a putative class action lawsuit entitled Jacobs v. Funko, Inc. et. al was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington against us, certain of our officers and directors, and certain other defendants. On May 21, 2018, the Jacobs action was voluntarily dismissed, and on June 12, 2018, a substantially similar action was filed by the same plaintiff in the Superior Court of Washington in and for King County.
On July 2, 2018, all of the above-referenced suits were ordered consolidated for all purposes into one action under the title In re Funko, Inc. Securities Litigation in the Superior Court of Washington in and for King County. On August
1, 2018, plaintiffs filed a consolidated complaint against us, certain of our officers and directors, ACON, Fundamental, and certain other defendants. On October 1, 2018, we moved to dismiss that action. Plaintiffs filed their opposition to our motion to dismiss on October 31, 2018, and we filed our reply to plaintiffs’ opposition on November 30, 2018. Oral argument on the motion to dismiss was held on May 3, 2019. On August 2, 2019, the Court granted our motion to dismiss the consolidated state litigation, allowing plaintiffs leave to amend the complaint. The Court found, inter alia, that “Funko’s statements regarding its financial disclosures were not materially false or misleading” and that “plaintiffs have not shown that Funko’s ‘opinion statements’ were false or that such statements were not simply corporate optimism or puffery.” On October 3, 2019, plaintiffs filed a first amended consolidated complaint. We moved to dismiss that complaint on December 5, 2019. We anticipate that the motion will be fully briefed by March 11, 2020, and that oral argument on the motion will take place March 27, 2020.
Additionally, on June 4, 2018, a putative class action lawsuit entitled Kanugonda v. Funko Inc. et al. was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington against us, certain of our officers and directors, and certain other defendants. On January 4, 2019, a lead plaintiff was appointed in that case. On April 30, 2019, the lead plaintiff filed an amended complaint against the previously named defendants. The parties to the federal action, now captioned Berkelhammer v. Funko, Inc. et al. have agreed to a stay of that action pending developments in the state case.
The complaints in both state and federal court allege that we violated Sections 11, 12, and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, by making allegedly materially misleading statements and by omitting material facts necessary to make the statements made therein not misleading. The lawsuits seek, among other things, compensatory statutory damages and rescissory damages in account of the consideration paid for our Class A common stock by the plaintiffs and members of the putative class, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.
The results of the securities class action lawsuit and any future legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty. Also, our insurance coverage may be insufficient, our assets may be insufficient to cover any amounts that exceed our insurance coverage, and we may have to pay damage awards or otherwise may enter into settlement arrangements in connection with such claims. Any such payments or settlement arrangements in current or future litigation could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition. Even if the plaintiffs’ claims are not successful, current or future litigation could result in substantial costs and significantly and adversely impact our reputation and divert management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition, and negatively affect the price of our Class A common stock. In addition, such lawsuits may make it more difficult to finance our operations.
Failure to comply with anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws could result in fines, criminal penalties and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
A significant risk resulting from our global operations is compliance with a wide variety of U.S. federal and state and non-U.S. laws, regulations and policies, including laws related to anti-corruption, anti-bribery and laundering. The FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010 and similar anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies, their officers, directors, employees and third-party intermediaries, business partners, and agents from making improper payments or other improper things of value to government officials or other persons. There has been an increase in anti-bribery and anti-corruption law enforcement activity in recent years, with more frequent and aggressive investigations and enforcement proceedings by both the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC, increased enforcement activity by non-U.S. regulators, and increases in criminal and civil proceedings brought against companies and individuals. We operate in parts of the world that are considered high-risk from an anti-bribery and anti-corruption perspective, and strict compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws may conflict with local customs and practices. We cannot assure you that our internal controls, policies and procedures will protect us from improper conduct by our officers, directors, employees, third-party intermediaries, business partners or agents. To the extent that we learn that any of these parties do not adhere to our internal control policies, we are committed to taking appropriate remedial action. In the event that we believe or have reason to believe that any such party has or may have violated such laws, we may be required to investigate or have outside counsel investigate the relevant facts and circumstances, and detecting, investigating and resolving actual or alleged violations can be expensive and require a significant diversion of time, resources and attention from senior management. Any violation of U.S. federal and state and non-U.S. anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, regulations and policies could result in substantial fines, sanctions, civil or criminal penalties, and curtailment of operations in the U.S. or other applicable jurisdictions. In addition, actual or alleged violations could damage our reputation and ability to do business. Any of the foregoing could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to governmental economic sanctions requirements and export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets or subject us to liability if we are not in compliance with applicable laws.
As a U.S. company, we are subject to U.S. export control and economic sanctions laws and regulations, and we are required to export our products in compliance with those laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and economic and trade sanctions programs administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. U.S. economic sanctions and export control laws and regulations prohibit the shipment of specified products and services to countries, governments and persons that are the subject of U.S. sanctions. While we take precautions against doing any business, directly or indirectly, in or with countries, governments and persons subject to U.S. sanctions, such measures may be circumvented. There can be no assurance that we will be in compliance with U.S. export control or economic sanctions laws and regulations in the future. Any such violation could result in criminal or civil fines, penalties or other sanctions and repercussions, including reputational harm that could materially adversely affect our business.
We may not realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions or investments, the realization of such benefits may be delayed or reduced or our acquisitions or investments may have unexpected costs.
Acquisitions have been a component of our growth and the development of our business and are likely to continue to be in the future. Acquisitions can broaden and diversify our brand holdings and product offerings, expand our distribution capabilities and allow us to build additional capabilities and competencies. For example, in the case of the Underground Toys Acquisition, we looked to strengthen our ability to sell our products directly to international retailers, primarily those located in Europe, and reduce our reliance on third-party distributors in Europe and certain other international jurisdictions. However, we cannot be certain that the products and offerings of companies we may acquire, or acquire an interest in, will achieve or maintain popularity with consumers in the future or that any such acquired companies or investments will allow us to more effectively distribute our products, market our products, develop our competencies or to grow our business.
In some cases, we expect that the integration of the companies that we may acquire into our operations will create production, distribution, marketing and other operating synergies which will produce greater sales growth and profitability and, where applicable, cost savings, operating efficiencies and other advantages. However, we cannot be certain that these synergies, efficiencies and cost savings will be realized. Even if achieved, these benefits may be delayed or reduced in their realization. In other cases, we may acquire or invest in companies that we believe have strong and creative management, in which case we may plan to operate them more autonomously rather than fully integrating them into our operations. We cannot be certain that the key talented individuals at these companies would continue to work for us after the acquisition or that they would develop popular and profitable products, in the future. There is no guarantee that any acquisition or investment we may make will be successful or beneficial or that we will be able to manage the integration process successfully, and acquisitions can consume significant amounts of management attention and other resources, which may negatively impact other aspects of our business.
Use of social media may materially and adversely affect our reputation or subject us to fines or other penalties.
We rely to a large extent on our online presence to reach consumers and use third-party social media platforms as marketing tools. For example, we maintain Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts. As e-commerce and social media platforms continue to rapidly evolve, we must continue to maintain a presence on these platforms and establish presences on new or emerging popular social media platforms. If we are unable to cost-effectively use social media platforms as marketing tools, our ability to acquire new consumers and our financial condition may suffer. Furthermore, as laws and regulations rapidly evolve to govern the use of these platforms, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations in the use of these platforms could subject us to regulatory investigations, class action lawsuits, liability, fines or other penalties and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and result of operations.
Failure to successfully operate our information systems and implement new technology effectively could disrupt our business or reduce our sales or profitability.
We rely extensively on various information technology systems and software applications, including our enterprise resource planning software, to manage many aspects of our business, including product development, management of our supply chain, sale and delivery of our products, financial reporting and various other processes and
transactions. We are critically dependent on the integrity, security and consistent operations of these systems and related back-up systems. These systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, malware and other security breaches, catastrophic events such as hurricanes, fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, acts of war or terrorism and usage errors by our employees. The efficient operation and successful growth of our business depends on these information systems, including our ability to operate and upgrade them effectively and to select and implement adequate disaster recovery systems successfully. The failure of these information systems to perform as designed, our failure to operate them effectively, or a security breach or disruption in operation of our information systems could disrupt our business, require significant capital investments to remediate a problem or subject us to liability. In 2018, we upgraded the enterprise resource planning software used by our United Kingdom operations. This upgrade resulted in certain delays in our operations in the first few months of implementation. We are also considering upgrades to our enterprise resource planning software at our other locations, including in the United States. If the potential upgrades are not successful or result in delays, our business could be disrupted or harmed.
In addition, we have recently implemented, and expect to continue to invest in and implement, modifications and upgrades to our information technology systems and procedures to support our growth and the development of our e-commerce business. These modifications and upgrades could require substantial investment and may not improve our profitability at a level that outweighs their costs, or at all. In addition, the process of implementing any new technology systems involves inherent costs and risks, including potential delays and system failures, the potential disruption of our internal control structure, the diversion of management’s time and attention, and the need to re-train or hire new employees, any of which could disrupt our business operations and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our electronic data is compromised our business could be significantly harmed.
We maintain significant amounts of data electronically. This data relates to all aspects of our business, including current and future products and entertainment under development, and also contains certain customer, consumer, supplier, partner and employee data. We maintain systems and processes designed to protect the data within our control, but notwithstanding such protective measures, there is a risk of intrusion or tampering that could compromise the integrity and privacy of this data. In addition, we provide confidential and proprietary information to our third-party business partners in certain cases where doing so is necessary or appropriate to conduct our business. While we obtain assurances from those parties that they have systems and processes in place to protect such data, and where applicable, that they will take steps to assure the protections of such data by third parties, nonetheless those partners may also be subject to data intrusion or otherwise compromise the protection of such data. Any compromise of the confidential data of our customers, consumers, suppliers, partners, employees or ourselves, or failure to prevent or mitigate the loss of or damage to this data through breach of our information technology systems or other means could substantially disrupt our operations, harm our customers, consumers and other business partners, damage our reputation, violate applicable laws and regulations and subject us to additional costs and liabilities and loss of business that could be material.
A failure to comply with laws and regulations relating to privacy and the protection of data relating to individuals may result in negative publicity, claims, investigations and litigation, and adversely affect our financial performance.
We are subject to laws, rules, and regulations in the United States, the European Union, and other jurisdictions relating to the collection, use, and security of personal information and data. Such data privacy laws, regulations, and other obligations may require us to change our business practices and may negatively impact our ability to expand our business and pursue business opportunities. We may incur significant expenses to comply with the laws, regulations and other obligations that apply to us. Additionally, the privacy- and data protection-related laws, rules, and regulations applicable to us are subject to significant change. Several jurisdictions have passed new laws and regulations in this area, and other jurisdictions are considering imposing additional restrictions. For example, our operations are subject to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which imposes data privacy and security requirements on companies doing business in the European Union, including substantial penalties for non-compliance. The California Consumer Privacy Act (the "CCPA"), which went into effect on January 1, 2020, imposes similar requirements on companies handling data of California residents and creates a new and potentially severe statutory damages framework for (i) violations of the CCPA and (ii) businesses that fail to implement reasonable security procedures and practices to prevent data breaches. Privacy and data protection-related laws and regulations also may be interpreted and enforced inconsistently over time and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In addition to government regulation, privacy advocates and industry groups may propose new and
different self-regulatory standards that either legally or contractually apply to us. One example of such self-regulatory standards to which we may be contractually bound is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS. Though we currently use third-party vendors to process and store credit card data in connection with our e-commerce business, to the extent we process or store such data ourselves in the future, we may be subject to various aspects of the PCI DSS, and fines, penalties, and a loss of the ability to process credit card payments could result from any failure to comply with the PCI DSS. Any actual or perceived inability to comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws, regulations, or other obligations could result in significant cost and liability, litigation or governmental investigations, damage our reputation, and adversely affect our business.
Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial health and competitive position.
On October 22, 2018, we entered into the Credit Agreement providing for the New Term Loan Facility in the amount of $235.0 million and the New Revolving Credit Facility in the amount of $50.0 million (which was increased to $75.0 million on February 11, 2019). Proceeds from the New Credit Facilities were primarily used to repay the Former Senior Secured Credit Facilities. As of December 31, 2019, we had $242.3 million of indebtedness outstanding under our New Credit Facilities, consisting of $216.5 million outstanding under our New Term Loan Facility (net of unamortized discount of $3.8 million) and $25.8 million outstanding under our New Revolving Credit Facility.
In order to service this indebtedness and any additional indebtedness we may incur in the future, we need to generate cash. Our ability to generate cash is subject, to a certain extent, to our ability to successfully execute our business strategy, as well as general economic, financial, competitive, regulatory and other factors beyond our control. We cannot assure you that our business will be able to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future borrowings or other financing will be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to service our indebtedness and fund our other liquidity needs. To the extent we are required to use our cash flow from operations or the proceeds of any future financing to service our indebtedness instead of funding working capital, capital expenditures or other general corporate purposes, we will be less able to plan for, or react to, changes in our business, industry and in the economy generally. This will place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less indebtedness.
In addition, the Credit Agreement contains, and any agreements evidencing or governing other future indebtedness may contain, certain restrictive covenants that limit our ability, among other things, to engage in certain activities that are in our long-term best interests, including our ability to:
•incur additional indebtedness;
•incur certain liens;
•consolidate, merge or sell or otherwise dispose of our assets;
•alter the business conducted by us and our subsidiaries;
•make investments, loans, advances, guarantees and acquisitions;
•pay dividends or make other distributions on equity interests, or redeem, repurchase or retire equity interests;
•enter into transactions with our affiliates;
•enter into agreements restricting our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends;
•issue or sell equity interests or securities convertible into or exchangeable for equity interests;
•redeem, repurchase or refinance our other indebtedness; and
•amend or modify our governing documents.
The restrictive covenants in the Credit Agreement also require us to maintain specified financial ratios. While we have not previously breached and are not in breach of any of these covenants, there can be no guarantee that we will not breach these covenants in the future. Our ability to comply with these covenants and restrictions may be affected by events and factors beyond our control. Our failure to comply with any of these covenants or restrictions could result in an event of default under our credit facilities. This would permit the lending banks under such facilities to take certain actions, including terminating all outstanding commitments and declaring all amounts due under our credit agreement to be immediately due and payable, including all outstanding borrowings, accrued and unpaid interest thereon, and prepayment premiums with respect to such borrowings and any terminated
commitments. In addition, the lenders would have the right to proceed against the collateral we granted to them, which includes substantially all of our assets. The occurrence of any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not be able to secure additional financing on favorable terms, or at all, to meet our future capital needs.
In the future, we may require additional capital to respond to business opportunities, challenges, acquisitions or unforeseen circumstances, and may determine to engage in equity or debt financings or enter into credit facilities or refinance existing indebtedness for other reasons. We may not be able to timely secure additional debt or equity financing on favorable terms, or at all. As discussed above, the Credit Agreement contains restrictive covenants that limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness and engage in other capital-raising activities. Any debt financing obtained by us in the future could involve covenants that further restrict our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to operate our business, obtain additional capital and pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. Furthermore, if we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or convertible debt or other equity-linked securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us, when we require it, our ability to continue to grow or support our business and to respond to business challenges could be significantly limited.
Uncertainty relating to the LIBOR calculation process and potential phasing out of LIBOR after 2021 may adversely affect the market value of our current or future debt obligations.
The London Inter-bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and certain other interest “benchmarks” may be subject to regulatory guidance and/or reform that could cause interest rates under our current or future debt agreements to perform differently than in the past or cause other unanticipated consequences. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, has announced that it intends to stop encouraging or requiring banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021, and it is unclear if LIBOR will cease to exist or if new methods of calculating LIBOR will evolve. If LIBOR ceases to exist or if the methods of calculating LIBOR change from their current form, interest rates on our debt obligations under our New Credit Facilities may be adversely affected.
Any impairment in the value of our goodwill or other assets would adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We are required, at least annually, or as facts and circumstances warrant, to test goodwill and other assets to determine if impairment has occurred. Impairment may result from any number of factors, including adverse changes in assumptions used for valuation purposes, such as actual or projected net sales growth rates, profitability or discount rates, or other variables. If the testing indicates that impairment has occurred, we are required to record a non-cash impairment charge for the difference between the carrying value of the goodwill or other assets and the implied fair value of the goodwill or the fair value of other assets in the period the determination is made. We cannot always predict the amount and timing of any impairment of assets. Should the value of goodwill or other assets become impaired, it would have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Relating to Our Organizational Structure
ACON has significant influence over us, including over decisions that require the approval of stockholders, and its interests, along with the interests of our other Continuing Equity Owners, in our business may conflict with the interests of our other stockholders.
Each share of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock entitles its holders to one vote per share on all matters presented to our stockholders. As of March 3, 2020, ACON holds approximately 40.1% of the combined voting power of our common stock through its ownership of 10,934,606 shares of our Class A common stock and 8,882,120 shares of our Class B common stock. Accordingly, ACON will have significant influence over substantially all transactions and other matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, such as a merger, consolidation, dissolution or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, the issuance or redemption of certain additional equity interests, and the election of directors. This influence may increase the likelihood that we will
consummate transactions that are not in the best interests of holders of our Class A common stock or, conversely, prevent the consummation of transactions that are in the best interests of holders of our Class A common stock.
Additionally, the Continuing Equity Owners who, as of March 3, 2020, collectively hold approximately 51.5% of the combined voting power of our common stock, may receive payments from us under the Tax Receivable Agreement in connection with our purchase of common units of FAH, LLC directly from certain of the Continuing Equity Owners upon a redemption or exchange of their common units in FAH, LLC, including the issuance of shares of our Class A common stock upon any such redemption or exchange. As a result, the interests of the Continuing Equity Owners may conflict with the interests of holders of our Class A common stock. For example, the Continuing Equity Owners may have different tax positions from us which could influence their decisions regarding whether and when to dispose of assets, whether and when to incur new or refinance existing indebtedness, and whether and when we should terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement and accelerate our obligations thereunder. In addition, the structuring of future transactions may take into consideration tax or other considerations of the Continuing Equity Owners even in situations where no similar considerations are relevant to us.
In addition, pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement between Funko, Inc., ACON, Fundamental and Brian Mariotti, our chief executive officer (the “Stockholders Agreement”), ACON has the right to designate certain of our directors, which we refer to as the ACON Directors, which will be three ACON Directors for as long as ACON directly or indirectly, beneficially owns, in the aggregate 35% or more of our Class A common stock, two ACON Directors for so long as ACON, directly or indirectly, beneficially owns, in the aggregate, less than 35% but at least 25% or more of our Class A common stock and one ACON Director for as long as ACON, directly or indirectly, beneficially owns, in the aggregate, less than 25% but at least 15% or more of our Class A common stock (assuming in each such case that all outstanding common units in FAH, LLC are redeemed for newly issued shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis). Each of ACON, Fundamental, and Brian Mariotti, our chief executive officer, will also agree to vote, or cause to vote, all of their outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock at any annual or special meeting of stockholders in which directors are elected, so as to cause the election of the ACON Directors and Mr. Mariotti for as long as he is our chief executive officer. Additionally, pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement, we shall take all commercially reasonable action to cause (1) the board of directors to be comprised of at least seven directors or such other number of directors as our board of directors may determine; (2) the individuals designated in accordance with the terms of the Stockholders Agreement to be included in the slate of nominees to be elected to the board of directors at the next annual or special meeting of our stockholders at which directors are to be elected and at each annual meeting of our stockholders thereafter at which a director’s term expires; (3) the individuals designated in accordance with the terms of the Stockholders Agreement to fill the applicable vacancies on the board of directors; and (4) an ACON Director to be the chairperson of the board of directors (as defined in the amended and restated bylaws).
In addition, the Stockholders Agreement provides that for as long as ACON or certain related parties, as defined in the Stockholders Agreement (the “ACON Related Parties”), beneficially own, directly or indirectly, in the aggregate, 30% or more of all issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock (assuming that all outstanding common units in FAH, LLC are redeemed for newly issued shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis), we will not take, and will cause our subsidiaries not to take, certain actions or enter into certain transactions (whether by merger, consolidation, or otherwise) without the prior written approval of ACON and each of its affiliated funds that hold common units of FAH, LLC or our Class A common stock, including:
•entering into any transaction or series of related transactions in which any person or group (other than the ACON Related Parties and any group that includes the ACON Related Parties, Fundamental (or certain of its affiliates or permitted transferees) or Mr. Mariotti) acquires, directly or indirectly, in excess of 50% of the then outstanding shares of any class of our or our subsidiaries’ capital stock, or following which any such person or group has the direct or indirect power to elect a majority of the members of our board of directors or to replace us as the sole manager of FAH, LLC (or to add another person as co-manager of FAH, LLC);
•the reorganization, recapitalization, voluntary bankruptcy, liquidation, dissolution or winding up of us or any of our subsidiaries;
•the sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all of our and our subsidiaries’ property and assets;
•the resignation, replacement or removal of us as the sole manager of FAH, LLC, or the appointment of any additional person as a manager of FAH, LLC;
•any acquisition or disposition of our or any of our subsidiaries’ assets for aggregate consideration in excess of $10.0 million in a single transaction or series of related transactions (other than transactions solely between or among us and our direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries);
•the creation of a new class or series of capital stock or other equity securities of us or any of our subsidiaries;
•the issuance of additional shares of Class A common stock, Class B common stock, preferred stock or other equity securities of us or any of our subsidiaries other than (1) under any stock option or other equity compensation plan approved by our board of directors or the compensation committee, (2) pursuant to the exercise or conversion of any options, warrants or other securities existing as of the date of the Stockholders Agreement and (3) in connection with any redemption of common units of FAH, LLC pursuant to the FAH LLC Agreement;
•any amendment or modification of our or any of our subsidiaries’ organizational documents, other than the FAH LLC Agreement, which shall be subject to amendment or modification solely in accordance with the terms set forth herein; and
•any increase or decrease of the size of our board of directors.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, will qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such corporate governance requirements.
Pursuant to the terms of the Stockholders Agreement, ACON, Fundamental and Brian Mariotti, our chief executive officer, in the aggregate, have more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors, and, as a result, we are considered a “controlled company” for the purposes of the Nasdaq rules. As such, we qualify for, and may rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements to have a majority of “independent directors” as defined under the Nasdaq rules on our board of directors, an entirely independent nominating and corporate governance committee with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities, and an entirely independent compensation committee with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities.
The corporate governance requirements and specifically the independence standards are intended to ensure that directors who are considered independent are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors. As a result of our reliance on the foregoing “controlled company” exemptions, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq rules.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” does not apply with respect to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries.
The doctrine of corporate opportunity generally provides that a corporate fiduciary may not develop an opportunity using corporate resources, acquire an interest adverse to that of the corporation or acquire property that is reasonably incident to the present or prospective business of the corporation or in which the corporation has a present or expectancy interest, unless that opportunity is first presented to the corporation and the corporation chooses not to pursue that opportunity. The doctrine of corporate opportunity is intended to preclude officers or directors or other fiduciaries from personally benefiting from opportunities that belong to the corporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” does not apply with respect to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries. Any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries therefore has no duty to communicate or present corporate opportunities to us, and has the right to either hold any corporate opportunity for their (and their affiliates’) own account and benefit or to recommend, assign or otherwise transfer such corporate opportunity to persons other than us, including to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries.
As a result, certain of our stockholders, directors and their respective affiliates are not prohibited from operating or investing in competing businesses. We therefore may find ourselves in competition with certain of our stockholders, directors or their respective affiliates, and we may not have knowledge of, or be able to pursue, transactions that
could potentially be beneficial to us. Accordingly, we may lose a corporate opportunity or suffer competitive harm, which could negatively impact our business or prospects.
Our principal asset consists of our interest in FAH, LLC, and accordingly, we depend on distributions from FAH, LLC to pay taxes and expenses, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. FAH, LLC’s ability to make such distributions may be subject to various limitations and restrictions.
Upon consummation of the IPO, we became a holding company and have no material assets other than our ownership of 34,917,582 common units of FAH, LLC as of December 31, 2019, representing approximately 68.7% of the economic interest in FAH, LLC. We have no independent means of generating revenue or cash flow, and our ability to pay dividends in the future, if any, is dependent upon the financial results and cash flows of FAH, LLC and its subsidiaries and distributions we receive from FAH, LLC. There can be no assurance that our subsidiaries will generate sufficient cash flow to dividend or distribute funds to us or that applicable local law and contractual restrictions, including negative covenants in our debt instruments, will permit such dividends or distributions.
FAH, LLC is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, as such, generally is not subject to entity-level U.S. federal income tax. Instead, taxable income is allocated to holders of its common units, including us. As a result, we incur income taxes on our allocable share of net taxable income of FAH, LLC. Under the terms of the FAH LLC Agreement, FAH, LLC is obligated to make tax distributions to its members, including us, except to the extent such distributions would render FAH, LLC insolvent or are otherwise prohibited by law or any limitations or restrictions in our debt agreements. The amount of such tax distribution is calculated based on the highest combined federal, state and local tax rate that may potentially apply to any one of FAH, LLC’s members, regardless of the actual final tax liability of any such member. As a result of the foregoing, FAH, LLC may be obligated to make tax distributions in excess of some or all of its members’ actual tax liability, which could reduce its cash available for its business operations. In addition to tax expenses, we also incur expenses related to our operations, our interests in FAH, LLC and related party agreements, including payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement and expenses and costs of being a public company, all of which could be significant. We intend, as its managing member, to cause FAH, LLC to make distributions in an amount sufficient to allow us to pay our taxes and operating expenses, including any ordinary course payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. However, FAH, LLC’s ability to make such distributions may be subject to various limitations and restrictions including, but not limited to, restrictions on distributions that would either violate any contract or agreement to which FAH, LLC is then a party, including debt agreements, or any applicable law, or that would have the effect of rendering FAH, LLC insolvent. If FAH, LLC does not have sufficient funds to pay tax distributions or other liabilities to fund our operations, we may have to borrow funds, which could materially adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition and subject us to various restrictions imposed by any such lenders. To the extent that we are unable to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid; provided, however, that nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a material breach of a material obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement and therefore may accelerate payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. If FAH, LLC does not have sufficient funds to make distributions, our ability to declare and pay cash dividends may also be restricted or impaired. See “Risks Relating to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock.”
In certain circumstances, FAH, LLC will be required to make distributions to us and the Continuing Equity Owners, and the distributions that FAH, LLC will be required to make may be substantial.
As discussed above, under the terms of the FAH LLC Agreement, FAH, LLC is obligated to make tax distributions to us and the Continuing Equity Owners based on the highest combined federal, state and local tax rates that may potentially apply to any one member of FAH, LLC. As a result of potential differences in the amount of net taxable income allocable to us and to the Continuing Equity Holders, as well as the use of an assumed tax rate in calculating FAH, LLC’s distribution obligations, we may receive distributions significantly in excess of our tax liabilities and obligations to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement between FAH, LLC, the Continuing Equity Owners and us. Funds we receive from FAH, LLC to satisfy its tax distribution obligations will not be available for reinvestment in our business. To the extent we do not distribute such cash balances as dividends on our Class A common stock and instead, for example, hold such cash balances or lend them to FAH, LLC, the Continuing Equity Owners would benefit from any value attributable to such accumulated cash balances as a result of their ownership of Class A common stock following an exchange of their common units for Class A common stock.
Our Tax Receivable Agreement with the Continuing Equity Owners requires us to make cash payments to them in respect of certain tax benefits to which we may become entitled, the amounts that we may be required to pay could be significant, and we may not realize such tax benefits.
In connection with the consummation of the IPO, we entered into the Tax Receivable Agreement with FAH, LLC and each of the Continuing Equity Owners. Pursuant to the Tax Receivable Agreement, we will be required to make cash payments to the Continuing Equity Owners equal to 85% of the tax benefits, if any, that we realize, or in some circumstances are deemed to realize as a result of (1) any future redemptions funded by us or exchanges (or deemed exchanges in certain circumstances) of common units for Class A common stock or cash, and (2) certain additional tax benefits attributable to payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The amount of the cash payments that we may be required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement could be significant. Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will generally be based on the tax reporting positions that we determine, which are subject to challenge by taxing authorities. Payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement will not be returned upon a successful challenge by a taxing authority to our reporting positions. Any payments made by us to the Continuing Equity Owners under the Tax Receivable Agreement will generally reduce the amount of overall cash flow that might have otherwise been available to us. To the extent that we are unable to make timely payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, the unpaid amounts will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid by us. Nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a material breach of a material obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement and therefore may accelerate payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Furthermore, our future obligation to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement could make us a less attractive target for an acquisition, particularly in the case of an acquirer that cannot use some or all of the tax benefits that may be deemed realized under the Tax Receivable Agreement upon a change of control. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are also not conditioned upon the Continuing Equity Owners maintaining a continued ownership interest in FAH, LLC.
The amounts that we may be required to pay to the Continuing Equity Owners under the Tax Receivable Agreement may be accelerated in certain circumstances and may also significantly exceed the actual tax benefits that we ultimately realize.
The Tax Receivable Agreement provides that if certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combination, or other changes of control were to occur, if we materially breach any of our material obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement or if, at any time, we elect an early termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement, then the Tax Receivable Agreement will terminate and our obligations, or our successor’s obligations, to make future payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement would accelerate and become immediately due and payable. In those circumstances members of FAH, LLC would be deemed to exchange any remaining outstanding common units of FAH, LLC for Class A common stock and would generally be entitled to payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement resulting from such deemed exchange. The amount due and payable in those circumstances is determined based on certain assumptions, including an assumption that we would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize all potential future tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. We may need to incur debt to finance payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the extent our cash resources are insufficient to meet our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement.
As a result of the foregoing, we would be required to make an immediate cash payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future tax benefits that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement, which payment may be made significantly in advance of the actual realization, if any, of such future tax benefits. We could also be required to make cash payments to the Continuing Equity Owners that are greater than the specified percentage of the actual benefits we ultimately realize in respect of the tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. Our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combination, or other changes of control. There can be no assurance that we will be able to finance our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement.
We will not be reimbursed for any payments made to the Continuing Equity Owners under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits are disallowed.
We will not be reimbursed for any cash payments previously made to the Continuing Equity Owners pursuant to the Tax Receivable Agreement if any tax benefits initially claimed by us are subsequently challenged by a taxing authority and are ultimately disallowed. Instead, any excess cash payments made by us to a Continuing Equity Owner will be netted against any future cash payments that we might otherwise be required to make under the
terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. However, a challenge to any tax benefits initially claimed by us may not arise for a number of years following the initial time of such payment or, even if challenged early, such excess cash payment may be greater than the amount of future cash payments that we might otherwise be required to make under the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement and, as a result, there might not be future cash payments from which to net against. The applicable U.S. federal income tax rules are complex and factual in nature, and there can be no assurance that the IRS or a court will not disagree with our tax reporting positions. As a result, it is possible that we could make cash payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are substantially greater than our actual cash tax savings.
If we were deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the 1940 Act, as a result of our ownership of FAH, LLC, applicable restrictions could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Under Sections 3(a)(1)(A) and (C) of the 1940 Act, a company generally will be deemed to be an “investment company” for purposes of the 1940 Act if (1) it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities or (2) it engages, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We do not believe that we are an “investment company,” as such term is defined in either of those sections of the 1940 Act.
As the sole managing member of FAH, LLC, we control and operate FAH, LLC. On that basis, we believe that our interest in FAH, LLC is not an “investment security” as that term is used in the 1940 Act. However, if we were to cease participation in the management of FAH, LLC, our interest in FAH, LLC could be deemed an “investment security” for purposes of the 1940 Act.
We and FAH, LLC intend to conduct our operations so that we will not be deemed an investment company. However, if we were to be deemed an investment company, restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act, including limitations on our capital structure and our ability to transact with affiliates, could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our organizational structure, including the Tax Receivable Agreement, confers certain benefits upon the Continuing Equity Owners that will not benefit Class A common stockholders to the same extent as it will benefit the Continuing Equity Owners.
Our organizational structure, including the Tax Receivable Agreement, confers certain benefits upon the Continuing Equity Owners that will not benefit the holders of our Class A common stock to the same extent as it will benefit such Continuing Equity Owners. We have entered into the Tax Receivable Agreement with FAH, LLC and the Continuing Equity Owners and it provides for the payment by us to the Continuing Equity Owners of 85% of the amount of tax benefits, if any, that we realize, or in some circumstances are deemed to realize, as a result of (1) any future redemptions funded by us or exchanges (or deemed exchanges in certain circumstances) of common units for Class A common stock or cash and (2) certain additional tax benefits attributable to payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. This and other aspects of our organizational structure may adversely impact the future trading market for our Class A common stock.
Risks Relating to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
The Continuing Equity Owners own common units in FAH, LLC, and the Continuing Equity Owners will have the right to redeem their common units in FAH, LLC pursuant to the terms of the FAH LLC Agreement for shares of Class A common stock or cash.
As of March 3, 2020, we had an aggregate of 165,055,059 shares of Class A common stock authorized but unissued, as well as approximately 15,927,938 shares of Class A common stock issuable, at our election, upon redemption of FAH, LLC common units held by the Continuing Equity Owners. FAH, LLC has entered into the FAH LLC Agreement, and subject to certain restrictions set forth in such agreement, the Continuing Equity Owners are entitled to have their common units redeemed from time to time at each of their options (subject in certain
circumstances to time-based vesting requirements) for, at our election, newly-issued shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis or a cash payment equal to a volume weighted average market price of one share of Class A common stock for each common unit redeemed, in each case, in accordance with the terms of the FAH LLC Agreement; provided that, at our election, we may effect a direct exchange by us of such Class A common stock or such cash, as applicable, for such common units. The Continuing Equity Owners may exercise such redemption right for as long as their common units remain outstanding. We also entered into a Registration Rights Agreement pursuant to which the shares of Class A common stock issued to certain of the Continuing Equity Owners (including each of our executive officers) upon such redemption and the shares of Class A common stock issued to the Former Equity Owners in connection with the Transactions will be eligible for resale, subject to certain limitations set forth in the Registration Rights Agreement.
We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our Class A common stock or the effect, if any, that future issuances and sales of shares of our Class A common stock may have on the market price of our Class A common stock. Sales or distributions of substantial amounts of our Class A common stock, including shares issued in connection with an acquisition, or the perception that such sales or distributions could occur, may cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline.
You may be diluted by future issuances of additional Class A common stock or common units in connection with our incentive plans, acquisitions or otherwise; future sales of such shares in the public market, or the expectations that such sales may occur, could lower our stock price.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue shares of our Class A common stock and options, rights, warrants and appreciation rights relating to our Class A common stock for the consideration and on the terms and conditions established by our board of directors in its sole discretion, whether in connection with acquisitions or otherwise. In addition, we, FAH, LLC and the Continuing Equity Owners are party to the FAH LLC Agreement under which the Continuing Equity Owners (or certain permitted transferees thereof) have the right (subject to the terms of the FAH LLC Agreement) to have their common units redeemed from time to time at each of their options (subject in certain circumstances to time-based vesting requirements) by FAH, LLC in exchange for, at our election, newly-issued shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis or a cash payment equal to a volume-weighted average market price of one share of Class A common stock for each common unit redeemed, in each case, in accordance with the terms of the FAH LLC Agreement; provided that, at our election, we may effect a direct exchange by us of such Class A common stock or such cash, as applicable, for such common units. The Continuing Equity Owners may exercise such redemption right for as long as their common units remain outstanding. The market price of shares of our Class A common stock could decline as a result of these redemptions or exchanges or the perception that a redemption or exchange could occur. These redemptions or exchanges, or the possibility that these redemptions or exchanges may occur, also might make it more difficult for holders of our Class A common stock to sell such stock in the future at a time and at a price that they deem appropriate.
We have reserved for issuance 5,518,518 shares of Class A common stock under our 2017 Incentive Award Plan (the “2017 Plan”), including, as of December 31, 2019, 2,683,024 shares of Class A common stock underlying stock options we granted to certain of our directors, executive officers and other employees and 1,548,029 shares of Class A common stock underlying restricted stock units we granted to certain of our executive officers and other employees. We have also reserved for issuance an aggregate number of shares under the Company’s 2019 Incentive Award Plan (the “2019 Plan”) equal to the sum of (i) 3,000,0000 shares of our Class A common stock and (ii) an annual increase on the first day of each calendar year beginning on January 1, 2020 and ending on and including January 1, 2029, equal to the lesser of (A) 2% of the shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding as of the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year on a fully-diluted basis and (B) such lesser number of shares of Class A common stock as determined by our board of directors. Any shares of Class A common stock that we issue, including under our 2017 Plan, our 2019 Plan or other equity incentive plans that we may adopt in the future, would dilute the percentage ownership held by the holders of our Class A common stock.
In the future, we may also issue additional securities if we need to raise capital, including, but not limited to, in connection with acquisitions, which could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of Class A common stock. Further in connection with the completion of the IPO, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with certain of the Original Equity Owners (including each of our executive officers). On April 20, 2019, we filed a preliminary shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (as amended on May 13, 2019 and August 30, 2019, the "Form S-3") with the SEC. The Form S-3 was declared effective by the SEC on September 16, 2019. The Form
S-3 allows us to sell from time to time up to $100.0 million of Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, purchase contracts or units comprised of any combination of these securities for our own account and, following the secondary underwritten public offering which was completed on September 19, 2019, allows certain Original Equity Owners to sell 27,934,185 shares of Class A common stock in one or more offerings. If we offer and sell Class A common stock under the Form S-3, it would dilute the percentage ownership held by the existing holders of our Class A common stock. Any sales in connection with the Registration Rights Agreement, or the prospect of any such sales, could materially impact the market price of our Class A common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through future sales of equity securities.
Our Class A common stock price may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price you paid for them.
Volatility in the market price of our Class A common stock may prevent you from being able to sell your shares at or above the price you paid for them. Many factors, which are outside our control, may cause the market price of our Class A common stock to fluctuate significantly, including those described elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section, as well as the following:
•our operating and financial performance and prospects;
•our quarterly or annual earnings or those of other companies in our industry compared to market expectations;
•conditions that impact demand for our products;
•future announcements concerning our business, our customers’ businesses or our competitors’ businesses;
•the public’s reaction to our press releases, other public announcements and filings with the SEC;
•the market’s reaction to our reduced disclosure and other requirements as a result of being an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (“JOBS Act”);
•the size of our public float;
•coverage by or changes in financial estimates by securities analysts or failure to meet their expectations;
•market and industry perception of our success, or lack thereof, in pursuing our growth strategy;
•strategic actions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions or restructurings;
•changes in laws or regulations which adversely affect our industry, our licensors or us;
•changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;
•changes in senior management or key personnel;
•issuances, exchanges or sales, or expected issuances, exchanges or sales of our capital stock;
•changes in our dividend policy;
•adverse resolution of new or pending litigation against us;
•the imposition of fines or other remedial measures as a result of the underpayment of customs duties at Loungefly; and
•changes in general market, economic and political conditions in the United States and global economies or financial markets, including those resulting from natural disasters, terrorist attacks, acts of war and responses to such events.
As a result, volatility in the market price of our Class A common stock may prevent investors from being able to sell their Class A common stock at or above the price they paid for them or at all. These broad market and industry factors may materially reduce the market price of our Class A common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our Class A common stock is low. As a result, you may suffer a loss on your investment.
We do not intend to pay dividends on our Class A common stock for the foreseeable future.
We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business and to repay indebtedness. As a result, we do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends on our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, our business prospects, results of operations, financial condition, cash requirements and availability, industry trends and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. Any such decision will also be subject to compliance with contractual restrictions and covenants in the agreements governing our current and future indebtedness. Our New Credit Facilities contain certain covenants that restrict the ability of FAH, LLC and its subsidiaries to pay dividends or make distributions. Because we are a holding company, our ability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock depends on our receipt of cash distributions from FAH, LLC and, through FAH, LLC, cash distributions and dividends from our other direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. In addition, we may incur additional indebtedness, the terms of which may further restrict or prevent us from paying dividends on our Class A common stock. As a result, you may have to sell some or all of your Class A common stock after price appreciation in order to generate cash flow from your investment, which you may not be able to do. Our inability or decision not to pay dividends, particularly when others in our industry have elected to do so, could also adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Delaware law and certain provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may prevent efforts by our stockholders to change the direction or management of our company.
We are a Delaware corporation, and the anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law impose various impediments to the ability of a third party to acquire control of us, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of our company more difficult without the approval of our board of directors, including, but not limited to, the following:
•our board of directors is classified into three classes, each of which serves for a staggered three-year term;
•only the chairperson of our board of directors or a majority of our board of directors may call special meetings of our stockholders, except that at such time as ACON, certain of its affiliates and their permitted transferees, which we collectively refer to as the ACON Related Parties, directly or indirectly, beneficially own in the aggregate, 35% or more of all shares of Class A common stock (including for this purpose all shares of Class A common stock issuable upon redemption of common units, assuming all such common units are redeemed for Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis) issued and outstanding, the holders of a majority in voting power of the outstanding shares of our capital stock may also call special meetings of our stockholders;
•we have authorized undesignated preferred stock, the terms of which may be established and shares of which may be issued without stockholder approval;
•any action required or permitted to be taken by our stockholders at an annual meeting or special meeting of stockholders may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a written consent is signed by the holders of our outstanding shares of common stock representing not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize such action at a meeting at which all outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote thereon were present and voted, provided that at such time as the ACON Related Parties, directly or indirectly, beneficially own in the aggregate, less than 35% of all shares of Class A common stock (including for this purpose all shares of Class A common stock issuable upon redemption of common units, assuming all such common units are redeemed for Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis) issued and outstanding, any action required or permitted to be taken by our stockholders at an annual meeting or special meeting of stockholders may not be taken by written consent in lieu of a meeting;
•our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended or repealed by the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes which all our stockholders would be eligible to cast in an election of directors and our amended and restated bylaws may be amended or repealed by a majority vote of our board of directors or by the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes which all our stockholders would be eligible to cast in an election of directors, provided that at such time as the ACON Related Parties, directly or indirectly, beneficially own in the aggregate, less than 35% of
all shares of Class A common stock (including for this purpose all shares of Class A common stock issuable upon redemption of common units, assuming all such common units are redeemed for Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis) issued and outstanding, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may be amended or repealed by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 662/3% of the votes which all our stockholders would be entitled to cast in any annual election of directors and our amended and restated bylaws may also be amended or repealed by a majority vote of our board of directors;
•we require advance notice and duration of ownership requirements for stockholder proposals; and
•we have opted out of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, or the DGCL, however, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that are similar to Section 203 of the DGCL (except with respect to ACON and Fundamental and any of their respective affiliates and any of their respective direct or indirect transferees of Class B common stock).
These provisions could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and cause us to take other corporate actions you desire, including actions that you may deem advantageous, or negatively affect the trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions could in turn affect any attempt by our stockholders to replace current members of our management team.
Please see “Risks Relating to Our Organizational Structure—ACON has significant influence over us, including over decisions that require the approval of stockholders, and its interests, along with the interests of our other Continuing Equity Owners, in our business may conflict with the interests of our other stockholders.”
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, subject to certain exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders; (3) any action asserting a claim against us, any director or our officers and employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws, or as to which the DGCL confers exclusive jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery; or (4) any action asserting a claim against us, any director or our officers or employees that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), Securities Act, or, in each case, the rules and regulations thereunder, or any other claim for which the U.S. federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation described above. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision that will be contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may issue shares of preferred stock in the future, which could make it difficult for another company to acquire us or could otherwise adversely affect holders of our Class A common stock, which could depress the price of our Class A common stock.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue one or more series of preferred stock. Our board of directors has the authority to determine the preferences, limitations and relative rights of the shares of preferred stock and to fix the number of shares constituting any series and the designation of such series, without any further vote or action by our stockholders. Our preferred stock could be issued with voting, liquidation, dividend
and other rights superior to the rights of our Class A common stock. The potential issuance of preferred stock may delay or prevent a change in control of us, discouraging bids for our Class A common stock at a premium to the market price, and materially and adversely affect the market price and the voting and other rights of the holders of our Class A common stock.
Taking advantage of the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to “emerging growth companies” may make our Class A common stock less attractive to investors.
The JOBS Act provides that, for so long as a company qualifies as an “emerging growth company,” it will, among other things:
•be exempt from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requiring that its independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting;
•be exempt from the “say on pay” and “say on golden parachute” advisory vote requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Customer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act;
•be exempt from certain disclosure requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act relating to compensation of its executive officers and be permitted to omit the detailed compensation discussion and analysis from the proxy statements and reports it files under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”); and
•be exempt from any rules that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board requiring mandatory audit firm rotations or a supplement to the auditor’s report on our financial statements.
We currently have chosen to take advantage of each of the exemptions described above. We have irrevocably elected not to take advantage of the extension of time to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards available under Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act. We could be an emerging growth company until December 31, 2022. We cannot predict if investors will find our Class A common stock less attractive if we elect to rely on these exemptions, or if taking advantage of these exemptions would result in less active trading or more volatility in the price of our Class A common stock.
The obligations associated with being a public company require significant resources and management attention, which may divert from our business operations.
As a result of our IPO, we became subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting. As a result, we now incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not previously incur. Additionally, prior to the completion of our IPO, most of our management team, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, had not previously managed a publicly traded company, and as a result, have little experience in complying with the increasingly complex and changing legal and regulatory landscape in which public companies operate. Furthermore, while certain members of our board of directors have been officers and other employees of public companies, only one of our directors has previously served on the board of directors of a public company prior to the completion of our IPO. Our entire management team and many of our other employees now need to devote substantial time to compliance and may not be able to effectively or efficiently manage us.
In addition, establishing and maintaining the corporate infrastructure demanded of a public company may also divert management’s attention from implementing our business strategy, which could prevent us from improving our business, results of operations and financial condition. We have made, and will continue to make, changes to our internal control over financial reporting, including information technology controls, and procedures for financial reporting and accounting systems to meet our reporting obligations as a public company. However, the measures we take may not be sufficient to satisfy our obligations as a public company. If we do not continue to develop and implement the right processes and tools to manage our changing enterprise and maintain our culture, our ability to compete successfully and achieve our business objectives could be impaired, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur to comply with these requirements. We anticipate that these costs will materially increase our general and administrative expenses.
Furthermore, as a public company, we have incurred and will continue to incur additional legal, accounting and other expenses that have not been reflected in our historical financial statements. In addition, rules implemented by the SEC have imposed various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and changes in corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel have devoted, and will need to continue to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. These rules and regulations result in our incurring legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect these rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified people to serve on our board of directors and our board committees or as executive officers.
As a public reporting company, we are subject to rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC regarding our internal control over financial reporting. Any failure to establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures may cause us to not be able to accurately report our financial results or report them in a timely manner.
We are a public reporting company subject to the rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC and The Nasdaq Stock Market. These rules and regulations require, among other things, that we have and periodically evaluate procedures with respect to our internal control over financial reporting. Reporting obligations as a public company are likely to continue to place a considerable strain on our financial and management systems, processes and controls, as well as on our personnel.
Under Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act our management is required to assess and report annually on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and to identify any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Once we are no longer an emerging growth company, Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will require our independent registered public accounting firm to issue an annual report that addresses the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
As of December 31, 2019, we have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting based on the effects of the underpayment of customs duties at Loungefly. As a result of this material weakness or any other material weakness that may be identified in the future, our senior management was and may in the future be unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, and our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to render an unqualified opinion on management’s assessment and the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at such time as it is required to do so. In addition, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC, the Nasdaq Stock Market or other regulatory authorities, a loss of public and investor confidence, and litigation from investors and stockholders, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and our stock price. If our remedial measures are insufficient to address this material weakness, or if further material weaknesses are discovered, we may not be able to manage our business effectively or accurately report our financial performance on a timely basis, which could cause a decline in the price of our Class A common stock and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
In addition to taking remediation measures in response to the material weakness we identified relating to the underpayment of customs duties at Loungefly, we may need to expend additional resources and provide additional management oversight in order to establish effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. Implementing any appropriate changes to our internal controls may require specific compliance training of our employees, entail substantial costs, take a significant period of time to complete or divert management’s attention from other business concerns. These changes may not, however, ultimately be effective to achieve and maintain adequate internal controls.
We may fail to meet analyst expectations, or analysts may issue unfavorable commentary about us or our industry or downgrade our Class A common stock, which could cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.
Our Class A common stock is traded publicly, and various securities analysts follow our company and issue reports on us. These reports include information about our historical financial results as well as the analysts’ estimates of our future performance. The analysts’ estimates are based upon their own independent opinions and may be different from our own estimates or expectations. If our operating results are below the estimates or expectations of
public market analysts and investors, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline. In addition, one or more analysts could cease to cover our company, which could cause us to lose visibility in the market, and one or more analysts could downgrade our Class A common stock or issue other negative commentary about our company or our industry. As a result of one or more of these factors, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline.