Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Geographic Areas of Operation

We provide Oilfield Chemicals services in most of the major unconventional shale plays in the continental U.S. In the chart below, a “✓” indicates that we offer the service line in the indicated geographic region.

​

Customers

Our Oilfield Chemicals customers primarily include pressure pumpers, along with major integrated and independent U.S. and international oil and gas producers.

Competition

The Oilfield Chemicals business is highly competitive. Our competitors include both large manufacturers and companies that are pure distributors of commodities and specialty chemicals. We believe that the principal competitive factors in the markets we serve are technical expertise, manufacturing capacity, workforce competency, efficiency, safety record, reputation, experience and price. Additionally, projects are often awarded on a bid basis, which tends to create a highly competitive environment. We seek to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by delivering high‑qualityhigh-quality services and solutions, coupled with superior execution and operating efficiency in a safe working environment.

Wellsite Services

Our Wellsite Services segment provides a number Additionally, many of services across the U.S. and Canada and is operated primarily under our subsidiaries Peak, Affirm and Rockwater LLC.

Service Lines

Our Wellsite Services segment is divided into the following service lines:

•Accommodations and Rentals.  Our accommodations and rentals service line, operating under our subsidiary, Peak, provides workforce accommodations and surface rental equipment supporting drilling, completion and production operations to support U.S. onshorecompetitors focus on serving multiple industries outside of oil and gas activity. The services provided include fully furnished office and living quarters, freshwater supply and wastewater removal, portable power generation and light plants, internet, phone, intercom, surveillance and monitoring services and other long‑term rentals supporting field personnel.

•Wellsite Completion and Construction Services.  Our wellsite completion and construction services service line, operating undertherefore, we believe our subsidiary, Affirm, supports our Water Solutions segment and providesdedicated focus on the oil and gas operatorsindustry and midstream companies within-basin manufacturing capabilities provides a variety of services, including crane and logistics services, wellsite and pipeline construction and field services. These services are performed to establish, maintain and improve production throughout the productive life of an oil or gas well, or to otherwise facilitate other services performed on a well.competitive advantage.

•Sand Hauling.  Our sand hauling service line, operating under our subsidiary, Rockwater LLC, provides proppant storage, transport, transloading, and sand and proppant supply and transportation logistics through our fleet of trucks and trailers.

Table of Contents

environmental protection. Numerous governmental entities, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”)EPA and analogous state agencies, have the power to enforce compliance with these laws and regulations and the permits issued under them, often requiring difficult and costly actions. These laws and regulations may, among other things (i) require the acquisition of permits to take freshwaterfresh water from surface water and groundwater, construct pipelines or containment facilities, drill wells and other regulated activities; (ii) restrict the types, quantities and concentration of various substances that can be released into the environment or injected into non‑producingnon-producing belowground formations; (iii) limit or prohibit our operations on certain lands lying within wilderness, wetlands and other protected areas; (iv) require remedial measures to mitigate pollution from former and ongoing operations; (v) impose specific safety and health criteria addressing worker protection; and (vi) impose substantial liabilities for pollution resulting from our operations. Any failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in the assessment of sanctions, including administrative, civil and criminal penalties, the imposition of investigatory, remedial or corrective action obligations or the incurrence of capital expenditures; the occurrence of restrictions, delays or cancellations in the permitting or performance of projects; and the issuance of orders enjoining performance of some or all of our operations in a particular area.

The trend in the United States and CanadianU.S. environmental regulation is typically to place more restrictions and limitations on activities that may affect the environment, and thus any new laws and regulations, amendment of existing laws and regulations, reinterpretation of legal requirements or increased governmental enforcement that result in more stringent and costly construction, completion or water managementwater-management activities, or waste handling, storage transport, disposal, or remediation requirements could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations. We may be unable to pass on such increased compliance costs to our customers. Moreover, accidental releases or spills may occur in the course of our operations, and we cannot assure you that we will not incur significant costs and liabilities as a result of such releases or spills, including any third‑partythird-party claims for damage to property, natural resources or persons. Historically, our environmental compliance costs in the United States and in Alberta and British ColumbiaU.S. have not had a material adverse effect on our results of operations; however, there can be no assurance that such costs will not be material in the future or that such future compliance will not have a material adverse effect on our business and operational results. Our customers may also incur increased costs or restrictions, delays or cancellations in permitting or operating activities as a result of more stringent environmental laws and regulations, which may result in a curtailment of exploration, development or production activities that would reduce the demand for our services.

United States Operations

The following is a summary of the more significant existing environmental and occupational safety and health laws in the U.S., as amended from time to time, to which our operations in the United States are subject and for which compliance may have a material adverse impact on our capital expenditures, results of operations or financial position.

Table of Contents

The federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), also known as the Superfund law, and comparable state laws impose liability, without regard to fault or legality of conduct, on classes of persons considered to be responsible for the release of a “hazardous substance” into the environment. These persons include the current and past owner or operator of the site where the hazardous substance release occurred and anyone who disposed or arranged for the disposal of a hazardous substance released at the site. Under CERCLA, such persons may be subject to joint and several, strict liability for the costs of cleaning up the hazardous substances that have been released into the environment, for damages to natural resources and for the costs of certain health studies. CERCLA also authorizes the EPA and, in some instances, third parties to act in response to threats to the public health or the environment and to seek to recover from the responsible classes of persons the costs they incur. In addition, neighboring landowners and other third parties may file claims for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by the hazardous substances released into the environment. We generate materials in the course of our operations that may be regulated as hazardous substances.

We currently own, lease, or operate numerous properties that have been used for activities supporting oil and gas exploration, development and production for a number of years. Although we believe that we have utilized operating and waste disposal practices that were standard in the industry at the time, hazardous substances, wastes, or petroleum hydrocarbons may have been released on, under or from the properties owned or leased by us, or on, under or from other locations, including off‑siteoff-site locations, where we conduct services for our customers or where such substances have been taken for treatment or disposal. In addition, some of our properties have been operated by third parties or by previous owners or operators whose treatment and disposal of hazardous substances, wastes, or petroleum hydrocarbons was not under our control. These properties and the substances disposed or released on, under or from them may be subject to CERCLA, RCRA and analogous state laws. Under such laws, we could be required to undertake response actions or corrective measures, which could include removal of previously disposed substances and wastes, cleanup of contaminated property or performance of remedial operations to prevent future contamination, the costs of which could be material.

Table of Contents

wetland areas in connection with any expansion activities. Federal and state regulatory agencies can impose administrative, civil and criminal penalties for non‑compliancenon-compliance with discharge permits or other requirements of the CWA and analogous state laws and regulations.

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”) amends the CWA and sets minimum standards for prevention, containment and cleanup of oil spills in waters of the United States.U.S. The OPA applies to vessels, offshore facilities, and onshore facilities, including E&P facilities that may affect waters of the United States.U.S. Under OPA, responsible parties including owners and operators of onshore facilities may be held strictly liable for oil cleanup costs and natural resource damages as well as a variety of public and private damages that may result from oil spills. In 2018, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management raised OPA’s damages liability cap to $137.7 million; however, a party cannot take advantage of liability limits if the spill was caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct, resulted from violation of a federal safety, construction or operating regulation, or if the party failed to report a spill or cooperate fully in the cleanup. The OPA also requires owners or operators of certain onshore facilities to prepare Facility Response Plans for responding to a worst‑caseworst-case discharge of oil into waters of the United States.U.S.

Saltwater disposal wells and induced seismicity. Saltwater disposal via underground injection is regulated pursuant to the Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) program established under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (the “SDWA”) and analogous state and local laws and regulations. The UIC program includes requirements for permitting, testing, monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting of injection well activities, as well as a prohibition against the migration of fluid containing any contaminant into underground sources of drinking water. State regulations require a permit from the applicable regulatory agencies to operate underground injection wells. Although we monitor the injection process of our wells, any leakage from the subsurface portions of the injection wells could cause degradation of fresh groundwater resources, potentially resulting in suspension of our UIC permit, issuance of fines and penalties from governmental agencies, incurrence of expenditures for remediation of the affected resource and imposition of liability by third‑partiesthird-parties claiming damages for alternative water supplies, property and personal injuries. A change in UIC disposal well regulations or the inability to obtain permits for new disposal wells in the future may affect our ability to dispose of produced waters and other substances, which could affect our business.

Furthermore, in response to recent seismic events in the past several years near underground disposal wells used for the disposal by injection of produced water resulting from oil and gas activities, federal and some state agencies are investigating whether such wells have caused increased seismic activity, and some states have restricted, suspended or shut down the

Table of which have Contents

asserted regulatory authority or pursued investigations over certain aspects of the hydraulic fracturing process. For example, the EPA has asserted regulatory authority pursuant to the SDWA Underground Injection ControlUIC program over hydraulic fracturing activities involving the use of diesel and issued guidance covering such activities, as well as published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”) reporting of the chemical substances and mixtures used in hydraulic fracturing.

Additionally, in 2016, the EPA published an effluent limit guideline final rule prohibiting the discharge of wastewater from onshore unconventional oil and gas extraction facilities to publicly owned wastewater treatment plants. Also, the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) published a final rule in 2015 that established new or more stringent standards relating to hydraulic fracturing on federal and American Indian lands, but the BLM rescinded the 2015 rule in late 2017; however, litigation challenging the BLM’s decision to rescind the 2015 rule is pending in federal district court. Also, in late 2016, the EPA released its final report on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, concluding that “water cycle” activities associated with hydraulic fracturing may impact drinking water resources under some circumstances.

Legislation has been introduced, from time to time, but not enacted, in the U.S. Congress to provide for federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing and to require disclosure of the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process.

However, concern over the threat of climate change has resulted in the making of pledges by certain candidates seeking the office of the President of the U.S. in 2020 to ban hydraulic fracturing of oil and natural gas wells. Moreover, some statesstate and local governments have adopted, and other governmental entities are considering adopting, regulations that could impose more stringent permitting, disclosure and well‑constructionwell-construction requirements on hydraulic fracturing operations, including states where we or our customers operate. For example, Texas, Oklahoma, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Dakota, among others, have adopted regulations that impose stringent permitting, disclosure, disposal and well‑constructionwell-construction requirements on hydraulic fracturing operations. Also, in April 2019, the Governor of Colorado signed Senate Bill 19-181 into law, which legislation, among other things, revises the mission of the state oil and gas agency from fostering energy development in the state to instead focusing on regulating the oil and natural gas industry in a manner that is protective of public health and safety and the environment, as well as authorizing cities and counties to regulate oil and natural gas operations within their jurisdiction as they do other developments. Among other things, the Colorado oil and gas agency will consider enhanced safety and environmental protections during well development operations, including drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities. States could also elect to prohibit high volumeplace certain prohibitions on hydraulic fracturing, altogether, following the approach taken by the StateStates of Maryland, New York.York and Vermont. In addition to state laws, local land use restrictions, such as city ordinances, may restrict drilling in general and/or hydraulic fracturing in particular, as certain local governments in California have done. Other states, such as Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio have taken steps to limit the authority of local governments to regulate oil and gas development.

Table of Contents

projects and increase our or our customers’ costs of development and production, which costs could reduce demand for our services and have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

Climate Change.  In response Climate change continues to findings thatattract considerable public, political and scientific attention. As a result, numerous regulatory initiatives have been enacted, and are likely to continue to be developed, at the international, national, regional and state levels of government to monitor and limit existing emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases (“GHGs”) present an endangermentas well as to public healthrestrict or eliminate such future emissions. These regulatory efforts have included consideration of cap-and-trade programs, carbon taxes, GHG reporting and the environment, the EPA has adoptedtracking programs, and regulations under existing provisions of the CAA that among other things, establish Prevention of Significant Deterioration (“PSD”) construction and Title V operating permit reviews for certain large stationary sources that emit certain principal, or “criteria,” pollutants. Facilities required to obtain PSD permits for their GHG emissions also will be required to meet “best available control technology” standards. In addition, the EPA has adopted rules requiring the monitoring and annual reporting ofdirectly limit GHG emissions from oilcertain sources. Additionally, the threat of climate change has resulted in increasing political, litigation and gasfinancial risks associated with the production processing, transmission and storage facilities inconsumption of fossil fuels and emission of GHGs. The adoption and implementation of any federal or state legislation, regulations or executive orders or the United States.

Congress has from timeoccurrence of any litigation or financial developments that impose more stringent requirements or bans on GHG-emitting production activities or locations where such production activities may occur, impose liabilities for past conduct relating to time considered legislation to reduce emissions of GHGs but there has not been significant activity in the form of adopted legislation to reduce GHG emissions at the federal level in recent years. In the absence of such federal climate legislation, a number of state and regional efforts have emerged that are aimed at tracking and/GHG-emitting production activities, or reducing GHG emissions through the completion of GHG emissions inventories and by means of cap and trade programs that typically require majorlimit or eliminate sources of GHG emissionsfinancing for ongoing production operations could require our E&P customers to acquireincur increased costs of compliance or costs of consuming, and surrender emission allowances in returnthereby reduce demand for, emitting those GHGs. The EPA has also developed strategies for the reduction of methane emissions, including emissions from the oil and gas industry. For example, in 2016, the EPA published New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) Subpart OOOOa requirements to reduce methane and volatile organic compound emissions from certain new, modified and reconstructed equipment and processes in the oil and gas source category, including production, processing, transmission and storage activities. These Subpart OOOOa standards expand previously issued NSPS published by the EPA in 2012, and known as Subpart OOOO, by using certain equipment‑specific emissions control practices. However, in 2017, the EPA published a proposed rule to stay certain portions of the 2016 standards for two years but the EPA has not yet published a final rule. Rather, in February 2018, the EPA finalized amendments to certain requirements of the 2016 final rule and, in September 2018, the agency proposed additional amendments that included rescission or revision of certain requirements such as fugitive emission monitoring frequency. Furthermore, in 2016, the BLM published a final rule to reduce methane emissions by regulating venting, flaring and leaking from oil and gas operations on public lands. Furthermore, in 2017, the BLM published a final rule that established, among other things, requirements to reduce methane emissions arising by regulating venting, flaring and leakage from oil and gas production activities on onshore federal and American Indian lands. However, in September 2018, the BLM published a final rule that rescinds most of the requirements in the 2016 final rule and codifies the BLM’s prior approach to venting

Table of Contents

or require us to modify our facilities or operations. Accordingly, environmental or regulatory matters may cause us to incur significant unanticipated losses, costs or liabilities, which could reduce our profitability.

Occupational Safety and Health and other legal requirements. We are subject to the requirements of the Federalfederal Occupational Safety and Health Act and comparable state statutes whose purpose is to protect the health and safety of workers. In addition, the OSHA’s hazard communication standard, the EPA’s Emergency Planning and Community Right‑to‑KnowRight-to-Know Act and comparable state regulations and any implementing regulations require that we organize and/or disclose information about hazardous materials used or produced in our United States operations and that this information be provided to employees, state and local governmental authorities and citizens. We have an internal program of inspection designed to monitor and enforce compliance with worker safety requirements.

In addition, as part of the services we provide, we operate as a motor carrier and therefore are subject to regulation by the U.S. Department of Transportation (“U.S. DOT”) and analogous state agencies. These regulatory authorities exercise broad powers, governing activities such as the authorization to engage in motor carrier operations, regulatory safety, and hazardous materials labeling, placarding and marking. There are additional regulations specifically relating to the trucking industry, including testing and specification of equipment and product handling requirements. The trucking industry is subject to possible regulatory and legislative changes that may affect the economics of the industry by requiring changes in operating practices or by changing the demand for common or contract carrier services or the cost of providing truckload services. From time to time, various legislative proposals are introduced, including proposals to increase federal, state or local taxes on motor fuels, among other things, which may increase our costs or adversely impact the recruitment of drivers. We cannot predict whether, or in what form, any increase in such taxes applicable to us will be enacted.

Western Canadian Operations

Environmental regulation in Canada, including the Western Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, is carried out at both the federal and provincial levels. Unless the exploration and production of hydrocarbon resources is occurring on federal lands, such as lands held by First Nations, national parks, national defense lands or offshore, the main oversight over the extraction of natural resources falls within provincial jurisdiction. However, the federal government has shared oversight over assessing whether substances are toxic to both humans and the environment and the control of the use of such substances pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. In addition, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, administered by Transport Canada, regulates road, rail, air and marine transportation of fracturing fluids, produced water, fracturing fluid waste and flowback. The following is a summary of the more significant environmental regulations in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, as amended from time to time, to which our operations in Canada are subject and for which compliance may have a material adverse impact on our capital expenditures, results of operations or financial position.

Hydraulic fracturing activities.  Operations related to water, stimulation, and fracturing fluids in support of oil and gas exploration, development and production are subject to provincial environmental regulations. Currently, our operations occur in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. In Alberta, the Alberta Energy Regulator (“AER”) has jurisdiction over the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, and associated regulations and

Table of Contents

We also own a number of trademarks, which we use in connection with our businesses. In addition to protections through federal registration, we also rely on state common law protections to protect our brand. There can be no assurance that the trademark registrations will provide meaningful protection against the use of similar trademarks by competitors, or that the value of our trademarks will not be diluted.

Because of the breadth and nature of our intellectual property rights and our business, we do not believe that any single intellectual property right (other than certain trademarks for which we intend to maintain the applicable registrations) is material to our business. Moreover, we do not believe that the termination of intellectual property rights expected to occur over the next several years, either individually or in the aggregate, will materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Table of Contents

Generally, our customers also agree to indemnify us against claims arising from the personal injury or death of the customers’ employees or those of the customers’ other contractors, in the case of our hydraulic fracturing operations, to the extent that such employees are injured by such operations, unless the loss is a result of our gross negligence or willful misconduct. Similarly, we generally agree to indemnify our customers for liabilities arising from personal injury to or death of any of our employees or employees of any of our subcontractors, unless resulting from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of our customer. The same principals apply to mutual indemnification for loss or destruction of customer‑ownedcustomer-owned property or equipment, except such indemnification is not limited in an instance of gross negligence or willful misconduct. Losses arising from catastrophic events, such as blowouts, are generally the responsibility of the customer. However, despite this general allocation of risk, we may be unsuccessful in enforcing contractual terms, incur an unforeseen liability that is not addressed by the scope of the contractual provisions or be required to enter into an MSA with terms that vary from our standard allocations of risk, as described above.

Table of Contents

reduced number of wells for us to service more than offsets increasing completion activity and intensity. Any of these conditions or events could adversely affect our operating results. If a recovery does not materialize and our customers fail to increase their capital spending, it could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition.

Industry conditions are influenced by numerous factors over which we have no control, including:

•domestic and foreign economic conditions and supply of and demand for oil and gas;

•the level of prices, and expectations regarding future prices, of oil and gas;

•the level of global oil and gas exploration and production;

Table of Contents

oil and natural gas decline, our operations, financial condition, cash flows and level of expenditures may be materially and adversely affected.

WeRecent volatility in oil and gas prices and pressure from investors have operated atled, and may continue to lead, our customers to implement a loss inmore disciplined capital spending strategy. This disciplined approach could reduce the past, and there is no assurance of our profitability in the future.

Historically, we have experienced periods of low demand for our services and have incurred operating losses. In the future, we may not be ablecause our customers to reducedemand lower rates for our costs, increaseservices, which could materially and adversely affect our revenues or reduce our debt service obligations sufficient to achieve or maintain profitability and generate positive operating income. Under such circumstances, we may incur further operating losses and experience negative operating cash flow.results of operation.

Table of Contents

sourcing permits or other rights. In addition, some state and local governmental authorities have begun to monitor or restrict the use of water subject to their jurisdiction for hydraulic fracturing to ensure adequate local water supply. For instance, some states require E&P companies to report certain information regarding the water they use for hydraulic fracturing and to monitor the quality of groundwater surrounding some wells stimulated by hydraulic fracturing. In British Columbia, regulations relating to the use of water under the Water Sustainability Act came into effect in February 2016. This Act requires authorizations to be obtained to use groundwater for anything other than domestic use. The estimated 20,000 existing non‑domestic groundwater users must be brought into the licensing scheme. In addition, anyone who diverts water must make beneficial use of that water, meaning they must use the water as efficiently as practicable, and for the purposes specified by the license or approval. In Alberta, AER monitors water withdrawals and

Table of Contents

conditions. Realization of many of the assumptions will be beyond our control. Moreover, the uncertainty and risk of inaccuracy associated with any financial projection will increase with the length of the forecasted period. Some acquisitions may not be accretive in the near term and will be accretive in the long term only if we are able to timely and effectively integrate the underlying assets and such assets perform at or near the levels anticipated in our acquisition projections.

The process of integrating an acquired business may involve unforeseen costs and delays or other operational, technical and financial difficulties and may require a significant amount of time and resources. Our failure to successfully incorporate the acquired business and assets into our existing operations successfully or to minimize any unforeseen operational difficulties could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition and consolidated results of operations. Furthermore, there is intense competition for acquisition opportunities in our industry. Competition for acquisitions may increase the cost of, or cause us to refrain from, completing acquisitions.

In addition, we may not have sufficient capital resources to complete any additional acquisitions. We may incur substantial indebtedness to finance future acquisitions and also may issue equity, debt or convertible securities in connection with such acquisitions. Debt service requirements could represent a significant burden on our results of operations and financial condition and the issuance of additional equity or convertible securities could be dilutive to our existing stockholders. Furthermore, we may not be able to obtain additional financing on satisfactory terms. Even if we have access to the necessary capital, we may be unable to continue to identify suitable acquisition opportunities, negotiate acceptable terms or successfully acquire identified targets.

Our Credit Agreement subjects us to various financial and other restrictive covenants. These restrictions may limit our operational or financial flexibility and could subject us to potential defaults under our Credit Agreement.

Our Credit Agreement subjects us to significant financial and other restrictive covenants, including restrictions on our ability to consolidate or merge with other companies, conduct asset sales, incur additional indebtedness, grant liens, issue guarantees, make investments, loans or advances, pay dividends and enter into certain transactions with affiliates.

Our Credit Agreement contains certain financial covenants, including the maintenance of a fixed charge coverage ratio of at least 1.0 to 1.0 at any time availability under the Credit Agreement is less than the greater of (i) 10% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then‑effectivethen-effective borrowing base and (ii) $15.0 million and continuing through and including the first day after such time that availability under the Credit Agreement has equaled or exceeded the greater of (i) 10% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then‑effectivethen-effective borrowing base and (ii) $15.0 million for 60 consecutive calendar days. Our ability to comply with such financial condition tests can be affected by events beyond our control and we may not be able to do so. OurThe scheduled maturity date for our Credit Agreement is November 1, 2022. In addition, the Credit Agreement restricts SES Holdings’ and Select LLC’s ability to make distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, its respective equity interests, except for certain distributions, including distributions of cash so long as, both at the time of the distribution and after giving effect to the distribution, no default exists under the Credit Agreement and either (a) excess availability at all times during the preceding 30 consecutive days, on a pro forma basis and after giving effect to such distribution, is not less than the greater of (1) 25% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then‑effectivethen-effective borrowing base and (2) $37.5 million or (b) if SES Holdings’ fixed charge coverage ratio is at least 1.0 to 1.0 on a pro forma basis, and excess availability at all times during the preceding 30 consecutive days, on a pro forma basis and after giving effect to such distribution, is not less than the greater of (1) 20% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then‑effectivethen-effective borrowing base and (2) $30.0 million. For additional information regarding our Credit Agreement, please read “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Credit Agreement.”

If we are unable to remain in compliance with the covenants of our Credit Agreement, then the lenders may declare all amounts outstanding under the Credit Agreement to be immediately due and payable. Any such acceleration could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We may incur additional indebtedness or issue additional equity securities to execute our long‑termlong-term growth strategy, which may reduce our profitability or result in significant dilution to our stockholders.

Constructing and maintaining water infrastructure used in the oil and gas industry requires significant capital. We may require additional capital in the future to develop and construct water sourcing, transfer and other related infrastructure to execute our growth strategy. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 2017 and 2016,2017, we spent $110.1 million, $165.4 million $98.7 million and $36.3$98.7 million, respectively, in capital expenditures (excluding expenditures connected with business combinations). Historically, we have financed these investments through cash flows from operations, our IPO,initial public offering (the “IPO”), external borrowings and capital contributions from the existing and former owners of outstanding membership interests in SES Holdings prior to the Select 144A Offering and the related reorganization (the “Legacy Owners”) and certain of the Legacy Owners who received shares of our Class A common stock in exchange for their common units in SES Holdings (each, an “SES Holdings LLC UnitsUnit”) received in connection with the corporate reorganization transactions related to the Select 144A Offering (the “Contributing Legacy Owners”). These sources of capital may not be available to us in the future. If we are unable to fund capital expenditures for any reason, we may not be able to capture available growth opportunities and any such failure could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. If we incur additional indebtedness or issue additional equity securities, our profitability may be reduced and our stockholders may experience significant dilution.

We have operated at a loss in the past, and there is no assurance of our profitability in the future.

Historically, we have experienced periods of low demand for our services and have incurred operating losses. In the future, we may not be able to reduce our costs, increase our revenues or reduce our debt service obligations sufficient to achieve or maintain profitability and generate positive operating income. Under such circumstances, we may incur further operating losses and experience negative operating cash flow.

Significant price volatility or interruptions in supply of our raw materials for our chemicals business may result in increased costs that we may be unable to pass on to our customers, which could reduce profitability.

We purchase a substantial portion of our raw materials for our chemicals business from third‑partythird-party suppliers and the cost of these raw materials represents a substantial portion of our operating expenses. The prices of the raw materials that we purchase from third parties are cyclical and volatile. Our supply agreements provide us only limited protection against price volatility as they are entered into either on a short‑termshort-term basis or are longer‑termlonger-term volume contracts, which provide for market‑basedmarket-based pricing renegotiated several times per year. While we attempt to match cost increases with corresponding product price increases, we are not always able to raise product prices immediately or at all. Timing differences between raw material prices, which may change daily, and contractcontractual product prices, which in many cases are negotiated only monthly or less often, have had and may continue to have a negative effect on our cash flow. Any cost increase that we are not able to pass on to our customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

There are several raw materials for which there are only a limited number of suppliers or a single supplier. To mitigate potential supply constraints, we enter into supply agreements with particular suppliers, evaluate alternative sources of supply and evaluate alternative technologies to avoid reliance on limited or sole‑sourcesole-source suppliers. Where supply relationships are concentrated, particular attention is paid by the parties to ensure strategic intentions are aligned to facilitate long‑termlong-term planning. If certain of our suppliers are unable to meet their obligations under present supply agreements, we may be forced to pay higher prices to obtain the necessary raw materials from other sources and we may not be able to increase prices for our finished products to recoup the higher raw materials costs. Any interruption in the supply of raw materials could increase our costs or decrease our revenue, which could reduce our cash flow. The inability of a supplier to meet our raw material needs could have a material adverse effect on our financial statementscondition and results of operations.

The number of sources for and availability of certain raw materials is also specific to the particular geographical region in which a facility is located. Political and economic instability in the countries from which we purchase our raw material supplies could adversely affect their availability. In addition, if raw materials become unavailable within a geographic area from which they are now sourced, then we may not be able to obtain suitable or cost-effective

Table of Contents

substitutes. We may also experience higher operating costs such as energy or transportation costs, which could affect our profitability. We may not always be able to increase our selling prices to offset the impact of any higher productionsproduction costs or reduced production levels, which could reduce our earnings and decrease our liquidity.

​

Changes in U.S. and international trade policies, particularly with regard to China, may adversely impact our business and operating results.

In 2018,Though a comprehensive trade agreement has recently been agreed to and signed, the U.S. government has previously imposed tariffs affecting certain goods produced in China. A portion of the chemicals we use originate in China and are sold to us by our supplier partners. As a result, tariffs incurred by our supplier partners could increase our costs and reduce profitability. Additionally, delays or interruptions in the supply of some chemicals for any reason could impact our ability to generate chemicals revenue. If we are forced to source chemicals currently originating in China from other countries, such compounds might be more expensive, inferior in quality, or take longer to source. If we incur higher costs that we cannot pass on to our customers or if we are unable to adequately replace the chemicals we currently source with chemicals produced elsewhere, our business could be adversely affected.

We may be subject to claims for personal injury and property damage, which could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations and cash available for distribution.operations.

We operate with most of our customers under MSAs. We endeavor to allocate potential liabilities and risks between the parties in the MSAs. Generally, under our MSAs, including those relating to our services, we assume responsibility for, including control and removal of, pollution or contamination which originates above the surface and originates from our equipment or services. Our customers generally assume responsibility for, including control and removal of, all other pollution or contamination which may occur during operations, including that which may result from seepage or any other uncontrolled flow of drilling fluids. We may have liability in such cases if we are negligent or commit willful acts. Generally, our customers also agree to indemnify us against claims arising from their employees’ personal injury or death to the extent that, in the case of our operations, their employees are injured or their properties are damaged by such operations unless resulting from our gross negligence or willful misconduct. Similarly, we generally agree to indemnify our customers for liabilities arising from personal injury to or death of any of our employees, unless resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct of the customer. In addition, our customers generally agree to indemnify us for loss or destruction of customer‑ownedcustomer-owned property or equipment and in turn, we agree to indemnify our customers for loss or destruction of property or equipment we own. Losses due to catastrophic events, such as blowouts, are generally the responsibility of the customer. However, despite this general allocation of risk, we might not succeed in enforcing such contractual allocation, might incur an unforeseen liability falling outside the scope of such allocation or may be required to enter into an MSA with terms that vary from the above allocations of risk. As a result, we may incur substantial losses which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations and cash available for distribution.operations.

Legislation or regulatory initiatives intended to address seismic activity associated with oilfield wastewater disposal wells could restrict our ability to dispose of produced water gathered from our E&P customers and, accordingly, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We dispose of wastewater gathered from oil and gas producing customers that result from their drilling and production operations pursuant to permits issued to us by government authorities overseeing such disposal activities. While these permits are issued pursuant to existing laws and regulations, these legal requirements are subject to change, which could result in the imposition of more stringent permitting or operating constraints or new monitoring and reporting requirements owing to, among other things, concerns of the public or governmental authorities regarding such disposal activities.

One such concern relates to recent seismic events in the United StatesU.S. near underground disposal wells used for the disposal by injection of produced water resulting from oil and gas activities. Developing research suggests that the link between seismic activity and wastewater disposal may vary by region and that only a very small fraction of the tens of thousands of injection wells have been suspected to be, or have been, the likely cause of induced seismicity. In 2016, the United StatesU.S. Geological Survey identified six states with the most significant hazards from induced seismicity, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arkansas. The United StatesU.S. Geological Survey also noted the potential for induced seismicity in Ohio and Alabama. In response to concerns regarding induced seismicity, regulators in some states have imposed, or are considering imposing, additional requirements in the permitting of produced water disposal wells or otherwise to assess any relationship between seismicity and the use of such wells. For example, Oklahoma has issued new rules for wastewater disposal wells that imposed certain permitting and operating restrictions and reporting

Table of Contents

requirements on disposal wells in proximity to faults and also, from time to time, has

Table of Contents

2015, the EPA and the Corps published a final rule attempting to clarify the federal jurisdictional reach over waters of the U.S. In 2017, the EPA and the Corps agreed to reconsider the 2015 rule and, on October 22, 2019, the agencies published a final rule made effective on December 23, 2019, rescinding the 2015 rule and recodifying the regulatory text that governed waters of the U.S. prior to promulgation of the 2015 rule until such time as a final rule re-defining the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction over waters of the U.S. was made effective in replacement of the 2015 rule. On January 23, 2019, the two agencies issued a final rule re-defining such jurisdiction. Upon being published in the Federal Register and the passage of 60 days thereafter, the January 23, 2020 final rule will become effective in replacement of the October 22, 2019 final rule over the entire U.S. but there remains the expectation that the January 23, 2020 final rule will be legally challenged in federal district court. The adoption of any new laws, or regulations, amendment of existing laws and regulations, re-interpretation of legal requirements or increased enforcement could restrict, delay or cancel exploratory or developmental drilling for oil and gas and could limit well servicing opportunities. We may not be able to recover some or any of our costs of compliance with these laws and regulations from insurance.

Table of Contents

Moreover, some states and local governments have adopted, and other governmental entities are considering adopting, regulations that could impose more stringent permitting, disclosure and well‑well construction requirements on hydraulic fracturing operations, including states where we or our customers operate. For example, Texas, Oklahoma, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Dakota, among others, have adopted regulations that impose new or more stringent permitting, disclosure, disposal and well construction requirements on hydraulic fracturing operations. Also, in April 2019, the Governor of Colorado signed Senate Bill 19-181 into law, which legislation, among other things, revises the mission of the state oil and gas agency from fostering energy development in the state to instead focusing on regulating the oil and natural gas industry in a manner that is protective of public health and safety and the environment, as well as authorizing cities and counties to regulate oil and natural gas operations within their jurisdiction as they do other developments. Among other things, the Colorado oil and gas agency will consider enhanced safety and environmental protections during well development operations, including drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities. States could also elect to prohibit high volumeplace certain prohibitions on hydraulic fracturing, altogether, following the approach taken by the StateStates of Maryland, New York.York and Vermont. Additionally, non-governmental organizations may seek to restrict hydraulic fracturing, as has been the case in Colorado in recent years, when certainyears. Notwithstanding the adoption of Colorado Senate Bill 19-181 in 2019, one or more interest groups therein have unsuccessfully pursued ballot initiatives in recent general election cycles that, had they been successful, would have revised the state constitution or state statutes in a manner that would have made exploration and production activities in the state more difficult or costlyhave already filed new ballot initiatives with the state in the future including, for example, by increasing mandatory setback distancesJanuary 2020, in hopes of extending drilling setbacks from oil and natural gas operations, including hydraulic fracturing, from specific occupied structures and/or certain environmentally sensitive or recreational areas.development. In the event that new federal, state or local restrictions on the hydraulic fracturing process are adopted in areas where we or our customers conduct business, we or our customers may incur additional costs or permitting requirements to comply with

Table of Contents

and state levels of government to monitor and limit emissions of GHGs as well as to eliminate such future emissions. As a result, our field services.operations as well as the operations of our customers are subject to a series of regulatory, political, litigation and financial risks associated with the production and processing of fossil fuels and emission of GHGs.

In the United States, in response to findingsU.S., no comprehensive climate change legislation has been implemented at the federal level. However, with the U.S. Supreme Court finding that GHG emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other GHGs present an endangerment to public health andconstitute a pollutant under the environment,CAA, the EPA has adopted regulations under existing provisions of the CAArules that, among other things, establish the PSD construction and Title V operating permit reviews for GHG emissions from certain large stationary sources, that emit certain principal, or “criteria,” pollutants. Facilities required to obtain PSD permits for their GHG emissions also will be required to meet “best available control technology” standards. In addition, the EPA has adopted rules requiringrequire the monitoring and annual reporting of GHG emissions from oilcertain petroleum and natural gas production, processing, transmission and storage facilities in the United States.

The U.S. Congress has from time to time considered legislation to reduce emissions of GHGs but there has not been significant activity in the form of adopted legislation to reduce GHG emissions at the federal level in recent years. In the absence of such federal climate legislation, a number of state and regional efforts have emerged that are aimed at tracking and/or reducing GHG emissions through the completion of GHG emissions inventories and by means of cap and trade programs that typically require majorsystem sources, of GHG emissions to acquire and surrender emission allowances in return for emitting those GHGs. The EPA has also developed strategies forimplement New Source Performance Standards directing the reduction of methane emissions, including emissions from the oil and gas industry. For example, in 2016, the EPA published NSPS, known as Subpart

Table of Contents

rising sea levels and other climatic events. If any such effectsclimate changes were to occur, they could have an adverse effect on our and our customers’ financial condition and results of operations.

The Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the United States and similar legislation applicable in Western Canada govern both our and our oil and gas producing customers’ operations and additional restrictions may be imposed in the future, which constraints could have an adverse impact on our ability to expand some of our existing operations or limit our customers’ ability to develop new oil and gas wells.

In the United States, theThe ESA restricts activities that may affect endangered or threatened species or their habitats. Similar protections are offered to migratory birds under the MBTA. To the degree that species listed under the ESA or similar state laws, or are protected under the MBTA, live in the areas where we or our oil and gas producing customers’ operate, both our and our customers’ abilities to conduct or expand operations and construct facilities could be limited or be forced to incur additional material costs. Moreover, our customers’ drilling activities may be delayed, restricted or precluded in protected habitat areas or during certain seasons, such as breeding and nesting seasons. Some of our operations and the operations of our customers are located in areas that are designated as habitats for protected species.

In addition, as a result of one or more settlements approved by the FWS the agency is required tomay make a determinationdeterminations on the listing of numerous otherunlisted species as endangered or threatened under the ESA by the end of the FWS’ 2017 fiscal year.ESA. The designation of previously unidentified endangered or threatened species could indirectly cause us to incur additional costs, cause our or our oil and gas producing customers’ operations to become subject to operating restrictions or bans and limit future development activity in affected areas. The FWS and similar state agencies may designate critical or suitable habitat areas that they believe are necessary for the survival of threatened or endangered species. Such a designation could materially restrict the use of or access to federal, state and private lands.

In Canada, the MBCA prohibits the release of substances that can harm migratory birds in waters used by them and gives the federal government the authority to develop regulations to protect migratory birds, and their habitats, including nests. Oil and gas development projects must comply with provisions of the MBCA, as well as the federal Species at Risk Act. Alberta and British Columbia each have a provincial Wildlife Act, which imposes restrictions to prevent wildlife species from disappearing that could impact oil and gas operations and reduce demand for our services.

Our chemical products are subject to stringent chemical control laws that could result in increased costs on our business.

We are subject to a wide array of laws and regulations governing chemicals, including the regulation of chemical substances and inventories, such as the TSCA in the United States and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in Canada.TSCA. These laws and regulations change frequently and have the potential to limit or ban altogether the types of chemicals we may use in our products, as well as result in increased costs related to testing, storing, and transporting our products prior to providing them to our customers. For example, in 2016, President Obama signed into law the Lautenberg Act, which substantially revised TSCA. Among other items, the Lautenberg Act eliminated the cost‑benefitcost-benefit approach to analyzing chemical safety concerns with a health‑basedhealth-based safety standard and requires all chemicals in commerce, including those “grandfathered” under TSCA, to undergo a safety review. The Lautenberg Act also requires safety findings before a new chemical can enter the market. Although it is not possible at this time to predict how EPA will implement and interpret the new provisions of the Lautenberg Act, or how legislation or new regulations that may be adopted pursuant to these regulatory and legislative efforts would impact our business, any new restrictions on the development of new products, increases in regulation, or disclosure of confidential, competitive information could have an adverse effect on our operations and our cost of doing business.

Table of Contents

could negatively impact our business, results of operations and/or financial condition. Long‑termLong-term production disruptions may cause our customers to seek alternative supply which could further adversely affect our profitability.

Unplanned production disruptions may occur for external reasons including natural disasters, weather, disease, strikes, transportation interruption, government regulation, political unrest or terrorism, or internal reasons, such as fire, unplanned maintenance or other manufacturing problems. Any such production disruption could have a material impact on our operations, operating results and financial condition.

In addition, we rely on a number of vendors, suppliers, and in some cases sole‑sourcesole-source suppliers, service providers, toll manufacturers and collaborations with other industry participants to provide us with chemicals, feedstocks and other raw materials, along with energy sources and, in certain cases, facilities that we need to operate our business. If the business of these third parties is disrupted, some of these companies could be forced to reduce their output, shut down their operations or file for bankruptcy protection. If this were to occur, it could adversely affect their ability to provide us with the raw materials, energy sources or facilities that we need, which could materially disrupt our operations, including the production of certain of our chemical products. Moreover, it could be difficult to find replacements for certain of our business partners without incurring significant delays or cost increases. All of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

While we maintain business recovery plans that are intended to allow us to recover from natural disasters or other events that could disrupt our business, we cannot provide assurances that our plans would fully protect us from the effects of all such disasters or from events that might increase in frequency or intensity due to climate change. In addition, insurance may not adequately compensate us for any losses incurred as a result of natural or other disasters. In areas prone to frequent natural or other disasters, insurance may become increasingly expensive or not available at all.

We operate in a highly competitive industry, which may intensify as our competitors expand their operations, that may causethereby causing us to lose market share, and which could negatively affect our ability to expand our operations.

The water solutions business is highly competitive and includes numerous small companies capable of competing effectively in our markets on a local basis. Some of our larger diversified competitors have a similarly broad geographic scope, as well as greater financial and other resources than we do,us, while others focus on specific basins only and may have locallocally competitive cost efficiencies as a result. Additionally, there may be new companies that enter the water solutions business, or our existing and potential customers may develop their own water solutions businesses. Our ability to maintain current revenue and cash flows, and our ability to expand our operations, could be adversely affected by the activities of our competitors and our customers. If our competitors substantially increase the resources they devote to the development and marketing of competitive services or substantially decrease the prices at which they offer their services; we may be unable to effectively compete. If our existing and potential customers develop their own water solutions businesses, we may not be able to effectively replace that revenue. All of these competitive pressures could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Table of Contents

Even when we are able to increase our prices, we may not be able to do so at a rate that is sufficient to offset such rising costs. In periods of high demand for oilfield services, a tighter labor market may result in higher labor costs. During such periods, our labor costs could increase at a greater rate than our ability to raise prices for our services. Also, we may not be able to successfully increase prices without adversely affecting our activity levels. The inability to maintain our pricing and to increase our pricing as costs increase could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

Our operations involve risks that may increase our operating costs, which could reduce our profitability.

Although we take precautions to enhance the safety of our operations and minimize the risk of disruptions, our operations are subject to hazards inherent in the manufacturing and marketing of chemical and other products. These hazards include chemical spills, pipeline leaks and ruptures, storage tank leaks, discharges or releases of toxic or hazardous substances or gases and other hazards incident to the manufacturing, processing, handling, transportation and storage of hazardous chemicals. We are also potentially subject to other hazards, including natural disasters and severe weather; explosions and fires; transportation problems, including interruptions, spills and leaks; mechanical failures; unscheduled downtimes; labor difficulties; remediation complications; and other risks. Many potential hazards can cause bodily injury and loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment and environmental damage, and may result in suspension of operations and the imposition of civil or criminal penalties and liabilities. Furthermore, we are subject to present and future claims with respect to workplace exposure, exposure of contractors on our premises as well as other persons located nearby, workers’ compensation and other matters.

We maintain property, business interruption, products liability and casualty insurance policies which we believe are in accordance with customary industry practices, as well as insurance policies covering other types of risks, including pollution legal liability insurance, but we are not fully insured against all potential hazards and risks incident to our business. Each of these insurance policies is subject to customary exclusions, deductibles and coverage limits, in accordance with industry standards and practices. As a result of market conditions, premiums and deductibles for certain insurance policies can increase substantially and, in some instances, certain insurance may become unavailable or available only for reduced amounts of coverage. If we were to incur a significant liability for which we were not fully insured, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

In addition, we are subject to various claims and litigation in the ordinary course of business. We are a party to various pending lawsuits and proceedings. For more information, see “Item 3. Legal Proceedings.”

Table of Contents

Delays or restrictions in obtaining permits by us for our operations or by our customers for their operations could impair our business.

In the United States,U.S., our operations and the operations of our oil and gas producing customers in most states require permits from one or more governmental agencies in order to perform drilling and completion activities, secure water rights, construct impoundments tanks and operate pipelines or trucking services. Such permits are typically issued by state agencies, but federal and local governmental permits may also be required. In addition, some of our customers’ drilling and completion activities in the United StatesU.S. may take place on federal land or Native American lands, requiring leases and other approvals from the federal government or Native American tribes to conduct such drilling and completion activities. Under certain circumstances, federal agencies may cancel proposed leases for federal lands and refuse to grant or delay required approvals. Therefore, our customers’ operations in certain areas of the United StatesU.S. may be interrupted or suspended for varying lengths of time, causing a loss of revenue to us and adversely affecting our results of operations in support of those customers.

Similarly,We are subject to cybersecurity risks. A cyber incident could occur and result in Canada, permits are generallyinformation theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.

The oil and gas industry has become increasingly dependent on digital technologies to conduct certain processing activities. For example, we depend on digital technologies to perform many of our services and to process and record financial and operating data. At the same time, cyber incidents, including deliberate attacks or unintentional events, have increased. The U.S. government has issued by provincial agencies. However, federal permits are required forpublic warnings that indicate that energy assets might be specific targets of cybersecurity threats. Our technologies, systems and networks, and those of our vendors, suppliers and other business partners, may become the target of cyber attacks or information security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss or destruction of proprietary and other information, or other disruption of business operations. In addition, certain activities,cyber incidents, such as where a project occurs on lands under federal jurisdiction. Where projects occur on unoccupied Crown lands, treaty lands or in proximitysurveillance, may remain undetected for an extended period. Our systems for protecting against cybersecurity risks may not be sufficient. As cyber incidents continue to Reserves, project proponents may face significant delays due to challenges from First Nations people because First Nations have constitutionally guaranteed rights to hunt, trap and fish. Project proponents must conduct adequate consultation with affected First Nations, and projects may encounter lengthy delays if court challenges are made in regards to inadequate consultation. The requirements for such permits vary depending on the location where such drilling and completion, and pipeline and gathering, activities will be conducted. Our customers’ operations in certain areas of Canadaevolve, we may be interruptedrequired to expend additional resources to continue to modify or suspendedenhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to cyber incidents. Our insurance coverage for varying lengthscyber attacks may not be sufficient to cover all the losses we may experience as a result of time, causing a loss of revenue to us and adversely affecting our results of operations in support of those customers. As with all governmental permitting processes, regardless of whether in the United States or Canada, there is a degree of uncertainty as to whether a permit will be granted, the time it will take for a permit to be issued, the conditions that may be imposed in connection with the granting of the permit and whether the permit may be terminated.such cyber attacks.

In the future, we may face increased obligations relating to the closing of our wastewater disposal facilities and may be required to provide an increased level of financial assurance to guarantee that the appropriate closure activities will occur for a wastewater disposal facility.

In the United States, as well as Alberta and British Columbia,U.S., obtaining a permit to own or operate wastewater disposal facilities generally requires us to establish performance bonds, letters of credit or other forms of financial assurance to address remediation and closure obligations. As we acquire additional wastewater disposal facilities or expand our existing wastewater disposal facilities, these obligations will increase. Additionally, in the future, regulatory

Table of Contents

If we are unable to fully protect our intellectual property rights, we may suffer a loss in our competitive advantage or market share.

We do not have patents or patent applications relating to many of our proprietary chemicals. If we are not able to maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets, or if our competitors are able to replicate our technology or services, our competitive advantage would be diminished. We also cannot assure you that any patents we may obtain in the future would provide us with any significant commercial benefit or would allow us to prevent our competitors from employing comparable technologies or processes.

Technology advancements in well service technologies, including those involving recycling of saltwater or the replacement of water in fracturing fluid, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The oilfield services industry is characterized by rapid and significant technological advancements and introductions of new products and services using new technologies. The saltwater disposal industry is subject to the introduction of new waste treatment and disposal techniques and services using new technologies including those involving recycling of saltwater, some of which may be subject to patent protection. As competitors and others use or develop new technologies or technologies comparable to ours in the future, we may lose market share or be placed at a competitive disadvantage. For example, some oil and gas producers are focusing on developing and utilizing non‑waternon-water fracturing techniques, including those utilizing propane, carbon dioxide or nitrogen instead of water. Further, we may face competitive pressure to implement or acquire certain new technologies at a substantial cost. Some of our competitors may have greater financial, technical and personnel resources than we do, which may allow them to gain technological advantages or implement new technologies before we can. Additionally, we may be unable to implement new technologies or products at all, on a timely basis or at an acceptable cost. New technology could also make it easier for our customers to vertically integrate their operations or reduce the amount of waste produced in oil and gas drilling and production activities, thereby reducing or eliminating the need for third‑partythird-party disposal. Limits on our ability to effectively use or implement new technologies may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be adversely affected by uncertainty in the global financial markets and a worldwide economic downturn.

Our future results may be impacted by uncertainty caused by a worldwide economic downturn, continued volatility or deterioration in the debt and equity capital markets, inflation, deflation or other adverse economic conditions that may negatively affect us or parties with whom we do business resulting in a reduction in our customers’ spending and their non‑paymentnon-payment or inability to perform obligations owed to us, such as the failure of customers to honor their commitments or the failure of major suppliers to complete orders. Additionally, credit market conditions may change, slowing our collection efforts as customers may experience increased difficulty in obtaining requisite financing, potentially leading to lost revenue and higher than normal accounts receivable. In the event of the financial distress or

•substantial repair or remediate costs;

•personal injury or lossTable of human life;Contents

•significant damage to or destruction of property, plant and equipment;

•environmental pollution, including groundwater contamination;

•impairment or suspension of operations; and

•substantial revenue loss.

The occurrence of a significant event or adverse claim in excess of the insurance coverage that we maintain or that is not covered by insurance could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, consolidated results of operations and consolidated financial condition. Any interruption in our services due to pipeline breakdowns or necessary maintenance or repairs could reduce sales revenues and earnings. In addition, claims for loss of oil and gas production and damage to formations can occur in the well services industry. Litigation arising from a catastrophic occurrence at a location where our equipment and services are being used may result in our being named as a defendant in lawsuits asserting large claims.

We do not have insurance against all foreseeable risks, either because insurance is not available or because of the high premium costs. The occurrence of an event not fully insured against or the failure of an insurer to meet its insurance obligations could result in substantial losses. In addition, we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance in the future at rates we consider reasonable. Insurance may not be available to cover any or all of the risks to which we are subject, or, even if available, it may be inadequate, or insurance premiums or other costs could rise significantly in the future so as to make such insurance prohibitively expensive.

The deterioration of the financial condition of our customers could adversely affect our business.

During times when the gas or crude oil markets weaken, our customers are more likely to experience financial difficulties, including being unable to access debt or equity financing, which could result in a reduction in our customers’ spending for our services. In addition, in the course of our business we hold accounts receivable from our customers. In the event of the financial distress or bankruptcy of a customer, we could lose all or a portion of such outstanding accounts receivable associated with that customer. Further, if a customer was to enter into bankruptcy, it

Table of Contents

We may be required to take a write‑downwrite-down of the carrying value of goodwill.

We conduct our annual goodwill impairment assessment during the fourth quarter of each year, or more frequently if an event or circumstance indicates that the carrying value of a reporting unit may exceed the fair value. When possible impairment is indicated, we value the implied goodwill to compare it with the carrying amount of goodwill. If the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds its implied fair value, an impairment charge is recorded. The fair value of goodwill is based on estimates and assumptions applied by us such as revenue growth rates, operating margins, weighted‑averageweighted-average costs of capital, market multiples, and future market conditions and as affected by numerous factors, including the general economic environment and levels of exploration and production activity of oil and gas companies, our financial performance and trends, and our strategies and business plans, among others. As a result of this annual impairment assessment, we may be required to write down the carrying value of goodwill. For the year ended December 31, 2018,2019, we recorded $12.7$4.4 million of goodwill impairment in our Oilfield Chemicals segment as well as $5.2 millionconnection with the Affirm reporting unit based on the then-expected proceeds from the sale of goodwill impairment on our Affirm subsidiary in our Wellsite Services segment.business.

Seasonal weather conditions and natural disasters could severely disrupt normal operations and harm our business.

Our water solutions operations are located primarily in the southern, mid‑westernmid-western and eastern United States. We also have fluids management operations in Western Canada.U.S. Certain of these areas are adversely affected by seasonal weather conditions, primarily in the winter and spring. During periods of heavy snow, ice or rain, we may be unable to move our equipment between locations, thereby reducing our ability to provide services and generate revenues. In particular, in Canada, wet weather and the spring thaw may make the ground unstable. Consequently, municipalities and provincial transportation departments enforce road bans that restrict the movement of rigs and other heavy equipment, thereby reducing activity levels. The timing and length of the road bans depend on weather conditions leading to the spring thaw and during the thawing period. Additionally, certain oil and gas producing areas are located in areas that are inaccessible other than during the winter months, because the ground surrounding the drilling sites in these areas consists of swampy terrain known as muskeg. Rigs and other necessary equipment cannot cross this terrain to reach the drilling site until the muskeg freezes. Additionally, extended drought conditions in our operating regions could impact our ability to source sufficient water for our customers or increase the cost for such water. As a result, a natural disaster or inclement weather conditions could severely disrupt the normal operation of our business and adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to cybersecurity risks. A cyber incident could occur and result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.

The oil and gas industry has become increasingly dependent on digital technologies to conduct certain processing activities. For example, we depend on digital technologies to perform many of our services and to process and record financial and operating data. At the same time, cyber incidents, including deliberate attacks or unintentional events, have increased. The U.S. government has issued public warnings that indicate that energy assets might be specific targets of cybersecurity threats. Our technologies, systems and networks, and those of our vendors, suppliers and

Table of Contents

The adoption of more stringent trucking legislation or regulations may increase our costs and could have an adverse effect on our liquidity, consolidated results of operations, and consolidated financial condition.

In connection with the services we provide in the United States and Canada,U.S., we operate as a motor carrier and therefore are subject to regulation by the U.S. DOT and analogous U.S. state agencies, and by Transport Canada and analogous provincial agencies. These regulatory authorities exercise broad powers, governing activities such as the authorization to engage in motor carrier operations and regulatory safety. There are additional regulations specifically relating to the trucking industry, including testing and specification of equipment and product handling requirements. The trucking industry is subject to possible legislative and regulatory changes that may affect the economics of the industry by requiring changes in operating practices or by changing the demand for common or contract carrier services or the cost of providing truckload services. Some of these possible changes include increasingly stringent environmental regulations and changes in the regulations that govern the amount of time a driver may drive in any specific period, onboard black box recorder devices or limits on vehicle weight and size.

In the United States,U.S., interstate motor carrier operations are subject to safety requirements developed and implemented by the U.S. DOT. Intrastate motor carrier operations often are subject to state safety regulations that mirror federal regulations. Such matters as weight and dimension of equipment are also subject to federal and state laws and regulations. In Canada, as the Canadian government continues to develop and propose regulations relating to fuel quality, engine efficiency and GHG emissions,Consequently, we may experience an increase in costs related to truck purchases and maintenance, impairment of equipment productivity, a decrease in the residual value of vehicles, unpredictable fluctuations in fuel prices and an increase in operating expenses. Increased truck traffic may contribute to deteriorating

Risks Related to our Class A Common Stock

We do not expect tocurrently pay any dividends to the holders of the Class A common stock in the near future and the availability and timing of future dividends, if any, is uncertain.

We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of our business, including the repayment of our debt, and do not expect to declare orcurrently pay any dividends on our Class A common stock, and consequently, in the near future. Our Credit Agreement places certain restrictions on the ability of us and our subsidiaries to pay dividends. Consequently,term, your only opportunity to achieve a return on your investment in us will be if you sell your Class A common stock at a price greater than you paid for it. There is no guarantee that the price of our Class A common stock that will prevail in the market will ever exceed the price that you pay. Additionally, our Credit Agreement places certain restrictions on our ability to pay dividends. We may amend our Credit Agreement or enter into new debt arrangements that also prohibit or restrict our ability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock.

Subject to such restrictions, our board of directors will determineperiodically review the amount and timing of stockholder dividends, if any, that we may pay in future periods. In making this determination, our directors will consider all relevant factors, including the amount of cash available for dividends, capital expenditures, covenants, prohibitions or limitations with respect to dividends, applicable law, general operational requirements and other variables. We cannot predict the amount or timing of any future dividends you may receive, and if we do commence the payment of dividends, we may be unable to pay, maintain or increase dividends over time. Therefore, you may not be able to realize any return on your investment in our Class A common stock for an extended period of time, if at all. Please read “Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities—Dividend Policy.”

If we fail to maintain and enhance an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, current and potential stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which would harm our business and the trading price of our Class A common stock.

Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, prevent fraud and operate successfully as a public company. We are subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes‑OxleySarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”) and therefore are required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting for that purpose. We cannot be certain that our efforts to maintain and enhance our internal controls will be successful, that we will be able to maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future or that we will be able to comply with our obligations under Sections 302 and 404 of Sarbanes‑Oxley.Sarbanes-Oxley. Any failure to maintain effective internal controls, or difficulties encountered in implementing or improving our internal controls, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and may identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, which may result in material misstatements of our financial statements or cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations.

In connection with a review of our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018, we identified material weaknesses in our internal control over the reporting related to the purchase price accounting for the Rockwater Merger and the reconciliation of our fixed assets physical counts with the general ledger. A material weakness is defined as a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of ourthe Company's annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

The material weaknesses Management identified relatecontrol deficiencies related to the purchase price accounting forrelated to the Rockwater Merger specifically to the identification and substantiation of fixed assets acquired therein and the reconciliation of our fixed assets physical counts with the general ledger. Weledger that constituted material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018. Specifically, the Company did not design and maintain adequateeffective controls with respect to the

Table of Contents

reporting as of December 31, 2018 based on criteria in "Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013)" issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

In earlyThe Company took actions in 2019 we began taking steps to implement controls to remediate the material weaknesses including the design and implementation of new controls related to the identification and substantiation of fixed assets purchased from third parties.

The material weaknesses described above or any newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to remediate the control deficiencies that led to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting described above orreporting. We implemented changes, including designing and implementing new controls, to avoid potential future material weaknesses.

Effective internal controls are necessary for usvalidate the completeness and accuracy of fixed assets related to provide reliable financial reportsmergers and prevent fraud. If we are unable to successfully remediate our existing or any future material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or identify any additionalacquisitions as well as reconciling fixed assets physical counts with the general ledger. Testing of these remedial actions was completed as of the end of the period covered by this report and management has concluded that these material weaknesses that may exist, the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting may be adversely affected, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, we may be unable to prevent fraud, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting, and our stock price may decline as a result.have been remediated.

Future sales of our equity securities, or the perception that such sales may occur, may depress our share price, and any additional capital raised through the sale of equity or convertible securities may dilute your ownership in us.

Subject to certain limitations and exceptions, SES Legacy Holdings, LLC (“Legacy Owner Holdco”) and its permitted transferees may exchange their SES Holdings LLC Units (together with a corresponding number of shares of Class B common stock) for shares of Class A common stock (on a one-for-one basis, subject to conversion rate adjustments for stock splits, stock dividends and reclassification and other similar transactions) and then sell those shares of Class A common stock. Additionally, we may in the future issue our previously authorized and unissued securities. We are authorized to issue 350 million shares of Class A common stock, 40 million shares of Class A-2 common stock, 150 million shares of Class B common stock and 50 million shares of preferred stock with such designations, preferences and rights as determined by our board of directors. The potential issuance of such additional shares of equity securities will result in the dilution of the ownership interests of the holders of our Class A common stock and may create downward pressure on the trading price, if any, of our Class A common stock.

In addition, Legacy Owner Holdco, Crestview Partners II SES Investment B, LLC, the SCF Group (as defined below) and WDC Aggregate LLC (collectively, the “Registration Rights Holders”), who collectively own in excess of 42.027.9 million shares of our common stock, are party to a registration rights agreement which provides, among other things, for parties to that agreement to initiate or participate in an underwritten public offering of all or a portion of their shares. Parties to such registration rights agreementThe Registration Rights Holders may exercise their rights under such agreement in their sole discretion, and sales pursuant to such rights may be material in amount and occur at any time.

The sales of substantial amounts of our Class A common stock following the effectiveness of registration statements for the benefit of such holders, or the perception that these sales may occur, could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline and impair our ability to raise capital. We also may grant additional registration rights in connection with any future issuance of our capital stock.

We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our Class A common stock or securities convertible into Class A common stock or the effect, if any, that future issuances and sales of shares of our Class A common stock will have on

Table of Contents

Provisions contained in our ThirdFourth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and our Second Amended and Restated Bylaws, which we refer to herein as our “amended and restated certificate of incorporation” and “amended and restated bylaws,” respectively, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us. Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws impose various procedural and other requirements, which could make it more difficult for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions. For example, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes our board of directors to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of unissued series of preferred stock without any vote or action by our stockholders. Thus, our board of directors can authorize and issue shares of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting or other rights of holders of our capital stock. These rights may have the effect of delaying or deterring a change of control of our company. Additionally, our amended and restated bylaws establish limitations on the removal of directors and on the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings and include advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors and for proposing matters that can be acted upon at stockholder meetings. These provisions could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock.

In addition, certain change of control events have the effect of accelerating the payment due under our Tax Receivable Agreements (as defined herein), which could be substantial and accordingly serve as a disincentive to a potential acquirer of our company.See “—Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure—In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits, if any, we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements.”

Legacy Owner Holdco controls a significant percentage of our voting power.

Legacy Owner Holdco beneficially owns 100% of our Class B common stock which represents approximately 24.8%15.7% of our outstanding voting capital stock. In addition, certain of our directors are currently employed by Crestview Advisors, L.L.C. (“Crestview Partners”), our private equity sponsor and, through Crestview Partners II GP, L.P. (“Crestview GP”), the manager of funds that hold the largest equity interest in Legacy Owner Holdco. Other funds controlled by Crestview GP also have an interest in our currently outstanding shares of our Class A common stock, representing an additional 3.6%3.7% of our outstanding voting capital. Collectively, these holders control approximately 28.4%19.4% of our voting shares. Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock generally will vote together as a single class on all matters presented to our stockholders for their vote or approval. Consequently, Legacy Owner Holdco will be able to significantly influence all matters that require approval by our stockholders, including the election and removal of directors, changes to our organizational documents and approval of acquisition offers and other significant corporate transactions, regardless of whether other stockholders believe that a transaction is in their own best interests. This concentration of ownership will limit your ability to influence corporate matters, and as a result, actions may be taken that you may not view as beneficial.

Table of Contents

of incorporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that no such person or party shall be liable to us by reason of the fact that such person pursues any such business opportunity, or fails to offer any such business opportunity to us.

As a result, any member of the SES Group, SCF Group or the Portfolio Companies or any director or officer of the corporation who is also an employee, partner, member, manager, officer or director of any member of the SES Group, SCF Group or the Portfolio Companies may become aware, from time to time, of certain business opportunities, such as acquisition opportunities, and may direct such opportunities to other businesses in which they have invested, in which case we may not become aware of or otherwise have the ability to pursue such opportunity. Further, such businesses may choose to compete with us for these opportunities. As a result, by renouncing our interest and expectancy in any business opportunity that may be from time to time presented to any member of the SES Group, SCF Group or the Portfolio Companies or any director or officer of the corporation who is also an employee, partner, member, manager, officer or director of any member of the SES Group, SCF Group or the Portfolio Companies, our business or prospects could be adversely affected if attractive business opportunities are procured by such parties for their own benefit rather than for ours. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”

A significant reduction by Crestview GP or the SCF Group of either of their respective ownership interests in us could adversely affect us.

We believe that Crestview GP’s and the SCF Group’s beneficial ownership interests in us provides each with an economic incentive to assist us to be successful. Neither Crestview GP nor the SCF Group is subject to any obligation to maintain its ownership interest in us and either may elect at any time to sell all or a substantial portion of or otherwise reduce its ownership interest in us. If either Crestview GP or the SCF Group sells all or a substantial portion of its ownership interest in us, it may have less incentive to assist in our success and its affiliate(s) that are expected to serve as members of our board of directors may resign. Such actions could adversely affect our ability to successfully implement our business strategies which could adversely affect our cash flows or results of operations.

We may issue preferred stock whose terms could adversely affect the voting power or value of our Class A common stock.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue, without the approval of our stockholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having such designations, preferences, limitations and relative rights, including preferences over our Class A common stock respecting dividends and distributions, as our board of directors may determine. The terms of one or more classes or series of preferred stock could adversely impact the voting power or value of our Class A common stock. For example, we might grant holders of preferred stock the right to elect some number of our directors in all events or on the happening of specified events or the right to veto

Table of Contents

The exclusive forum provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. To the extent that any such claims may be based upon federal law claims, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation or similar governing documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable, including with respect to claims arising under the U.S. federal securities laws.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of, and consented to, the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation described in the preceding sentence. 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 our directors, officers, employees or agents, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and such persons. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure

We are a holding company. Our sole material asset is our equity interest in SES Holdings, and accordingly, we are dependent upon distributions and payments from SES Holdings to pay taxes, make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements and cover our corporate and other overhead expenses.

We are a holding company and have no material assets other than our equity interest in SES Holdings. We have no independent means of generating revenue. To the extent SES Holdings has available cash, we intend to cause SES Holdings to make (i) generally pro rata distributions to its unitholders, including us, in an amount at least sufficient to allow us to pay our taxes and to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements that we entered into in connection with our restructuring at the Select 144A Offering and any subsequent tax receivable agreements that we may enter into in connection with future acquisitions and (ii) non‑pronon-pro rata payments to us to reimburse us for our corporate and other overhead expenses. We will be limited, however, in our ability to cause SES Holdings and its subsidiaries to make these and other distributions or payments to us due to certain limitations, including the restrictions under our Credit Agreement and the cash requirements and financial condition of SES Holdings. To the extent that we need funds and SES Holdings or its subsidiaries are restricted from making such distributions or payments under applicable law or regulations or under the terms of their financing arrangements or are otherwise unable to provide such funds, our liquidity and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We will be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements for certain tax benefits we may claim, and the amounts of such payments could be significant.

In connection with our restructuring at the Select 144A Offering, we entered into two tax receivable agreements (the “Tax Receivable Agreements”) with certain affiliates of the then-holders of SES Holdings LLC Units (each such person and any permitted transferee thereof, a “TRA Holder,” and together, the “TRA Holders”) which generally provide for the payment by us to the TRA Holders of 85% of the net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income and franchise tax that we actually realize (computed using simplifying assumptions to address the impact of state and local taxes) or are deemed to realize in certain circumstances as a result of certain tax basis increases, net operating

Table of Contents

The term of each Tax Receivable Agreement commenced upon the completion of the Select 144A Offering and will continue until all tax benefits that are subject to such Tax Receivable Agreement have been utilized or expired, unless we exercise our right to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreements (or the Tax Receivable Agreements are terminated due to other circumstances, including our breach of a material obligation thereunder or certain mergers or other changes of control) and we make the termination payment specified in the Tax Receivable Agreements. In addition, payments we make under the Tax Receivable Agreements will be increased by any interest accrued from the due date (without extensions) of the corresponding tax return. In the event that the Tax Receivable Agreements are not terminated and we have sufficient taxable income to utilize all of the tax benefits subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements, the payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement entered into with Legacy Owner Holdco and Crestview GP are expected to commence in late 2018at a yet to be determined future date, and to continue for 20 years after the date of the last exchange of SES Holdings LLC Units, and the payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement entered into with an affiliate of the Contributing Legacy Owners are expected to commence in late 2019at a yet to be determined future date, and to continue for 25 taxable years following the Select 144A Offering.

The payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreements are our obligations and not obligations of SES Holdings, and we expect that the payments we will be required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreements will be substantial. Estimating the amount and timing of payments that may become due under the Tax Receivable Agreements is by its nature imprecise. For purposes of the Tax Receivable Agreements, cash savings in tax generally will be calculated by comparing our actual tax liability (using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income and franchise tax rate) to the amount we would have been required to pay had we not been able to utilize any of the tax benefits subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements. The amounts payable, as well as the timing of any payments, under the Tax Receivable Agreements are dependent upon future events and significant assumptions, including the timing of the exchanges of SES Holdings LLC Units, the market price of our Class A common stock at the time of each exchange (since such market price will determine the amount of tax basis increases resulting from the exchange), the extent to which such exchanges are taxable transactions, the amount of the exchanging unitholder’s tax basis in its SES Holdings LLC Units at the time of the relevant exchange, the depreciation and amortization periods that apply to the increase in tax basis, the amount of net operating losses available to us as a result of reorganization transactions entered into in connection with the Select 144A Offering, the amount and timing of taxable income we generate in the future, the U.S. federal income tax rate then applicable, and the portion of our payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements that constitute imputed interest or give rise to depreciable or amortizable tax basis.

Certain of the TRA Holders’ rights under the Tax Receivable Agreements are transferable in connection with a permitted transfer of SES Holdings LLC Units or if the TRA Holder no longer holds SES Holdings LLC Units. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements are not conditioned upon the continued ownership interest in either SES Holdings or us of any holder of rights under the Tax Receivable Agreements. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”

In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits, if any, we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements.

If we elect to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreements early or they are terminated early due to our failure to honor a material obligation thereunder or due to certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreements would accelerate and we would be required to make an immediate payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future payments to be made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreements (determined by applying a discount rate of the lesser of 6.50% per annum, compounded annually, or one‑yearone-year London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus 100 basis points); and such payment is expected to be substantial. The calculation of anticipated future payments will be based upon certain assumptions and deemed events set forth in the Tax Receivable Agreements, including (i) the assumption that we have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the tax benefits covered by the Tax Receivable Agreements, (ii) the assumption that any SES

Table of Contents

As a result of either an early termination or a “change of control” (as defined in the Tax Receivable Agreements, as amended), we could be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements that exceed our actual cash tax savings under the Tax Receivable Agreements. In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreements could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales or other forms of business combinations or changes of control. For example, if the Tax Receivable Agreements were terminated on December 31, 2018,2019, the estimated termination payments would have been approximately $50.9$58.1 million (calculated using a discount rate equal to the lesser of 6.50% per annum, compounded annually, or one-year LIBOR plus 100 basis points, applied against an undiscounted liability of $71.9$78.4 million, based upon the last reported closing sale price of our Class A common stock on December 31, 2018)2019) in the aggregate. The foregoing number is merely an estimate and the actual payment could differ materially. There can be no assurance that we will be able to finance our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreements.

Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements will be based on the tax reporting positions that we will determine. The TRA Holders will not reimburse us for any payments previously made under the Tax Receivable Agreements if any tax benefits that have given rise to payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements are subsequently disallowed, except that excess payments made to the TRA Holders will be netted against payments that would otherwise be made to the TRA Holders, if any, after our determination of such excess. As a result, in such circumstances, we could make payments that are greater than our actual cash tax savings, if any, and may not be able to recoup those payments, which could adversely affect our liquidity. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”

If SES Holdings were to become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we and SES Holdings might be subject to potentially significant tax inefficiencies, and we would not be able to recover payments previously made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreements even if the corresponding tax benefits were subsequently determined to have been unavailable due to such status.

We intend to operate such that SES Holdings does not become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A “publicly traded partnership” is a partnership, the interests of which are traded on an established securities market or are readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof. Under certain circumstances, exchanges of SES Holdings LLC Units for shares of our Class A common stock or cash pursuant to the Eighth Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of SES Holdings (the “SES Holdings LLC Agreement”) or other transfers of SES Holdings LLC Units could cause SES Holdings to be treated as a publicly traded partnership. Applicable U.S. Treasury regulations provide for certain safe harbors from treatment as a publicly traded partnership, and we intend to operate such that exchanges or other transfers of SES Holdings LLC Units qualify for one or more such safe harbors. For example, we intend to limit the number of unitholders of SES Holdings and Legacy Owner Holdco, and the SES Holdings LLC Agreement provides for limitations on the ability of unitholders of SES Holdings to transfer their SES Holdings LLC Units and will provide us, as managing member of SES Holdings, with the right to impose restrictions (in addition to those already in place) on the ability of unitholders of SES Holdings to exchange their SES Holdings LLC Units pursuant to the SES Holdings LLC Agreement to the extent we believe it is necessary to ensure that SES Holdings will continue to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If SES Holdings were to become a publicly traded partnership, significant tax inefficiencies might result for us and for SES Holdings. In addition, we may not be able to realize tax benefits covered under the Tax Receivable Agreements, and we would not be able to recover any payments previously made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreements, even if

Table of Contents

in control, may affect the timing and amount of payments that are received by the TRA Holders under the Tax Receivable Agreements. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”

Our ability to use Rockwater’s net operating loss carryforwards may be limited.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, Rockwater had approximately $105.1 million of U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards (“NOLs”), which will begin to expire in 2035, approximately $62.6 million of state NOLs which will begin to expire in 2023, and approximately $10.8$5.5 million of foreign NOLs, which will begin to expire in 2037. Utilization of these NOLs depends on many factors, including our future income, which cannot be assured. In addition, Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), generally imposes an annual limitation on the amount of NOLs that may be used to offset taxable income when a corporation has undergone an “ownership change” (as determined under Section 382 of the Code). An ownership change generally occurs if one or more stockholders (or groups of stockholders) who are each deemed to own at least 5% of the relevant corporation’s stock change their ownership by more than 50 percentage points over their lowest ownership percentage within a rolling three‑yearthree-year period. In the event that an ownership change has occurred, or were to occur, utilization of the NOLs would be subject to an annual limitation under Section 382 of the Code, determined by multiplying the value of the relevant corporation’s stock at the time of the ownership change by the applicable long‑term tax‑exemptlong-term tax-exempt rate as defined in Section 382 of the Code, and potentially increased for certain gains recognized within five years after the ownership change if we have a net built‑inbuilt-in gain in our assets at the time of the ownership change. Any unused annual limitation may be carried over to later years until they expire. Rockwater experienced an ownership change in connection with the Rockwater Merger. As a result, some or all of our U.S. federal, state or foreign NOLs could expire before they can be used. In addition, future ownership changes or changes to the U.S. tax laws could limit our ability to utilize our NOLs. To the extent we are not able to offset our future income with our NOLs, this would adversely affect our operating results and cash flows if we attain profitability.

Final regulations relating to and interpretations of provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may vary from our current interpretation of such legislation.

The U.S. federal income tax legislation enacted in Public Law No. 115-97, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, is highly complex and subject to interpretation. The presentation of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon our current interpretation of the provisions contained in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In the future, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service are expected to issue final regulations and additional interpretive guidance with respect to the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Any significant variance of our current interpretation of such provisions from any future final regulations or interpretive guidance could result in a change to the presentation of our financial condition and results of operations and could negatively affect our business.

ITEM 1B.           UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

Table of Contents

The following tables showtable shows our active ownedleased and leasedowned properties categorized by geographic region and segment as of December 31, 2018:2019:

​

​

​

​

ITEM 3.              LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are not currently a party to any legal proceedings that, if determined adversely against us, individually or in the aggregate, would have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. We are, however, named defendants in certain lawsuits, investigations and claims arising in the ordinary course of conducting our business, including certain environmental claims and employee‑relatedemployee-related matters, and we expect that we will be named defendants in similar lawsuits, investigations and claims in the future. While the outcome of these lawsuits, investigations and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not expect these matters to have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition. We have not assumed any liabilities arising out of these existing lawsuits, investigations and claims.

In December 2016, Rockwater was notified by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania that it is being investigated for altering emissions control systems on several of its vehicles. We are cooperating with the investigation and have determined that mechanics servicing our vehicle fleet may have installed software on certain vehicles and modified a few other vehicles to deactivate or bypass the factory‑installedfactory-installed emissions control systems. At present, it appears that 31 vehicles in Pennsylvania were modified in this manner, apparently to improve vehicle performance and reliability. As a result of a company‑widecompany-wide investigation undertaken voluntarily and in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice, we have determined that approximately 30 additional company

Table of Contents

Dividend Policy

We have not previously paid dividends to holders of our Class A common stock. We do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends to holders of our Class A common stock in the near future. We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of our business and repay borrowings.any debt we may incur. While we have no current intention of declaring or paying any cash dividends to holders of our Class A common stock in the near future, our dividend policy is periodically reviewed. Our future dividend policy is within the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon then-existing conditions, including our results of operations and financial condition, capital requirements, business prospects, statutory and contractual restrictions on our ability to pay dividends, including restrictions contained in our Credit Agreement and other factors our board of directors may deem relevant.

​

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

On October 31, 2017,The following the distribution by Legacy Owner Holdco of SES Holdings LLC Units and shares of our Class B common stock in redemption of certain of its members (the “SES Redeemed Legacy Holders”), we exercised our right to require an exchange by such SES Redeemed Legacy Holders, pursuant to which SES Holdings distributed 2,487,029 shares oftable provides information about our Class A common stock to such SES Redeemed Legacy Holders in exchange for 2,487,029 SES Holdings LLC Units. This issuancethat may be issued under our equity compensation plans as of Class A common stock did not involve any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions or a public offering. We believe this issuance was exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(a)(2)February 21, 2020.

​

​

Table of the Securities Act. In connection with the exchange, 2,487,029 shares of Class B common stock were cancelled.Contents

On November 1, 2017, in connection with the closing of the Rockwater Merger and pursuant to the Merger Agreement, we issued 26,246,115 shares of Class A common stock, 6,731,845 shares of Class A‑2 common stock and 4,356,477 shares of Class B common stock (along with a corresponding number of SES Holdings LLC Units) to the former stockholders of Rockwater. At the same time, we issued approximately 37,334,437 SES Holdings LLC Units to the former holders of Rockwater LLC Units. These issuances of our common stock did not involve any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions or a public offering. We believe these issuances were exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and Rule 506 of Regulation D promulgated thereunder based on representations to us from each former Rockwater stockholder to support such exemption, including with respect to each former Rockwater stockholder’s status as an “accredited investor” (as that term is defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D promulgated under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act). The shares of Class A‑2 common stock will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock on a one‑for‑one basis upon the effectiveness of a shelf registration statement registering such shares for resale. The shares of SES Holdings LLC Units (along with the corresponding number of Class B common stock) are convertible into shares of Class A common stock upon the satisfaction of certain conditions.

On January 24, 2018, the Company, pursuant to the Rockwater Registration Rights Agreement, filed with the SEC a shelf registration statement registering for resale of 6,653,777 shares of Class A common stock into which the outstanding shares of Class A-2 common stock registered under such registration statement were convertible. Pursuant to the Company’s Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, upon the effectiveness of this registration statement on March 29, 2018, each outstanding share of Class A-2 common stock converted automatically into a share of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis. No shares of Class A-2 common stock are currently outstanding. Additionally, during 2018, there were exchanges of 14,305,146 SES Holdings LLC Units (an equivalent number of shares of Class B common stock) into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock.