Our Company was incorporated in Delaware in October 1986 as Terex U.S.A., Inc. Since that time, we have changed significantly, and much of this change has been historically accomplished through acquisitions and managing our portfolio of companies by divestiture of non-core businesses and products. Today, Terex is a global manufacturer of aerial work platforms, cranes and materials processing machinery.machinery and cranes. We design, build and support products used in construction, maintenance, manufacturing, energy, minerals and materials management applications. Our products are manufactured in North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia and sold worldwide. We engage with customers through all stages of the product life cycle, from initial specification and financing to parts and service support. We continue to focus on becoming an industry leading operating company.

We manage and report our business in the following segments: (i) Aerial Work Platforms (“AWP”); and (ii) Cranes; and (iii) MaterialMaterials Processing (“MP”).

Further information about our industry and reportable segments including geographic information, appears in Part II, Item 7. – “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and Note CB – “Business Segment Information” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

AWP has the following significant manufacturing operations:

We have a parts and logistics center located in North Bend, Washington for our aerial work platform and utility products equipment. Additionally, a portion of our aerial work platform and utility products parts business is conducted at a shared Terex facility in Southaven, Mississippi. Our European, Asian Pacific and Latin American parts and logistics operations are conducted through out-sourcedoutsourced facilities.

We also provide service and support for utility and aerial products in the U.S. through a network of service branches and field service operations. We have announced plans to exit and sell our facilityutility hot line tools business in Betim, Brazil.

MP has the following significant manufacturing operations:

We have North American distribution centers in Louisville, Kentucky and Southaven, Mississippi and service centers in Australia, Thailand, Turkey and Malaysia.

We may assist customers in their rental, leasing and acquisition of our products through Terex Financial Services (“TFS”). TFS uses its equipment financing experience to provide financing solutions to our customers who purchase our equipment. TFS continually evaluates the level to which it provides direct customer financing versus utilizing third party funding to meet its business objectives.

In the United States and on a limited basis in China, TFS originates and services financing transactions directly with end-user customers, distributors and rental companies. Most of the transactions are fixed and floating rate loans; however, TFS also provides sales-type leases, operating leases and rentals. In the normal course of business, loans and leases are sold to third party financial institutions with which TFS has established relationships.institutions. Globally, TFS also facilitates financing transactions directly between our customers and third party financial institutions. TFS also arrangesIn addition, wholesale financing formay be arranged between dealers and distributors who sell our equipment to end users.  These financing arrangements are third party financings between the dealer/distributor and the financial institutions with which TFS has established relationships.

On January 4, 2017, we completed the disposition of our MHPS business (the “Disposition”) to Konecranes Plc (“Konecranes”). The MHPS business sold constituted the entirety of one of our previous reportable operating segments and comprised two of our six previous reporting units, represented a significant portion of our revenues and assets, and is therefore accounted for as a discontinued operation for all periods presented. The Disposition represented a significant strategic shift in our business away from universal, process, mobile harbor and ship-to-shore cranes that will havehad a major effect on our future operating results.

See Note B – “Sale of MHPS Business” and Note ED – “Discontinued Operations and Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information regarding the Dispositiondispositions and our discontinued operations.

Terex is a specialized manufacturer of specialized capital equipment and related services. Our goal is to design, manufacture and market equipment and services that provide superior life-cycle return on invested capital to our customers (“Customer ROIC”). Customer ROIC is a key focus of our organization and is central to our ability to generate returns for investors.

We operate our business based on our value system, “The Terex Way.” The Terex Way values shape the culture of our Company and reflect our collective commitment to and understanding of what it means to be a part of Terex. The Terex Way is based on six key values:

During 2016, Terex began implementing a strategic transformationstrategy that has three principal elements:

The “Focus” element of this strategy concentrated our business portfolio in product categories where we are among the market leaders. Where we were not among the market leaders our strategy has been to either divest those product lines or pursue a business strategy which we believe will enable us to become a market leader. Work related to this strategic theme involved review of all businesses in the portfolio from the perspectives of market attractiveness and competitive position. Several portfolio actions were taken as a result, including the sale of our former MHPS segment, andsale of Demag, sale of certain of our former Construction segment product lines and exiting certain North American mobile crane product lines. We now considerThough the Focusoriginal objectives have been met, the principles on which the focus element of our strategywas based will continue to be complete.applied to our Company’s business portfolio. Businesses that do not lead in their markets or do not achieve reasonable return expectations will be reviewed. Meanwhile, businesses that do lead and do deliver attractive returns will be candidates for additional investment.

The “Simplify” element of the Terex strategy is centered on complexity reduction and cost management. Historically, Terex has grown through acquisitions and our businesses were generally operated autonomously. This resulted in a complex legal entity structure, multiple financial systems, and high organizational complexity. As part of our transformational strategy, we arehave been addressing these issues and are implementing strategic initiatives to simplify our structure, footprint and processes. We arehave been working to flatten and streamline the organization. We have undertaken finance initiatives that willto simplify the way that we measure and manage the Company day-to-day. We are also simplifyingsimplified the Company’s manufacturing footprint by reducing the number of production facilities, sharing facilities across businesses, and driving aggressive productivity improvement within the facilities we operate. We have already exited 12 facilities aroundDuring 2019, following the world. In total, our actions have eliminated approximately 2.6 million square feet, or 27%,sale of our global footprint. We have also reduced our number of legal entities by over 70 legal entities, or 40%, since the end of 2016, resulting in the fewest number of legal entities since 1999. Our smaller manufacturing footprintDemag and simpler legalexiting certain North American mobile crane product lines, Terex simplified its corporate structure is expected to enable streamlined business processes and lower costs.we are now a two segment company.

The third major theme of the Terex strategy is “ExecuteExecute to Win” (“ETW”),Win, which is a focus on three key management processes: Talenttalent development, strategy development and deployment, and operational excellence. ETWExecute to Win represents a major change in the philosophy of our Company in terms of where and how work is done. Our goal is to become operationally excellent, balancing desire for business autonomy with the need for overall efficiency and relying on process excellence as a critical enabler of both business and company performance. We arehave been implementing three specific near-term transformational priorities in our Execute to Win initiatives.

Capital allocation is the final elementan important part of our overall strategy. We viewOur capital allocation priorities (in order) as follows:have been:

During 2017,2019, we repaid debt, netreturned approximately $36 million to shareholders in the form of debt issuances, of approximately $583 milliondividends and repurchased approximately $924 million of our common stock.share repurchases.

AERIAL WORK PLATFORMS. Aerial work platform equipment safely positions workers and materials easily and quickly to elevated work areas, to enhance productivity.enhancing safety and productivity at height. These products have been developed as alternatives to scaffolding and ladders. We offer a variety of aerial lifts that are categorized into six product families: portable material lifts; portable aerial work platforms; trailer-mounted articulating booms; self-propelled articulating and self-propelled telescopic booms; and scissor lifts.

TELEHANDLERS. Telehandlers are used to move and place materials on residential and commercial construction sites and are used in the energy and infrastructure industries.

LIGHT TOWERS. Trailer-mounted light towers are used primarily to light work areas for construction, entertainment, emergency assistance and security during nighttime or low light applications.

ROUGH TERRAIN CRANES. Rough terrain cranes move materials and equipment on rugged or uneven terrain and are often located on a single construction or work site for long periods. Rough terrain cranes cannot be driven on highways (other than in Italy) and accordingly must be transported by truck to the work site.

TOWER CRANES. Tower cranes are often used in urban areas where space is constrained and in long-term or very highhigh-rise building sites. Tower cranes lift construction material and place the material at the point of use. We produce the following types of tower cranes:

You should carefully consider the following risks, together with the cautionary statement under the caption “Forward-Looking Information” above and the other information included in this report. The risks described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks that are currently unknown to us or that we currently consider immaterial may also impair our business or adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operation could be adversely affected.

Demand for our products tends to be cyclical and is affected by the general strength of the economies in which we sell our products, prevailing interest rates, residential and non-residential construction spending, capital expenditure allocations of our customers and other factors. While we are expectingWe currently expect market conditions to experience sales growthremain challenged in 2018, we cannot provide any assurance the global2020 and expect continued geopolitical and economic weakness of the recent past will not recur. Uncertainty related to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) from the European Union (“E.U.”) could also negatively impact the global economy, particularly many important European economies. Given the lack of comparable precedent, it is unclear what financial, trade and legal implications the withdrawal of the U.K. from the E.U. would have and how such withdrawal would affect us.uncertainty. If the global economy weakens or customers’ perceptions concerning the timing of the economic cycle change, it may cause customers to continue to foregoforgo or postpone new purchases in favor of reducing their existing fleets or refurbishing or repairing existing machinery.

Our sales depend in part upon our customers’ replacement or repair cycles, which are impacted in part by historical purchase levels. In addition, if our customers are not successful in generating sufficient revenue or are precluded from securing financing, they may not be able to pay, or may delay payment of, accounts receivable owed to us. If theglobal economic recovery progresses more slowlyconditions are weaker than our market expectations or the global economic weakness of the recent past were to recur, then there could be an adverse effect on our net sales, financial condition, profitability and/or cash flow andwhich could result in the need for us to record impairments.

Our level of debt and the financial and restrictive covenants contained in our credit agreement could have important consequences on our financial position and results of operations, including increasing our vulnerability to increases in interest rates because debt under our credit agreement bears interest at variable rates. In addition, our credit agreement indebtedness may use LIBOR as a benchmark for establishing our interest rate. As discussed above, LIBOR is the subject of recent national, international and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform which may cause LIBOR to perform differently than in the past or to be replaced entirely. Consequences of these developments cannot be entirely predicted, but could include an increase in the cost of our credit agreement indebtedness.

Servicing our debt requires a significant amount of cash. Our ability to generate sufficient cash depends on numerous factors beyond our control and our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operating activities. Our ability to make payments on, and refinance, our debt and fund planned capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. To some extent, this is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. Lower sales, or uncollectible receivables, generally will reduce our cash flow.

We cannot assure our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations, or future borrowings will be available to us under our credit facility or otherwise, in an amount sufficient to fund our liquidity needs.

If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to service our indebtedness, we may be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets, seek additional capital or restructure or refinance our indebtedness. These alternative measures may not be successful and may not permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. Our ability to restructure or refinance our debt will depend on the condition of the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. Any refinancing of our debt could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations.

Our access to capital markets to raise funds through the sale of equity or debt securities is subject to various factors, including general economic and/or financial market conditions. Significant changes in market liquidity conditions could impact access to funding and associated funding costs, which could reduce our earnings and cash flows. If our consolidated cash flow coverage ratio is less than 2.0 to 1.0, we are subject to significant restrictions on the amount of indebtedness we can incur. Although our cash flow coverage ratio was greater than 2.0 to 1.0 at the end of 2017,2019, there can be no assurance this will continue to occur.

Our access to debt financing at competitive risk-based interest rates is partly a function of our credit ratings. A downgrade to our credit ratings could increase our interest rates, could limit our access to public debt markets, could limit the institutions willing to provide us credit facilities, and could make any future credit facilities or credit facility amendments more costly and/or difficult to obtain.

Although we believe the banks participating in our credit facility have adequate capital and resources, we can provide no assurance that all of these banks will continue to operate as a going concern in the future. If any of the banks in our lending group were to fail or be unwilling to renew our credit facility at or prior to its expiration, it is possible that the borrowing capacity under our current or any future credit facility would be reduced. If the availability under our credit facility was reduced significantly, we could be required to obtain capital from alternate sources to finance our capital needs. Our options for addressing such capital constraints would include, but not be limited to (i) obtaining commitments from the remaining banks in the lending group or from new banks to fund increased amounts under the terms of our credit facility, or (ii) accessing the public capital markets. If it becomes necessary to access additional capital, it is possible that any such alternatives in the current market could be on terms less favorable than under our existing credit facility terms, which could have a negative impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Many of our customers depend substantially on government funding of highway construction, maintenance and other infrastructure projects. In addition, we sell products to governments and government agencies in the U.S. and other nations. Policies of governments attempting to address local deficit or structural economic issues could have a material impact on our customers and markets. Any decrease or delay in government funding of highway construction and maintenance, other infrastructure projects and overall government spending could cause our revenues and profits to decrease.

Our industry is highly competitive. To compete successfully, our products must excel in terms of quality, reliability, productivity, price, features, ease of use, safety and comfort, and we must provide excellent customer service. The greater financial resources of certain of our competitors may put us at a competitive disadvantage. Low-cost competition from China and other developing markets could also result in decreased demand for our products. If competition in our industry intensifies or if our current competitors lower their prices for competing products, we may lose sales or be required to lower the prices we charge for our products. If we are unable to provide continued technological improvements in our equipment that meet our customers’ expectations, or the industry’s expectations, the demand for our equipment could be substantially adversely affected. Our ability to match new product offerings to diverse global customers’ anticipated preferences for different types and sizes of equipment and various equipment features and functionality, at affordable prices, is critical to our success. This requires a thorough understanding of our existing and potential customers on a global basis, particularly in developing markets, including China, India, Brazil China and India.the Middle East. Failure to compete effectively with our competitors could result in lower revenues from our products and services, lower gross margins or cause us to lose market share.

We rely on the management and leadership skills of our senior management team, particularly those of the Chief Executive Officer. The loss of the services of key employees or senior officers, or the inability to identify, hire and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could adversely affect the quality and profitability of our business operations.

We rely on sales of our products to generate cash from operations. Significant portions of our sales are financed by third party finance companies on behalf of our customers. The availability of financing by third parties is affected by general economic conditions, credit worthiness of our customers and estimated residual value of our equipment. Deterioration in credit quality of our customers or estimated residual value of our equipment could negatively impact the ability of our customers to obtain resources they need to purchase our equipment. There can be no assurance third party finance companies will continue to extend credit to our customers.

Some of our customers have been unable to obtain the credit they need to buy our equipment. As a result, some of our customers may need to cancel existing orders. Given the lack of liquidity, our customersorders and some may be compelled to sell their equipment at less than fair value to raise cash, which could have a negative impact on residual values of our equipment. These economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on demand for our products and on our financial condition and operating results.

We assist customers in their rental, leasing and acquisition of our products through TFS. We provide financing for some of our customers, primarily in the U.S., to acquire and use our equipment through loans, sales-type leases, and operating leases. TFS enters into these financing agreements with the intent either to hold the financing until maturity or to sell the financing to a third party within a short time period. Until such financing obligations are satisfied through either customer payments or a third party sale, we retain the risks associated with such customer financing. Our results could be adversely affected if such customers default on their contractual obligations to us, if residual values of such equipment on these transactions decline below original estimated values or we are unable to sell the financing receivable to a third party.

As described above, our customers, from time to time, may fund acquisition of our equipment through third-party finance companies. In certain instances, we may provide credit guarantees or residual value guarantees. With these guarantees, we must assess the probability of losses or non-performance in ways similar to the evaluation of accounts receivable, including consideration of a customer’s payment history, leverage, availability of third party financing, political and currency exchange risks, and other factors. Many of these factors, including assessment of a customer’s ability to pay, are influenced by economic and market factors that cannot be predicted with certainty. We establish reserves based upon our analysis of the current quality and financial position of our customers, past payment experience and collateral values. In circumstances where we believe it is probable that a specific customer will have difficulty meeting its financial obligations, a specific reserve is recorded to recognize a liability for a guarantee we expect to pay, taking into account any amounts that we would anticipate realizing if we are forced to repossess the equipment that supports the customer’s financial obligations to us. During periods of economic weakness, collateral underlying our guarantees of indebtedness of customers or receivables can decline sharply, thereby increasing our exposure to losses. In the future, we may incur losses in excess of our recorded reserves if the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate further or the full amount of any anticipated proceeds from the sale of the collateral supporting our customers’ financial obligations is not realized. Historically, losses related to guarantees have been immaterial; however, there can be no assurance that our historical experience with respect to guarantees will be indicative of future results.

We obtain materials and manufactured components from third-party suppliers. In the absence of labor strikes or other unusual circumstances, substantially all materials and components are normally available from multiple suppliers. However, certain of our businesses receive materials and components from a single source supplier, although alternative suppliers of such materials are generally available. Delays in our suppliers’ abilities, especially any sole suppliers for a particular business, to provide us with necessary materials and components may delay production at a number of our manufacturing locations, or may require us to seek alternative supply sources. Delays in obtaining supplies may result from a number of factors affecting our suppliers, including capacity constraints, trade barriers, labor disputes, suppliers’ impaired financial condition, suppliers’ allocations to other purchasers, weather emergencies or acts of war or terrorism. Any delay in receiving supplies could impair our ability to deliver products to our customers and, accordingly, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Principal materials and components used in our various manufacturing processes include steel, castings, engines, tires, hydraulics, cylinders, drive trains, electric controls and motors, and a variety of other commodities and fabricated or manufactured items. Extreme movementsIncreases in the cost of these materials and components may affect our financial performance. If we are not able to recover increased raw material or component costs either from duty draw-back credits or our customers, our margins could be adversely affected.

In addition, we purchase material and services from our suppliers on terms extended based on our overall credit rating. Deterioration in our credit rating may impact suppliers’ willingness to extend terms and in turn increase the cash requirements of our business.

Our products are sold in over 100 countries around the world. The reporting currency for our consolidated financial statements is the U.S. dollar. Certain of our assets, liabilities, expenses, revenues and earnings are denominated in other countries’ currencies, including the Euro, British Pound and Australian dollar. Those assets, liabilities, expenses, revenues and earnings are translated into U.S. dollars at the applicable exchange rates to prepare our consolidated financial statements. Therefore, increases or decreases in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and those other currencies affect the value of those items as reflected in our consolidated financial statements, even if their value remains unchanged in their original currency. Due to the continued volatility of foreign currency exchange rates to the U.S. dollar, fluctuations in currency exchange rates may have an impact on the accuracy of our financial guidance. Such fluctuations in foreign currency rates relative to the U.S. dollar may cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our guidance and have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations. We also note that the upcoming withdrawal of the U.K. from the E.U.Brexit may negatively impact the value of the British Pound as compared to the U.S. dollar and other currencies as the U.K. negotiates and executes its exit from the E.U., which is scheduled to occur in 2019.currencies.

We may buy protecting or offsetting positions (known as “hedges”) in certain currencies to reduce the risk of an adverse currency exchange movement. We have not engaged in any speculative hedging activities. Although we partially hedge our revenues and costs, currency fluctuations may impact our financial performance in the future.

Our operations are subject to a number of potential risks. Such risks principally include:

In addition, many of the nations in which we operate have developing legal and economic systems adding greater uncertainty to our operations in those countries than would be expected in North America and Western Europe. These factors may have an adverse effect on our international operations in the future.

We must comply with all applicable laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and other laws that prohibit engaging in corruption for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. These anti-corruption laws prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments or providing anything of value to improperly influence government officials or private individuals for the purpose of obtaining or retaining a business advantage regardless of whether those practices are legal or culturally expected in a particular jurisdiction. Our global activities and distribution model are subject to risk of corruption by our employees and in addition, our sales agents, distributors, dealers and other third parties that transact Terex business particularly because these parties are generally not subject to our control. We have an internal policy that expressly prohibits engaging in any commercial bribery and public corruption, including facilitation payments. We conduct corruption risk assessments, we have implemented training programs for our employees with respect to the Company’s prohibition against public corruption and commercial bribery, and we perform reputational due diligence on certain third parties that transact Terex business. In addition, we conduct transaction testing to assess compliance with our internal anti-corruption policy and procedures. However, we cannot assure you that our policies, procedures and programs always will protect us from reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees or third parties that transact Terex business. We have a zero tolerance policy for violations of anti-corruption laws and our anti-corruption policy. In the event we believe or have reason to believe our employees, agents, representatives, dealers or distributors or other third parties that transact Terex business have or may have violated our anti-corruption policy or applicable anti-corruption laws, we investigate or have outside counsel investigate relevant facts and circumstances. Although we have a compliance program in place designed to reduce the likelihood of potential violations of such laws, violations of anti-corruption laws could result in significant fines, criminal sanctions against us or our employees, prohibitions on the conduct of our business including our business with the U.S. government, an adverse effect on our reputation, business and results of operations and financial condition and a violation of our injunction or cease and desist order with the SEC. See Risk Factor entitled, “We must comply with an injunction and related obligations imposed by the SEC.”

We continue to focus on operational improvement in developing markets such as China, India, Brazil and the Middle East. These efforts will require us to hire, train and retain qualified personnel in countries where language, cultural or regulatory barriers may exist. Any significant difficulties in continuing to improve or expand our operations in developing markets may divert management’s attention from our existing operations and require a greater level of resources than we plan to commit.

Expansion into developing markets may require modification of products to meet local requirements or preferences.  Modification to the design of our products to meet local requirements and preferences may take longer or be more costly than we anticipate and could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve international sales growth.

We produce most of our machines for each product type at one manufacturing facility. If operations at a significant facility were disrupted as a result of equipment failures, natural disasters, work stoppages, power outages or other reasons, our business, financial conditions and results of operations could be adversely affected. Interruptions in production could increase costs and delay delivery of units in production. Production capacity limits could cause us to reduce or delay sales efforts until production capacity is available.

We generate hazardous and nonhazardous wastes in the normal course of our manufacturing operations. As a result, we are subject to a wide range of environmental laws and regulations. These laws and regulations govern actions that may have adverse environmental effects and require compliance with certain practices when handling and disposing of hazardous and nonhazardous wastes. Some environmental laws impose strict, retroactive and joint and several liability for the remediation of the release of hazardous substances, which could subject us to liability without regard to whether we were negligent or at fault. Failure to comply with environmental laws could expose us to substantial fines or penalties and to civil and criminal liability. These liabilities, sanctions, damages and remediation efforts related to any non-compliance with such laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations. No such incidents have occurred which required us to pay material amounts to comply with such laws and regulations.

In addition, increasing laws and regulations dealing with environmental aspects of the products we manufacture can result in significant expenditures in designing and manufacturing new forms of equipment that satisfy such new laws and regulations. In particular, climate change is receiving increasing attention worldwide. Many scientists, legislators and others attribute climate change to increased levels of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, which has led to significant legislative and regulatory efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions. While additional regulation of emissions in the future appears likely, it is too early to predict how new regulations would ultimately affect our business, operations or financial results, although government policies limiting greenhouse gas emissions of our products will likely require increased compliance expenditures on our part.

We are nearing the end of our transition to Tier 4 power systems and are now planning for the implementation of European Stage V engine emissions. While plans are in place to continue to comply with the phase-in of European Stage V regulations, we are dependent on our engine suppliers to continue to timely deliver engines which meet applicable emissions regulations. A failure to timely receive appropriate engines from our suppliers could result in our being placed in uncompetitive positions or without finished product when needed. Compliance with environmental laws and regulations has required, and will continue to require, us to make expenditures, however we do not expect these expenditures to have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

In our lines of business, numerous suits have been filed alleging damages for accidents that have occurred during use or operation of our products. We are self-insured, up to certain limits, for these product liability exposures, as well as for certain exposures related to general, workers’ compensation and automobile liability. We obtain insurance coverage for catastrophic losses as well as those risks where insurance is required by law or contract. We do not believe that the outcome of such matters will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position; however, any significant liabilities not covered by insurance could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.

We and our directors, officers and employees are required to comply at all times with the terms of a 2009 settlement with the SEC that includes an injunction barring us from committing or aiding and abetting any future violations of the anti-fraud, books and records, reporting and internal control provisions of the federal securities laws and related SEC rules. In addition, regarding a separate and unrelated SEC matter, we consented to the entry of an administrative cease and desist order prohibiting future violations of certain provisions of the federal securities laws. As a result, if we commit or aid or abet any future violations of the anti-fraud, books and records, reporting and internal control provisions of the federal securities laws and related SEC rules, we are likely to suffer severe penalties, financial and otherwise, that could have a material negative impact on our business and results of operations.

We rely on information technology systems, some of which are managed by third parties, to process, transmit and store electronic information (including sensitive data such as confidential business information and personally identifiable data relating to employees, customers and other business partners), and to manage or support a variety of critical business processes and activities. As technology continues to evolve, we anticipate that we will collect and store even more data in the future and that our systems will increasingly use remote communication. TheseWe continuously seek to maintain a robust program of information security and controls, but these systems may be damaged, disrupted or shut down due to attacks by computer hackers, computer viruses, employee error or malfeasance, power outages, hardware failures, telecommunication or utility failures, catastrophes or other unforeseen events, and in any such circumstances our system redundancy and other disaster recovery planning may be ineffective or inadequate. A failure of or breach in information technology security, particularly through malicious cyber-attacks which are increasing in both frequency and sophistication by both state and non-state actors, could expose us and our customers, distributors and suppliers to risks of misuse of information or systems, the compromise of confidential information, manipulation and destruction of data, defective products, production downtimes and operations disruptions. In addition, such breaches in security could result in litigation,misstated financial information, regulatory action, fines and litigation, and other potential liability,liabilities, as well as the costs and operational consequences of implementing further data protection measures, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

We are in the process of implementinghave continued to implement our Focus, Simplify and Execute to Win initiatives as part of our strategy to deliver long-term growth and earnings to our shareholders. The Execute to Win component of this strategy has three priority areas: Lifecycle Solutions, Commercial Excellence and Strategic Sourcing. We are makingmade significant investments in each of these priority areas. However, we cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to realize the anticipated benefits of these initiatives. Although Execute to Win is expected to improve future operating margins and revenue growth, if the Company is unable to achieve expected benefits from one or more of these three initiatives or is unable to complete these initiatives without material disruption to our businesses, the timing and amount of benefits may not be as expected and could adversely impact the Company’s competitive position, financial condition, profitability and/or cash flows.