Our R&D investment is focused on areas that will advance our technological leadership and further differentiate our competitive advantage from a product perspective. Investment has been focused on significantly enhancing the digital integration and interoperability of valve top works (e.g., positioners, actuators, limit switches and associated accessories) with Distributed Control Systems ("DCS"). We continue to pursue the development and deployment of next-generation hardware and software for valve diagnostics and the integration of the resulting device intelligence through the DCS to provide a practical and effective asset management capability for the end user. In addition to developing these new capabilities and value-added services, our investments also include product portfolio expansion and fundamental research in material sciences in order to increase the temperature, pressure and corrosion/erosion-resistance limits of existing products, as well as noise and cavitation reduction. These investments are made by adding new resources and talent to the organization, as well as leveraging the experience of EPD and IPD and increasing our collaboration with third parties. We expect to continue our R&D investments in the areas discussed above.

None of these newly developed valve products or services required the investment of a material amount of our assets or was otherwise material.

Our customer mix spans several markets, including the chemical, power generation, oil and gas, water management, pulp and paper, mining and other general industries. Our product mix includes original equipment and aftermarket parts and services. FCD contracts with a variety of customers, ranging from EPC firms, to distributors, end users and other original equipment manufacturers.

While in recent years the valve market has undergone a significant amount of consolidation, the market remains highly fragmented. Some of the largest valve industry competitors include Pentair Ltd., Cameron International Corp. (a Schlumberger company), Emerson Electric Co., General Electric Co. and Crane Co.

Our market research and assessments indicate that the top 10 global valve manufacturers collectively comprise less than 25% of the total valve market. Based on independent industry sources, we believe that we are the fourth largest industrial valve supplier in the world. We believe that our strongest sources of competitive advantage rest with our comprehensive portfolio of valve products and services, our focus on execution and our expertise in severe corrosion and erosion applications.

We maintain an Internet web site at www.flowserve.com. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are made available free of charge through the “Investor Relations” section of our Internet web site as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the reports with, or furnish the reports to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

Also available on our Internet web site are our Corporate Governance Guidelines for our Board of Directors and Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, as well as the charters of the Audit, Finance, Organization and Compensation and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committees of our Board of Directors and other important governance documents. All of the foregoing documents may be obtained through our Internet web site as noted above and are available in print without charge to shareholders who request them. Information contained on or available through our Internet web site is not incorporated into this Annual Report or any other document we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.

Any of the events discussed as risk factors below may occur. If they do, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially adversely affected. While we believe all known material risks are disclosed, additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or that we currently deem immaterial, may also impair our business

The businesses of many of our customers, particularly oil and gas companies, chemical companies and general industrial companies, are to varying degrees cyclical and have experienced periodic downturns. Our customers in these industries, particularly those whose demand for our products and services is primarily profit-driven, historically have tended to delay large capital projects, including expensive maintenance and upgrades, during economic downturns. For example, our chemical customers generally tend to reduce their spending on capital investments and operate their facilities at lower levels in a soft economic environment, which reduces demand for our products and services. Additionally, fluctuating energy demand forecasts and lingering uncertainty concerning commodity pricing, specifically the price of oil, can cause our customers to be more conservative in their capital planning, which may reduce demand for our products and services. Reduced demand for our products and services could result in the delay or cancellation of existing orders or lead to excess manufacturing capacity, which unfavorably impacts our absorption of fixed manufacturing costs. This reduced demand may also erode average selling prices in our industry. Any of these results could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Additionally, some of our customers may delay capital investment and maintenance even during favorable conditions in their industries or markets. Despite these favorable conditions, the general health of global credit and capital markets and our customers' ability to access such markets may impact investments in large capital projects, including necessary maintenance and upgrades. In addition, the liquidity and financial position of our customers could impact capital investment decisions and their ability to pay in full and/or on a timely basis. Any of these factors, whether individually or in the aggregate, could have a material adverse effect on our customers and, in turn, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our backlog represents the value of uncompleted customer orders. While we cannot be certain that reported backlog will be indicative of future results, our ability to accurately value our backlog can be adversely affected by numerous factors, including the health of our customers' businesses and their access to capital, volatility in commodity prices (e.g., copper, nickel, stainless steel) and economic uncertainty. While we attempt to mitigate the financial consequences of order delays and cancellations through contractual provisions and other means, if we were to experience a significant increase in order delays or cancellations that can result from the aforementioned economic conditions or other factors beyond our control, it could impede or delay our ability to realize anticipated revenues on our backlog. Such a loss of anticipated revenues could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The markets for our products and services are geographically diverse and highly competitive. We compete against large and well-established national and global companies, as well as regional and local companies, low-cost replicators of spare parts and in-house maintenance departments of our end-user customers. We compete based on price, technical expertise, timeliness of delivery, contractual terms, previous installation history and reputation for quality and reliability. Competitive environments in slow-growth industries and for original equipment orders have been inherently more influenced by pricing and domestic and global economic conditions and current economic forecasts suggest that the competitive influence of pricing has broadened. Additionally, some of our customers have been attempting to reduce the number of vendors from which they purchase in order to reduce the size and diversity of their supply chain. To remain competitive, we must invest in manufacturing, marketing, customer service and support and our distribution networks. No assurances can be made that we will have sufficient resources to continue to make the investment required to maintain or increase our market share or that our investments will be successful. If we do not compete successfully, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

We purchase substantially all electric power and other raw materials we use in the manufacturing of our products from outside sources. The costs of these raw materials have been volatile historically and are influenced by factors that are outside our control. In recent years, the prices for energy, metal alloys, nickel and certain other of our raw materials have been volatile. While we strive to offset our increased costs through supply chain management, contractual provisions and our CIP initiative, where gains are achieved in operational efficiencies, our operating margins and results of operations and cash flows may be adversely affected if we are unable to pass increases in the costs of our raw materials on to our customers or operational efficiencies are not achieved.

A substantial portion of our operations is conducted and located outside the U.S. We have manufacturing, sales or service facilities in more than 50 countries and sell to customers in over 90 countries, in addition to the U.S. Moreover, we primarily outsource certain of our manufacturing and engineering functions to, and source our raw materials and components from, China, Eastern Europe, India and Latin America and Mexico.America. Accordingly, our business and results of operations are subject to risks associated with doing business internationally, including:

For example, political unrest or work stoppages could negatively impact the demand for our products from customers in affected countries and other customers, such as U.S. oil refineries, that could be affected by the resulting disruption in the supply of crude oil. Similarly, military conflicts in Russia, the Middle East and North Africa could soften the level of capital investment and demand for our products and services.

Some of the risks outlined above are particularly prevalent in Venezuela. The operating environment in Venezuela is challenging, with high inflation, increased risk of political and economic instability and increased government restrictions. As a result of these factors, we have experienced delays in payments from the national oil company in Venezuela, our primary Venezuelan customer, though these amounts are not disputeddisputed. Due to certain actions of this customer and the diminished activity of business and payments in 2016, we have estimated that our ability to fully collect the accounts receivable from our primary Venezuelan customer has become less than probable and we have not historically had write-offs relatingrecorded a charge to selling, general and administrative expense ("SG&A") to fully reserve for those potential uncollectible accounts receivable and a charge to cost of sales ("COS")to reserve for related net inventory exposures. For additional information, see the discussion in Item 7 of this customer.Annual Report and under Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report. Going forward, additional government actions, political and labor unrest, or other economic headwinds, including the Venezuelan government's inability to fulfill its fiscal obligations, could have further adverse impacts on our ability to fully collect our receivable and our business in Venezuela.

In order to manage our day-to-day operations, we must overcome cultural and language barriers and assimilate different business practices. In addition, we are required to create compensation programs, employment policies and other administrative programs that comply with laws of multiple countries. We also must communicate and monitor standards and directives across our global network. Our failure to successfully manage our geographically diverse operations could impair our ability to react quickly to changing business and market conditions and to enforce compliance with standards and procedures.

Our future success will depend, in large part, on our ability to anticipate and effectively manage these and other risks associated with our international operations. Any of these factors could, however, materially adversely affect our international operations and, consequently, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Due to the international scope of our operations, the system of laws and regulations to which we are subject is complex and includes, without limitation, regulations issued by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and various foreign governmental agencies, including applicable export controls, customs, currency exchange control and transfer pricing regulations, as applicable. No assurances can be made that we will continue to be found to be operating in compliance with, or be able to detect violations of, any such laws or regulations. In addition, we cannot predict the nature, scope or effect of future regulatory requirements to which our international operations might be subject or the manner in which existing laws might be administered or interpreted.

A significant portion of our revenue and certain of our costs, assets and liabilities, are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. The primary currencies to which we have exposure are the Euro, British pound, Mexican peso, Brazilian real, Indian rupee, Japanese yen, Singapore dollar, Argentine peso, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Chinese yuan, Colombian peso, Chilean peso and South African rand. Certain of the foreign currencies to which we have exposure, such as the Venezuelan bolivar and Argentine peso, have undergone significant devaluation in the past, which can reduce the value of our local monetary assets, reduce the U.S. dollar value of our local cash flow, generate local currency losses that may impact our ability to pay future dividends from our subsidiary to the parent company and potentially reduce the U.S. dollar value of future local net income. Although we enter into forward exchange contracts to economically hedge some of our risks associated with transactions denominated in certain foreign currencies, no assurances can be made that exchange rate fluctuations will not adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") and similar anti-bribery laws and regulations in other jurisdictions, such as the UK Bribery Act, generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or securing an improper advantage. Because we operate in many parts of the world and sell to industries that have experienced corruption to some degree, our policies mandate compliance with applicable anti-bribery laws worldwide. If we are found to be in violation of the FCPA or other similar anti-bribery laws or regulations, whether due to our or others' actions or inadvertence, we could be subject to civil and criminal penalties or other sanctions that could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, actual or alleged violations could damage our reputation or ability to do business.

As a global company with a large international footprint, we are subject to increased risk of damage or disruption to us, our employees, facilities, partners, suppliers, distributors, resellers or customers due to terrorist acts, conflicts and wars, wherever located around the world. The potential for future attacks, the national and international responses to attacks or perceived threats to national security, and other actual or potential conflicts or wars, such as the Israeli-Hamas conflict and ongoing instability in Syria and Egypt, have created many economic and political uncertainties. In addition, as a global company with headquarters and significant operations located in the U.S., actions against or by the U.S. may impact our business or employees. Although it is impossible to predict the occurrences or consequences of any such events, they could result in a decrease in demand for our products, make it difficult or impossible to deliver products to our customers or to receive components from our suppliers, create delays and inefficiencies in our supply chain and pose risks to our employees, resulting in the need to impose travel restrictions, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our operations and properties are subject to regulation under environmental laws, which can impose substantial sanctions for violations. We must conform our operations to applicable regulatory requirements and adapt to changes in such requirements in all countries in which we operate.

We use hazardous substances and generate hazardous wastes in many of our manufacturing and foundry operations. Most of our current and former properties are or have been used for industrial purposes, and some may require clean-up of historical contamination. We are currently conducting investigation and/or remediation activities at a number of locations where we have known environmental concerns. In addition, we have been identified as one of many PRPs at five Superfund sites. The projected cost of remediation at these sites, as well as our alleged "fair share" allocation, while not anticipated to

We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, operating and capital costs to comply with environmental requirements. In addition, new laws and regulations, stricter enforcement of existing requirements, the discovery of previously unknown contamination or the imposition of new clean-up requirements could require us to incur costs or become the basis for new or increased liabilities. Moreover, environmental and sustainability initiatives, practices, rules and regulations are under increasing scrutiny of both governmental and non-governmental bodies, which can cause rapid change in operational practices, standards and expectations and, in turn, increase our compliance costs. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We are a defendant in a substantial number of lawsuits that seek to recover damages for personal injury allegedly resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products formerly manufactured and/or distributed by us. Such products were used as internal components of process equipment, and we do not believe that there was any significant emission of asbestos-containing fibers during the use of this equipment. Although we are defending these allegations vigorously and believe that a high percentage of these lawsuits are covered by insurance or indemnities from other companies, there can be no assurance that we will prevail or that coverage or payments made by insurance or such other companies would be adequate. Unfavorable rulings, judgments or settlement terms could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our ability to implement our business strategy and serve our customers is dependent upon the continuing ability to employ talented professionals and attract, train, develop and retain a skilled workforce. We are subject to the risk that we will not be able to effectively replace the knowledge and expertise of an aging workforce as workers retire. Without a properly skilled and experienced workforce, our costs, including productivity costs and costs to replace employees may increase, and this could negatively impact our earnings.

We rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, confidentiality provisions and licensing arrangements to establish and protect our proprietary rights. We cannot guarantee, however, that the steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property will be adequate to prevent infringement of our rights or misappropriation of our technology. For example, effective patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection may be unavailable or limited in some of the foreign countries in which we operate. In addition, while we generally enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees and third parties to protect our intellectual property, such confidentiality agreements could be breached or otherwise may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets and know-how related to the design, manufacture or operation of our products. If it became necessary for us to resort to litigation to protect our intellectual property rights, any proceedings could

We maintain defined benefit pension plans that are required to be funded in the U.S., Belgium, Canada, India, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.K., and defined benefit plans that are not required to be funded in Austria, France, Germany, Japan and Sweden. Our pension liability is materially affected by the discount rate used to measure our pension obligations and, in the case of the plans that are required to be funded, the level of plan assets available to fund those obligations and the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. A change in the discount rate can result in a significant increase or decrease in the valuation of pension obligations, affecting the reported status of our pension plans and our pension expense. Significant changes in investment performance or a change in the portfolio mix of invested assets can result in increases and decreases in the valuation of plan assets or in a change of the expected rate of return on plan assets. This impact may be particularly prevalent where we maintain significant concentrations of specified investments, such as the U.K. equity and fixed income securities in our non-U.S. defined benefit plans. Changes in the expected return on plan assets assumption can result in significant changes in our pension expense and future funding requirements.

We continually review our funding policy related to our U.S. pension plan in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. U.S. regulations have increased the minimum level of funding for U.S pension plans in prior years, which has at times required significant contributions to our pension plans. Contributions to our pension plans reduce the availability of our cash flows to fund working capital, capital expenditures, R&D efforts and other general corporate purposes.

We may be exposed to product liability and warranty claims in the event that the use of one of our products results in, or is alleged to result in, bodily injury and/or property damage or our products actually or allegedly fail to perform as expected. While we maintain insurance coverage with respect to certain product liability claims, we may not be able to obtain such insurance on acceptable terms in the future, and any such insurance may not provide adequate coverage against product liability claims. In addition, product liability claims can be expensive to defend and can divert the attention of management and other

We currently have significant net deferred tax assets resulting from tax credit carryforwards, net operating losses and other deductible temporary differences that are available to reduce taxable income in future periods. Based on our assessment of our deferred tax assets, we determined, based on projected future income and certain available tax planning strategies, that approximately $242$290 million of our deferred tax assets will more likely than not be realized in the future, and no valuation allowance is currently required for this portion of our deferred tax assets. Should we determine in the future that these assets will not be realized we will be required to record an additional valuation allowance in connection with these deferred tax assets and our operating results would be adversely affected in the period such determination is made. In addition, tax law changes could negatively impact our deferred tax assets.

We are required to make scheduled repayments and, under certain events of default, mandatory repayments on our outstanding indebtedness, which may require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations to payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flows to fund working capital, capital expenditures, R&D

In addition, the agreements governing our indebtedness impose certain operating and financial restrictions on us and somewhat limit management's discretion in operating our businesses. These agreements limit or restrict our ability, among other things, to: incur additional debt; pay dividends and make other distributions; prepay subordinated debt; make investments and other restricted payments; create liens; sell assets; and enter into transactions with affiliates.

We are also required to maintain certain debt ratings, comply with leverage and interest coverage financial covenants and deliver to our lenders audited annual and unaudited quarterly financial statements. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control. Failure to comply with these covenants could result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Since 1997, we have expanded through a number of acquisitions, and we may pursue strategic acquisitions of businesses in the future. Our ability to implement this growth strategy will be limited by our ability to identify appropriate acquisition candidates, covenants in our credit agreement and other debt agreements and our financial resources, including available cash and borrowing capacity. Acquisitions may require additional debt financing, resulting in higher leverage and an increase in interest expense. In addition, acquisitions may require large one-time charges and can result in the incurrence of contingent liabilities, adverse tax consequences, substantial depreciation or deferred compensation charges, the amortization of identifiable purchased intangible assets or impairment of goodwill, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Should we acquire another business, the process of integrating acquired operations into our existing operations may create operating difficulties and may require significant financial and managerial resources that would otherwise be available for the ongoing development or expansion of existing operations. Some of the more common challenges associated with acquisitions that we may experience include:

Further, no guarantees can be made that we would realize the cost savings, synergies or revenue enhancements that we may anticipate from any acquisition, or that we will realize such benefits within the time frame that we expect. If we are not able to timely address the challenges associated with acquisitions and successfully integrate acquired businesses, or if our integrated product and service offerings fail to achieve market acceptance, our business could be adversely affected.

This Annual Report and other written reports and oral statements we make from time-to-time include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this Annual Report regarding our financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations, industry conditions, market conditions and indebtedness covenant compliance are forward-looking statements. In some cases forward looking statements can be identified by terms such as "may," "should," "expects," "could," "intends," "projects," "predicts," "plans," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "forecasts" or other comparable terminology. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance, but instead are based on current expectations and are subject to significant risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control.

We have identified factors that could cause actual plans or results to differ materially from those included in any forward-looking statements. These factors include those described above under this "Risk Factors" heading, or as may be identified in our other SEC filings from time to time. These uncertainties are beyond our ability to control, and in many cases, it is not possible to foresee or identify all the factors that may affect our future performance or any forward-looking information, and

All forward-looking statements included in this Annual Report are based on information available to us on the date of this Annual Report and the risk that actual results will differ materially from expectations expressed in this report will increase with the passage of time. We undertake no obligation, and disclaim any duty, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement or disclose any facts, events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof that may affect the accuracy of any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in our expectations or otherwise. This discussion is provided as permitted by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and all of our forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referenced in this section.

None.

Our principal executive offices, including our global headquarters, are located at 5215 N. O'Connor Boulevard, Suite 2300, Irving, Texas 75039. Our global headquarters is a leased facility, which we began to occupy on January 1, 2004. In September 2011, we extended our original lease term an additional 10 years to December 31, 2023. We have the option to renew the current lease for two additional five-year periods. We currently occupy 125,000 square feet at this facility.