UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

X       ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year endedDecember 31, 2017

or

TRANSITION REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

2018

☐       TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from _________________________ to ________________

__________

Commission file number:001-37872

M I ACQUISITIONS, INC.


Priority Technology Holdings, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware 47-4257046
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
 
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
incorporation or organization)
   
c/o Magna Management LLC
2001 Westside Parkway, Suite 155
Alpharetta, Georgia
 
40 Wall Street, 58th Floor
New York, NY1000530004
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s


Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (347) 491-4240

(800) 935-5961


Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class Name of each exchange on which registered
Common stock, $0.001 par valueNasdaq Global Market
WarrantsNasdaq Global Market
Units, each consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant Nasdaq CapitalGlobal Market
Common Stock, $0.001 par value, and
one Warrant
Common StockNasdaq Capital Market
WarrantsNasdaq Capital Market


Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

None


Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No

(X)


Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No

(X)


Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and  (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.   Yes  (X)     No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§229.405232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).   Yes  (X)     No  ☐


Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’sregistrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrantregistrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company.  See the definitions of “large"large accelerated filer,” “accelerated" ''accelerated filer,” “smaller" "smaller reporting company”company" and “emerging"emerging growth company”company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filerAccelerated filer
Non-accelerated filer  XSmaller reporting companyX
(Do not check if smaller reporting company)Emerging growth company Emerging Growth CompanyX

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes      No  

At(X)

As of June 30, 2017,29, 2018, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant’sregistrant's common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $53,472,793 based onapproximately $52.8 million (based upon the closing sale price of the registrant’s common stock on June 30, 2017that date on The Nasdaq Capital Market).

As of $10.07 per share.

The numberMarch 22, 2019, 67,458,396 shares of shares outstanding of the Registrant’s common stock, as of March 27, 2018 was 7,058,743.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

par value $0.001 per share, were issued and outstanding.


M I ACQUISITIONS, INC.



Priority Technology Holdings, Inc.
Annual Report on Form 10-K for
For the Year Ended December 31, 2017

2018
part I
2
   
ITEM 1.BUSINESS2Page
   
   
ITEM 1B.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS18
 
PROPERTIES18
 
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS18
ITEM 4.MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES18
part II19
ITEM 5.MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES19
ITEM 6.SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA21
ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS21
ITEM 7A.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK24
ITEM 8.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA24
ITEM 9.CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE24
ITEM 9A.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES25
ITEM 9B.OTHER INFORMATION25
part III26
ITEM 10.DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE26
ITEM 11.EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION32
ITEM 12.SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS33
ITEM 13.CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE35
ITEM 14.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES37
part IV38
ITEM 15.EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES38

i


FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This






Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K containsconstitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. The statements contained in this report that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Ourfederal securities laws. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management’smanagement's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, such as statements about our future financial performance, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. Furthermore, statements regarding our initial business combination, including the anticipated initial enterprise value and post-closing equity value of the combined company, the benefits of the proposed initial business combination, integration plans, expected synergies and revenue opportunities, anticipated future financial and operating performance and results, including estimates for growth, the expected management and governance of the combined company, and the expected timing of the transactions contemplated by the Purchase Agreement, are forward-lookingforward- looking statements. The words “anticipates,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would”"anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "future," "goal," "intend," "likely," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "seek," "should," "would," "will," "approximately," "shall" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements contained in this reportAnnual Report on Form 10-K include, but are not limited to, statements about:
competition in the payment processing industry;
the use of distribution partners;
any unauthorized disclosures of merchant or cardholder data, whether through breach of our computer systems, computer viruses, or otherwise;
any breakdowns in our processing systems;
government regulation, including regulation of consumer information;
the use of third-party vendors;
any changes in card association and debit network fees or products;
any failure to comply with the rules established by payment networks or standards established by third-party processor;
any proposed acquisitions or any risks associated with completed acquisitions; and
other risks and uncertainties set forth in the "Item 1A - Risk Factors" section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We caution you that the foregoing list may include, for example,not contain all of the forward-looking statements about our:

ability to complete our initial business combination;

success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;

potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

pool of prospective target businesses;

the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential investment opportunities;

potential change in control if we acquire one or more target businesses for stock;

the potential liquidity and trading of our securities;

the lack of a market for our securities;

use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; or

financial performance following our initial public offering.

made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The forward-looking statements contained in this reportAnnual Report on Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assuranceYou should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in deciding whether to invest in our securities. We cannot assure you that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions, including the risk factors set forth on page 20 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, that may cause our actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, (i) risks related to the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the pending initial business combination, including the risk that the transaction may not close due to one or more closing conditions to the transaction not being satisfied or waived, such as regulatory approvals not being obtained, on a timely basis or otherwise, or that a governmental entity prohibited, delayed or refused to grant approval for the consummation of the transaction or required certain conditions, limitations or restrictions in connection with such approvals, or that the required approval of the Purchase Agreement by the stockholders of Priority was not obtained; (ii) risks related to the ability of the Company and Priority to successfully integrate the businesses; (iii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Purchase Agreement (including circumstances requiring a party to pay the other party a termination fee pursuant to the Purchase Agreement); (iv) the risk that there may be a material adverse change with respect to the financial position, performance, operations or prospects of Priority or the Company; (v) risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the proposed initial business combination; (vi) the risk that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of the Company’s Common Stock; (vii) the risk that the proposed initial business combination and its announcement could have an adverse effect on the ability of Priority and the Company to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers and customers and on their operating results and businesses generally; (viii) risks related to successfully integrating the businesses of the Priority and the Company, which may result in the combined company not operating as effectively and efficiently as expected; (ix) the risk that the combined company may be unable to achieve cost-cutting synergies or it may take longer than expected to achieve those synergies; and (x) risks associated with the financing of the proposed transaction. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements.
In addition, statements that "we believe" and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
You should read this Annual Report on Form 10-K with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws and/or iflaws.


Terms Used in the Annual Report on Form 10-K

As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless the context otherwise requires, references to the terms "Company," "Priority," "we," "us" and when management knows or has a reasonable basis on which"our" refer to conclude that previously disclosed projections are no longer reasonably attainable.

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.


1

part I


PART I.


ITEM 1.BUSINESS

Introduction

M I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS


Basis of Presentation

On July 25, 2018, MI Acquisitions, Inc. is a blank check company("MI Acquisitions"), which was formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on April 23, 2015. We were formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination, with one or more target businesses. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business are not be limited to any particular industry or geographic region, although we initially focused our search on target businesses operating in the technology, media and telecommunications industries.

On September 19, 2016, we consummated our initial public offering (“IPO”) of 5,000,000 units. Each Unit consists of one share of common stock (“Common Stock”), and one warrant (“Public Warrant”) to purchase one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. The Units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $50,000,000. The Company granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 750,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any.

On September 19, 2016, simultaneously with the consummation of the IPO, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 402,500 units (the “Private Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Private Unit, generating total proceeds of $4,025,000. The Private Units are identical to the Units sold in the initial public offering except that the warrants underlying the Private Units (i) will be exercisable on a cashless basis at the holder’s option and (ii) will not be redeemable by the Company, in either case as long as they are held by the initial purchasers or any of their permitted transferees. The holders of Private Units agreed to certain restrictions on the Private Units, as described in the initial public offering registration statement. Additionally, the holders agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Private Units or underlying securities (except in limited circumstances) until the completion of the Company’s initial business combination. The holders were granted certain demand and piggyback registration rights in connection with the Private Units. The Private Units were issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, as the transactions did not involve a public offering.

The underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in part and, on October 14, 2016, the underwriters purchased 310,109 over-allotment option Units, which were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $3,101,090. On October 14, 2016, simultaneously with the sale of the over-allotment Units, we consummated the private sale of an additional 18,607 Private Units to one of the initial stockholders, generating gross proceeds of $186,070.

A total of $54,694,127 of the net proceeds from the sale of Units in the initial public offering (including the over-allotment option Units) and the private placements on September 19, 2016 and October 14, 2016, were placed in a trust account established for the benefit of the Company’s public stockholders and maintained at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank maintained by American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee. None of the funds held in trust will be released from the trust account, other than interest income to pay any tax obligations, until the earlier of (i) the consummation of the Company’s initial business combination and (ii) the Company’s failure to consummate a business combination within 18 months (or 21 months, if extended) from the date of the Offering. On November 14, 2016, the common stock and warrants underlying the Units sold in our initial public offering began to trade separately on a voluntary basis.

Since our initial public offering, our sole business activity has been identifying and evaluating suitable acquisition transaction candidates.


Recent Developments

On February 26, 2018, we entered into a Contribution Agreement dated February 26, 2018 with Priority Investment Holdings, LLC and Priority Incentive Equity Holdings, LLC (collectively, the “Interest Holders”) to acquire2015, acquired all of the outstanding member equity interests of Priority Holdings, LLC (“Priority”), a leading provider of B2C and B2B payment processing solutions. On March 26, 2018, we entered into an Amended and Restated Contribution Agreement with the Interest Holders (as amended and restated, the “Purchase Agreement”).

Upon the closing of the transactions contemplated in the Purchase Agreement, M I will acquire (the “Acquisition”) 100% of the issued and outstanding equity securities of Priority, as well as assume certain of Priority’s debt, in exchange for the issuance of MI Acquisitions' common stock. As a numberresult, Priority Holdings, LLC, which was previously a privately-owned company, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of shares of our common stock equal to Priority’s equity value (which the Purchase Agreement defines as of the signing date as $947,835,000 enterprise value of Priority less the net debt of Priority at closing, subject to certain adjustments as described below) divided by $10.30. If Priority acquires any businesses prior to the closing of the Acquisition that increase Priority’s Adjusted EBITDA in aggregate by more than $9 million, Priority’s enterprise value will increase by multiplying the incremental increase in Adjusted EBITDA of such acquisition by 12.5, provided that estimated synergies related to any such acquisitions included in the Adjusted EBITDA calculation of Priority shall be capped at 20% of the Adjusted EBITDA of the applicable acquisition with respect to the 12-month period immediately preceding the consummation of such acquisition. In connection with the Acquisition, we will change ourMI Acquisitions (the "Business Combination"). Simultaneously, MI Acquisitions changed its name to Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. For financial accounting and reporting purposes under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), the acquisition was accounted for as a "reverse merger." Under this method of accounting, MI Acquisitions is treated as the acquired entity whereby Priority Holdings, LLC was deemed to have issued common stock for the net assets and equity of MI Acquisitions accompanied by a simultaneous equity recapitalization of Priority Holdings, LLC. Net assets of the Company are stated at historical cost and accordingly the equity and net assets of the Company have not been adjusted to fair value. As of July 25, 2018, the consolidated financial statements of the Company include the combined operations, cash flows, and financial positions of both MI Acquisitions and Priority Holdings, LLC. Prior to July 25, 2018, the results of operations, cash flows, and financial position are those of Priority Holdings, LLC. The units and corresponding capital amounts and earnings per unit of Priority Holdings, LLC prior to July 25, 2018 have been retroactively restated as shares reflecting the exchange ratio established in the recapitalization.


 Overview of the Company
We are a leading provider of merchant acquiring and commercial payment solutions, offering unique product capabilities to small and medium businesses ("SMBs"), enterprises and distribution partners such as retail independent sales organizations ("ISOs"), financial institutions ("FIs"), wholesale ISOs, and independent software vendors ("ISVs") in the United States. The Company, then Priority Holdings, LLC, was founded in 2005 with a mission to build a merchant inspired payments platform that would advance the goals of our SMB and enterprise clients and distribution partners. Since 2013, we have grown from the 38th largest U.S. merchant acquirer to become the 13th largest and 6th largest non-bank merchant acquirer as of the end of 2017, measured by Visa and MasterCard purchase volume according to the December 2017 Nilson Report. In 2018 and 2017, we processed over 466 million and 439 million transactions, respectively, and over $38 billion and $35 billion, respectively, in bankcard payment volume across approximately 181,000 and 174,000, respectively, merchants. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, we had 562 employees as of December 31, 2018 and are led by an experienced group of payments executives.
Our growth has been underpinned by three key strengths: (1) a cost-efficient, agile payment and business processing infrastructure, known internally as Vortex.Cloud and Vortex.OS, (2) two proprietary product platforms: the MX product suite targeting the consumer payments market and the commercial payments exchange ("CPX") product suite targeting the commercial payments market and (3) focused distribution engines dedicated to selling into business-to-consumer ("B2C") and commercial payments business-to-business ("B2B") markets.
The MX Product line provides technology-enabled payment acceptance and business management capabilities to merchants, enterprises and our distribution partners. The MX product line includes: (1) our MX ISO/Agent and VIMAS reseller technology systems (collectively referred to as "MX Connect") and (2) our MX Merchant products, which together provide resellers and merchant clients, a flexible and customizable set of business applications that help better manage critical business work functions and revenue performance using core payment processing as our leverage point. MX Connect provides our consumer payments reselling partners with automated tools that support low friction merchant on-boarding, underwriting and risk management, client service, and commission processing through a single mobile-enabled, web-based interface. The result is a smooth merchant activation onto our flagship consumer payments offering, MX Merchant, which provides core processing and business solutions to SMB clients. In addition anyto payment processing, the MX Merchant product line encompasses a variety of proprietary and third-party product applications that merchants can adopt such as MX Insights, MX Storefront, MX Retail, MX Invoice, MX B2B and ACH.com, among others. This comprehensive suite of solutions enables merchants to identify key consumer trends in their business, quickly implement e-commerce or retail point-of-sale ("POS") solutions, and even handle automated clearing house ("ACH") payments. By empowering resellers to adopt a consultative selling approach and embedding our technology into the critical day-

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to-day workflows and operations of both merchants and resellers, we believe that we have established and maintained "sticky" relationships. We believe that our strong retention, coupled with consistent merchant boarding, have resulted in strong processing volume and revenue growth.
The CPX platform, like the MX Product line, provides a complete solution suite designed to monetize all types of B2B payments by maximizing automation for buyers and suppliers. CPX supports virtual card, purchase card, electronic fund transfer, ACH and check payments, intelligently routing each transaction via the optimal payment method. Underlying our MX and CPX platforms is the Company's Vortex.Cloud and Vortex.OS enterprise infrastructure, a curated cloud and application programming interface ("API") driven operating system built for scale and agility.
We developed an entirely virtual computing infrastructure in 2012. This infrastructure, known as Vortex.Cloud, is a highly-available, redundant, and audited payment card industry ("PCI"), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA"), NACHA, and Financial Stability Oversight Council (the "FSOC") computing platform with centralized security and technical operations. We strive to enable Vortex.Cloud to maintain 99.999% uptime. All computational and IP assets of our operating companies are hosted and managed on Vortex.Cloud infrastructure. With Vortex.Cloud, we have constructed a uniform set of APIs, called Vortex.OS (operating system), that provide critical functionality to our payment divisions. The Vortex OS APIs provide electronic payments, security/crypto, data persistence, time series data (events), and artificial intelligence (AI). The MX and CPX product platforms leverage Vortex.OS and Vortex.Cloud for maximum scalability, high-availability, security, and access to advanced feature sets. The combined result is a purpose build infrastructure and product offering that produces solid organic growth and profit margin results. Furthermore, in addition to supporting a modern product stack, Vortex.Cloud and Vortex.OS enable the rapid inclusion of data and systems of acquisition targets for smooth consolidation to our operating infrastructure and accelerate achievement of revenue and cost synergies.

We sell our B2C merchant acquiring solutions primarily to SMBs through a growing and diverse reseller network, including ISOs, FIs, ISVs, Value-Added Resellers ("VARs") and other referral partners. We maintain stable, long-term relationships with our resellers, bolstered by the integration of MX Connect, a powerful customer relationship management ("CRM") and business operating system. MX Connect is used by our resellers and internal teams to manage their merchant base and accelerate the growth of their businesses through various value-added tools and resources which include marketing resources, automated onboarding, merchant underwriting, merchant activity monitoring and reporting. In addition, we offer ISVs and VARs a technology "agnostic" and feature rich API, providing developers with the ability to integrate electronic payment acceptance into their software and improve boarding efficiency for their merchant base. For the end user, MX Merchant provides a customizable, virtual terminal with proprietary business management tools and add-on applications that create an integrated merchant experience. MX Merchant's add-on applications include invoicing, website builder, inventory management and customer engagement and data analytics focused on targeted marketing among others. These proprietary business management tools and add-on applications, coupled with our omni-channel payment solutions, enable us to achieve attrition rates that, we believe, are well below industry average. MX Merchant can be deployed on hardware from a variety of vendors and operated either as a standalone product or integrated with third-party software. Through MX Merchant, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the trend towards integrated payments solutions, new technology adoption, and value-added service utilization in the SMB market. Our broad go-to-market strategy has resulted in a merchant base that is both industry and geographically diversified in the United States, resulting in low industry and merchant concentration.
In addition to our B2C offering, we have diversified our source of revenues through our growing presence in the B2B market. We work with enterprise clients and leading financial institutions seeking to automate their accounts payable processes. We provide curated managed services and a robust suite of integrated accounts payable automation solutions to industry leading financial institutions and card networks such as Citibank, MasterCard, Visa and American Express, among others. Unlike the consumer payments business which advocates a variable cost indirect sales strategy, Priority Commercial Payments supports a direct sales model that provides turnkey merchant development, product sales, and supplier enablement programs. CPX offers clients a seamless bridge for buyer to supplier (payor to provider) payments by integrating directly to a buyer's payment instruction file and parsing it for payment to suppliers via virtual card, purchase card, ACH +, dynamic discounting, or check. Successful implementation of our Accounts Payable ("AP") automation solutions provides suppliers with the benefits of cash acceleration, buyers with valuable rebate/discount revenue, and the Company with stable sources of payment processing and other revenue. Considering that Priority spendsthe commercial payments volume in the United States is over twice the size of consumer payments and substantially less penetrated for electronic payments, we believe that this market represents a high growth opportunity for us.


3


More recently, we began to acquire any technology assets, upbuild our Integrated Partners component which offers solutions for ISVs, third-party integrators, and merchants that allow for the leveraging of our core payments engine via application program interfaces ("APIs") resources. Integrated Partners connects businesses with other businesses and their customers in the real estate, hospitality, and health care marketplaces.

We generate revenue primarily from fees charged for processing payment transactions, and to $5,000,000,a lesser extent, from monthly subscription services and other solutions provided to purchase securitiesmerchants. Processing fees are generated from the Founders pursuantongoing sales of our merchants under multi-year merchant contracts, and thus are highly recurring in nature. Due to the Promote Agreement described below or to extend the timenature of our strong reseller-centric distribution model and differentiated technology offering, we have to complete a business combination, such amounts will be included in the calculation of net debt as cashcan drive efficient scale and cash equivalents(which would reduce the amount of net debt, effectively increasing the assumed enterprise value of Priorityoperating leverage, generating robust margins and increasing the number of shares that would be issued to the Interest Holders).

An additional 9.8 million shares may be issued as earn out consideration to the Interest Holders and members of management or other service providers of the post-Acquisition company—4.9 million shares for the first earn out and 4.9 million shares for the second earn out. profitability.

For the first earn out,year ended December 31, 2018, we generated revenue of $424.4 million, a net loss of $15.0 million and Adjusted EBITDA must be no less than $82.5(a non-GAAP measure) of $52.9 million, compared to revenue of $425.6 million, net income of $4.6 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $56.9 million for the year endingended December 31, 20182017. For a discussion of Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation to net income (loss), the most directly comparable measure under GAAP, please see the section entitled "Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations—Certain Non-GAAP Measures" elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.


Industry Overview
The B2C payment processing industry provides merchants with credit, debit, gift and loyalty card and other payment processing services, along with related value-added solutions and information services. The industry continues to grow, driven by wider merchant acceptance, increased consumer use of electronic payments and advances in payment technology. The proliferation of bankcards and use of other payment technologies has made the acceptance of electronic payments through multiple channels a virtual necessity for many businesses, regardless of size, to remain competitive. This increased use and acceptance of bankcards and the availability of more sophisticated products and services has resulted in a highly competitive and specialized industry.
Services to the SMB merchant market have been historically characterized by basic payment processing without ready access to more sophisticated technology, value-added solutions, or customer service that are typically offered to large merchants. To keep up with the changing demands of how consumers wish to pay for goods and services, we believe that SMB merchants increasingly recognize the need for value-added services wrapped around omni-channel payment solutions that are tailored to their specific business needs.
Key Industry Trends
The following are key trends we believe are impacting the merchant acquiring / payment processing industry:
Trend Toward Electronic Transactions. We believe the continued shift from cash/paper payments toward electronic / card payments will drive growth for merchant acquirers and processors as volume continues to grow correspondingly. According to the December 2017 Nilson Report, card and electronic-based payments will make-up 83% of U.S. consumer payments (dollar volume) by 2021, compared to 64% and 75% in 2011 and 2016, respectively. We believe the continued migration from cash to card and overall market growth will continue to provide tailwinds to the electronic payments industry.

Increasing Demand for Integrated Payments. Merchant acquirers are increasingly differentiating themselves from competitors via innovative technology, including integrated POS solutions ("integrated payments"). Integrated payments refer to the integration of payment processing with various software solutions and applications that are sold by VARs and ISVs. Integrated software tools help merchants manage their businesses, streamline processes, lower costs, increase accuracy, and drive growth for businesses. The broader solutions delivered as part of an integrated payments platform have become an increasingly important consideration point for many SMBs, whereas pricing was historically the key factor influencing the selection of a merchant acquirer. Merchant acquirers that partner with VARs and ISVs to integrate payments with software or own the software outright may benefit most from new revenue streams and higher merchant retention.


4


Mobile Payments. Historically, e-commerce was conducted on a computer via a web browser; however, as mobile technologies continue to proliferate, consumers are making more purchases through mobile browsers and native mobile applications. We believe this shift represents a significant opportunity given the high growth rates of mobile payments volume, higher fees for card-not-present and cross-border processing and potential for the in-app economy to stimulate and/or alter consumer spending behavior.

Migration to EMV. EMV, which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, is the global payments standard that utilizes chip technology on cards designed to increase security. EMV technology employs dynamic authentication for each transaction, rendering any data copied from magnetic strip readers to produce counterfeit cards unusable. Demand for EMV ready terminals should remain resilient in the near term due to the following:

The United States was one of the last countries to adopt EMV technology, leaving a large group of merchants still transitioning to the EMV standards; and

U.S. merchants are penalized for failing to comply with EMV standards by bearing the chargeback risk when presented with an EMV enabled card when the terminal is non-compliant.

The large majority of our third-party products are EMV enabled, and we expect that most new hardware sales will be EMV enabled devices, although all hardware sales constitute only a small portion of our total revenue.
B2B payments is the largest payment market in the United States by volume and presents a significant opportunity for payment providers to capitalize on the conversion of check and paper-based payments to electronic payments, including card-based acceptance. As businesses have increasingly looked to improve efficiency and reduce costs, the electronification of B2B payments has gained momentum. Business Insider estimates that over 51% of B2B volume was paid via check in 2016, mainly due to the complex and cumbersome process associated with B2B payments, including invoicing, delayed payment terms and use of multiple banks.

Electronics Payments Overview
The payment processing and services industry provides the infrastructure and services necessary to enable the acceptance, processing, clearing and settlement of electronic payments predominantly consisting of credit card, debit card, ACH payments, gift cards and loyalty rewards programs. Characterized by recurring revenues, high operating leverage, and robust cash flow generation, the industry continues to benefit from the mass migration from cash and checks to electronic payments. According to the December 2017 Nilson Report, purchase volume on credit, debit and prepaid cards in the United States was approximately $6.2 trillion in 2016 and is estimated to reach nearly $8.5 trillion by 2021, a compound annual growth rate of 6.6%.
There are five key participants in the payment processing value chain: (i) card issuing banks, (ii) merchant acquirers, (iii) payment networks, (iv) merchant processors and (v) sponsor banks. Each of these participants performs key functions in the electronic payments process, while other entities, such as terminal manufacturers, gateway providers and independent sales organizations also play important functions within the value chain.
Card Issuing Banks – Typically financial institutions that issue credit/debit cards to consumers (also underwrite the risk associated the cards), authorize (check for fraud and sufficient funds) transactions and transfer funds through the payment networks for settlement. Some card issuers do not have the ability to process transactions in-house, in which case the issuer may engage a card processor.

Merchant Acquirers – Firms that sign up merchants to their platform through a variety of sales channels, enabling them to accept, process and settle electronic payments. Additionally, merchant acquirers provide other value-added services to help merchants run their businesses more efficiently, such as helping to select POS hardware and providing customer support and services.

Payment Networks – Card brand companies, such as MasterCard or Visa, that set rules and provide the rails to route transactions and information between card issuers, merchant acquirers and payments processors in real-time over vast communication networks.

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Merchant Processors – Firms that provide the technology needed to allow for payment authorization, data transmission, data security and settlement functions. Oftentimes the term merchant acquirer and processor are used synonymously; however, they perform two distinct functions (sometimes provided by the same entity).

Sponsor Banks – Financial Institutions that are acquiring members of Visa and MasterCard and provide sponsorship access to acquirers and processors to the card networks. Sponsor banks provide merchants the ultimate access to the card networks for their processing activity.
The industry also includes other third-party providers, including service, software and hardware companies that provide products and services designed to improve the experience for issuers, merchants and merchant acquirers. This category includes mobile payment enablers, terminal manufacturers, and ISV's.
Each electronic payment transaction consists of two key steps: the front-end authorization and back end settlement.

Front End Authorization – The original request for payment authorization that occurs when the card is swiped or inserted at the POS or the data is entered into an online gateway.

Back End Settlement – The settlement and clearing process consists of settling outstanding payables and receivables between the card issuing bank & merchant bank. This process is facilitated by a back-end processor that utilizes the network's platform to send outstanding payable information and funds between the two parties.

A credit or debit card transaction carried out offline or through signature debit is a two-message process, with the front end occurring at the POS and the back end occurring later as a part of a batch processing system that clears all of the day's payments from transaction occurring throughout the day. Credit and debit card transactions carried out with personal identification numbers consist of a single message, whereby the authorization and clearing occur immediately – the money is instantly debited from the cardholder's checking account, although the settlement of funds (the transfer to the merchant's account) may happen later as part of a batch process.
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Competitive Strengths
We possess certain attributes that we believe differentiate us as a leading provider of merchant acquiring and commercial payment solutions in the United States. Our key competitive strengths include:
Purpose-Built Proprietary Technology
We have strategically built our proprietary software to provide technology-enabled payment acceptance and business management solutions to merchants, enterprises and resellers. The MX product line is embedded into the critical day-to-day workflows and operations of both merchants and resellers, leading to highly "sticky" relationships and high retention. CPX provides a complete commercial solution suite that monetizes commercial payments and maximizes automation for buyers and suppliers. By integrating with Vortex.Cloud and Vortex.OS, MX and CPX can scale in a cost-effective and efficient manner, while enhancing features and functionality. Both product lines also support low friction merchant onboarding and an integrated value-added product offering for merchants, resellers and ISVs in the consumer and commercial payment space. Furthermore, in addition to supporting a modern user experience, Vortex.Cloud enables the rapid inclusion of data and systems of acquisition targets for smooth consolidation to our operating infrastructure and accelerates achievement of revenue and of cost synergies.

Diverse Reseller Community
We maintain strong reseller relationships with approximately 1,000 ISOs, FIs, ISVs, VARs and other referral partners. MX Connect enables resellers to efficiently market merchant acquiring solutions to a broad base of merchants through this one-to-many distribution model. Resellers leverage MX Connect's powerful CRM and business operating features to manage their internal sales teams and engage their merchant base through various value-added tools and resources, such as marketing resources, automated onboarding, merchant underwriting, merchant activity monitoring and reporting, to support the growth of their businesses. We believe that our ability to service our reseller partners through a comprehensive offering provides a competitive advantage that has allowed the company to build a large, diverse merchant base characterized by high retention. The strength of our technology offering is manifest in the fact that we maintain ownership of merchant contracts, with most reseller contracts including strong non-solicit and portability restrictions.
Comprehensive Suite of Payment Solutions
MX Merchant offers a comprehensive and differentiated suite of traditional and emerging payment products and services that enables SMBs to address their payment needs through one provider. We provide a payment processing platform that allows merchants to accept electronic payments (e.g. credit cards, debit cards, and ACH) at the point of sale ("POS"), online, and via mobile payment technologies. In addition, through MX Merchant, we deliver innovative business management products and add-on features that meet the needs of SMBs across different vertical markets. Through our MX Merchant platform, we believe we are well-positioned to capitalize on the trend towards integrated payments solutions, new technology adoption and value-add service utilization that is underway in the SMB market. We believe our solutions facilitate a superior merchant experience that results in increased customer lifetime value.
Highly Scalable Business Model with Operating Leverage
As a result of thoughtful investments in our technology, we have developed robust and differentiated infrastructure that has enabled us to scale in a cost-efficient manner. Our purpose-built proprietary technology platforms, MX and CPX, each serve a unique purpose within consumer and commercial payments, enabling the company to realize significant operating leverage within each business segment. Furthermore, the agility of our Vortex.Cloud and Vortex.OS enterprise infrastructure enables us to quickly and cost efficiently consolidate acquisitions to drive revenue and cost synergies. Our operating efficiency supports a low capital expenditure environment to develop product enhancements that drive organic growth across our consumer and commercial payment ecosystems and attract both reselling partners and enterprise clients looking for best-in-class solutions. By creating a cost-efficient environment that facilitates the combination of ongoing product innovation to drive organic growth and stable cash flow to fund acquisitions, we anticipate ongoing economies of scale and increased margins over time.
Experienced Management Team Led by Industry Veterans

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Our executive management team has a record of execution in the merchant acquiring and technology-enabled payments industry. Our team has continued to develop and enhance our proprietary and innovative technology platforms that differentiate us with merchants and resellers in the industry. Since founding the Company, our leadership team has built strong, long-term relationships with reseller and enterprise partners by leveraging the MX and CPX product platforms to meet the needs of businesses in specific vertical markets. We invest to attract and retain executive leadership that align with the opportunities in the market and our strategic focus.


Growth Strategies
We intend to continue to execute a multi-pronged growth strategy, with diverse organic initiatives supplemented by acquisitions. Growth strategies include:
Organic Growth in our Consumer Reseller and Merchant Base
We expect to grow through our existing reseller network and merchant base, capitalizing on the inherent growth of existing merchant volume and reseller merchant portfolios. By providing resellers with agile tools to manage their sales businesses and grow their merchant portfolio, we have established a solid base from which to generate new merchant adoption and retain existing merchants. By engaging in a consultative partnership approach, we maintain strong relationships with our reseller partners and continues to exhibit strong merchant adoption and volume growth trends. Through our resellers, we provide merchants with full-service acquiring solutions, as well as value-added services and tools to streamline their business processes and enables them to focus on driving same store sales growth.
Expand our Network of Distribution Partners
We have established and maintains a strong position within the reseller community, with approximately 1,000 partners. We intend to continue to expand our distribution network to reach new partners, particularly with ISVs and VARs to expand technology and integrated partnerships. We believe that our MX Connect technology offering enables us to attract, and retain, high quality resellers focused on growth.
Increase Margin per Merchant with Complementary Products and Services
We intend to drive the adoption of our value-added services and tools with our merchant base. MX Merchant allows merchants to add proprietary Priority applications as well as other third-party applications from the MX Merchant Marketplace to build customized payment solutions that are tailored to a merchant's business needs. As we continue to board new merchants and promote our MX Merchant solution, we can cross-sell these add-on applications. By increasing attachment rates, along with continued benefit from economies of scale, we expect to see improved margins per merchant. Merchants utilizing MX Merchant exhibit somewhat higher retention, contributing to our improving overall retention rates. We believe we are well-positioned to capitalize on the secular trend towards integrated payments solutions, new technology adoption and value-add service utilization in the SMB market.
Deploy Industry Specific Payment Technology
We intend to continue to enhance and deploy our technology-enabled payment solutions in attractive industries. Through MX Merchant, we have developed proprietary applications and added third-party tools that address the specific needs of merchants in certain verticals, including retail, healthcare and hospitality. We continue to identify and evaluate new and attractive industries where we can deliver differentiated technology-enabled payment solutions that meet merchants' industry-specific needs.
Expand Electronic Payments Share of B2B Transactions with CPX
We have a growing presence in the commercial payments market where we provide curated managed services and AP automation solutions to industry leading financial institutions and card networks such as Citibank, MasterCard, Visa and American Express. Commercial payments is the largest and one of the fastest growing payments market in the United States by volume. We are well positioned to capitalize on the secular shift from check to electronic payments, which currently lags the consumer payments

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markets, by eliminating the friction between buyers and suppliers through our industry leading offering, and driving strong growth and profitability.
Accretive Acquisitions
We intend to selectively pursue strategic and tactical acquisitions that meet certain criteria, with a consistent long-term goal of maximizing stockholder value. We actively seek potential acquisition candidates that exhibit certain attractive attributes including, predictable and recurring revenue, scalable operating model, low capital intensity complementary technology offerings and strong cultural fit. Our Vortex.Cloud operating infrastructure is purpose-built to rapidly and seamlessly consolidate complementary businesses into our ecosystem, optimizing revenue and cost synergies.


Technology Infrastructure and Product Solutions
Infrastructure Offering
Vortex.Cloud
Vortex.Cloud is a highly-available, redundant, and audited (PCI, HIPAA, NACHA, and FSOC) computing platform with centralized security and technical operations. We strive to enable Vortex.Cloud to maintain 99.999% uptime. All computational and IP assets of our payment operating divisions are hosted and managed on Vortex.Cloud infrastructure. Vortex.Cloud enables the rapid inclusion of data and systems of acquisition targets for smooth consolidation to our operating infrastructure and accelerates achievement of revenue and cost synergies.
Vortex.OS
Vortex.OS provides critical technological functionality to our payment operating divisions. The Vortex.OS APIs include: electronic payments, security/crypto, data persistence, time series data (events), and artificial intelligence (AI). Our purpose-built payments engine facilitates industry leading organic growth and efficient consolidation of acquisitions resulting in strong profit margins.


























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Consumer Payments Offering

consumerpaymentsoffering.gif
Reseller Tools
MX Connect
Our objective is to empower our resellers to grow their businesses and improve their merchant portfolios. To do so, we provide our resellers with a feature rich API architecture, powerful merchant relationship management tools, and thought leadership resources. MX Connect provides dynamic portfolio management giving resellers total control over their financial data along with convenient low friction merchant onboarding, automated underwriting, and robust portfolio reporting and compensation tracking.

In addition, we offer our resellers thought leadership resources to support their growth and educate their employees. Priority University ("PriorityU") includes proprietary white papers on Apple Pay, EMV, regulations & compliance, and other industry topics. PriorityU also includes a comprehensive set of marketing and training tools that re-sellers can leverage to train their employees and tactfully engage merchants. In addition to the written and video-based tools on our website, we maintain a live reseller support phone line to provide resellers with real time assistance.
Finally, we offer our resellers Brand Licensing and Wholesale Development Programs which allow resellers to leverage the strength of the Priority brand for immediate and meaningful marketing impact.
Merchant Products
Our core payment processing technology allows merchants to accept electronic payments via multiple integrated POS technologies. However, our payment processing platform goes beyond traditional electronic payments acceptance with a fully integrated platform called MX Merchant. Our proprietary product maximizes the lifetime value of merchant relationships.




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MX Merchant
Our flagship offering, MX Merchant, is a customizable payments platform that allows merchants to accept electronic payments and manage their business. Merchants can accept credit cards, debit cards, and cash using a virtual terminal, monitor payment activity in real-time, manage payment history and customer data, and create customizable reports and statements. MX Merchant is a proprietary software platform and virtual terminal that can be deployed on hardware from a variety of vendors and operated on a standalone basis or integrated with 3rd party software products.
The MX Merchant platform also allows customers to add applications from the MX Merchant Marketplace to build a payment platform customized to that merchant's business, including:
MX Invoice – Invoice and recurring billing app which speeds up the payment process and creates automatic, trustworthy, and easy to use invoices.

MX Retail – Inventory and stock price mustcontrol app utilizing both MX Merchant and MX Retail applications to handle all point-of-sale needs, rewards program and inventory management with an iPhone application.

MX B2B – Ensures merchants receive lower rates for Level II / III processing by setting up user level permissions based on job function.

MX Insights – Customer engagement and data analytics tool focused on marketing campaigns with intelligent customer targeting through use of big data.

MX Storefront – Allows merchants to quickly and easily create a professional, comprehensive, entirely customizable website, complete with full payment integration.

MX Medical – Delivers patient payment estimates at the POS of a medical practice. The tool informs patients of their payment responsibility and presents the patient with a range of payment options. Once the patient leaves the medical practice, notifications and messaging are pushed to the patient's mobile device alerting them to future payments.

ACH.com – Integrated ACH payment processing platform.

We offer several third-party products and services to our merchants including:

ControlScan – On demand tools merchants can utilize to analyze, remediate, and validate PCI compliance.

e-Tab – Provides a mobile restaurant / hospitality ordering and payment platform. We acquired the e-Tab business assets in February 2019.

Terminals – we offer several EMV ready terminals and mobile card readers from manufacturers such as Ingenico, Verifone, and Magtek.

Merchant Financing – we are a reseller of several merchant financing solutions provided by American Express.


Commercial Payments Offering: Managed Services and CPX
We provide curated managed services and AP automation solutions (CPX) on behalf of industry leading financial institutions and card networks such as Citibank, MasterCard, Visa and American Express ("AMEX"). Our turnkey merchant development, business process outsourcing and refined supplier enablement program, allow commercial partners to leverage our long-standing customer relationships. Established in 2008, our commercial payments offering has allowed us to profit from the large and growing commercial payments market. Priority CPX offers solutions to key pain points such as scalability of expanding supplier onboarding while decreasing costs through automation. Successful implementation of our AP automation strategies provides vendors with the benefits of cash acceleration, buyers with valuable rebate/discount revenue, and the Company with stable sources of merchant acquiring, credit card interchange and discount fee revenue.

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Managed Services
We provide business process outsourcing services to AMEX that offer AMEX's merchants access to several programs, including AMEX Buyer Initiated Payments ("BIP") and AMEX Merchant Financing loans. Acting as an outsourced sales force, we utilize approximately 180 employees to originate BIP or Merchant Financing loans for AMEX, earning a fee for each origination. Additionally, AMEX compensates us for personnel fees incurred for the employees who sell these outsourced services. We do not take any credit risk associated with the aforementioned programs.
CPX
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Priority CPX is a turnkey commercial payments platform that automates the AP payment process between buyers and suppliers to maximize financial rebates and ensure timely, automated payment of vendor payments.
CPX Access - Interactive portals connecting Buyers and Suppliers to promote the payment and data exchange between partners.

CPX Gateway - Seamless integration with enterprise resource planning systems that produce a single payment file for the entire CPX solutions suite.

CPX Commercial Acceptance - Optimize payment programs with a full suite of targeted solutions and powerful outreach campaign management and automated electronic quick-start application.

CPX Payments - Leveraging a complete suite of traditional and transitional payment solutions to completely automate AP files.

Sales and Distribution
We reach our consumer payment merchants through three primary sales channels: 1) Retail ISOs/Agents and Financial Institutions (i.e. community banks), 2) Wholesale ISOs, and 3) Independent Software Vendors and Value-Added Resellers. MX Connect allows resellers to engage merchants for processing services and a host of value-added features designed to enhance their customer relationship. Merchants utilize our diverse product suite to manage their business, increasing our ability to retain the merchant if the ISO were to leave the Company.
Retail ISOs/Agents and Financial Institutions (i.e. community banks) – A non-risk bearing independent company of sales agents, individual sales agent, or financial institution that operates as a sales force on behalf of the Company. Retail

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resellers are not employed by us but rather are independently contracted to acquire merchants to utilize our payment processing and product offerings. While the reseller serves as the merchant's key contact, the processing contract is between us and the merchant and agreements with resellers include non-solicitation rights. We manage the transaction risk on behalf of retail resellers.

Wholesale ISO – A risk bearing independent company of sales agents that operates as a sales force on behalf of the Company. Wholesale ISOs are not employed by us but rather are independently contracted to acquire merchants to utilize our payment processing and product offerings. While the ISO serves as the merchant's key contact, the processing contract is between us and the merchant, and agreements with ISOs include non-solicitation rights. Wholesale ISOs are responsible and bear all transaction risk on their merchant portfolios. We underwrite all such merchants even though wholesale ISOs bear the risk.

ISVs and VARs - ISVs develop and sell business management software solutions while VARs sell third-party software solutions to merchants as part of a bundled package that includes the computer systems which operates the software. We partner with ISVs and VARs that can integrate our capabilities into a variety of software applications (e.g. medical billing software). These integrated payment solutions create an extremely "sticky" customer relationship.
Priority Commercial Payments obtains its "buyer" clients through direct sales initiative and referral and business partnerships with integrated software partners, the card networks (MasterCard, Visa, American Express) and large US banking institutions. We support a direct vendor sales model that provides turnkey merchant development, product sales, and supplier enablement programs. By establishing a seamless bridge for buyer-to-supplier (payor-to-provider) payments that is integrated directly to a buyer's payment instruction file to facilitate payments to vendors via all payment types (virtual card, purchase card, ACH +, dynamic discounting), we have tradedestablished ourselves as an emerging force in excesscommercial payments.
Our market strategy has resulted in a merchant base that we believe is diversified across both industries and geographies resulting in, what we believe, is more stable average profitability per merchant. No single reseller relationship contributes more than 10% of $12.00total bankcard processing volume. On a standalone basis the Priority CPX product would represent the 52nd largest merchant acquirer in the U.S. and among its fastest growing.

Security, Disaster Recovery and Back-up Systems
As a result of normal business operations, we store information relating to our merchants and their transactions. Because this information is considered sensitive in nature, we maintain a high level of security to attempt to protect it. Our computational systems are continually updated and audited to the latest security standards as defined by payment card industry and data security standards ("PCI DSS"), FSOC, and HIPAA audits. As such, we have a dedicated team responsible for any 20 trading days within any consecutive 30-day trading periodsecurity incident response. This team develops, maintains, tests and verifies our incident response plan. The primary function of this team is to react and respond to intrusions, denial of service, data leakage, malware, vandalism, and many other events that could potentially jeopardize data availability, integrity, and confidentiality. This team is responsible for investigating and reporting on all malicious activity in and around our information systems. In addition to handling security incidents, the incident response team continually educates themselves and us on information security matters.
High-availability and disaster recovery are provided through a combination of redundant hardware and software running at any time ontwo geographically distinct data centers. Each data center deployment is an exact mirror of the other and each can handle all technical, payment, and business operations for all product lines independently of the other. If one site or before December 31, 2019. Forservice becomes impaired, the second earn out, Adjusted EBITDAtraffic is redirected to the other automatically. Business Continuity Planning drills are run each quarter to test fail-over and recovery as well as staff operations and readiness.
Third-Party Processors and Sponsor Banks
We partner with various vendors in the payments value chain to process payments for our merchant clients, most notably processors and sponsor banks, which sit between us (the merchant acquirer) and the card networks. Processing is a scale driven business in which many acquirers outsource the processing function to a small number of large processors. In these partnerships, we serve as a merchant acquirer and enters into processing agreements with payment processors, such as First Data or TSYS, to serve as our front-end and back-end transaction processor for which they are paid processing fees. These processors in turn have agreements

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with card networks such as Visa and MasterCard, through which the transaction information is routed in exchange for network fees.
To provide processing services, acquirers such as we must be no less than $91.5 millionregistered with the card networks (e.g. Visa and MasterCard). To register with a card network in the United States, acquirers must maintain relationships with banks willing to sponsor the acquirer's adherence to the rules and standards of the card networks, or a sponsor bank. We maintain sponsor bank relationships with Citizens Bank, Wells Fargo, and Synovus Bank. For ACH payments, the Company's ACH network (ACH.com) is sponsored by Atlantic Capital Bank, MB Financial Bank, and Regions Bank. Sponsor bank relationships enable us to route transactions under the sponsor bank's control and identification number (referred to as a BIN for Visa and ICA for MasterCard) across the year ending December 31, 2019card networks (or ACH network) to authorize and clear transactions.
Risk Management
Our thoughtful merchant and reseller underwriting policies combined with our forward-looking transaction management capabilities have enabled us to maintain low credit loss performance. Our risk management strategies are informed by a team with decades of experience managing merchant acquiring risk operations that are augmented by our modern systems designed to manage risk at the stock price musttransaction level.
Initial Underwriting- Central to our risk management process is our front-line underwriting policies that vet all resellers and merchants prior to their contracting with us. Our automated risk systems pull credit bureau reports, corporate ownership details, as well as anti-money laundering, Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") information from a variety of integrated data bases. This information is put into the hands of a tenured team of underwriters who conduct any necessary industry checks, financial performance analysis or owner back ground checks, consistent with our policies. Based upon these results the underwriting department rejects or approves and sets appropriate merchant and reseller reserve requirements which are held by our bank sponsors on our behalf. Resellers are subject to quarterly and/or annual assessments for financial strength compliance with our policies and adjustments to reserve levels. The results of our initial merchant underwriting inform the transaction level risk limits for volume, average ticket, transaction types and authorization codes among other items that are captured by our CYRIS risk module—a proprietary risk system that monitors and reports transaction risk activity to our risk team. This transaction level risk module, housed within MX Connect, forms the foundational risk management framework that enables the company to optimize transaction activity and processing scale while preserving a modest aggregate risk profile that has resulted in historically low losses.
Real-Time Risk Monitoring- Merchant transactions are monitored on a transactional basis to proactively enforce risk controls. Our risk systems provide automated evaluation of merchant transaction activity against initial underwriting settings. Transactions that are outside underwriting parameters are queued for further investigation. Also, resellers whose merchant portfolio represents a concentration of investigated merchants are evaluated for risk action (i.e., increased reserves or contract termination).
Risk Audit- Transactions flagged by our risk monitoring systems or that demonstrate suspicious activity traits that have tradedbeen flagged for review can result in excessfunds being held and other risk mitigation actions. These can include non- authorization of $14.00the transaction, debit of reserves or even termination of processing agreement. Merchants are periodically reviewed to assess any risk adjustments based upon their overall financial health and compliance with Network standards. Merchant transaction activity is investigated for any 20 trading days within any consecutive 30-day trading period at any time between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020.instances of business activity changes or credit impairment (and improvement).
Loss Mitigation- In the event that the first earn out targetsinstances where particular transactions and/or individual merchants are not met, the entire 9.8 million sharesflagged for fraud, where transaction activity is resulting in excessive charge-backs, several loss mitigation actions may be issued iftaken. These include charge-back dispute resolution, merchant and reseller funds (reserves or processed batches) withheld, inclusion on Network Match List to notify the second earn out targetsindustry of a "bad actor", and even legal action.
We ensure that our risk and underwriting activities are met.

Concurrentlycoordinated with the Purchase Agreement, our founding stockholders (the “Founders”)bank sponsors (Wells Fargo, Citizens Bank and PrioritySynovus) and authorization and settlement partners (First Data and TSYS).

Acquisitions of Businesses
On June 19, 2015, we entered into a purchasedefinitive agreement (the “Promote Agreement”) pursuant to which Priority agreed to purchase 421,107substantially all merchant acquiring related assets, except those identified as excluded, of the units issued to the Founders in a private placement immediately prior to M I’s initial public offering,American Credit Card Processing Corp., American Credit Card Processing Corp. II, American

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Credit Card Processing Corp. III and 453,210 shares of common stock of M I issued to the Founders for an aggregatetheir affiliates. The total purchase price consideration was approximately $27.6 million, consisting of approximately $2.1 million. In addition, pursuant tocash paid and a contingent earnout payment.

During 2018, we consummated the Promote Agreement, the Founders will forfeit 174,863 founder’s shares at the closingacquisitions of the Acquisition, which shares may be reissued to the Founders if onefour businesses for total cash consideration of the earn outs described above is achieved.

In addition, the Founders and Thomas C. Priore, the Executive Chairman of Priority (“TCP”), entered into a letter agreement (the “Letter Agreement”) pursuant to which the Founders granted TCP (i) the right to purchase the Founders’ remaining$7.5 million plus shares of our common stock with a fair value of $5.0 million. There is the potential for additional contingent consideration up to $1.5 million.

For more information regarding our acquisitions, see Note 2, Business Combinations, to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Competition
The U.S. acquiring industry is highly competitive, with several large processors accounting for the majority of processing volume; when excluding banks, we ranked 6th among U.S. merchant acquiring as of 2017, according to the December 2017 Nilson Report. When comparing top non-bank U.S. merchant acquirers by volume, Worldpay holds the leadership position followed by Global Payments, First Data and TSYS. While the scale of these companies is large, we believe there is still ample opportunity for companies like us to continue to grow given the vast amount of growth in MasterCard/Visa purchasing volume which increased in 2017 given the utility of card-based payments by U.S. consumers.
The concentration at the prevailingtop of the industry partly reflects consolidation; however, we believe that consolidation has also resulted in many large processors having multiple, inflexible legacy IT systems that are not well equipped to adjust to changing market requirements. We believe that the large merchant acquirers whose innovation has been hindered by these redundant, legacy systems risk losing market share to acquirers with more agile and dynamic IT systems, such as Priority.

Pricing has historically been the key factor influencing the selection of a merchant acquirer. However, providers with more advanced tech-enabled services (primarily online and integrated offerings) have an advantage over providers operating legacy technology and offering undifferentiated services that have come under pricing pressure from higher levels of competition. High quality customer service further differentiates providers as this helps to reduce attrition. Other competitive factors that set acquirers apart include price, partnerships with financial institutions, servicing capability, data security and functionality. Leading acquirers are expected to continue to add additional services to expand cross-selling opportunities, primarily in omni-channel payment solutions, POS software, payments security, customer loyalty and other payments-related offerings.
The largest opportunity for acquirers to expand is within the small to medium-sized merchant market. According to First Annapolis, there are approximately 7.2 million small to mid-sized merchants generating over $800 billion in credit/debit dollar volume annually, which equates to approximately $6 billion in acquirer net revenue. JP Morgan estimates that small and mid-sized merchants make up 30% to 35% of U.S. bank card purchase volume. Volume per merchant is lower for acquirers with high penetration rates amongst small businesses; however, this is largely offset by the aggregate processing fee potential and market size.
According to the SMB group, a markets insight firm for small and medium-sized businesses, the majority of small (approximately 67%) and medium-sized businesses (approximately 81%) recognize the upside tech-enabled solutions provide to daily operations and long-term growth potential. As small businesses increasingly demand integrated solutions tailored to specific business functions or industries merchant processors are adopting payment enabled software offerings that combine payments with core business operating software. By subsisting within SMB's critical business software processors are able to improve economic results through better merchant retention and often higher processing margins. Through our MX Merchant platform, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the trend towards integrated solutions, new technology adoption and value added-service utilization in the SMB market.
Government Regulation and Payment Network Rules
We operate in an increasingly complex legal and regulatory environment. We are subject to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulations and the rules and standards of the payment networks that are utilized to provide our electronic payment services, as more fully described below.
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act")

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The Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into law in the United States in 2010, resulted in significant structural and other changes to the regulation of the financial services industry. The Dodd-Frank Act directed the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the "Federal Reserve Board") to regulate the debit interchange transaction fees that a card issuer or payment card network receives or charges for an electronic debit transaction. Pursuant to the so-called "Durbin Amendment" to the Dodd-Frank Act, these fees must be "reasonable and proportional" to the cost incurred by the card issuer in authorizing, clearing and settling the transaction. Pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Federal Reserve Board, debit interchange rates for card issuers with assets of $10 billion or more are capped at $0.21 per transaction and an ad valorem component of 5 basis points to reflect a portion of the issuer's fraud losses plus, for qualifying issuers, an additional $0.01 per transaction in debit interchange for fraud prevention costs. The cap on interchange fees has not had a material direct effect on our results of operations.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act limits the ability of payment card networks to impose certain restrictions because it allows merchants to: (i) set minimum dollar amounts (not to exceed $10) for the acceptance of a credit card (and allows federal governmental entities and institutions of higher education to set maximum amounts for the acceptance of credit cards) and (ii) provide discounts or incentives to encourage consumers to pay with cash, checks, debit cards or credit cards.
The rules also contain prohibitions on network exclusivity and merchant routing restrictions that require a card issuer to enable at least two unaffiliated networks on each debit card, prohibit card networks from entering into exclusivity arrangements and restrict the ability of issuers or networks to mandate transaction routing requirements. The prohibition on network exclusivity has not significantly affected our ability to pass on network fees and other costs to our customers, nor do we expect it to in the future.
The Dodd-Frank Act also created the FSOC, which was established to, among other things, identify risks to the stability of the United States financial system. The FSOC has the authority to require supervision and regulation of nonbank financial companies that the FSOC determines pose a systemic risk to the United States financial system. Accordingly, we may be subject to additional systemic risk-related oversight.

Payment Network Rules and Standards
As a merchant acquirer, we are subject to the rules of Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and other payment networks. In order to provide services, several of our subsidiaries are either registered as service providers for member institutions with MasterCard, Visa and other networks or are direct members of MasterCard, Visa and other networks. Accordingly, we are subject to card association and network rules that could subject us to a variety of fines or penalties that may be levied by the card networks for certain acts or omissions.
Furthermore, payment networks establish their own rules and standards that allocate responsibilities among the payment networks and their participants. These rules and standards, including the PCI DSS, govern a variety of areas including how consumers and merchants may use their cards, data security and allocation of liability for certain acts or omissions including liability in the event of a data breach. The payment networks may change these rules and standards from time to time as they may determine in their sole discretion and with or without advance notice to their participants. These changes may be made for any number of reasons, including as a result of changes in the regulatory environment, to maintain or attract new participants, or to serve the strategic initiatives of the networks and may impose additional costs and expenses on or be disadvantageous to certain participants. Participants are subject to audit by the payment networks to ensure compliance with applicable rules and standards. The networks may fine, penalize or suspend the registration of participants for certain acts or omissions or the failure of the participants to comply with applicable rules and standards.
An example of a standard is EMV, which is mandated by Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. This mandate sets new requirements and technical standards, including requiring integrated POS systems to be capable of accepting the more secure "chip" cards that utilize the EMV standard and set new rules for data handling and security. Processors and merchants that do not comply with the mandate or do not use systems that are EMV compliant risk fines and liability for fraud-related losses. We have invested significant resources to ensure our systems' compliance with the mandate, and to assist our merchants in becoming compliant by the applicable deadlines.
To provide our electronic payments services, we must be registered either indirectly or directly as service providers with the payment networks that we utilize. Because we are not a bank, we are not eligible for membership in certain payment networks, including Visa and MasterCard, we are therefore unable to directly access these networks. The operating regulations of certain payment networks, including Visa and MasterCard, require us to be sponsored by a member bank as a service provider. We are

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registered with certain payment networks, including Visa and MasterCard, through Wells Fargo, Citizens Bank and Synovus Bank. The agreements with our bank sponsors give them substantial discretion in approving certain aspects of our business practices including our solicitation, application and qualification procedures for merchants and the terms of our agreements with merchants. We are registered directly as service providers with Discover, American Express and certain other networks. We are also subject to network operating rules promulgated by NACHA—the Electronic Payments Associations relating to payment transaction processed by us using the Automated Clearing House Network. For ACH payments, our ACH network (ACH.com) is sponsored by Atlantic Capital Bank, MB Financial Bank, and Regions Bank.
Banking Laws and Regulations
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (the "FFIEC") is an interagency body comprised of federal bank and credit union regulators such as the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"), the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. The FFIEC examines large data processors in order to identify and mitigate risks associated with systemically significant service providers, including specifically the risks they may pose to the banking industry.

We are considered by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council to be a technology service provider ("TSP") based on the services we provide to financial institutions. As a TSP, we are subject to audits by an interagency group consisting of the Federal Reserve System, FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Privacy and Information Security Laws
We provide services that may be subject to various state, federal and foreign privacy laws and regulations. These laws and regulations include the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which applies to a broad range of financial institutions and to companies that provide services to financial institutions in the United States, including gaming business. We are also subject to a variety of foreign data protection and privacy laws, including, without limitation, Directive 95/46/EC, as implemented in each member state of the European Union and its successor, the General Data Protection Regulation, which became effective in May 2018. Among other things, these foreign and domestic laws, and their implementing regulations, in certain cases restrict the collection, processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal information, require notice to individuals of privacy practices, and provide individuals with certain rights to prevent use and disclosure of protected information. These laws also impose requirements for safeguarding and removal or elimination of personal information.
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Regulation
The United States federal anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (collectively, the "BSA"), and the "BSA" implementing regulations administered by FinCEN, a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, require, among other things, each financial institution to: (1) develop and implement a risk-based anti-money laundering program; (2) file reports on large currency transactions; (3) file suspicious activity reports if the financial institution believes a customer may be violating U.S. laws and regulations; and (4) maintain transaction records. Given that a number of our clients are financial institutions that are directly subject to U.S. federal anti-money laundering laws and regulations, we have developed an anti-money laundering compliance program to best assist our clients in meeting such legal and regulatory requirements.
We are subject to certain conditions including a flooreconomic and trade sanctions programs that are administered by OFAC of $10.30 per sharethe United States Department of Treasury, which place prohibitions and (ii) a rightrestrictions on all U.S. citizens and entities with respect to transactions by U.S. persons with specified countries and individuals and entities identified on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals list (for example, individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, first refusalcountries subject to certain economic and trade sanctions, as well as terrorists, terrorist organizations and narcotics traffickers identified by OFAC under programs that are not country specific). Similar anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and proceeds of crime laws apply to movements of currency and payments through electronic transactions and to dealings with persons specified on the shares.

A more detailed description the Purchase Agreementlists maintained by organizations similar to OFAC in several other countries and the related transactions can be found in our Current Reportwhich may impose specific data retention obligations or prohibitions on Form 8-K dated February 26, 2018, and more information about Priority can be found in our Current Report on Form 8-K dated February 27, 2018.

On March 13, 2018, the Company issued promissory notesintermediaries in the aggregate principal amount of$132,753payment process. We have developed and continue to its sponsors (M SPAC LLC, M SPAC Holdings I, LLCenhance compliance programs and M SPAC Holdings II, LLC). The $132,753 received by the Company upon issuance of the notes was deposited into the Company’s trust account for the benefit of its public stockholders in orderpolicies to extend theperiod of time the Company hasmonitor and address such legal and regulatory requirements and developments. We continue to complete a business combination for an additional one month, from March 19, 2018enhance such programs and policies to April 19, 2018. The notesensure that our customers do not bear interestengage in prohibited transactions with designated countries, individuals or entities.


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Debt Collection and are payable five business days after the date the Company completes a business combination.

A more detailed description of the promissory notes and the related transactions can be found in our Current Report on Form 8-K dated March 14, 2018.

Credit Reporting Laws

Competitive strengths

We believe our specific competitive strengths to be the following:

Status as a public company

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares

Portions of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses might find this method a more certain and cost-effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, roadshow and public reporting efforts that will likely notbusiness may be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us. Furthermore, once the business combination is consummated, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ abilityFair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and similar state laws. These debt collection laws are designed to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions that could prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capitaleliminate abusive, deceptive and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests than it would have as a privately-held company. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

While we believe that our status as a public company will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view the inherent limitations in our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our requirements to seek stockholder approval of any proposed initial business combination and provide holders of public shares the opportunity to convert their shares into cash from the trust account, as a deterrentunfair debt collection practices and may preferrequire licensing at the state level. The Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates the use and reporting of consumer credit information and also imposes disclosure requirements on entities that take adverse action based on information obtained from credit reporting agencies. We have procedures in place to effect a business combinationcomply with a more established entitythe requirements of these laws.

Unfair or with a private company.

Transaction flexibility

Deceptive Acts or Practices

We offer a target business a varietyand many of options suchour merchants are subject to Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices, or UDAP. In addition, the UDAP and other laws, rules and or regulations, including the Telemarketing Sales Act, may directly impact the activities of certain of our merchants, and in some cases may subject us, as providing the ownersmerchant's payment processor or provider of a target business with sharescertain services, to investigations, fees, fines and disgorgement of funds if we were deemed to have aided and abetted or otherwise provided the means and instrumentalities to facilitate the illegal or improper activities of the merchant through our services. Various federal and state regulatory enforcement agencies including the Federal Trade Commission and the states attorneys general have authority to take action against non-banks that engage in a public companyUDAP or violate other laws, rules and a public meansregulations and to sell such shares, providing cash for stock, and providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Becauseextent we are able to consummate our initial business combination using our cash, debtprocessing payments or equity securities, orproviding services for a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combinationmerchant that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, since we have no specific business combination under consideration, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and it may not be available to us.

Competitive Weaknesses

We believe our competitive weaknesses to be the following:

Limited Financial Resources

Our financial reserves will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of venture capital firms, leveraged buyout firms and operating businesses competing for acquisitions. In addition, our financial resources could be reduced because of our obligation to convert shares held by our public stockholders as well as any tender offer we conduct.

Lack of experience with blank check companies

Our management team is not experienced in pursuing business combinations on behalf of blank check companies. Other blank check companies may be sponsoredin violation of laws, rules and managed by individuals with prior experience in completing business combinations between blank check companies and target businesses. Our managements’ lack of experience may not be viewed favorably by target businesses.

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Limited technical and human resources

As a blank check company, we have limited technical and human resources. Many venture capital funds, leveraged buyout firms and operating businesses possess greater technical and human resources than we do and thusregulations, we may be atsubject to enforcement actions and as a disadvantage when competing with them for target businesses.

Delay associated with stockholder approval or tender offer

Weresult may be required to seek stockholder approvalincur losses and liabilities that may impact our business.


Indirect Regulatory Requirements
A number of our initial business combination. If weclients are financial institutions that are directly subject to various regulations and compliance obligations issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the "CFPB"), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and other agencies responsible for regulating financial institutions. While these regulatory requirements and compliance obligations do not required to obtain stockholder approval of an initial business combination, we will allow our stockholders to sell their sharesapply directly to us, pursuantmany of these requirements materially affect the services we provide to a tender offer. Both seeking stockholder approvalour clients. The banking agencies, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, have imposed requirements on regulated financial institutions to manage their third-party service providers. Among other things, these requirements include performing appropriate due diligence when selecting third-party service providers; evaluating the risk management, information security, and information management systems of third-party service providers; imposing contractual protections in agreements with third-party service providers (such as performance measures, audit and remediation rights, indemnification, compliance requirements, confidentiality and information security obligations, insurance requirements, and limits on liability); and conducting a tender offer will delay the consummation of our initial business combination. Other companies competing with us for acquisition opportunities may not be subject to similar requirement, or may be able to satisfy such requirements more quickly than we can. As a result, we may be at a disadvantage in competing for these opportunities.

Effecting an Acquisition Transaction

General

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any substantive commercial business until we close a business combination. We intend to utilize cash derived from the proceedsongoing monitoring of the IPO and the private placementperformance of private units, our capital stock, debt or a combination ofthird-party service providers. Accommodating these in effecting our initial business combination. Although substantially all of the net proceeds of the IPO and the private placement of private units are intended to be applied generally toward effecting a business combination, the proceeds are not otherwise being designated for any more specific purposes. Accordingly, investors in the IPO were investing without first having an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any one or more business combinations.

Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination

Subjectrequirements applicable to our management team’s fiduciary dutiesclients imposes additional costs and the limitation that one or more target businesses have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriter’s fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination, as described below in more detail, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective target business. Additionally, there is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loansrisks in connection with our initial business combination.financial institution relationships. We have not establishedexpect to expend resources on an ongoing basis in an effort to assist our clients in responding to any specific attributes or criteria (financial or otherwise) for prospective target businesses.

Accordingly, there is no basis for investorsregulatory inquiries on behalf of merchants and resellers.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act
We are subject to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete a business combination. ToFederal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and various state laws to the extent we effectplace telephone calls and short message service ("SMS") messages to clients and consumers. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act regulates certain telephone calls and SMS messages placed using automatic telephone dialing systems or artificial or prerecorded voices.
Other Regulation
We are subject to U.S. federal and state unclaimed or abandoned property (escheat) laws which require us to turn over to certain government authorities the property of others we hold that has been unclaimed for a specified period of time such as account balances that are due to a distribution partner or merchant following discontinuation of our initial business combinationrelationship with a financially unstable company orthem. The Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 requires certain merchant acquiring entities and third-party settlement organizations to provide information returns for each calendar year with respect to payments made in settlement of electronic payment transactions and third-party payment network transactions occurring in that calendar year. Reportable transactions are also subject to backup withholding requirements.
The foregoing is not an entity in its early stage of development or growth, including entities without established records of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business and operations of financially unstable and early stage or potential emerging growth companies. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors. In evaluating a prospective target business, our management may consider a variety of factors, including one or moreexhaustive list of the following:

•     financial conditionlaws, rules and resultsregulations to which we are subject to and the regulatory framework governing our business is changing continuously.


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Intellectual Property
We have developed a payments platform that includes many instances of proprietary software, code sets, work flows and algorithms. It is our practice to enter into confidentiality, non-disclosure, and invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors, and into confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with other third parties, to limit access to, and disclosure and use of, our confidential information and proprietary technology. In addition to these contractual measures, we also rely on a combination of trademarks, copyrights, registered domain names, and patent rights to help protect the Priority brand recognition and potential;

•     returnour other intellectual property.


As of December 31, 2018, we had in excess of 30 active trademarks that pertain to company, product names, and logos. We may file patent applications as we innovate through research and development efforts, and to pursue additional patent protection to the extent we deem it beneficial and cost-effective. We also own a number of domain names necessary for business operations and brand protection.


Employees
As of December 31, 2018, we employed 562 employees, of which 516 were employed full-time. None of our employees are represented by a labor union and we have experienced no work stoppages. We consider our employee relations to be good.


Availability of Filings

Our annual reports on equityForm 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or invested capital;

•     market capitalizationfurnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or enterprise value;


•     experience and skill of management and availability of additional personnel;

•     capital requirements;

•     competitive position;

•     barriers to entry;

•     stage of development15(d) of the products, processesSecurities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), are made available free of charge on our internet web site at www.prth.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after we have electronically filed the material with, or services;

•     existing distributionfurnished it to, the Securities and potential for expansion;

•     degreeExchange Commission (the "SEC"). The SEC maintains an internet site that contains our reports, proxy and information statements and our other SEC filings. The address of current or potential market acceptancethat web site is https://www.sec.gov/. The contents of the products, processes or services;

•     proprietary aspects of products and the extent of intellectual property or other protection for products or formulas;

•     impact of regulation on the business;

•     regulatory environment of the industry;

•     costs associated with effecting the business combination;

•     industry leadership, sustainability of market share and attractiveness of market industries in which a target business participates; and

•     macro competitive dynamics in the industry within which the company competes.

These criteriaour websites are not intended to be exhaustive. Our management may not considerincorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in any of the above criteria in evaluating a prospective target business. The retention of our officers and directors following the completion of any business combination will not be a material consideration in our evaluation of a prospective target business.

Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular business combination will be based, to the extent relevant, on the above factors as well as other considerations deemed relevant by our management in effecting a business combination consistent with our business objective. In evaluating a prospective target business,report or document we will conduct an extensive due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and inspection of facilities, as well as review of financial and other information which is made available to us. This due diligence review will be conducted either by our management or by unaffiliated third parties we may engage, although we have no current intention to engage any such third parties.

The time and costs required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination remain to be determined. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which a business combination is not ultimately completed will result in a loss to us and reduce the amount of capital available to otherwise complete a business combination.

Fair Market Value of Target Business

Pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses having an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the funds in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriter’s fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account), which we refer to as the 80% test, at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination, although we may structure a business combination with one or more target businesses whose fair market value significantly exceeds 80% of the trust account balance. If we are no longer listed on Nasdaq, we will not be required to satisfy the 80% test.


We currently anticipate structuring a business combination to acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure a business combination where we merge directly with the target business or where we acquire less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise owns a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% test. In order to consummate such an acquisition, we may issue a significant amount of our debt or equity securities to the sellers of such businesses and/or seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities. Since we have no specific business combination under consideration, we have not entered into any such fund-raising arrangement and have no current intention of doing so. The fair market value of the target will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). If our board is not able to independently determine that the target business has a sufficient fair market value, we will obtain an opinion from an unaffiliated, independent investment banking firm, or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions on the type of target business we are seeking to acquire, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We will not be required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions on the type of target business we are seeking to acquire, as to the fair market value if our board of directors independently determines that the target business complies with the 80% threshold. However, if we seek to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our officers, directors or insiders and are therefore required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view, we may ask that banking firm to opine on whether the target business met the 80% fair market value test. Nevertheless, we are not required to do so and could determine not to do so without consent of our stockholders.

Lack of Business Diversification

We expect to complete only a single business combination, although this process may entail simultaneous business combinations with several operating businesses. Therefore, at least initially, the prospects for our success may be entirely dependent upon the future performance of a single business operation. Unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations of entities operating in multiple industries or multiple areas of a single industry, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses. By consummating our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

•     subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination, and

•     result in our dependency upon the performance of a single operating business or the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.


If we determine to simultaneously consummate our initial business combination with several businesses and such businesses are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete the business combination. With a business combination with several businesses, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the target companies in a single operating business.

Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target Business’ Management Team

Our assessment of the target business’ management team may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management team may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of our officers and directors, if any, in the target business following our initial business combination remains to be determined. While it is possible that some of our key personnel will remain associated in senior management or advisory positions with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that they will devote their full-time efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, they would only be able to remain with the company after the consummation of our initial business combination if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for them to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to the company after the consummation of the business combination. While the personal and financial interests of our key personnel may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, their ability to remain with the company after the consummation of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. Additionally, our officers and directors may not have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.

Following our initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We may not have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that any such additional managers we do recruit will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.

Stockholder Approval of Business Combination

In connection with any proposed business combination, we will either (1) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which public stockholders (but not our insiders, officers or directors) may seek to convert their shares of common stock, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into a portion of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, or (2) provide our stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and therefore avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, in each case subject to the limitations described herein. If we determine to engage in a tender offer, such tender offer will be structured so that each stockholder may tender all of his, her or its shares rather than some pro rata portion of his, her or its shares. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or whether we will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. We anticipate that our business combination could be completed by way of a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar transaction. Stockholder approval will not be required under Delaware law if the business combination is structured as an acquisition of assets of the target company, a share exchange with target company stockholders or a purchase of stock of the target company; however, Nasdaq rules would require us to obtain stockholder approval if we seek to issue shares representing 20% or more of our outstanding shares as consideration in a business combination. A merger of our company into a target company would require stockholder approval under Delaware law. A merger of a target company into our company would not require stockholder approval unless the merger results in a change to our certificate of incorporation, or if the shares issued in connection with the merger exceed 20% of our outstanding shares prior to the merger. A merger of a target company with a subsidiary of our company would not require stockholder approval unless the merger results in a change in our certificate of incorporation; however, Nasdaq rules would require us to obtain stockholder approval of such a transaction if we week to issue shares representing 20% or more of our outstanding shares as consideration.


If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will provide our stockholders with an opportunity to tender their shares to us pursuant to a tender offer pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and we will file tender offer documents with the SEC, which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules.

In the event we allow stockholdersany references to tender their shares pursuant to the tender offer rules, our tender offer will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not purchase public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assetswebsites are intended to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

If, however, stockholder approvalinactive textual references only.


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Table of the transaction is required by law or Nasdaq requirements, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will:

•     permit stockholders to convert their shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and

•     file proxy materials with the SEC.

In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide stockholders with the conversion rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.

We will consummate our initial business combination only if public stockholders do not exercise conversion rights in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. As a result, if stockholders owning approximately 88.6%or more of the shares of common stock sold in the IPO exercise conversion rights, the business combination will not be consummated. However, the actual percentages will only be able to be determined once a target business is located and we can assess all of the assets and liabilities of the combined company (which would include the fee payable to the underwriters in an amount of $1,062,022, any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by our insiders, officers, directors or their affiliates in connection with certain activities on our behalf, such as identifying and investigating possible business targets and business combinations that have not been repaid at that time, as well as any other liabilities of ours and the liabilities of the target business) upon consummation of the proposed business combination, subject to the requirement that we must have at least $5,000,001 of net tangible assets upon closing of such business combination. As a result, the actual percentages of shares that can be converted may be significantly lower than our estimates. We chose our net tangible asset threshold of $5,000,001 to ensure that we would avoid being subject to Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. However, if we seek to consummate an initial business combination with a target business that imposes any type of working capital closing condition or requires us to have a minimum amount of funds available from the trust account upon consummation of such initial business combination, our net tangible asset threshold may limit our ability to consummate such initial business combination (as we may be required to have a lesser number of shares converted) and may force us to seek third party financing which may not be available on terms acceptable to us or at all. Alternatively, we may not be able to consummate a business combination unless the number of shares of common stock seeking conversion rights is significantly less than the 88.6% indicated above. As a result, we may not be able to consummate such initial business combination and we may not be able to locate another suitable target within the applicable time period, if at all. Public stockholders may therefore have to wait 18 months from the closing of the IPO (or up to 21 months from the closing of the IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail below) in order to be able to receive a portion of the trust account.

Our insiders, officers and directors have agreed (1) to vote any shares of common stock owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination, (2) not to convert any shares of common stock into the right to receive cash from the trust account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination or a vote to amend the provisions of our certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity and (3) not sell any shares of common stock in any tender in connection with a proposed initial business combination.

Depending on how a business combination was structured, any stockholder approval requirement could be satisfied by obtaining the approval of either (i) a majority of the shares of our common stock that were voted at the meeting (assuming a quorum was present at the meeting), or (ii) a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock. Because our insiders, officers and directors will collectively beneficially own approximately 24.8% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in the IPO upon consummation of the IPO and the sale of the private units, a minimum of approximately 10,626, or 0.2% (if the approval requirement was a majority of shares voted and the minimum number of shares required for a quorum attended the meeting), and a maximum of approximately 1,780,739, or 25.0% (assuming that a majority of the outstanding shares was required to approve the initial business combination), of the outstanding shares of our common stock not owned by our insiders, officers or directors would need to be voted in favor a business combination in order for it to be approved.

None of our insiders or their affiliates has indicated any intention to purchase units or shares of common stock from persons in the open market or in private transactions. However, if we seek stockholder approval of a business combination and if we hold a meeting to approve a proposed business combination and a significant number of stockholders vote, or indicate an intention to vote, against such proposed business combination, we or our insiders or their affiliates could make such purchases in the open market or in private transactions in order to influence the vote. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. No funds from the trust account can be released from the trust account prior to the consummation of a business combination to make such purchases (although such purchases could be made using funds available to us after the closing of a business combination). We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we or our insiders or their affiliates will not make purchases of shares of common stock if the purchases would violate Sections 9(a)(2) or 10(b) of the Exchange Act or Regulation M, which are rules that prohibit manipulation of a company’s stock, and we and they will comply with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act in connection with any open-market purchases. If purchases cannot be made without violating applicable law, no such purchases will be made. The purpose of such purchases would be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. Our insiders anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our insiders or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our insiders or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination.


Ability to Extend Time to Complete Business Combination

We have extended the time to complete an initial business combination to April 19, 2018 by depositing $132,753 into our trust account. If we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination by April 19, 2018 (as seems likely), we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to two additional times, each by an additional one month (for a total of up to 21 months to complete a business combination). Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC on the date of the IPO, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our insiders or their affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $132,753 ($0.025 per unit in either case), up to an aggregate of $398,258, or $0.075 per unit (if our life is extended three times), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each one month extension (we have already deposited $132,753 for the first extension). The insiders received for the first deposit and they or their designees will receive for any subsequent deposits a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note equal to the amount of any such deposit that will not be repaid in the event that we are unable to close a business combination unless there are funds available outside the trust account to do so. In the event that we receive notice from our insiders five days prior to the applicable deadline of their intent to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our insiders and their affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. To the extent that some, but not all, of our insiders, decide to extend the period of time to consummate our initial business combinations, such insiders (or their affiliates or designees) may deposit the entire $398,258. We currently anticipate to complete our proposed business combination with Priority in June 2018.

Conversion Rights

At any meeting called to approve an initial business combination, any public stockholder, whether voting for or against such proposed business combination, will be entitled to demand that his or her shares of common stock be converted for a full pro rata portion of the amount then in the trust account (initially $10.30 per share), plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us or necessary to pay our tax obligations. Alternatively, we may provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares of our common stock to us through a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account less any outstanding tax liabilities owed.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of his or hers, or any other person with whom he or she is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act) will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to 20% or more of the shares of common stock sold in the IPO. Such a public stockholder would still be entitled to vote against a proposed business combination with respect to all shares of common stock owned by him or her, or his or her affiliates. We believe this restriction will prevent stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares before the vote held to approve a proposed business combination and attempt to use the conversion right as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then current market price. By not allowing a stockholder to convert more than 20% of the shares of common stock sold in the IPO, we believe we have limited the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block a transaction which is favored by our other public stockholders.

None of our insiders, officers or directors will have the right to receive cash from the trust account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination or a vote to amend the provisions of our certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity with respect to any shares of common stock owned by them, directly or indirectly, whether acquired prior to the IPO or purchased by them in the IPO or in the aftermarket.

We may also require public stockholders who wish to convert, whether they are a record holder or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent at any time through the vote on the business combination or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The proxy solicitation materials that we will furnish to stockholders in connection with the vote for any proposed business combination will indicate whether we are requiring stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a stockholder would have from the time the stockholder received our proxy statement through the vote on the business combination to deliver his or her shares if he or she wishes to seek to exercise his or her conversion rights. Under Delaware law and our bylaws, we are required to provide at least 10 days advance notice of any stockholder meeting, which would be the minimum amount of time a public stockholder would have to determine whether to exercise conversion rights.


There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced delivery process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $45.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders to deliver their shares prior to the vote on the business combination in order to exercise conversion rights. This is because a holder would need to deliver shares to exercise conversion rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated. However, in the event we require stockholders to deliver their shares prior to the vote on the proposed business combination and the proposed business combination is not consummated, this may result in an increased cost to stockholders.

The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. Traditionally, in order to perfect conversion rights in connection with a blank check company’s business combination, the company would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her conversion rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the consummation of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the conversion price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the conversion rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become a “continuing” right surviving past the consummation of the business combination until the holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a holder’s election to convert his or her shares is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

Any request to convert such shares once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the vote on the proposed business combination. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered his or her certificate in connection with an election of their conversion and subsequently decides prior to the vote on the proposed business combination not to elect to exercise such rights, he or she may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically).

If the initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their conversion rights would not be entitled to convert their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any shares delivered by public holders.

Liquidation if No Business Combination

If we do not complete a business combination by April 19, 2018, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the outstanding public shares and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

We have extended the time to complete an initial business combination to April 19, 2018 by depositing $132,753 into our trust account. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination by April 19, 2018 (as seems likely), we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to two additional times, each by an additional one month (for a total of up to 21 months to complete a business combination). Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC on the date of the IPO, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our insiders or their affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $132,753 ($0.025 per unit in either case), up to an aggregate of $398,258, or $0.075 per unit (if our life is extended three times), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each one month extension (we have already deposited $132,753 for the first extension). The insiders received for the first deposit and and they or their designees will receive for any subsequent deposits a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note equal to the amount of any such deposit that will not be repaid in the event that we are unable to close a business combination unless there are funds available outside the trust account to do so. In the event that we receive notice from our insiders five days prior to the applicable deadline of their intent to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our insiders and their affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. To the extent that some, but not all, of our insiders, decide to extend the period of time to consummate our initial business combinations, such insiders (or their affiliates or designees) may deposit the entire $398,258. We currently anticipate having to extend the time needed to complete our proposed business combination with Priority.


Upon liquidation, the warrants will expire and holders of warrants will receive nothing upon a liquidation with respect to such warrants, and the warrants will be worthless.

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of 100% of our outstanding public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the Delaware General Corporation Law intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any redemptions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a redemption is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of 100% of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution. It is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 18th or 21st month from the closing of the IPO and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the above procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, Section 281(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to seeking to complete an initial business combination, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses.

We will seek to have all third parties (including any vendors or other entities we engage after the IPO) and any prospective target businesses enter into valid and enforceable agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account.


As a result, the claims that could be made against us will be limited, thereby lessening the likelihood that any claim would result in any liability extending to the trust. We therefore believe that any necessary provision for creditors will be reduced and should not have a significant impact on our ability to distribute the funds in the trust account to our public stockholders. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that vendors, service providers and prospective target businesses will execute such agreements. In the event that a potential contracted party was to refuse to execute such a waiver, we will execute an agreement with that entity only if our management first determines that we would be unable to obtain, on a reasonable basis, substantially similar services or opportunities from another entity willing to execute such a waiver. Examples of instances where we may engage a third party that refused to execute a waiver would be the engagement of a third party consultant who cannot sign such an agreement due to regulatory restrictions, such as our auditors who are unable to sign due to independence requirements, or whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or a situation in which management does not believe it would be able to find a provider of required services willing to provide the waiver. There is also no guarantee that, even if they execute such agreements with us, they will not seek recourse against the trust account. Our insiders have agreed that they will be jointly and severally liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below $10.30 per public share, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a valid and enforceable agreement with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Our board of directors has evaluated our insiders’ financial net worth and believes they will be able to satisfy any indemnification obligations that may arise. However, our insiders may not be able to satisfy their indemnification obligations, as we have not required our insiders to retain any assets to provide for their indemnification obligations, nor have we taken any further steps to ensure that they will be able to satisfy any indemnification obligations that arise. Moreover, our insiders will not be liable to our public stockholders and instead will only have liability to us. As a result, if we liquidate, the per-share distribution from the trust account could be less than approximately $10.30 due to claims or potential claims of creditors. We will distribute to all of our public stockholders, in proportion to their respective equity interests, an aggregate sum equal to the amount then held in the trust account, inclusive of any interest not previously released to us, (subject to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors as described below).

If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination and are forced to redeem 100% of our outstanding public shares for a portion of the funds held in the trust account, we anticipate notifying the trustee of the trust account to begin liquidating such assets promptly after such date and anticipate it will take no more than 10 business days to effectuate the redemption of our public shares. Our insiders have waived their rights to participate in any redemption with respect to their insider shares. We will pay the costs of any subsequent liquidation from our remaining assets outside of the trust account. If such funds are insufficient, our insiders have agreed to pay the funds necessary to complete such liquidation (currently anticipated to be no more than approximately $15,000) and have agreed not to seek repayment of such expenses. Each holder of public shares will receive a full pro rata portion of the amount then in the trust account, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us or necessary to pay our tax obligations. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to claims of our creditors that are in preference to the claims of public stockholders.

Our public stockholders shall be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event of our failure to complete our initial business combination in the required time period or if the stockholders seek to have us convert their respective shares of common stock upon a business combination which is actually completed by us. In no other circumstances shall a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

If we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per share redemption or conversion amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.30.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. Claims may be brought against us for these reasons.


Certificate of Incorporation

Our certificate of incorporation contains certain requirements and restrictions relating to the IPO that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. If we hold a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our certificate of incorporation relating to stockholder’s rights or pre-business combination activity (including the substance or timing within which we have to complete a business combination), we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our tax obligations, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, in connection with any such vote. Our insiders have agreed to waive any conversion rights with respect to any insider shares, private shares and any public shares they may hold in connection with any vote to amend our certificate of incorporation. Specifically, our certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that:

•     prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either (1) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which public stockholders may seek to convert their shares of common stock, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into a portion of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account less any outstanding tax obligations owed, or (2)provide our stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account less any outstanding tax obligations owed, in each case subject to the limitations described herein;

•     we will consummate our initial business combination only if public stockholders do not exercise conversion rights in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination;

•     if our initial business combination is not consummated within 18 (or 21) months of the closing of the IPO, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account to all of our public holders of shares of common stock;

•     upon the consummation of the IPO, $51,500,000, or $59,225,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, shall be placed into the trust account;

•     we may not consummate any other business combination, merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar transaction prior to our initial business combination; and

•     prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination.

Potential Revisions to Agreements with Insiders

Each of our insiders has entered into letter agreements with us pursuant to which each of them has agreed to do certain things relating to us and our activities prior to a business combination. We could seek to amend these letter agreements without the approval of stockholders, although we have no intention to do so. In particular:

•     Restrictions relating to liquidating the trust account if we failed to consummate a business combination in the time-frames specified above could be amended, but only if we allowed all stockholders to redeem their shares in connection with such amendment;


•     Restrictions relating to our insiders being required to vote in favor of a business combination or against any amendments to our organizational documents could be amended to allow our insiders to vote on a transaction as they wished;

•     The requirement of members of the management team to remain our officer or director until the closing of a business combination could be amended to allow persons to resign from their positions with us if, for example, the current management team was having difficulty locating a target business and another management team had a potential target business;

•     The restrictions on transfer of our securities could be amended to allow transfer to third parties who were not members of our original management team;

•     The obligation of our management team to not propose amendments to our organizational documents could be amended to allow them to propose such changes to our stockholders;

•     The obligation of insiders to not receive any compensation in connection with a business combination could be modified in order to allow them to receive such compensation;

•     The requirement to obtain a valuation for any target business affiliated with our insiders, in the event it was too expensive to do so.

Except as specified above, stockholders would not be required to be given the opportunity to redeem their shares in connection with such changes. Such changes could result in:

•     Our having an extended period of time to consummate a business combination (although with less in trust as a certain number of our stockholders would certainly redeem their shares in connection with any such extension);

•     Our insiders being able to vote against a business combination or in favor of changes to our organizational documents;

•     Our operations being controlled by a new management team that our stockholders did not elect to invest with;

•     Our insiders receiving compensation in connection with a business combination; and

•     Our insiders closing a transaction with one of their affiliates without receiving an independent valuation of such business.

We will not agree to any such changes unless we believed that such changes were in the best interests of our stockholders (for example, if we believed such a modification were necessary to complete a business combination). Each of our officers and directors have fiduciary obligations to us requiring that they act in our best interests and the best interests of our stockholders.

Competition

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources than us and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there may be numerous potential target businesses that we could complete a business combination with utilizing the net proceeds of the IPO, our ability to compete in completing a business combination with certain sizable target businesses may be limited by our available financial resources.


The following also may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses:

•      our obligation to seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination or engage in a tender offer may delay the completion of a transaction;

•      our obligation to convert shares of common stock held by our public stockholders may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination;

•      our outstanding warrants and unit purchase options, and the potential future dilution they represent;

•      our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commission to the underwriters upon consummation of our initial business combination;

•      our obligation to either repay working capital loans that may be made to us by our insiders, officers, directors or their affiliates;

•      our obligation to register the resale of the insider shares, as well as the private units (and underlying securities) and any shares issued to our insiders, officers, directors or their affiliates upon conversion of working capital loans; and

•      the impact on the target business’ assets as a result of unknown liabilities under the securities laws or otherwise depending on developments involving us prior to the consummation of a business combination.

Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating our initial business combination. Our management believes, however, that our status as a public entity and potential access to the United States public equity markets may give us a competitive advantage over privately-held entities having a similar business objective as ours in connection with an initial business combination with a target business with significant growth potential on favorable terms.

If we succeed in effecting our initial business combination, there will be, in all likelihood, intense competition from competitors of the target business. Subsequent to our initial business combination, we may not have the resources or ability to compete effectively.

Facilities

We currently maintain our principal executive offices at 40 Wall Street, 58th Floor, New York, NY 10005. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per-month fee payable to Magna Management LLC, a company controlled by our insiders, for office space, utilities and secretarial services. Our agreement with Magna Management LLC provides that commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market and until we consummate a business combination, such office space, as well as utilities and secretarial services, will be made available to us as may be required from time to time. We believe that the fee charged by Magna Management LLC is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person. We consider our current office space, combined with the other office space otherwise available to our executive officers, adequate for our current operations.

Employees

We have two executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters and intend to devote only as much time as they deem necessary to our affairs. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for the business combination and the stage of the business combination process the company is in. Accordingly, once a suitable target business to consummate our initial business combination with has been located, management will spend more time investigating such target business and negotiating and processing the business combination (and consequently spend more time on our affairs) than had been spent prior to locating a suitable target business. We presently expect our executive officers to devote an average of approximately 10 hours per week to our business. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.

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ITEM 1A.RISK FACTORS

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider the risks described below. Our business, prospects, financial condition or operating results could be harmed by any of these risks, as well as other risks not currently known to us or that we currently consider immaterial.

Risk Factors Related to Our Business
The payment processing industry is highly competitive and such competition is likely to increase, which may adversely influence the prices we can charge to merchants for our services and the compensation we must pay to our distribution partners, and as a result, our profit margins.
The payment processing industry is highly competitive. We primarily compete in the SMB merchant industry. Competition has increased recently as other providers of payment processing services have established a sizable market share in the SMB merchant acquiring industry. Our primary competitors for SMB merchants in these markets include financial institutions and their affiliates and well-established payment processing companies that target SMB merchants directly and through third parties, including Bank of America Merchant Services, Chase Merchant Services, Elavon, Inc. (a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp), Wells Fargo Merchant Services, First Data Corporation, Worldpay, Inc., Global Payments, Inc., TSYS and Square. We also compete with many of these same entities for the assistance of distribution partners. For example, many of our distribution partners are not exclusive to us but also have relationships with our competitors, such that we have to continually expend resources to maintain those relationships. Our growth will depend on the continued growth of payments with credit, debit and prepaid cards ("Electronic Payments"), particularly Electronic Payments to SMB merchants, and our ability to increase our market share through successful competitive efforts to gain new merchants and distribution partners.
In addition, many financial institutions, subsidiaries of financial institutions or well-established payment-enabled technology providers with which we compete, have substantially greater capital, technological, management and marketing resources than we have. These factors may allow our competitors to offer better pricing terms to merchants and more attractive compensation to distribution partners, which could result in a loss of our potential or current merchants and distribution partners. Competing with financial institutions is also challenging because, unlike us, they often bundle processing services with other banking products and services. This competition may effectively limit the prices we can charge our merchants, cause us to increase the compensation we pay to our distribution partners and require us to control costs aggressively in order to maintain acceptable profit margins. Our current and future competitors may also develop or offer services that have price or other advantages over the services we provide.
We are also facing new, well capitalized, competition from emerging technology and non-traditional payment processing companies as well as traditional companies offering alternative electronic payments services and payment enabled software solutions. If these new entrants gain a greater share of total electronic payments transactions, they could impact our ability to retain and grow our relationships with merchants and distribution partners. Acquirers may be susceptible to the adoption by the broader merchant community of payment enabled software versus terminal based payments. 
To acquire and retain a segment of our merchants, we depend in part on distribution partners that may not serve us exclusively and are subject to attrition.
We rely in significant part on the efforts of ISOs, ISVs, and referral partners to market our services to merchants seeking to establish a merchant acquiring relationship. These distribution partners seek to introduce us, as well as our competitors, to newly established and existing SMB merchants, including retailers, restaurants and other businesses. Generally, our agreements with distribution partners (with the exception of a portion of our integrated technology partners and bank referral partners) are not exclusive, and distribution partners retain the right to refer merchants to other merchant acquirers. Gaining and maintaining loyalty or exclusivity can require financial concessions to maintain current distribution partners and merchants or to attract potential distribution partners and merchants from our competitors. We have been required, and expect to be required in the future, to make concessions when renewing contracts with our distribution partners and such concessions can have a material impact on our financial condition or operating performance. If these distribution partners switch to another merchant acquirer, cease operations or become insolvent, we will no longer receive new merchant referrals from them, and we risk losing existing merchants that were originally enrolled by them. Additionally, our distribution partners are subject to the requirements imposed by our bank sponsors, which may result in fines to them for non-compliance and may, in some cases, result in these entities ceasing to refer merchants to us. We cannot accurately predict the level of attrition of our distribution partners or merchants in the future, particularly those merchants we

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acquired as customers in the portfolio acquisitions we have completed in the past five years, which makes it difficult for us to forecast growth. If we are unable to establish relationships with new distribution partners or merchants, or otherwise increase our transaction processing volume in order to counter the effect of this attrition, our revenues will decline.

Unauthorized disclosure of merchant or cardholder data, whether through breach of our computer systems, computer viruses, or otherwise, could expose us to liability, protracted and costly litigation and damage our reputation.
We are responsible for data security for ourselves and for third parties with whom we partner, including by contract and under the rules and regulations established by the payment networks, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express, as well as debit card networks. These third parties include merchants, our distribution partners and other third-party service providers and agents. We and other third parties collect, process, store and/or transmit sensitive data, such as names, addresses, social security numbers, credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates, driver's license numbers and bank account numbers. We have ultimate liability to the payment networks and our bank sponsors that register us with Visa or MasterCard for our failure or the failure of third parties with whom we contract to protect this data in accordance with payment network requirements. The loss, destruction or unauthorized modification of merchant or cardholder data by us or our contracted third parties could result in significant fines, sanctions and proceedings or actions against us by the payment networks, governmental bodies, consumers or others.
Information security risks for us and our competitors have substantially increased in recent years in part due to the proliferation of new technologies and the increased sophistication, resources and activities of hackers, terrorists, activists, organized crime, and other external parties, including hostile nation-state actors. Examples of such information security risks are the recent Spectre and Meltdown threats which, rather than acting as viruses, were design flaws in many CPUs that allowed programs to steal data stored in the memory of other running programs and required patch software to correct. The techniques used by these bad actors to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, sabotage systems or utilize payment systems in an effort to perpetrate financial fraud change frequently and are often difficult to detect. Furthermore, threats may derive from human error, fraud or malice on the part of employees or third parties, or may result from accidental technological failure. For example, certain of our employees have access to sensitive data that could be used to commit identity theft or fraud. Concerns about security increase when we transmit information electronically because such transmissions can be subject to attack, interception or loss. Also, computer viruses can be distributed and spread rapidly over the internet and could infiltrate our systems or those of our contracted third parties. Denial of service or other attacks could be launched against us for a variety of purposes, including interfering with our services or to create a diversion for other malicious activities. These types of actions and attacks and others could disrupt our delivery of services or make them unavailable. Any such actions or attacks against us or our contracted third parties could hurt our reputation, force us to incur significant expenses in remediating the resulting impacts, expose us to uninsured liability, result in the loss of our bank sponsors or our ability to participate in the payment networks, subject us to lawsuits, fines or sanctions, distract our management or increase our costs of doing business. For example, we are presently evaluating whether the recent Spectre and Meltdown threats may require us to replace substantial portions of our current technology hardware and infrastructure in order to mitigate the risk associated with those threats. If we are required to replace a substantial portion of our current technology hardware and infrastructure, either as a result of the Spectre and Meltdown threats or similar future threats, we would likely incur substantial capital expenditures, which may materially and adversely affect our free cash flow and results of operations as a result.
We and our contracted third parties could be subject to breaches of security by hackers. Its encryption of data and other protective measures may not prevent unauthorized access to or use of sensitive data. A breach of a system may subject us to material losses or liability, including payment network fines, assessments and claims for unauthorized purchases with misappropriated credit, debit or card information, impersonation or other similar fraud claims. A misuse of such data or a cybersecurity breach could harm our reputation and deter merchants from using electronic payments generally and our services specifically, thus reducing our revenue. In addition, any such misuse or breach could cause us to incur costs to correct the breaches or failures, expose us to uninsured liability, increase our risk of regulatory scrutiny, subject us to lawsuits, and result in the imposition of material penalties and fines under state and federal laws or by the payment networks. While we maintain insurance coverage that may, subject to policy terms and conditions, cover certain aspects of cyber risks, our insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses. In addition, a significant cybersecurity breach of our systems or communications could result in payment networks prohibiting us from processing transactions on their networks or the loss of our bank sponsors that facilitate our participation in the payment networks, either of which could materially impede our ability to conduct business.

The confidentiality of the sensitive business information and personal consumer information that resides on our systems and our associated third parties' systems are critical to our business. While we maintain controls and procedures to protect the sensitive data we collect, we cannot be certain that these measures will be successful or sufficient to counter all current and emerging

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technology threats that are designed to breach these systems in order to gain access to confidential information. For example, although we generally require that our agreements with distribution partners or our service providers which may have access to merchant or cardholder data include confidentiality obligations that restrict these parties from using or disclosing any merchant or cardholder data except as necessary to perform their services under the applicable agreements, we cannot guarantee that these contractual measures will prevent the unauthorized use, modification, destruction or disclosure of data or allow us to seek reimbursement from the contracted party. In addition, many of our merchants are small and medium businesses that may have limited competency regarding data security and handling requirements and may thus experience data breaches. Any unauthorized use, modification, destruction or disclosure of data could result in protracted and costly litigation and the incurrence of significant losses.
In addition, our agreements with our bank sponsors and our third-party payment processors (as well as payment network requirements) require us to take certain protective measures to ensure the confidentiality of merchant and consumer data. Any failure to adequately comply with these protective measures could result in fees, penalties, litigation or termination of our bank sponsor agreements.
Any significant unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data entrusted to us would cause significant damage to our reputation and impair our ability to attract new integrated technology and referral partners, and may cause parties with whom we already have such agreements to terminate them.
As a smallerresult of information security risks, we must continuously develop and enhance our controls, processes, and practices designed to protect our computer systems, software, data and networks from attack, damage, or unauthorized access. This continuous development and enhancement will require us to expend additional resources, including to investigate and remediate significant information security vulnerabilities detected. Despite our investments in security measures, we are unable to assure that any security measures will not be subject to system or human error.
We may experience breakdowns in our processing systems that could damage client relations and expose us to liability.
Our core business depends heavily on the reliability of our processing systems. A system outage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Not only would we suffer damage to our reputation in the event of a system outage, but we may also be liable to third parties. Many of our contractual agreements with clients require us to pay penalties if our systems do not meet certain operating standards. To successfully operate our business, we must be able to protect our processing and other systems from interruption, including from events that may be beyond our control. Events that could cause system interruptions include, but are not limited to, fire, natural disaster, unauthorized entry, power loss, telecommunications failure, computer viruses, terrorist acts, cyber-attacks, and war. Although we have taken steps to protect against data loss and system failures, there is still risk that we may lose critical data or experience system failures. To help protect against these events, we perform the vast majority of disaster recovery operations ourselves, but we also utilize select third parties for certain operations. To the extent we outsource our disaster recovery, we are at risk of the vendor's unresponsiveness or other failures in the event of breakdowns in our systems. In addition, our property and business interruption insurance may not be adequate to compensate us for all losses or failures that may occur.

Governmental regulations designed to protect or limit access to or use of consumer information could adversely affect our ability to effectively provide our services to merchants.
Governmental bodies in the United States have adopted, or are considering the adoption of, laws and regulations restricting the use, collection, storage, and transfer of, and requiring safeguarding of, non-public personal information. Our operations are subject to certain provisions of these laws. Relevant federal privacy laws include the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which applies directly to a broad range of financial institutions and indirectly, or in some instances directly, to companies that provide services to financial institutions. These laws and regulations restrict the collection, processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal information, require notice to individuals of privacy practices and provide individuals with certain rights to prevent the use and disclosure of protected information. These laws also impose requirements for safeguarding and proper destruction of personal information through the issuance of data security standards or guidelines.
The Federal Trade Commission's information safeguarding rules under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act require us to develop, implement and maintain a written, comprehensive information security program containing safeguards that are appropriate for our size and complexity, the nature and scope of our activities and the sensitivity of any customer information at issue. Our financial

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institution clients are subject to similar requirements under the guidelines issued by the federal banking regulators. As part of their compliance with these requirements, each of our financial institution clients is expected to have a program in place for responding to unauthorized access to, or use of, customer information that could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to customers and they are also responsible for our compliance efforts as a major service provider. In addition, regulators are proposing new laws or regulations which could require us to adopt certain cybersecurity and data handling practices. In many jurisdictions consumers must be notified in the event of a data breach, and such notification requirements continue to increase in scope and cost. The changing privacy laws in the United States create new individual privacy rights and impose increased obligations on companies handling personal data.
In addition, there are state laws restricting the ability to collect and utilize certain types of information such as Social Security and driver's license numbers. Certain state laws impose similar privacy obligations as well as obligations to provide notification of security breaches of computer databases that contain personal information to affected individuals, state officers and consumer reporting agencies and businesses and governmental agencies that own data.
In connection with providing services to our merchants, we are required by regulations and contracts with our merchants and with our financial institution referral partners to provide assurances regarding the confidentiality and security of non-public consumer information. These contracts require periodic audits by independent companies regarding our compliance with industry standards and also allow for similar audits regarding best practices established by regulatory guidelines. The compliance standards relate to our infrastructure, components and operational procedures designed to safeguard the confidentiality and security of non-public consumer personal information shared by our merchants with it. Our ability to maintain compliance with these standards and satisfy these audits will affect our ability to attract, grow and maintain business in the future. If we fail to comply with the laws and regulations relating to the protection of data privacy, we could be exposed to suits for breach of contract or to governmental proceedings. In addition, our relationships and reputation could be harmed, which could inhibit our ability to retain existing merchants and distribution partners and obtain new merchants and distribution partners.
If more restrictive privacy laws or rules are adopted by authorities in the future, our compliance costs may increase and our ability to perform due diligence on, and monitor the risk of, our current and potential merchants may decrease, which could create liability for it. Additionally, our opportunities for growth may be curtailed by our compliance capabilities or reputational harm, and our potential liability for security breaches may increase.
Potential distribution partners and merchants may be reluctant to switch to a new merchant acquirer, which may adversely affect our growth.
Many potential distribution partners and merchants worry about potential disadvantages associated with switching merchant acquirers, such as a loss of accustomed functionality, increased costs and business disruption. For our distribution partners, switching to us from another merchant acquirer or integrating with us may be perceived by them as a significant undertaking. As a result, many distribution partners and merchants often resist change. There can be no assurance that our strategies for overcoming potential reluctance to change vendors or initiate a relationship with us will be successful, and this resistance may adversely affect our growth and performance results.

Because we rely on third-party vendors to provide products and services, we could be adversely impacted if they fail to fulfill their obligations.
Our business is dependent on third-party vendors to provide us with certain products and services. For example, we utilize First Data and TSYS to provide authorization and settlement services. Our current amended and restated processing agreement with First Data was entered into in December 2014 and will remain in effect through December 2019 and automatically renews for successive one-year terms thereafter unless either party provides written notice of non-renewal to the other party. Our current processing agreement with TSYS is effective January 1, 2019 for a three-year term and automatically renews for a successive one-year term thereafter unless either party provides written notice of non-renewal to the other party.
The failure of these vendors, such as First Data and TSYS, to perform their obligations in a timely manner could adversely affect our operations and profitability. In addition, if we are unable to renew our existing contracts with our most significant vendors, such as First Data and TSYS, we might not be able to replace the related product or service at the same cost, which would negatively impact our profitability. Specifically, while we believe we would be able to locate alternative vendors to provide substantially

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similar services at comparable rates, or otherwise replicate such services internally, it is not assured that a change will not be disruptive to our business, which could potentially lead to a material adverse impact on our revenue and profitability until resolved.
Changes in card association and debit network fees or products could increase costs or otherwise limit our operations.
From time to time, card associations and debit networks increase the organization and/or processing fees (known as interchange fees) that they charge. It is possible that competitive pressures will result in us absorbing a portion of such increases in the future, which would increase our operating costs, reduce our profit margin, and adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition. In addition, the various card associations and networks prescribe certain capital requirements. Any increase in the capital level required would further limit our use of capital for other purposes.
We are subject to extensive government regulation, and any new laws and regulations, industry standards or revisions made to existing laws, regulations or industry standards affecting the electronic payments industry may have an unfavorable impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to numerous regulations that affect electronic payments including, U.S. financial services regulations, consumer protection laws, escheat regulations, and privacy and information security regulations. Regulation and proposed regulation of our industry has increased significantly in recent years. Changes to statutes, regulations or industry standards, including interpretation and implementation of statutes, regulations or standards, could increase our cost of doing business or affect the competitive balance. For example, the Trump Administration has called for changes in existing regulatory requirements, including those applicable to financial services.
We cannot predict the impact, if any, of such changes on our business. It is likely that some policies adopted by the new administration will benefit us, while others will negatively affect it. Until we know what changes are adopted, we will not know whether in total we benefit from, or are negatively affected by, the changes. Failure to comply with regulations may have an adverse effect on our business, including the limitation, suspension or termination of services provided to, or by, third parties, and the imposition of penalties or fines.

Interchange fees, which are typically paid by the payment processor to the issuer in connection with electronic payments, are subject to increasingly intense legal, regulatory, and legislative scrutiny. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Act significantly changed the United States financial regulatory system, including by regulating and limiting debit card fees charged by certain issuers, allowing merchants to set minimum dollar amounts for the acceptance of credit cards and allowing merchants to offer discounts or other incentives for different payment methods.
Rules implementing the Dodd-Frank Act also contain certain prohibitions on payment network exclusivity and merchant routing restrictions. These restrictions could limit the number of debit transactions, and prices charged per transaction, which would negatively affect our business. The Dodd-Frank Act also created the CFPB, which has assumed responsibility for most federal consumer protection laws, and the FSOC, which has the authority to determine whether any non-bank financial company, which may include us within the definitional scope, should be supervised by the Federal Reserve Board because it is systemically important to the United States financial system. Any such designation would result in increased regulatory burdens on our business, which increases our risk profile and may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We and many of our merchants are subject to Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. That statement and other laws, rules and or regulations, including the Telemarketing Sales Act, may directly impact the activities of certain of our merchants and, in some cases, may subject us, as the merchant's electronic processor or provider of certain services, to investigations, fees, fines and disgorgement of funds if we were deemed to have improperly aided and abetted or otherwise provided the means and instrumentalities to facilitate the illegal or improper activities of the merchant through our services. Various federal and state regulatory enforcement agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general, have authority to take action against non-banks that engage in unfair or deceptive practices or violate other laws, rules and regulations and to the extent we are processing payments or providing services for a merchant that may be in violation of laws, rules and regulations, we may be subject to enforcement actions and as a result may incur losses and liabilities that may impact our business.
Our business may also be subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the "FCRA"), which regulates the use and reporting of consumer credit information and also imposes disclosure requirements on entities that take adverse action based on information obtained

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from credit reporting agencies. We could be liable if our practices under the FCRA are not in compliance with the FCRA or regulations under it.
Separately, the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 included an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code that requires the filing of yearly information returns by payment processing entities and third-party settlement organizations with respect to payments made in settlement of electronic payment transactions and third-party payment network transactions occurring in that calendar year. Transactions that are reportable pursuant to these rules are subject to backup withholding requirements. We could be liable for penalties if our information returns do not comply with these regulations.
These and other laws and regulations, even if not directed at us, may require us to make significant efforts to change our products and services and may require that we incur additional compliance costs and change how we price our services to merchants. Implementing new compliance efforts may be difficult because of the complexity of new regulatory requirements and may cause us to devote significant resources to ensure compliance. Furthermore, regulatory actions may cause changes in business practices by us and other industry participants which could affect how we market, price and distribute our products and services, which could limit our ability to grow, reduce our revenues, or increase our costs. In addition, even an inadvertent failure to comply with laws and regulations, as well as rapidly evolving social expectations of corporate fairness, could damage our business or our reputation.

Failure to comply with the rules established by payment networks or standards established by third-party processors could result in those networks or processors imposing fines or the networks suspending or terminating our registrations through our bank sponsors.

In order to provide our merchant acquiring services, we are registered through our bank sponsors with the Visa and MasterCard networks as service providers for member institutions. Approximately $35.8 billion of our processing volume in the year ended December 31, 2018 was attributable to transactions processed on the Visa and MasterCard networks. As such, we and our merchants are subject to payment network rules. The payment networks routinely update and modify requirements applicable to merchant acquirers including rules regulating data integrity, third-party relationships (such as those with respect to bank sponsors), merchant chargeback standards and PCI DSS. Standards governing our third-party processing agreements may also impose requirements with respect to compliance with PCI DSS.
If we do not comply with the payment network requirements or standards governing our third-party processing agreements, our transaction processing capabilities could be delayed or otherwise disrupted, and recurring non-compliance could result in fines from the payment networks or third-party processors, the payment networks suspending or terminating our registrations which allow us to process transactions on their networks, which would make it impossible for us to conduct our business on our current scale.
In the first quarter of 2018, we closed in excess of 1,200 merchant accounts in order to ensure compliance with the card associations subscription e-commerce criteria. The closure of these merchant accounts was made in response to the card associations having identified at least one merchant as having engaged in deceptive practices with consumers and being noncompliant with their card association requirements, which resulted in excessive chargebacks. The card association has also found evidence that certain merchants had engaged in activities that violated certain card association rules, including entering transactions that did not represent bona fide business between the merchant of record and the cardholder, and processing sales for the same cardholder under different merchant accounts over time. The card association also raised concern about data security failures by merchants or merchant non-compliance with PCI DSS and about a customer relationship vendor that some of our merchants were using at the time.
As a result of these and other findings, we took certain corrective actions, after reviewing these merchant accounts for alleged violations of card association rules and our terms of service, including opening duplicate or multiple accounts to avoid compliance with our chargeback limitations. The corrective actions increase the costs of our compliance program which were passed along to resellers representing these merchants. As a result of some of these discrete corrective actions as well as standard risk assessment conducted through our risk management systems, we terminated certain of the merchant accounts. We continue to evaluate additional existing and new merchant accounts for similar activity, and the number and type of merchants we will onboard in the future could potentially continue to be affected. In addition, if we are in the future forced to close a material number of our merchant accounts as a result of separate inquiries from card associations of our own internal risk assessment process, such closures could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We have not been fined by the credit card association related to these account closures, however, had we not resolved the issues presented in such notices, we

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may have been required to pay a fine. If in the future if we are unable to recover fines from or pass-through costs to our merchants and/or resellers, or recover losses under insurance policies, we would experience a financial loss, and any such loss could be significant.
Under certain circumstances specified in the payment network rules or our third-party processing agreements, we may be required to submit to periodic audits, self-assessments or other assessments of our compliance with the PCI DSS. Such activities may reveal that we have failed to comply with the PCI DSS. In addition, even if we comply with the PCI DSS, there is no assurance that we will be protected from a security breach. The termination of our registration with the payment networks, or any changes in payment network or issuer rules that limit our ability to provide merchant acquiring services, could have an adverse effect on our payment processing volumes, revenues and operating costs. If an audit or self-assessment under PCI DSS identifies any deficiencies that we need to remediate, the remediation efforts may distract our management team and be expensive and time consuming.

Changes in payment network rules or standards could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Payment network rules are established and changed from time to time by each payment network as they may determine in their sole discretion and with or without advance notice to their participants. The timelines imposed by the payment networks for expected compliance with new rules have historically been, and may continue to be, highly compressed, requiring us to quickly implement changes to our systems which increases the risk of non-compliance with new standards. In addition, the payment networks could make changes to interchange or other elements of the pricing structure of the merchant acquiring industry that would have a negative impact on our results of operations. For example, we closed approximately 1,200 merchant accounts in 2018 in order to ensure compliance with the card association subscription e-commerce criteria.

There may be a decline in the use of electronic payments as a payment mechanism for consumers or adverse developments with respect to the electronic payments industry in general which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
Maintaining or increasing our profitability is dependent on consumers and businesses continuing to use credit, debit and prepaid cards at the same or greater rate than previously. If consumers do not continue to use these cards for their transactions or if there is a change in the mix of payments between cash and electronic payments which is adverse to us, our business could decline and we could incur material losses. Regulatory changes may also result in merchants seeking to charge customers additional fees for use of electronic payments. Additionally, in recent years, increased incidents of security breaches have caused some consumers to lose confidence in the ability of retailers to protect their information.
In order to remain competitive and to continue to increase our revenues and earnings, we must continually update our products and services, a process which could result in increased costs and the loss of revenues, earnings, merchants and distribution partners if the new products and services do not perform as intended or are not accepted in the marketplace.
The electronic payments industry in which we compete is subject to rapid technological changes and is characterized by new technology, product and service introductions, evolving industry standards, changing merchant needs and the entrance of non-traditional competitors. We are subject to the risk that our existing products and services become obsolete, and that we are unable to develop new products and services in response to industry demands. Our future success will depend in part on our ability to develop or adapt to technological changes and the evolving needs of our resellers, merchants and the industry at large. We are continually involved in many business and technology projects, such as CPX, MX Connect and MX Merchant. MX Connect and MX Merchant provide resellers and merchant clients, a flexible and customizable set of business applications that help better manage critical business work functions and revenue performance using core payment processing as our leverage point. Additionally, CPX provides AP automation solutions that offers enterprise clients a bridge for buyer to supplier payments. These may require investment in products or services that may not directly generate revenue. These projects carry the risks associated with any development effort, including difficulty in determining market demand and timing for delivery of new products and services, cost overruns, delays in delivery and performance problems. In addition, new products and offerings may not perform as intended or generate the business or revenue growth expected. Defects in our software and errors or delays in our processing of electronic transactions could result in additional development costs, diversion of technical and other resources from our other development efforts, loss of credibility with current or potential distribution partners and merchants, harm to our reputation, fines

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imposed by card networks, or exposure to liability claims. Any delay in the delivery of new products or services or the failure to differentiate our products and services could render them less desirable, or possibly even obsolete, to our merchants. Additionally, the market for alternative payment processing products and services is evolving, and we may develop too rapidly or not rapidly enough for us to recover the costs we have incurred in developing new products and services.
We may not be able to continue to expand our share of the existing electronic payments industry or expand into new markets, which would inhibit our ability to grow and increase our profitability.
Our future growth and profitability depend, in part, upon our continued expansion within the markets in which we currently operate, the emergence of other markets for electronic payments and our ability to penetrate these markets and our current distribution partners' merchant base. Future growth and profitability of our business may depend upon our ability to penetrate new industries and markets for electronic payments.

Our ability to expand into new industries and markets also depends upon our ability to adapt our existing technology or to develop new technologies to meet the particular needs of each new industry or market. We may not have adequate financial or technological resources to develop effective and secure services or distribution channels that will satisfy the demands of these new industries or markets. Penetrating these new industries or markets may also prove to be more challenging or costly or take longer than we may anticipate. If we fail to expand into new and existing electronic payments industries and markets, we may not be able to continue to grow our revenues and earnings.
Our acquisitions subject us to a variety of risks that could harm our business.
We review and complete selective acquisition opportunities as part of our growth strategy. There can be no assurances that we will be able to complete suitable acquisitions for a variety of reasons, including the identification of and competition for acquisition targets, the need for regulatory approvals, the inability of the parties to agree to the structure or purchase price of the transaction and our inability to finance the transaction on commercially acceptable terms. In addition, any potential acquisition will subject us to a variety of other risks:
we may need to allocate substantial operational, financial and management resources in integrating new businesses, technologies and products, and management may encounter difficulties in integrating the operations, personnel or systems of the acquired businesses;

acquisitions may have a material adverse effect on our business relationships with existing or future merchants or distribution partners, in particular, to the extent we consummate acquisitions that increase our sales and distribution capabilities;

we may assume substantial actual or contingent liabilities, known and unknown;

acquisitions may not meet our expectations of future financial performance;

counter-parties to the acquisition transactions may fail to perform their obligations under the applicable acquisition related documents, and/or negligently or intentionally commit misrepresentations as to the condition of the acquired business, asset, or go-forward enterprise;

we may experience delays or reductions in realizing expected synergies or benefits;

we may incur substantial unanticipated costs or encounter other problems associated with acquired businesses or devote time and capital investigating a potential acquisition and not complete the transaction;

we may be unable to achieve our intended objectives for the transaction; and

we may not be able to retain the key personnel, customers and suppliers of the acquired business.

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Additionally, we may be unable to maintain uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies as we attempt to integrate the acquired businesses, and this may lead to operational inefficiencies. These factors related to our acquisition strategy, among others, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Potential changes in the competitive landscape, including disintermediation from other participants in the payments value chain, could harm our business.
We expect that the competitive landscape will continue to change, including the following developments:

rapid and significant changes in technology may result in technology-led marketing that is focused on business solutions rather than pricing, new and innovative payment methods and programs that could place us at a competitive disadvantage and reduce the use of our services;

competitors, distribution partners, and other industry participants may develop products that compete with or replace our value-added products and services;

participants in the financial services, payments and technology industries may merge, create joint ventures or form other business combinations that may strengthen their existing business services or create new payment services that compete with us; and

new services and technologies that we develop may be impacted by industry-wide solutions and standards related to migration to EMV chip technology, tokenization or other security-related technologies.

Failure to compete effectively against any of these competitive threats could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not be able to successfully manage our intellectual property and may be subject to infringement claims.
We rely on a combination of contractual rights and copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws to establish and protect our proprietary technology. Third parties may challenge, circumvent, infringe or misappropriate our intellectual property, or such intellectual property may not be sufficient to permit us to take advantage of current market trends or otherwise to provide competitive advantages, which could result in costly redesign efforts, discontinuance of service offerings or other competitive harm. Others, including our competitors, may independently develop similar technology, duplicate our services or design around our intellectual property and, in such cases, we could not assert our intellectual property rights against such parties. Further, our contractual arrangements may not effectively prevent disclosure of our confidential information or provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of our confidential information. We may have to litigate to enforce or determine the scope and enforceability of our intellectual property rights and know-how, which is expensive, could cause a diversion of resources and may not prove successful. Also, because of the rapid pace of technological change in our industry, aspects of our business and our services rely on technologies developed or licensed by third parties, and we may not be able to obtain or continue to obtain licenses and technologies from these third parties on reasonable terms or at all. The loss of intellectual property protection or the inability to license or otherwise use third-party intellectual property could harm our business and ability to compete.
We may also be subject to costly litigation if our services and technology are alleged to infringe upon or otherwise violate a third-party's proprietary rights. Third parties may have, or may eventually be issued, patents that could be infringed by our products, services or technology. Any of these third parties could make a claim of infringement against us with respect to our products, services or technology. We may also be subject to claims by third parties for patent, copyright or trademark infringement, breach of license or violation of other third-party intellectual property rights. Any claim from third parties may result in a limitation on our ability to use the intellectual property subject to these claims. Additionally, in recent years, individuals and groups have been purchasing intellectual property assets for the sole purpose of making claims of infringement or other violations and attempting to extract settlements from companies like ours. Even if we believe that intellectual property related claims are without merit, defending against such claims is time consuming and expensive and could result in the diversion of the time and attention of our management and employees. Claims of intellectual property infringement or violation also might require us to redesign affected products or services, enter into costly settlement or license agreements, pay costly damage awards, or face a temporary or permanent injunction prohibiting us from marketing or selling certain of our products or services. Even if we have an agreement for indemnification against such costs, the indemnifying party, if any in such circumstances, may be unable to uphold our contractual

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obligations. If we cannot or do not license the infringed technology on reasonable terms or substitute similar technology from another source, our revenue and earnings could be adversely impacted.

We are subject to economic and political risk, the business cycles of our merchants and distribution partners and the overall level of consumer and commercial spending, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The electronic payments industry depends heavily on the overall level of consumer, commercial and government spending. We are exposed to general economic conditions that affect consumer confidence, consumer spending, consumer discretionary income and changes in consumer purchasing habits. A sustained deterioration in general economic conditions or increases in interest rates could adversely affect our financial performance by reducing the number or aggregate dollar volume of transactions made using electronic payments. If our merchants make fewer sales of their products and services using electronic payments, or consumers spend less money through electronic payments, we will have fewer transactions to process at lower dollar amounts, resulting in lower revenue. In addition, a weakening in the economy could force merchants to close at higher than historical rates, resulting in exposure to potential losses and a decline in the number of transactions that we process. We also have material fixed and semi-fixed costs, including rent, debt service, contractual minimums and salaries, which could limit our ability to quickly adjust costs and respond to changes in our business and the economy.
Global economic, political and market conditions affecting the U.S. markets may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition, including our revenue growth and profitability.
The current worldwide financial market situation, as well as various social and political tensions in the United States and around the world, may contribute to increased market volatility, may have long-term effects on the United States and may cause economic uncertainties or deterioration in the United States. The U.S. markets experienced extreme volatility and disruption during the economic downturn that began in mid-2007, and the U.S. economy was in a recession for several consecutive calendar quarters during the same period. In addition, the fiscal and monetary policies of foreign nations, such as Russia and China, may have a severe impact on U.S. financial markets.
Any new legislation that may be adopted in the United States could significantly affect the regulation of U.S. financial markets. Areas subject to potential change, amendment or repeal include the Dodd-Frank Act and the authority of the Federal Reserve Board and the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The United States may also potentially withdraw from or renegotiate various trade agreements and take other actions that would change current trade policies of the United States. We cannot predict which, if any, of these actions will be taken or, if taken, their effect on the financial stability of the United States. Such actions could have a significant adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, particularly in view of the regulatory oversight we presently face. We cannot predict the effects of these or similar events in the future on the U.S. economy in general, or specifically on our business model or growth strategy, which typically involves the use of debt financing. To the extent a downturn in the U.S. economy impacts our merchant accounts, regulatory changes increase the burden we face in operating our business, or disruptions in the credit markets prevent us from using debt to finance future acquisitions, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely impacted.
A substantial portion of all of our merchants are small- and medium-sized businesses, which may increase the impact of economic fluctuations and merchant attrition on it.
We market and sell our solutions primarily to SMB merchants. SMB merchants are typically more susceptible to the adverse effects of economic fluctuations than larger businesses. We experience attrition in merchants and merchant charge volume in the ordinary course of business resulting from several factors, including business closures, transfers of merchants' accounts to our competitors and account closures that we initiate due to heightened credit risks relating to, or contract breaches by, a merchant. Adverse changes in the economic environment or business failures of our SMB merchants may have a greater impact on us than on our competitors who do not focus on SMB merchants to the extent that we do. We cannot accurately predict the level of SMB merchant attrition in the future. If we are unable to establish accounts with new merchants or otherwise increase our payment processing volume in order to counter the effect of this attrition, our revenues will decline.

Our systems and our third-party providers' systems may fail due to factors beyond our control, which could interrupt our service, resulting in our inability to process, cause us to lose business, increase our costs and expose us to liability.

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We depend on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of numerous systems, including our computer network systems, software, data centers and telecommunication networks, as well as the systems and services of our bank sponsors, the payment networks, third-party providers of processing services and other third parties. Our systems and operations or those of our third-party providers, such as our provider of dial-up authorization services, or the payment networks themselves, could be exposed to damage or interruption from, among other things, fire, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failure, unauthorized entry, computer viruses, denial-of-service attacks, acts of terrorism, human error or sabotage, financial insolvency and similar events. Our property and business interruption insurance may not be adequate to compensate us for all losses or failures that may occur. At present, our critical operational systems, such as our payment gateway, are fully redundant, while certain of our less critical systems are not. Therefore, certain aspects of our operations may be subject to interruption. Also, while we have disaster recovery policies and arrangements in place, they have not been tested under actual disasters or similar events.
Defects in our systems or those of third parties, errors or delays in the processing of payment transactions, telecommunications failures or other difficulties could result in failure to process transactions, additional operating and development costs, diversion of technical and other resources, loss of revenue, merchants and distribution partners, loss of merchant and cardholder data, harm to our business or reputation, exposure to fraud losses or other liabilities and fines and other sanctions imposed by payment networks.
We rely on other service and technology providers. If they fail or discontinue providing their services or technology generally or to us specifically, our ability to provide services to merchants may be interrupted, and, as a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted.
We rely on third parties to provide or supplement bankcard processing services and for infrastructure hosting services. We also rely on third parties for specific software and hardware used in providing our products and services. The termination by our service or technology providers of their arrangements with us or their failure to perform their services efficiently and effectively may adversely affect our relationships with our merchants and, if we cannot find alternate providers quickly, may cause those merchants to terminate their relationship with it.
We also rely in part on third parties for the development and access to new technologies, or updates to existing products and services for which third parties provide ongoing support, which increases the cost associated with new and existing product and service offerings. Failure by these third-party providers to devote an appropriate level of attention to our products and services could result in delays in introducing new products or services, or delays in resolving any issues with existing products or services for which third-party providers provide ongoing support.
Fraud by merchants or others could cause us to incur losses.
We face potential liability for fraudulent electronic payment transactions initiated by merchants or others. Merchant fraud occurs when a merchant opens a fraudulent merchant account and conducts fraudulent transactions or when a merchant, rather than a customer (though sometimes working together with a customer engaged in fraudulent activities), knowingly uses a stolen or counterfeit card or card number to record a false sales transaction, or intentionally fails to deliver the merchandise or services sold in an otherwise valid transaction. Any time a merchant is unable to fund a chargeback, we have a number of contractual arrangements and other means of recourse to mitigate those risks. Nonetheless, there still is loss exposure in the event a merchant is unable to fund a chargeback. Additionally, merchant fraud occurs when employees of merchants change the merchant demand deposit accounts to their personal bank account numbers, so that payments are improperly credited to the employee's personal account. We have established systems and procedures to detect and reduce the impact of merchant fraud, but we cannot be sure that these measures are or will be effective. Failure to effectively manage risk and prevent fraud could increase our chargeback or other liability.

We also have potential liability for losses caused by fraudulent card-based payment transactions. Card fraud occurs when a merchant's customer uses a stolen card (or a stolen card number in a card-not-present transaction) to purchase merchandise or services. In a card-present transaction, where a merchant has an EMV, or "chip reader", compliant machine, if the merchant swipes the card and receives authorization for the transaction from the issuer, the issuer remains liable for any loss. In a card-not-present transaction, or where a merchant lacks an EMV-capable machine even if the merchant receives authorization for the transaction, the merchant is liable for any loss arising from the transaction. Many of the merchants that we serve transact a substantial percentage of their sales in card-not-present transactions over the internet or in response to telephone or mail orders, which makes these merchants more vulnerable to fraud than merchants whose transactions are conducted largely in card-present transactions.

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We incur liability when our merchants refuse or cannot reimburse us for chargebacks resolved in favor of their customers.
We have potential liability for chargebacks associated with the transactions we process. If a billing dispute between a merchant and a cardholder is not ultimately resolved in favor of the merchant, the disputed transaction is "charged back" to the merchant's bank and credited or otherwise refunded to the cardholder. The risk of chargebacks is typically greater with those merchants that promise future delivery of goods and services rather than delivering goods or rendering services at the time of payment. If we or our bank sponsors are unable to collect the chargeback from the merchant's account or reserve account (if applicable), or if the merchant refuses or is financially unable (due to bankruptcy or other reasons) to reimburse the merchant's bank for the chargeback, we may bear the loss for the amount of the refund paid to the cardholder. Any increase in chargebacks not paid by our merchants could increase our costs and decrease our revenues. We have policies to manage merchant-related credit risk and often mitigate such risk by requiring collateral and monitoring transaction activity. Notwithstanding our programs and policies for managing credit risk, it is possible that a default on such obligations by one or more of our merchants could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We rely on bank sponsors, which have substantial discretion with respect to certain elements of our business practices, in order to process electronic payment transactions. If these sponsorships are terminated and we are not able to secure new bank sponsors, we will not be able to conduct our business.
Because we are not a bank, we are not eligible for membership in the Visa, MasterCard and other payment networks. These networks' operating regulations require us to be sponsored by a member bank in order to process Electronic Payment transactions. We are currently registered with Visa and MasterCard through Citizens Bank, Wells Fargo and Synovus Bank. We are also subject to network operating rules promulgated by the National Automated Clearing House Association relating to payment transactions processed by us using the Automated Clearing House Network. For ACH payments, our ACH network (ACH.com) is sponsored by Atlantic Capital Bank, BB&T Bank and MB Financial Bank. From time to time, we may enter into other sponsorship relationships as well.
Our bank sponsors may terminate their agreements with us if we materially breach the agreements and do not cure the breach within an established cure period, if our membership with Visa and/or MasterCard terminates, if we enter bankruptcy or file for bankruptcy, or if applicable laws or regulations, including Visa and/or MasterCard regulations, change to prevent either the applicable bank or us from performing services under the agreement. If these sponsorships are terminated and we are unable to secure a replacement bank sponsor within the applicable wind down period, we will not be able to process electronic payment transactions.
Furthermore, our agreements with our bank sponsors provide the bank sponsors with substantial discretion in approving certain elements of our business practices, including our solicitation, application and underwriting procedures for merchants. We cannot guarantee that our bank sponsors' actions under these agreements will not be detrimental to it, nor can we provide assurance that any of our bank sponsors will not terminate their sponsorship of us in the future. Our bank sponsors have broad discretion to impose new business or operational requirements on us, which may materially adversely affect our business. If our sponsorship agreements are terminated and we are unable to secure another bank sponsor, we will not be able to offer Visa or MasterCard transactions or settle transactions which would likely cause us to terminate our operations.
Our bank sponsors also provide or supplement authorization, funding and settlement services in connection with our bankcard processing services. If our sponsorships agreements are terminated and we are unable to secure another bank sponsor, we will not be able to process Visa and MasterCard transactions which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In July 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced that it will begin accepting special purpose national bank charter applications from financial technology companies ("FinTech Charter"). No applications for a FinTech Charter have been submitted to date, and we cannot predict which, if any, of our current or future competitors would take advantage of the charter. However, such a development could increase the competitive risks discussed above or create new competitive risks, such as our nonbank competitors being able to more easily access the payment networks without the requirement of a bank sponsor, which could provide them with a competitive advantage.

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Our risk management policies and procedures may not be fully effective in mitigating our risk exposure in all market environments or against all types of risks.
We operate in a rapidly changing industry. Accordingly, our risk management policies and procedures may not be fully effective to identify, monitor, manage and remediate our risks. Some of our risk evaluation methods depend upon information provided by others and public information regarding markets, merchants or other matters that are otherwise inaccessible by us. In some cases, that information may not be accurate, complete or up-to-date. Additionally, our risk detection system is subject to a high degree of "false positive" risks being detected, which makes it difficult for us to identify real risks in a timely manner. If our policies and procedures are not fully effective or we are not always successful in capturing all risks to which we are or may be exposed, we may suffer harm to our reputation or be subject to litigation or regulatory actions that materially increase our costs and subject us to reputational damage that could limit our ability to grow and cause us to lose existing merchant clients.
Legal proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
In the ordinary course of business, we may become involved in various litigation matters, including but not limited to commercial disputes and employee claims, and from time to time may be involved in governmental or regulatory investigations or similar matters arising out of our current or future business. Any claims asserted against us, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, could harm our reputation and have an adverse impact on our relationship with our merchants, distribution partners and other third parties and could lead to additional related claims. Certain claims may seek injunctive relief, which could disrupt the ordinary conduct of our business and operations or increase our cost of doing business. Our insurance or indemnities may not cover all claims that may be asserted against us, and any claims asserted against it, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, may harm our reputation and cause us to expend resources in our defense. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in defending ourselves in future litigation. Should the ultimate judgments or settlements in any pending litigation or future litigation or investigation significantly exceed our insurance coverage, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Mr. Thomas Priore, is presently subject to an SEC civil order pertaining to his prior involvement with a registered investment adviser, which could heighten the regulatory scrutiny on us.
On June 21, 2010, the SEC filed a civil lawsuit against ICP Asset Management ("ICP") and Thomas Priore in his role as majority owner, President and Chief Investment Officer of ICP's registered investment advisor. The SEC principally alleged that portfolio rebalancing trades executed by ICP at the height of the credit crisis, in connection with its management of the assets of four collateralized debt obligation vehicles (the Triaxx "CDOs"), violated certain fiduciary duties and obligations under the CDOs' trust indentures. The SEC contended that certain trades executed by ICP at purchase prices between the CDO trusts, should have been executed at then prevailing market prices and on an arms' length basis, and, by failing to do so, ICP caused the CDOs to overpay for securities in violation of its fiduciary duty. The SEC further alleged that the nature of certain trades was mischaracterized to investors and executed without requisite approvals from the CDOs' trustee. On August 14, 2012, Mr. Priore and ICP agreed to a civil settlement with regulators without admitting or denying the allegations, consenting to the entry of a civil order by the SEC (the "SEC Order"). On March 11, 2015 the administrative settlement was entered pertaining to the SEC Order that barred Mr. Priore from associating with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer or transfer agent, and from participating in any offering involving a penny stock, for a minimum of five years from the date of the SEC Order with the right to apply to the applicable regulatory body for reentry thereafter. The SEC Order does not, nor has it ever, prohibited Thomas Priore's involvement with us, or his service as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. During such time that the SEC bar remains in effect, we will be required to monitor if any future offerings of our stock might be considered an offering of "penny stock" which would be prohibited under the bar. In addition, while the SEC bar remains in effect, Mr. Priore is prohibited from owning a controlling equity stake in or operating a securities broker dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer or transfer agent. The SEC bar does not, however, impact our current business.

The loss of, for example, key personnel or of our ability to attract, recruit, retain and develop qualified employees could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success depends upon the continued services of our senior management and other key personnel who have substantial experience in the electronic payments industry and the markets in which we offer our services. In addition, our success depends in large part

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upon the reputation within the industry of our senior managers who have developed relationships with our distribution partners, payment networks and other payment processing and service providers. Further, in order for us to continue to successfully compete and grow, we must attract, recruit, develop and retain personnel who will provide us with expertise across the entire spectrum of our intellectual capital needs. Our success is also dependent on the skill and experience of our sales force, which we must continuously work to maintain. While we have many key personnel who have substantial experience with our operations, we must also develop our personnel to provide succession plans capable of maintaining the continuity of our operations. The market for qualified personnel is competitive, and we may not succeed in recruiting additional personnel or may fail to effectively replace current personnel who depart with qualified or effective successors.
In addition, we rely heavily on several senior key directors and executive officers, including Mr. Thomas Priore, who is our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, who helped found Priority. Our future success will continue to depend on the diligence, skill, network of business contacts and continued service of Thomas Priore, together with members of our senior management team. We cannot assure you that unforeseen business, medical, personal or other circumstances would not lead any such individual to terminate his relationship with us. The loss of Thomas Priore, or any of the members of our senior management team, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our growth strategy as well as on our future financial condition and results of operations. Failure to retain or attract key personnel could impede our ability to grow and could result in our inability to operate our business profitably. In addition, contractual obligations related to confidentiality, assignment of intellectual property rights, and non-solicitation may be ineffective or unenforceable and departing employees may share our proprietary information with competitors in ways that could adversely impact us or seek to solicit our distribution partners or merchants or recruit our key personnel to competing businesses.
Our business and operations could be negatively affected if we become subject to any securities litigation or stockholder activism, which could cause us to incur significant expense, hinder execution of business and growth strategy and impact our stock price.
In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company's securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. Stockholder activism, which could take many forms or arise in a variety of situations, has been increasing recently. Volatility in our stock price or other reasons may in the future cause us to become the target of securities litigation or stockholder activism. Securities litigation and stockholder activism, including potential proxy contests, could result in substantial costs and divert our management's and the board of directors' attention and resources from our business. Additionally, such securities litigation and stockholder activism could give rise to perceived uncertainties as to our future, adversely affect our relationships with service providers and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel. Also, we may be required to incur significant legal fees and other expenses related to any securities litigation and activist stockholder matters. Further, our stock price could be subject to significant fluctuation or otherwise be adversely affected by the events, risks and uncertainties of any securities litigation and stockholder activism.

Changes in tax laws and regulations could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows from operations.
Our operations are subject to tax by U.S. federal, state, local, and non-U.S. taxing jurisdictions. Changes in tax laws in our significant tax jurisdictions could materially increase the amount of taxes we owe, thereby negatively impacting our results of operations as well as our cash flows from operations. For example, restrictions on the deductibility of interest expense in a U.S. jurisdiction without a corresponding reduction in statutory tax rates could negatively impact our effective tax rate, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows in the period that such a change occurs and future periods.
Our reported financial results may be adversely affected by changes in U.S. GAAP.
Generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("U.S. GAAP") are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the SEC and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations, including changes related to revenue recognition, could have a significant effect on our reported financial results, and could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of a change.
We are an "emerging growth company" and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our securities less attractive to investors.

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We are an "emerging growth company," as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 ("JOBS Act"). We may remain an "emerging growth company" until the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. However, if our non-convertible debt issued within a three-year period or revenues exceeds $1.07 billion, or the market value of our common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million on the last day of the second fiscal quarter of any given fiscal year, we would cease to be an emerging growth company as of the following fiscal year. As an emerging growth company, we are not required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and are exempt from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Additionally, as an emerging growth company, we have elected to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies. As such, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active market for our common stock, our share price may be more volatile and the price at which our securities trade could be less than if we did not use these exemptions.

Material weaknesses have been identified in our internal control over financial reporting.

We have identified material weaknesses in internal controls over our financial reporting that remain unremediated. 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 our financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

The material weaknesses identified were (1) lack of sufficient resources with appropriate depth and experience to interpret complex accounting guidance and prepare financial statements and related disclosures in accordance with U.S. GAAP and (2) deficiencies in certain aspects of the financial statement close process and specifically lacks processes and procedures to ensure critical evaluation and review of various account reconciliations, analyses and journal entries.

We were not required to perform an evaluation of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 in accordance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as we were a private company prior to July 2018. Had such an evaluation been performed, additional control deficiencies may have been identified by our management, and those control deficiencies could have also represented one or more material weaknesses.

We have taken steps to enhance our internal control environment and plan to take additional steps to remediate the material weaknesses. Although we plan to complete this remediation process as quickly as possible, we cannot at this time estimate how long it will take.

Risk Factors Related to Our Indebtedness
We will face risks related to our substantial indebtedness.
As of December 31, 2018, we had outstanding debt of $412.7 million compared to $283.1 million as of December 31, 2017, an increase of $129.6 million or 46%, consisting of outstanding debt of $322.7 million under a senior credit facility with a syndicate of lenders (the "Senior Credit Facility") and $90.0 million under a subordinated term loan (including accrued payment-in-kind interest through December 31, 2018) (the "Subordinated Term Loan"). In addition, the Senior Credit Facility includes a $25.0 million revolving credit facility, which was undrawn as of December 31, 2018. Our total interest expense was $29.9 million, $25.1 million, and $4.8 million in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. In the future, we may elect to use additional forms of indebtedness, including publicly or privately offered notes, which may further increase our levels of indebtedness. See "Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources" for a description of our existing credit facilities.

Our current and future levels of indebtedness could have important consequences to us, including, but not limited to:
increasing our vulnerability to, and reducing our flexibility to respond to, general adverse economic and industry conditions;

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requiring the dedication of a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to the payment of principal of, and interest on, our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of such cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, joint ventures or other general corporate purposes;

limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the competitive environment; and

limiting our ability to borrow additional funds and increasing the cost of any such borrowing.
Substantially all of our indebtedness is floating rate debt. As a result, an increase in interest rates generally, such as those we have recently experienced, would adversely affect our profitability. We may enter into pay-fixed interest rate swaps to limit our exposure to changes in floating interest rates. Such instruments may result in economic losses should interest rates decline to a point lower than our fixed rate commitments. We would be exposed to credit-related losses, which could impact the results of operations in the event of fluctuations in the fair value of the interest rate swaps due to a change in the credit worthiness or non-performance by the counterparties to the interest rate swaps.
We may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future. Although the agreements governing our existing indebtedness contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to several significant qualifications and exceptions and, under certain circumstances, the amount of indebtedness that could be incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial.

Our Senior Credit Facility requires us to maintain certain leverage ratios, which will become more restrictive later this year.
Certain of our subsidiaries are borrowers (the "Borrowers") or guarantors under the Senior Credit Facility. The Senior Credit Facility includes a Total Net Leverage Ratio covenant, which requires a Total Net Leverage Ratio of no more than 6.50:1.00 as of December 31, 2018, 6.25:1.00 as of March 31, 2019, and further steps down in each subsequent quarter of 2019 to be no more than 5.25:1.00 as of December 31, 2019 and for each quarter thereafter. The Senior Credit Facility defines Total Net Leverage Ratio as the consolidated total debt of the Borrowers, less unrestricted cash subject to certain restrictions, divided by the Earnout Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure) of the Borrowers for the prior four quarters. See "Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Certain Non-GAAP Measures."
If the Borrowers were to fail to comply with the Total Net Leverage Ratio covenant, it would trigger an event of default under the Senior Credit Facility, as described below. As of December 31, 2018, the Borrowers' Total Net Leverage Ratio was 5.06:1.00.
Upon the occurrence of an event of default under the credit agreements relating to our credit facilities or any future debt instruments we may issue, the lenders thereunder could elect to accelerate payments due and terminate all commitments to extend further credit. Consequently, we may not have sufficient assets to repay amounts then outstanding under any such indebtedness.
Under the terms of our existing credit facilities, upon the occurrence of an event of default, the lenders will be able to elect to declare all amounts outstanding under such credit facilities to be immediately due and payable and terminate all commitments to lend additional funds. Among other reasons, an event of default could be declared by the lenders in the event we fail to pay when due the interest, principal of or premium on any loan, we fail to comply with certain financial and operational covenants or any negative covenant, or event of default with respect to certain other credit facilities or debt instruments we may issue in the future.
Any future credit facilities or debt instruments we may issue will likely contain similar, or potentially more expansive, events of default as compared to those set forth in the terms of our existing credit facilities, including those breach or defaults with respect to any of our other outstanding debt instruments. Our existing credit facilities are secured by a pledge of substantially all of our assets and any indebtedness we incur in the future may also be secured.
The credit agreements governing our existing credit facilities and any other debt instruments we may issue in the future will contain restrictive covenants that may impair our ability to conduct business.
The credit agreements governing our existing credit facilities contain operating covenants and financial covenants that may limit management's discretion with respect to certain business matters. In addition, any debt instruments we may issue in the future will

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likely contain similar operating and financial covenants restricting our business. Among other things, these covenants will restrict our ability to:

pay dividends, or redeem or purchase equity interests;

incur additional debt;

incur liens;

change the nature of our business;

engage in transactions with affiliates;

sell or otherwise dispose of assets;

make disclosuresacquisitions or other investments; and

merge or consolidate with other entities.

In addition, we are required to comply with certain restrictions on the ratio of our indebtedness to our Earnout Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure as defined in the credit agreements governing our existing credit facilities).

As a result of these covenants and restrictions, we will be limited in our ability to pay dividends or buy back stock and how we conduct our business, and we may be unable to raise additional debt or other financings to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities. The terms of any future indebtedness we may incur could also include even more restrictive covenants. Failure to comply with such restrictive covenants may lead to default and acceleration and may impair our ability to conduct business. We may not be able to maintain compliance with these covenants in the future and, if we fail to do so, that we will be able to obtain waivers from the lenders and/or amend the covenants, which may result in foreclosure on our assets and our common stock becoming worthless. See "Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources" for a description of our existing credit facilities.

Risks Factors Related to Our Common Stock
You may not be able to resell shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid or at all, and you could lose all or part of your investment as a result.
The trading price of our common stock is likely to be volatile. The stock market recently has experienced volatility. This volatility often has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. You may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial price you paid due to a number of factors such as those listed in "—Risks Factors Related to our Business" and the following:

results of operations that vary from the expectations of securities analysts and investors;

results of operations that vary from those of our competitors;

changes in expectations as to our future financial performance, including financial estimates and investment recommendations by securities analysts and investors;

declines in the market prices of stocks generally;

strategic actions by us or our competitors;

announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, new products, acquisitions, joint marketing relationships, joint ventures, other strategic relationships, or capital commitments;

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changes in general economic or market conditions or trends in our industry or markets;

changes in business or regulatory conditions;

future sales of our common stock or other securities;

investor perceptions or the investment opportunity associated with our common stock relative to other investment alternatives;

the public's response to press releases or other public announcements by us or third parties, including our filings with the SEC;

announcements relating to litigation;

guidance, if any, that we provide to the public, any changes in this guidance, or our failure to meet this guidance;

the development and sustainability of an active trading market for our stock;

changes in accounting principles;

occurrences of extreme or inclement weather; and

other events or factors, including those resulting from natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism, or responses to these events.
These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our common stock is low.
In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If we were involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of executive management from our business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.
Because we have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.
We intend to retain future earnings, if any, for future operations, expansion, and debt repayment and have no current plans to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. The declaration, amount, and payment of any future dividends on shares of common stock will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors. Our board of directors may take into account general and economic conditions, our financial condition, and results of operations, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax, and regulatory restrictions, implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiaries to us, and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is limited by covenants of our existing and outstanding indebtedness and may be limited by covenants of any future indebtedness we or our subsidiaries incur. As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in our common stock unless you sell our common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.
If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they downgrade our common stock or our sector, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will rely in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not control these analysts. Furthermore, if one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrades our common stock or our industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our common stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of the combined company

37


or fails to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents could delay or prevent a change of control.
Certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and our Amended and Restated Bylaws have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, defer, or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt, or other change of control transaction that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our stockholders.

These provisions provide for, among other things:
the ability of our board of directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock;

advance notice for nominations of directors by stockholders and for stockholders to include matters to be considered at our annual meetings;

certain limitations on convening special stockholder meetings;

the removal of directors only for cause and only upon the affirmative vote of holders of at least 66 2⁄3% of the shares of common stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors if Priority Investment Holdings, LLC and Priority Incentive Equity Holdings, LLC and their affiliates (collectively, the "Priority Holders") hold less than 40% of our outstanding shares of common stock; and

that certain provisions may be amended only by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2⁄3% of the shares of common stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors if the Priority Holders hold less than 40% of our outstanding shares of common stock.

The provisions requiring 66 2⁄3% approval if the Priority Holders hold less than 40% of our outstanding shares of common stock gives the Priority Holders significant influence over the vote on these items even after the Priority Holders own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock.
In addition, these anti-takeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire us, even if the third-party's offer may be considered beneficial by many of our stockholders. As a result, our stockholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares.
Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders' ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders.
Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that, subject to limited exceptions, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our Company, (ii) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or stockholders to us or our stockholders, (iii) action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or stockholders arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or our Amended and Restated Bylaws, or (iv) action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or stockholders governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation described above. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees. 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 and financial condition.

38


We believe that our stockholders will benefit from having any such disputes litigated in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware. Although some plaintiffs might prefer to litigate matters in a forum outside of Delaware because another court may be more convenient or because they believe another court would be more favorable to their claims, we believe that the benefits us and our stockholders outweigh these concerns. Delaware offers a system of specialized courts to deal with corporate law questions, with streamlined procedures and processes which help provide relatively quick decisions. These courts have developed considerable expertise in dealing with corporate law issues, as well as a substantial and influential body of case law construing Delaware's corporate law and long-standing precedent regarding corporate governance. In addition, the adoption of this provision would reduce the risk that we could be involved in duplicative litigation in more than one forum, as well as the risk that the outcome of cases in multiple forums could be inconsistent, even though each forum purports to follow Delaware law. The enforceability of similar exclusive jurisdiction provisions in other companies' certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any action, a court could find the exclusive jurisdiction provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action. However, given the decisions of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware in 2013 upholding similar provisions in Boilermakers Local 154 Retirement Fund v. Chevron Corp., et al. and IClub Investment Partnership v. FedEx Corp., et al., we believe that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware would find our exclusive forum provisions to be enforceable as well.

Mr. Thomas Priore, our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, controls the Company, and his interests may conflict with ours or yours in the future.
Thomas Priore and his affiliates have the ability to elect all of the members of our board of directors and thereby control our policies and operations, including the appointment of management, future issuances of our common stock or other securities, the payment of dividends, if any, on our common stock, the incurrence or modification of debt by us, amendments to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and our Amended and Restated Bylaws, and the entering into of extraordinary transactions, and their interests may not in all cases be aligned with your interests. In addition, Thomas Priore may have an interest in pursuing acquisitions, divestitures, and other transactions that, in his judgment, could enhance his investment, even though such transactions might involve risks to you. For example, he could cause us to make acquisitions that increase our indebtedness or cause us to sell revenue-generating assets. Additionally, in certain circumstances, acquisitions of debt at a discount by purchasers that are related to a debtor can give rise to cancellation of indebtedness income to such debtor for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that neither he nor any of his affiliates, or any director who is not employed by us (including any non-employee director who serves as one of our officers in both his director and officer capacities) will have any duty to refrain from engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same business activities or similar business activities or lines of business in which we operate. So long as Thomas Priore continues to own a significant amount of our combined voting power, even if such amount is less than 50%, he will continue to be able to strongly influence or effectively control our decisions. Furthermore, so long as Thomas Priore and his respective affiliates collectively own at least 50% of all outstanding shares of our common stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, they will be able to appoint individuals to our board of directors. In addition, given his level of control, Thomas Priore will be able to determine the outcome of all matters requiring stockholder approval and will be able to cause or prevent a change of control of the Company or a change in the composition of our board of directors and could preclude any unsolicited acquisition of the Company. The concentration of ownership could deprive you of an opportunity to receive a premium for your shares of common stock as part of a sale of the Company and ultimately might affect the market price of our common stock.
We are a "controlled company" within the meaning of the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC ("Nasdaq") and, as a result, qualify for, and rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You will not have the same protections as those afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such governance requirements.
Mr. Thomas Priore controls a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we are a "controlled company" within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of Nasdaq. Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a "controlled company" and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including:

the requirement that a majority of our board of directors consist of independent directors;


39


the requirement that we have a Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee's purpose and responsibilities; and

the requirement that we have a Compensation Committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee's purpose and responsibilities.

We utilize and intend to continue to utilize these exemptions. As a result, we do not have a majority of independent directors and our Compensation Committee and Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee does not consist entirely of independent directors. Accordingly, our stockholders do not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.

Risk Factors Related to Our Warrants
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants (the "Warrants") at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at $0.01 per warrant, if the last reported sales price (or the closing bid price of our common stock in the event the common stock is not traded on any specific trading day) of the common stock equals or exceeds $16.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third business day prior to the date we send proper notice of such redemption, provided that on the date we give notice of redemption and during the entire period thereafter until the time we redeem the Warrants, we have an effective registration statement under this Item.

the Securities Act covering the common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available or cashless exercise is exempt from the registration requirements under the Securities Act. If and when the Warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding Warrants could force a warrant holder: (i) to exercise Warrants and pay the exercise price therefore at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell Warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your Warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding Warrants are called for redemption, may be substantially less than the market value of your Warrants.
The liquidity of the Warrants may be limited.
There is a limited trading market for our Warrants, which might adversely affect the liquidity, market price and price volatility of the Warrants. In addition, our publicly-traded Warrants were recently removed from quotation on The Nasdaq Global Market. As a result, investors in our Warrants may find it more difficult to dispose of or obtain accurate quotations as to the market value of our Warrants, and the ability of our stockholders to sell our Warrants in the secondary market has been materially limited.



40


ITEM 1B.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not applicable.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

N/A


ITEM 2.PROPERTIES

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES


We do not own any real estate or other physical properties materially important tomaintain several offices across the United States, all of which we lease.

Our key office locations include:

corporate headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia with approximately 95,000 leased square feet;
data management office in Atlanta, Georgia with approximately 130 leased square feet;
data management office in Austin, Texas with approximately 260 leased square feet;
telesales office in our operations. Our principal executive offices are located at40 Wall Street, 58th Floor,Alpharetta, Georgia location with approximately 33,000 leased square feet which is part of our corporate headquarters' total leased space; and
administrative office in New York, NY 10005.The costwith approximately 3,300 square feet.


We lease several small facilities for this space is included insales and operations. Our current facilities meet the $10,000 per-month fee payableneeds of our employee base and can accommodate our currently contemplated growth. We believe that we will be able to Magna Management LLC, a company controlled by our insiders, for office space, utilities and secretarial services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

obtain suitable additional facilities on commercially reasonable term to meet any needs.


ITEM 3.LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We may be subject to legal proceedings, investigations

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

In 2015, approximately three years after reaching a civil settlement with regulators on the matter, and claims incidentalwithout admitting or denying the allegations against him, Mr. Thomas Priore consented to the conductentry of the SEC Order relating to his prior involvement as the majority owner, President and Chief Investment Officer of a registered investment adviser, ICP Asset Management, LLC. Under the SEC Order, Mr. Priore agreed to be barred from associating with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer or transfer agent, and from participating in any offering involving a penny stock, for a minimum of five years from the date of the SEC Order with the right to apply to the applicable regulatory body for reentry thereafter. The SEC Order does not, nor has it ever, prohibited Thomas Priore's involvement with the Company, or his service as President, Chief Executive Officer or Chairman. During such time that the SEC bar remains in effect, the combined company will be required to monitor if any future offerings of our business from time to time. stock might be considered an offering of "penny stock" which would be prohibited under the bar.

During October 2018, we settled a legal matter for $1.6 million, which is included in Selling, general, and administrative expenses in our consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2018.

We are not currently a party to any material litigation orinvolved in certain other legal proceedings brought against us. We are also not awareand claims, which arise in the ordinary course of business. In the opinion of the Company, based on consultations with inside and outside counsel, the results of any legal proceeding, investigation or claim, or other legal exposure that hasof these ordinary course matters, individually and in the aggregate, are not expected to have a more than remote possibility of having a material adverse effect on our business,results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows. As more information becomes available and we determine that an unfavorable outcome is probable on a claim and that the amount of probable loss that we will incur on that claim is reasonably estimable, we will record an accrued expense for the claim in question. If and when we record such an accrual, it could be material and could adversely impact our results of operations.

operations, financial condition, and cash flows.



ITEM 4.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not Applicable.

18


N/A

41

part II


PART II.

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’SREGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDERSTOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our



Market Information

Prior to the consummation of the Business Combination on July 25, 2018, MI Acquisitions' common stock, warrants and units began to tradewere each listed on theThe Nasdaq Capital Market or Nasdaq, under the symbol “MACQU” on September 14, 2016. The"MACQ," "MACQW" and "MACQU," respectively. Upon the consummation of the Business Combination and the change of the Company's name to Priority Technology Holdings, Inc., our common stock and warrants comprising the units began separatecommenced trading on The Nasdaq on November 14, 2016Global Market under the symbol "PRTH" and our warrants and units commenced trading under the symbols “MACQ”"PRTHW" and “MACQW”,"PRTHU, " respectively.

The table below sets forth the high As of March 6, 2019, our warrants and low closing sale prices of units, common stock and warrants reported by the Nasdaq for the period from September 14, 2016 (the date on which our units were first tradeddelisted from trading on The Nasdaq Global Market. Following their delisting, our warrants and units became available to be quoted in the Nasdaq) throughover-the-counter market under the symbols "PRTHW" and "PRTHU," respectively.


Holders

As of March 27, 2018.

  Common Stock  Warrants  Units 
Period Ended High  Low  High  Low  High  Low 
September 30, 2016  N/A   N/A   N/A   N/A  $10.08  $10.00 
December 31, 2016 $10.04  $9.80  $0.29  $0.17  $10.21  $9.97 
March 31, 2017 $10.25  $9.95  $0.4794  $0.20  $10.28  $10.18 
June 30, 2017 $10.2025  $10.01  $0.35  $0.30  $10.50  $10.22 
September 30, 2017 $10.20  $10.01  $0.35  $0.305  $10.49  $10.22 
December 31, 2017 $10.299  $10.1099  $0.4793  $0.335  $10.65  $10.4201 
January 1, 2018 through March 27, 2018 $10.50  $10.16  $0.9395  $0.35  $12.95  $10.61 

Holders22, 2019, we had 34, 2, and 1 holders of Record

At March 27, 2018, there were 7,058,743 sharesrecord of our common stock, issuedwarrant and outstanding held by 4 shareholders of record. The number of record holders was determined from the records of our transfer agent andunits, respectively. This figure does not include beneficial ownersthe number of common stockpersons whose sharessecurities are held in the names of various security brokers, dealers, and registered clearing agencies.

nominee or "street" name accounts through brokers.


Dividends

We have never declared or paid, and do not paidanticipate declaring or paying in the foreseeable future, any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of an initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of an initial business combination. The payment of any dividends subsequent to an initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. It is the present intention of our board of directors to retain all earnings, if any, for use in our business operations and, accordingly, our board of directors does not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

None.

stock.


Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities


None.



Use of Proceeds

On September 19, 2016, we consummated our IPO of 5,000,000 Units. Each Unit consists of one share of Common Stock, and one Public Warrant to purchase one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. The Units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $50,000,000. We granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 750,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any. Simultaneously with the consummation of the IPO, we consummated a private placement of 402,500 Private Units at a price of $10.00 per Private Unit, generating total proceeds of $4,025,000. The underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in part and, on October 14, 2016, the underwriters purchased 310,109 over-allotment option Units, which were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $3,101,090. On October 14, 2016, simultaneously with the sale of the Over-Allotment Units, we consummated the private sale of an additional 18,607 Private Units to one of the initial stockholders, generating gross proceeds of $186,070. The remainder of the over-allotment option expired unexercised.

The Private Units are identical to the units sold in the Offering except the warrants included in the Private Units will be non-redeemable and may be exercised on a cashless basis, in each case so long as they continue to be held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. The holders of the Private Units have agreed (A) to vote their private shares and any public shares acquired by them in favor of any proposed business combination, (B) not to propose, or vote in favor of, an amendment to our certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by March 13, 2018 (or June 13, 2018, as applicable), unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our tax obligations, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, (C) not to convert any shares (including the private shares) into the right to receive cash from the trust account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve our proposed initial business combination (or sell any shares they hold to us in a tender offer in connection with a proposed initial business combination) or a vote to amend the provisions of our certificate of incorporation relating to the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by March 13, 2018 (or June 13, 2018, as applicable) and (D) that the private shares shall not be entitled to be redeemed for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account if a business combination is not consummated. Additionally, our insiders (and/or their designees) have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private units or underlying securities (except to the same permitted transferees as the insider shares and provided the transferees agree to the same terms and restrictions as the permitted transferees of the insider shares must agree to, each as described above) until the completion of our initial business combination.

Upon the closing of the above transactions, a total of $54,694,127 of the net proceeds from the IPO (including the partial exercise of the over-allotment option) and the Private Placement were in a trust account established for the benefit of the Company’s public shareholders. As of December 31, 2017, cash and cash equivalents held in trust totaled $55,081,899.

We paid a total of $1,593,033 in underwriting discounts and commissions and $1,687,451 for other costs and expenses related to our formation and the IPO.

For a description of the use of the proceeds generated in our initial public offering, see below Part II, Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of this Form 10-K.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

None.

20


On December 19, 2018, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program. Under the program, the Company may purchase up to $5.0 million of its outstanding common stock from time to time through June 30, 2019. As of March 22, 2019, the Company has not repurchased any of its common stock pursuant to the repurchase plan.




42


ITEM 6.SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

As a smaller reporting company, we are

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following table sets forth selected historical financial information derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, and for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, and from our audited consolidated financial statements not required to make disclosures underincluded in this Item.

Annual Report on Form 10-K as of December 31, 2016 and for the year ended December 31, 2015. You should read the following selected financial data in conjunction with the sections entitled "Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
 (in thousands except per share amounts) Years Ended December 31,
 2018 2017 2016 2015
 Statement of operations data        
 Revenues $424,415
 $425,619
 $344,114
 $286,244
 Operating expenses 404,496
 390,370
 318,274
 271,685
 Interest expense (29,935) (25,058) (4,777) (4,052)
 Other, net (6,784) (5,597) (877) (1,240)
 (Loss) income before income taxes (16,800) 4,594
 20,186
 9,267
 Income tax benefit (1,759) 
 
 
 Net (loss) income $(15,041) $4,594
 $20,186
 $9,267
          
 Basic and diluted (loss) earnings per share $(0.24) $0.06
 $0.15
 $0.07
  
 
 (in thousands) Years Ended December 31,
 2018 2017 2016 2015
 Statement of cash flows data    
  
  
 Net cash provided by (used in):    
  
  
 Operating activities $31,348
 $36,869
 $22,275
 $25,308
 Investing activities $(108,928) $(9,037) $(6,362) $(31,888)
 Financing activities $67,252
 $(25,375) $(10,548) $18,714
(in thousands) As of December 31,
  2018 2017 2016
Balance Sheet data      
Cash and restricted cash $33,831
 $44,159
 $41,702
Total assets $388,618
 $266,707
 $256,050
Total liabilities $474,091
 $356,862
 $140,043
Total stockholders' (deficit) equity $(85,473) $(90,155) $116,007
Shares of common stock outstanding 67,038
 73,110
 195,439






43


ITEM 7.                 MANAGEMENT’S MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The

You should read the following management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations together with "Item 6 - Selected Financial Data" and our audited financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements about our business, operations and industry that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements regarding our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Our future results and financial condition may differ materially from those currently anticipated by us as a result of the factors described in the sections entitled "Item 1A - Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements." Certain amounts in this section may not foot due to rounding.

For a description and additional information about our two reportable segments, see Note 16, Segment Information, contained in "Item 8 - Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.


Results of Operations
This section includes a summary of our results of operations for the periods presented followed by a detailed discussion of our results for (i) the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017 and (ii) the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to the year ended December 31, 2016. We have derived this data, except key indicators for merchant bankcard processing dollar values and transaction volumes, from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018 has been negatively affected by the closure of high-margin accounts with certain subscription-billing e-commerce merchants. The closure of merchants in this channel was due to industry-wide changes for enhanced card association compliance. This revenue, which is entirely within our Consumer Payments reportable segment, was $65.2 million, $95.6 million, and $58.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. Our income from operations associated with these merchants was $21.3 million, $31.9 million, and $19.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. Based upon the current trend, we currently expect revenue from this channel of subscription-billing e-commerce merchants to be approximately $15.0 million and income from operations to be approximately $6.0 million for the year ending December 31, 2019.

In addition to the impact of the closures of certain merchants described above, our income from operations for the year ended December 31, 2018 has been negatively affected by expenses associated with our Business Combination, conversion to a public company, and certain legal matters. These expenses, which were entirely within Corporate, were $12.4 million, $5.6 million, and $0.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.




















44



Year Ended December 31, 2018 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2017
  Years Ended December 31,    
  2018 2017 $ Change % Change
  
(dollars in thousands)
  
REVENUE:        
Merchant card fees $392,033
 $398,988
 $(6,955) (1.7)%
Outsourced services and other 32,382
 26,631
 5,751
 21.6 %
Total revenue 424,415
 425,619
 (1,204) (0.3)%
OPERATING EXPENSES:    
    
Costs of merchant card fees 296,223
 305,461
 (9,238) (3.0)%
Costs of outsourced services and other 18,128
 15,743
 2,385
 15.1 %
Salary and employee benefits 38,324
 32,357
 5,967
 18.4 %
Depreciation and amortization 19,740
 14,674
 5,066
 34.5 %
Selling, general and administrative 32,081
 22,545
 9,536
 42.3 %
Change in fair value of contingent consideration 
 (410) 410
 nm
Total operating expenses 404,496
 390,370
 14,126
 3.6 %
         
Income from operations 19,919
 35,249
 (15,330) (43.5)%
OTHER (EXPENSES) INCOME:    
    
Interest expense (29,935) (25,058) (4,877) 19.5 %
Other, net (6,784) (5,597) (1,187) 21.2 %
Total other expenses, net (36,719) (30,655) (6,064) 19.8 %
         
(Loss) income before taxes (16,800) 4,594
 (21,394) (465.7)%
         
Income tax benefit  (1,759) 
 (1,759) nm
         
Net (loss) income $(15,041) $4,594
 $(19,635) (427.4)%
n.m. = not meaningful


















45



The following table shows our segment income statement data and selected performance measures for the periods indicated:
(dollars and volume amounts in thousands) Years Ended December 31,    
  2018 2017 Change % Change
  
Consumer Payments:  
  
  
  
Revenue $394,986
 $400,320
 $(5,334) (1.3)%
Operating expenses 344,458
 344,847
 (389) (0.1)%
Income from operations $50,528
 $55,473
 $(4,945) (8.9)%
Operating margin 12.8 % 13.9% (1.1)% 

         
Key Indicators:        
Merchant bankcard processing dollar value $37,892,474
 $34,465,600
 $3,426,874
 9.9 %
Merchant bankcard transaction volume 465,584
 439,055
 26,529
 6.0 %
         
Commercial Payments and Managed Services:     

 

Revenue $29,429
 $25,299
 $4,130
 16.3 %
Operating expenses 32,350
 24,327
 8,023
 33.0 %
(Loss) income from operations $(2,921) $972
 $(3,893) (400.5)%
Operating margin (9.9)% 3.8% (13.7)% 

         
Key Indicators:        
Merchant bankcard processing dollar value $262,824
 $190,338
 $72,486
 38.1 %
Merchant bankcard transaction volume 173
 95
 78
 82.1 %
         
Income from operations of reportable segments $47,607
 $56,445
 $(8,838) (15.7)%
Corporate expenses (27,688) (21,196) (6,492) 30.6 %
Consolidated income from operations $19,919
 $35,249
 $(15,330)  
         
Key Indicators:        
Merchant bankcard processing dollar value $38,155,298
 $34,655,938
 $3,499,360
 10.1 %
Merchant bankcard transaction volume 465,757
 439,150
 26,607
 6.1 %


Revenue
For the year ended December 31, 2018, our consolidated revenue decreased by $1.2 million, or 0.3%, from the year ended December 31, 2017 to $424.4 million. This decrease was driven by a $5.3 million, or 1.3%, decrease in revenue from our Consumer Payments segment, partially offset by a $4.1 million, or 16.3%, increase in revenue from our Commercial Payments and Managed Services segment. Consolidated bankcard processing dollar value and merchant bankcard transactions increased 10.1% and 6.1%, respectively.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, the decrease in Consumer Payments revenue was primarily attributable to a decrease in revenue of $30.4 million from certain subscription-billing e-commerce merchants, largely offset by revenue resulting from the overall increases in bankcard processing dollar value and merchant bankcard transactions of 9.9% and 6.0%, respectively, compared to the year ended December 31, 2017. The higher merchant bankcard processing dollar value and transaction volume in 2018

46


were mainly due to the continuation of higher consumer spending trends in 2018 and positive net onboarding of new merchants. Additionally, the average dollar amount per bankcard transaction increased to $81.39, or 3.7%, in 2018 from $78.50 in 2017.
The increase in Commercial Payments and Managed Services revenue for year ended December 31, 2018 was attributable in part to increases in CPX merchant bankcard processing dollar value and the number of merchant bankcard transactions volume of 38.1% and 82.1%, respectively. Managed Services revenue grew due to an increase in headcount of our in-house sales force dedicated to selling merchant financing products on behalf of our financial institution partners, for which we record revenue on a cost-plus basis.
Operating expenses
Our consolidated operating expenses increased $14.1 million, or 3.6%, from $390.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 to $404.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, driven primarily by a $9.6 million, or 42.3%, increase in Selling, General, and Administrative ("SG&A") expenses. This increase in SG&A expenses was due primarily to in-house sales force expansion and corporate expenses related to transaction costs associated with the Business Combination and conversion to a public company, such as legal, accounting and other advisory and consulting expenses. Higher consolidated operating expenses were partially offset by lower costs of merchant card fees attributable to 2018 acquisitions of residual portfolio commission rights, partially offset by growth in processing volume. Costs of merchant card fees as a percentage of merchant card fee revenue dropped by 10 basis points in 2018 from 2017. Salary and employee benefits increased $6.0 million, or 18.4%, related to increases in corporate and operations headcount and increases in headcount from business acquisitions in 2018. Depreciation and amortization increased $5.1 million, or 34.5%, attributable mainly to the internally developed software for the MX Connect and CPX platforms and acquired merchant portfolios.
Income from operations
Consolidated income from operations decreased $15.3 million, or 43.5%, for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017. Our consolidated operating margin for year ended December 31, 2018 was 4.7% compared to 8.3% for the year ended December 31, 2017. The margin decrease was primarily due to the loss of certain subscription-billing e-commerce merchants and increases in expenses related to the Business Combination, conversion to a public company, and certain legal matters.
Our Consumer Payments reportable segment contributed $50.5 million in segment operating income for the year ended December 31, 2018, a decrease of $4.9 million, or 8.9%, from $55.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. This decrease largely reflected the loss of certain subscription-billing e-commerce merchants, partially offset by increases in merchant processing transactions.
Our Commercial Payments and Managed Services segment incurred a $2.9 million operating loss for year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $1.0 million in segment operating income for the year ended December 31, 2017. This decline in operating income was attributable to the startup of our newly established Integrated Partners businesses and increased investment in Commercial Payments staffing and infrastructure.

Corporate expenses were $27.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, an increase of $6.5 million over expenses of $21.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2017. This increase was driven primarily by a $6.8 million increase in expenses associated with our Business Combination, conversion to a public company, and certain legal matters. These expenses were $12.4 million and $5.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
Interest expense

Interest expense, including amortization of deferred debt issuance costs and discount, increased by $4.9 million, or 19.5%, to $29.9 million in 2018 from $25.1 million in 2017. This increase was due to higher outstanding borrowings in 2018, partially offset by lower applicable interest rates as a result of the debt modification in January 2018.

Other, net

47


Other, net increased $1.2 million from a net expense of $5.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2017 to a net expense of $6.8 million in the year ended December 31, 2018. This change was primarily due to debt modification costs of $2.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2018.

Income tax expense (benefit)
We became part of a "C-corporation" reporting tax group on July 25, 2018 in connection with the Business Combination. On July 25, 2018, we recognized a net deferred income tax asset of $47.5 million, which also resulted in a credit to our additional paid-in capital within our consolidated stockholders' equity (deficit). The net deferred tax asset is the result of the difference between the initial tax bases in the assets and liabilities and their respective carrying amounts for financial statement purposes.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, our income tax benefit was $1.8 million, resulting in an effective income tax benefit rate of 10.5%. This income tax benefit was based on the pre-tax loss incurred after July 25, 2018. On a pro-forma basis assuming C-corp status for the full year 2018, our income tax benefit would have been $2.6 million, resulting in a pro-forma effective income tax benefit rate of 15.6%. Our annualized pro-forma effective income tax benefit rate for 2018 is less than the statutory rate due to timing and permanent differences between amounts calculated under GAAP and the tax code.

The actual and pro-forma effective income tax rates for 2018 may not be indicative of our effective tax rates for future periods.
Net loss
Our consolidated net loss for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $15.0 million compared to net income of $4.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 for the aforementioned reasons.
































48


Year Ended December 31, 2017 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2016

The following table shows our consolidated income statement data for the periods indicated:
  Years Ended December 31,  
  2017 2016 $ Change % Change
  
(dollars in thousands)
REVENUE:        
Merchant card fees $398,988
 $321,091
 $77,897
 24.3 %
Outsourced services and other 26,631
 23,023
 3,608
 15.7 %
Total revenue 425,619
 344,114
 81,505
 23.7 %
OPERATING EXPENSES:  
  
  
  
Costs of merchant card fees 305,461
 243,049
 62,412
 25.7 %
Costs of outsourced services and other 15,743
 13,971
 1,772
 12.7 %
Salary and employee benefits 32,357
 32,330
 27
 0.1 %
Depreciation and amortization 14,674
 14,733
 (59) (0.4)%
Selling, general and administrative 22,545
 16,856
 5,689
 33.8 %
Change in fair value of contingent consideration (410) (2,665) 2,255
 (84.6)%
Total operating expenses 390,370
 318,274
 72,096
 22.7 %
         
Income from operations 35,249
 25,840
 9,409
 36.4 %
         
OTHER (EXPENSES) INCOME:  
  
  
  
Interest expense (25,058) (4,777) (20,281) 424.6 %
Other, net (5,597) (877) (4,720) 538.2 %
Total other expenses, net (30,655) (5,654) (25,001) 442.2 %
         
Net income $4,594
 $20,186
 $(15,592) (77.2)%






















49


The following table shows our segment income statement data and selected performance measures for the periods indicated:
(dollars and volume amounts in thousands) Years Ended December 31,    
  2017 2016 Change % Change
   
Consumer Payments:  
  
  
  
Revenue $400,320
 $322,666
 $77,654
 24.1 %
Operating expenses 344,847
 284,894
 59,953
 21.0 %
Income from operations $55,473
 $37,772
 $17,701
 46.9 %
Operating margin 13.9% 11.7% 2.2 %  
         
Key Indicators:  
  
  
  
Merchant bankcard processing dollar value $34,465,600
 $30,335,776
 $4,129,824
 13.6 %
Merchant bankcard transaction volume 439,055
 398,498
 40,557
 10.2 %
         
Commercial Payments and Managed Services:  
  
  
  
Revenue $25,299
 $21,448
 $3,851
 18.0 %
Operating expenses 24,327
 19,587
 4,740
 24.2 %
Income from operations $972
 $1,861
 $(889) (47.8)%
Operating margin 3.8% 8.7% (4.9)%  
         
Key Indicators:        
Merchant bankcard processing dollar value $190,338
 $95,834
 $94,504
 98.6 %
Merchant bankcard transaction volume 95
 64
 31
 48.4 %
         
Income from operations of reportable segments $56,445
 $39,633
 $16,812
 42.4 %
Corporate expenses (21,196) (13,793) (7,403) 53.7 %
Consolidated income from operations $35,249
 $25,840
 $9,409
 

         
Key Indicators:        
Merchant bankcard processing dollar value $34,655,938
 $30,431,610
 $4,224,328
 13.9 %
Merchant bankcard transaction volume 439,150
 398,562
 40,588
 10.2 %


Revenue
Consolidated revenue increased $81.5 million, or 23.7%, from $344.1 million in 2016 to $425.6 million in 2017. This increase was driven primarily by a $77.7 million, or 24.1%, increase in revenue from our Consumer Payments segment and a $3.9 million, or 18.0%, increase in revenue from our Commercial Payments and Managed Services segment.
The increase in Consumer Payments revenue was attributable primarily to a 13.6% increase in merchant bankcard processing dollar value and a 10.2% increase in the number of merchant bankcard transactions, attributable mainly to higher consumer spending trends in 2017, positive net boarding of new active merchants, including the onboarding of a sizeable merchant portfolio in July 2017, and merchant mix. The increase in merchant processing dollar value was also impacted by a small increase in average transaction dollar value. A small increase in average transaction processing fees, attributable to merchant mix, also contributed to revenue growth.

50


The increase in Commercial Payments and Managed Services revenue was attributable primarily to an increase in headcount in our in-house sales force dedicated to selling merchant financing products on behalf of our financial institution partners (for which we record revenue on a cost-plus basis, as described above).
Operating expenses
Consolidated operating expenses increased $72.1 million, or 22.7%, from $318.3 million in 2016 to $390.4 million in 2017. This increase was driven primarily by a $62.4 million, or 25.7%, increase in costs of merchant card fees, attributable to growth in processing volume. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $5.7 million as a result of growth in business volume and 2017 litigation settlements and related expenses.
Income from operations
Consolidated income from operations increased $9.4 million, or 36.4%, from $25.8 million in 2016 to $35.2 million in 2017 due to the aforementioned changes in revenue and operating expenses.

Consumer Payments contributed $55.5 million in segment operating income in 2017, a $17.7 million, or 46.9%, increase from $37.8 million in 2016 due the increase in processing volume discussed above and a 2.2 percentage point improvement in segment operating margin due mainly to merchant mix.

Commercial Payments and Managed Services contributed $1.0 million in segment operating income in 2017, a $0.9 million, or 47.8%, decrease from $1.9 million in 2016. The decrease in Commercial Payments and Managed Services operating income was principally the result of ramp up in headcount ahead of the rollout of the CPX platform in September 2017.

Corporate expenses were $21.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2017, an increase of $7.4 million over expenses of $13.8 million in the year ended December 31, 2016. This increase was driven primarily by litigation settlements and related expenses, as well as other SG&A expenses.

Interest expense

Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $25.1 million compared to $4.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. This increase was attributable to the increase in outstanding debt in 2017.

Other, net

Other, net increased $4.7 million from $0.9 million in 2016 to $5.6 million in 2017 due to expense associated with the increase in the fair value of the Goldman Sachs warrant liability and costs related to the debt refinancing in 2017.
Net income (loss)
Consolidated net income decreased $15.6 million, or 77.2%, from $20.2 million in 2016 to $4.6 million in 2017, due to the increases in interest expense and other, net that was offset partially by the increase in income from operations, as described above.














51


Certain Non-GAAP Measures


We periodically review the following key non-GAAP measures to evaluate our business and trends, measure our performance, prepare financial projections and make strategic decisions.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Earnout Adjusted EBITDA Included in this presentation are discussions and reconciliations of earnings before interest, income tax and depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") and EBITDA adjusted for certain non-cash, non-recurring or non-core expenses ("Adjusted EBITDA") to net income in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA excludes certain non-cash and other expenses, litigation settlement costs, certain legal services costs, professional and consulting fees and expenses, severance, separation and employee settlements, share-based compensation and one-time Business Combination expenses and certain adjustments. We believe these non-GAAP measures illustrate the underlying financial and business trends relating to our results of operations and comparability between current and prior periods. We also use these non-GAAP measures to establish and monitor operational goals. 

In addition, our financial covenants under our debt agreements and the earnout incentive plan pursuant to the Business Combination and Recapitalization, are based on a measure similar to Adjusted EBITDA ("Earnout Adjusted EBITDA"). The calculations of Earnout Adjusted EBITDA under our debt agreements and the earnout incentive plan include adjustments for, among other things, pro forma effects related to acquired merchant portfolios and residual streams and run rate adjustments for certain contracted savings on an annualized basis, which are not included as adjustments to Adjusted EBITDA. 

These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, GAAP and should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute or superior to, the other measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Using only the non-GAAP financial measures, particularly Adjusted EBITDA or Earnout Adjusted EBITDA, to analyze our performance would have material limitations because their calculations are based on subjective determination regarding the nature and classification of events and circumstances that investors may find significant. We compensate for these limitations by presenting both the GAAP and non-GAAP measures of our operating results. Although other companies may report measures entitled "Adjusted EBITDA" or similar in nature, numerous methods may exist for calculating a company's Adjusted EBITDA or similar measures. As a result, the methods we use to calculate Adjusted EBITDA and Earnout Adjusted EBITDA may differ from the methods used by other companies to calculate their non-GAAP measures.








52


(in thousands) Years Ended December 31,
  2018 2017 2016
       
Consolidated Net (Loss) Income (GAAP) $(15,041) $4,594
 $20,186
Add: Interest expense (1) 29,935
 25,058
 4,777
Add: Depreciation and amortization 19,740
 14,674
 14,733
Less: Income tax benefit (1,759) 
 
Consolidated EBITDA (non-GAAP) 32,875
 44,326
 39,696
Further adjusted by:      
Add: Non-cash equity-based compensation 1,649
 1,021
 2,314
Add: Debt modification costs and warrant fair value changes 6,042
 5,966
 1,204
Add: Changes in fair value of contingent consideration 
 (410) (2,665)
Add: Litigation settlement costs 1,615
 2,329
 36
Add: Certain legal services (2) 4,900
 2,699
 2,136
Add: Professional, accounting and consulting fees (3) 5,856
 952
 1,156
Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) 52,937
 56,883
 $43,877
Further adjusted by:      
Add: Pro-forma impacts for acquisitions 14,010
 1,303
  
Add: Contracted revenue and savings 2,924
 1,743
  
Add: Other professional and consulting fees 1,236
 713
  
Add: Other tax expenses and other adjustments 1,566
 690
  
Consolidated Earnout Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) (4) $72,673
 $61,332
  

(1)Interest expense includes amortization expense for debt issuance costs and issue discount.
(2)Legal expenses related to business and asset acquisition activity and settlement negotiation and other litigation expenses.
(3)Primarily transaction-related, capital markets and accounting advisory services.
(4)Presented only for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, reflecting definition in debt agreements entered into in connection with the January 2017 debt refinancing. Subsequent to the Business Combination, the Earnout Adjusted EBITDA of the Borrowers under the credit agreements excludes expenses of Priority Technology Holdings, Inc., which is neither a Borrower nor a guarantor under the credit agreements. Earnout Adjusted EBITDA of the Borrowers was approximately $78.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.


















53


Liquidity and Capital Resources
Liquidity and capital resource management is a process focused on providing the funding we need to meet our short-term and long-term cash and working capital needs. We have used our funding sources to build our merchant portfolio, technology solutions, and to make acquisitions with the expectation that such investments will generate cash flows sufficient to cover our working capital needs and other anticipated needs, including for our acquisition strategy. We anticipate that cash on hand, funds generated from operations and available borrowings under our revolving credit agreement are sufficient to meet our working capital requirements for at least the next twelve months.

Our principal uses of cash are to fund business operations, administrative costs, and debt service.
Our working capital, defined as current assets less current liabilities, was $21.1 million at December 31, 2018 and $39.5 million at December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2018, we had cash totaling $15.6 million compared to $28.0 million at December 31, 2017. These balances do not include restricted cash, which reflects cash accounts holding customer settlement funds and reserves for potential losses of $18.2 million at December 31, 2018 and $16.2 million at December 31, 2017.

At December 31, 2018, we had availability of $25.0 million under our revolving credit arrangement.
The following tables and narrative reflect our changes in cash flows for the comparative annual periods.

Year Ended December 31, 2018 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2017
  Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands) 2018 2017
   
Net cash provided by (used in):  
  
Operating activities $31,348
 $36,869
Investing activities (108,928) (9,037)
Financing activities 67,252
 (25,375)
Net (decrease) increase in cash and restricted cash $(10,328) $2,457

Cash Provided By Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities was $31.3 million and $36.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The $5.5 million, or 15.0%, decrease was principally the result of reduced income from operations of $15.3 million, partially offset by changes in operating working capital. Changes in operating working capital increased by $11.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017.
Cash Used In Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities was $108.9 million and $9.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Cash flow used in investing activities includes the acquisitions of merchant portfolios, purchases of property, equipment and software, and acquisitions of businesses. For the year ended December 31, 2018, we invested $90.9 million in merchant portfolio acquisitions, an $88.4 million increase from the year ended December 31, 2017. We used $7.5 million for business acquisitions for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to zero in the prior year. Cash used for purchases of property, plant and equipment for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $10.6 million, an increase of $4.0 million from the year ended December 31, 2017. The increase in purchases was driven primarily by equipment purchases for MX Connect and CPX, capitalization of internally developed software and improvements to the legal and CPX office space.




54


Cash Provided By (Used In) Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities was $67.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to net cash used in financing activities of $25.4 million in the prior year. Cash flows from financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 resulted primarily from the proceeds received in the January 2018 and December 2018 debt upsizings and the equity recapitalization in connection with the Business Combination, offset in part by cash used for equity redemptions, the redemption of the Goldman Sachs warrant, and equity distributions prior to July 25, 2018. Cash flows used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 primarily reflected equity redemptions partially offset by a net increase in long term debt.

Year Ended December 31, 2017 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2016
  Years Ended December 31, 
(in thousands) 2017 2016 
    
Net cash provided by (used in):  
  
 
Operating activities $36,869
 $22,275
 
Investing activities (9,037) (6,362) 
Financing activities (25,375) (10,548) 
Net increase in cash and restricted cash $2,457
 $5,365
 

Cash Provided By Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities was $36.9 million in 2017, a $14.6 million, or 65.5%, increase from $22.3 million in 2016. The $14.6 million increase from 2016 to 2017 was principally the result of the $9.4 million increase in income from operations as well as changes in working capital.
Cash Used In Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities was $9.0 million for 2017 and $6.4 million for 2016. Cash flows used in investing activities in 2017 and 2016 reflect the purchases of property, plant, equipment and software, which increased by $2.5 million from 2016 to 2017, driven primarily by leasehold improvements related to an increase in office space to support the roll out of new business lines, and additions to merchant portfolios.
Cash Provided By (Used In) Financing Activities
Net cash used in financing activities was $25.4 million in 2017 and $10.5 million in 2016. Cash flows used in financing activities in 2017 primarily reflect $203.0 million in membership unit redemptions and $90.7 million in repayments of the long-term debt, which more than offset new debt proceeds of $276.3 million. Cash flows used in financing activities in 2016 primarily include $10.0 million in equity distributions.
Long-Term Debt
As of December 31, 2018, we had outstanding long-term debt of $412.7 million compared to $283.1 million at December 31, 2017, an increase of $129.6 million. The debt balance consisted of outstanding term debt of $322.7 million under the Senior Credit Facility and $90.0 million in term debt under the subordinated Credit and Guaranty Agreement with Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, L.P. (the "GS Credit Facility") (including accrued payment-in-kind ("PIK") interest through December 31, 2018). Additionally, under the Senior Credit Facility, we have a $25.0 million revolving credit facility, which was undrawn as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017. The outstanding principal amounts under the Senior Credit Facility and the subordinated GS Credit Facility mature in January 2023 and July 2023, respectively. The $25 million revolving credit facility expires in January 2022.


55


Outstanding borrowings under the Senior Credit Facility bear interest at the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) with a floor of 1.0%, plus an applicable margin. The margin stood at 5.0% as of December 31, 2018, which was a reduction from 6.0% as of December 31, 2017, due to amendments made in connection with the January 2018 debt upsizing. We are required to make quarterly principal payments under the Senior Credit Facility, as determined and defined in the credit agreement.

The subordinated GS Credit Facility provides for cash and PIK interest components. Cash interest is payable at an annual rate of 5.0% while PIK interest resets on a quarterly basis based on our Total Net Leverage Ratio, as defined in the credit agreement relating to the GS Credit Facility, with a floor of 5.0%. As of December 31, 2018, the outstanding amount on the subordinated GS Credit Facility term debt totaled $90.0 million, a $4.9 million increase from December 31, 2017 attributable to the accrual of PIK interest. The PIK interest payable on the subordinated GS Credit Facility decreased from 6.25% as of December 31, 2017 to 5.5% in January 2018 (which remained the applicable PIK rate as of December 31, 2018) based our Total Net Leverage Ratio, as defined in the credit agreement.

The Senior Credit Facility and the subordinated GS Credit Facility are secured by substantially all of our assets, however, the parent entity, Priority Technology Holdings, Inc., is neither a borrower nor guarantor to the Senior Credit Facility or the GS Credit Facility.

The Senior Credit Facility and the subordinated GS Credit Facility contain representations and warranties, financial and collateral requirements, mandatory payment events, and events of default and affirmative and negative covenants, including without limitation, covenants that restrict among other things, the ability to create liens, merge or consolidate, dispose of assets, incur additional indebtedness, make certain investments or acquisitions, enter into certain transactions (including with affiliates), and to enter into certain leases. The financial covenants include requirements to maintain certain leverage and fixed charge coverage ratios. As of December 31, 2018, we were in compliance with our financial covenants.
As of December 31, 2018, financial covenants under the Senior Credit Facility required the Total Net Leverage Ratio, as defined in the agreement, not to exceed 6.50:1.00, which threshold will decline to 6.25:1.00 as of March 31, 2019, 6.00:1.00 as of June 30, 2019, 5.75:1.00 as of September 30, 2019, and 5.25:1.00 as of December 31, 2019. Under certain circumstances, we may also be required to maintain a First Lien Net Leverage Ratio, as defined in the agreement, not to exceed 4.25:1.00. The Net Leverage Ratios are determined using the outstanding debt balance and Earnout Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure), as defined in the Senior Credit Facility. For a reconciliation of Earnout Adjusted EBITDA to net income, see above under "Certain Non-GAAP Measures." As of December 31, 2018, the Borrowers' Total Net Leverage Ratio was 5.06:1.00. The subordinated GS Credit Facility contains financial covenants similar to the Senior Credit Facility.

Contractual Obligations
The following table sets forth our contractual obligations and commitments for the periods indicated as of December 31, 2018.
(in thousands) Payments Due by Period
Contractual Obligations Total   
Less than
1 year
 1 to 3 years 3 to 5 Years 
More than
5 years
   
Facility and other leases (a) $10,628
   $1,637
 $2,587
 $2,573
 $3,831
Debt (b) 412,682
   3,293
 6,585
 402,804
 
Interest on debt (c) 170,530
   33,567
 67,687
 69,276
 
Processing minimums (d) 21,000
   7,000
 14,000
 
 
  $614,840
   $45,497
 $90,859
 $474,653
 $3,831
(a)We have entered into, or assumed via acquisitions, several operating leases for office space in the states of Georgia, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Florida, as well as equipment leases.
(b)Reflects contractual principal payments.

56


(c)Reflects minimum interest payable on term debt under the Senior Credit Facility and the subordinated GS Credit Facility.
(d)Reflects minimum annual spend commitments with third-party processor partners. In the event we fail to meet the minimum annual spend commitment, we are required to pay the difference between the minimum and the actual dollar amount spent in the year.


Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have not entered into any transactions with third parties or unconsolidated entities whereby we have financial guarantees, subordinated retained interest, derivative instruments, or other contingent arrangements that expose us to material continuing risks, contingent liabilities or other obligations.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our accounting policies are more fully described in Note 1, Nature of Business and Accounting Policies. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions about future events that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. We believe that the following discussion addresses our most critical accounting policies, which are those that are most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management's most difficult, subjective, and complex judgments.

Revenue Recognition

The determination of whether we should be read in conjunctionrecognize revenue based on the gross amount billed to a customer or the net amount retained is a matter of judgment that depends on the facts and circumstances of the arrangement. We recognize merchant card fee revenues net of interchange fees, which are assessed to our merchant customers on all transactions processed by third parties. Interchange fees and rates are not controlled by us, and therefore we effectively act as a clearing house collecting and remitting interchange fee settlement on behalf of issuing banks, debit networks, credit card associations, and processing customers. All other revenue is reported on a gross basis, as we contract directly with the financial statements andmerchant, assume the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

Overview

We were formed on April 23, 2015 for the purposerisk of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more target businesses. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business were not limited to any particular industry or geographic region, although we initially focused on target businesses operating in the technology, media and telecommunications industries. We intend to utilize cash derived from the proceeds of our public offering in effecting our initial business combination.

We presently have no revenue, have had losses since inception from incurring formation costs, general and administrative costs and costs in connection with our search for business combination candidatesloss, and have had no operations other than the active solicitation of a target business with which to complete a business combination. pricing flexibility.


Income Taxes

We have relied upon the sale of our securities and loans from our officers and directors to fund our operations.

On September 19, 2016, we consummated our IPO of 5,000,000 Units. Each Unit consists of one share of Common Stock and one Public Warrant to purchase one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. The Units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $50,000,000. We granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 750,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any. Simultaneously with the consummation of the IPO, we consummated the Private Placement of 402,500 Private Units at a price of $10.00 per Private Unit, generating total proceeds of $4,025,000. The underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in part and, on October 14, 2016, the underwriters purchased 310,109 over-allotment option Units, which were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $3,101,090. On October 14, 2016, simultaneously with the sale of the Over-Allotment Units, we consummated the private sale of an additional 18,607 Private Units to one of the initial stockholders, generating gross proceeds of $186,070. The remainder of the over-allotment option expired unexercised.

As of December 31, 2017, a total of $55,081,899 of the net proceeds from the Offering (including the partial exercise of the over-allotment option) and the Private Placement were in a trust account established for the benefit of the Company’s public shareholders.

Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the private placement, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally towards consummating a business combination.

Recent Developments

On February 26, 2018, we entered into a Contribution Agreement (as amended and restated on March 26, 2018, the “Purchase Agreement”) with Priority Investment Holdings, LLC and Priority Incentive Equity Holdings, LLC to acquire all of the outstanding equity interests of Priority Holdings, LLC (“Priority”), a leading provider of B2C and B2B payment processing solutions.

A more detailed description the Purchase Agreement can be found in Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under recent developments, and more information about Priority can be found in our Report on Form 8-K dated February 27, 2018.

On March 13, 2018, the Company issued promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of$132,753 to its sponsors (M SPAC LLC, M SPAC Holdings I, LLC and M SPAC Holdings II, LLC). The $132,753 received by the Company upon issuance of the notes was deposited into the Company’s trust account for income taxes under the benefit of its public stockholders in order to extend theperiod of time the Company has to complete a business combination for an additional one month, from March 19, 2018 to April 19, 2018. The notes do not bear interestasset and liability method. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are payable five business days after the date the Company completes a business combination.


A more detailed description of the promissory notes and the related transactions can be found in our Current Reportdetermined based on Form 8-K dated March 14, 2018.

Results of Operations

Our entire activity from inception up to September 19, 2016 was related to the Company’s formation, the IPO and general and administrative activities. Since the IPO, our activity has been limited to general and administrative activities and the evaluation of business combination candidates, and we will not be generating any operating revenues until the closing and completion of our initial business combination. We expect to generate small amounts of non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents. Interest income is not expected to be significant in view of current low interest rates on risk-free investments (treasury securities). We expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal,differences between financial reporting accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.

For the year ended December 31, 2017, we had a net loss of $124,854. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we incurred $831,721of general and administrative expenses and $120,000 of administrative fees paid to a related party. For the year ended December 31, 2017, these expenses were offset by other income totaling $826,867, which was comprised of interest income of $399,166 and settlement income of $427,701, which we received from an entity that decided that it no longer wished to engage in a transaction with us. The settlement income received was approximately the amount of the expenses we incurred pursuing that transaction. 

For the year ended December 31, 2016, we had a net loss of $107,995. During the year ended December 31, 2016, we incurred $137,529 of general and administrative expenses and $35,667 of administrative fees paid to a related party. These expenses for the year ended December 31, 2016 were offset by $27,500 for the extinguishment of debt recorded by the Company on the amendment of a note payable and $37,701 of interest income.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2017, we had cash outside our trust account of $172,196.

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied to date through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the insider shares, loans and advances from insiders and a related party and an unrelated party in an aggregate amount of $241,921 that were repaid at the closing of the IPO, and the proceeds from the IPO and Private Placement. In addition, we received $427,701 from a company with which we were negotiating a business combination after it decided that it no longer wished to engage in a transaction with us. The amount received was approximately the amount of the expenses we incurred in pursuing that transaction.

We intend to use substantially all of the net proceeds of the IPO, including the funds held in the trust account, in connection with our initial business combination and to pay our expenses relating thereto, including a deferred underwriting commission payable to Chardan Capital Markets, LLC in an amount equal to $1,062,022. To the extent that our capital stock is used in whole or in part as consideration to effect our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account as well as any other net proceeds not expended will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business. Such working capital funds could be used in a variety of ways including continuing or expanding the target business’ operations, for strategic acquisitions and for marketing, research and development of existing or new products. Such funds could also be used to repay any operating expenses or finders’ fees which we had incurred prior to the completion of our initial business combination if the funds available to us outside of the trust account were insufficient to cover such expenses.


We anticipate that the approximately $170,000 outside of our trust account will be insufficient to allow us to operate until June 19, 2018, assuming that a business combination is not consummated during that time. Over this time period, we will be using these funds for identifying and evaluating prospective business combination candidates, performing business due diligence on prospective target businesses, traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses, reviewing corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, selecting the target business to consummate our initial business combination with and structuring, negotiating and consummating the business combination.  

$50,000 of expenses for the search for target businesses and for the legal, accounting and other third-party expenses attendant to the due diligence investigations, structuring and negotiating of our initial business combination;

$15,000 of expenses for the due diligence and investigation of a target business by our officers, directors and insiders;

$50,000 of expenses in legal and accounting fees relating to our SEC reporting obligations;

$50,000 for the payment of the administrative fee to Magna Management LLC (of $10,000 per month for up to 21 months), subject to deferral as described herein;

$5,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses, liquidation obligations and reserves, including director and officer liability insurance premiums.

If our estimates of the costs of undertaking due diligence and negotiating our initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, or the amount of interest available to us from the trust account for the payment of tax obligations is less than we expect as a result of the current interest rate environment, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to consummate our initial business combination or because we become obligated to convert a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only consummate such financing simultaneously with the consummation of our initial business combination. Following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.

Going concern:

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern, which contemplates, among other things, the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. As of December 31, 2017, the Company had $172,196 in cash and cash equivalents held outside Trust Account, $399,166 in interest income available from the Company's investments in the Trust Account to pay its tax obligations, and a working capital deficit of $206,276. Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. The Company’s plans to raise capital or to consummate the initial Business Combination may not be successful.  These matters, among others, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Based on the foregoing, the Company may have insufficient funds available to operate its business through the earlier of consummation of a Business Combination or June 19, 2018. Following the initial Business Combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, the Company may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet its obligations. The Company cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all.

The accompanying financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.

Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements

As of December 31, 2017, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements. We have no obligations, assets or liabilities which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or entered into any non-financial assets.

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Contractual Obligations

At December 31, 2017, we did not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities other than a monthly fee of $10,000 for general and administrative services payable to Magna Management LLC, an affiliate of our insiders, which will be paid for up to 21 months starting on the closing date of the IPO and an outstanding Note issued to an unrelated third party.

Critical Accounting Policies

The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP, requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amountsbases of assets and liabilities disclosureand are measured using enacted tax rates and laws that are expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to be recovered or settled. Realization of contingentdeferred tax assets is dependent upon future taxable income. A valuation allowance is recognized if it is more likely than not that some portion or all of a deferred tax asset will not be realized based on the weight of available evidence, including expected future earnings.

We recognize an uncertain tax position in our financial statements when we conclude that a tax position is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination based solely on its technical merits. Only after a tax position passes the first step of recognition will measurement be required. Under the measurement step, the tax benefit is measured as the largest amount of benefit that is more likely than not to be realized upon effective settlement. This is determined on a cumulative probability basis. The full impact of any change in recognition or measurement is reflected in the period in which such change occurs. Interest and liabilitiespenalties related to income taxes are recognized in the provision for income taxes.
Goodwill and Long-Lived Assets
We test goodwill for impairment for each of our reporting units on an annual basis or when events occur, or circumstances indicate the fair value of a reporting unit is below our carrying value. We perform the impairment tests by using market data and discounted cash flow analysis, which involve estimates of future revenues and operating cash flows.
We review our long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. For long-lived assets, except goodwill, an impairment loss is indicated when the undiscounted

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future cash flows estimated to be generated by the asset group are not sufficient to recover the unamortized balance of the asset group.

Merchant Portfolios
Merchant portfolios represent the value of the acquired merchant customer base at the datetime of acquisition. We amortize the cost of our acquired merchant portfolios over their estimated useful lives using either a straight-line or an accelerated method that most accurately reflects the estimated pattern in which the economic benefits of the financial statements, and income and expenses duringrespective asset is consumed.

Potential Impacts of Recently Issued Accounting Standards

For the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following as our critical accounting policies:

Common stock subject to possible conversion:

We account for our common stock subject to possible conversion in accordance with the guidance enumerated in ASC 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity”.   Common stock subject to mandatory conversion are classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally convertible common stock (including common sharespotential impacts that feature conversion rights that are either within the controlpending adoptions of the holder or subject to conversion upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our common stock features certain conversion rights that are considered by us to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, the common stock subject to possible conversion is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the balance sheet.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Management does not believe that any recently issued but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted wouldmay have a material effect on our future financial position, results of operations, or cash flows, see Note 1, Nature of Business and Accounting Policies, under the accompanying financial statements.

header "Recently Issued Standards Not Yet Adopted."


ITEM 7A.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

ITEM 7A. QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DISCLOSURE ABOUT MARKET RISK


Interest rate risk
Our Senior Credit Facility bears interest at a rate based on LIBOR plus a fixed margin. As a smaller reporting company,of December 31, 2018, we arehad $322.7 million in outstanding borrowings under our Senior Credit Facility. A hypothetical 1% increase or decrease in the applicable LIBOR rate on our outstanding indebtedness under the Senior Credit Facility would have increased or decreased cash interest expense on our indebtedness by approximately $3.2 million per annum. The discrepancy between the hypothetical increase and decrease is attributable to the 1.0% LIBOR floor under the Senior Credit Facility. The applicable LIBOR rate stood at approximately 2.50% at December 31, 2018.
We do not required to make disclosures under this Item.

currently hedge against interest rate risk.






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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA


PRIORITY TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, INC.
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

ITEM 8.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Our financial statements and the notes thereto begin on page F-1 of this Annual Report.

ITEM 9.              CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

None.

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ITEM 9A.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer have concluded that during the period covered by this report, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f). Internal control over financial reporting refers to the process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive, principal financial and principal accounting officer, and effected by our Board of Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and includes those policies and procedures that:

1)Pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets;
2)Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorization of our management and directors; and
3)Provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisitions, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Internal control over financial reporting cannot provide absolute assurance of achieving financial reporting objectives because of its inherent limitations. Internal control over financial reporting is a process that involves human diligence and compliance and is subject to lapses in judgment and breakdowns resulting from human failures. Internal control over financial reporting also can be circumvented by collusion or improper management override. Because of such limitations, there is a risk that material misstatements may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis by internal control over financial reporting. However, these inherent limitations are known features of the financial reporting process. Therefore, it is possible to design into the process safeguards to reduce, though not eliminate, this risk. Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for the company.

Our management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control system as of December 31, 2017 was based on the framework for effective internal control over financial reporting described in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, known as COSO. Based on this assessment, our principal executive, principal financial and principal accounting officer has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2017.

This Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of internal controls from the company’s registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended December 31, 2017 that have materially affect, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

ITEM 9B.OTHER INFORMATION

On March 26, 2018, we entered into an Amended and Restated Contribution Agreement with the Interest Holders (as amended and restated, the “Purchase Agreement”). The revisions:

changed Priority’s enterprise value to $947,835,000;
amended the language relating to the inclusion of acquisitions between signing and closing in the definition of Priority’s enterprise value; and
amended the definition of net assumed debt to include the cost of acquisition of technology assets, up to $5,000,000, the amount paid by Priority to purchase securities from the Founders pursuant to the Promote Agreement and any amounts paid by Priority to extend the time we have to complete a business combination in the calculation of net debt as cash and cash equivalents.

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part III

ITEM 10.DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

The following table sets forth information about our directors and executive officers as of March 27, 2018.

NameAgePosition
Joshua Sason30Chief Executive Officer and Director
Marc Manuel49Chief Financial Officer and Director
Russell Rieger58Vice President of Strategy
Donald S. Ienner65Director
David Schulhof47Director
Samuel S. Holdsworth65Director

Below is a summary of the business experience of each of our executive officers and directors

Joshua Sason has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a Director since our inception. Mr. Sason is the founder & Chief Executive Officer of Magna Management LLC, a global investment firm which invests across the worldwide public and private equity markets and the entertainment industry. In the eight years since launching the firm, Mr. Sason has grown Magna Management LLC into a leading investor in its market segment, investing over $300M into lower middle market credit and equity opportunities and positioning the firm's brand amongst the most creative and forward thinking in the investment management industry. Mr. Sason co-founded and has served as Chairman of the New York construction company Sason Builders, LLC since June 2014 and was the Founder and Chairman of the boutique talent acquisition company, Mainz, since November 2013 until it was acquired in late 2017. In addition, Mr. Sason has been the Chief Executive Officer of Magna Entertainment, LLC since 2013. Magna Entertainment has invested in and produced a number of feature films and documentaries, including the 2016 feature, “Bleed for This”.

Marc Manuel has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Director since July 12, 2016. Marc served as a Managing Director for Magna Management, LLC from 2012 through 2017. At Magna, Mr. Manuel had been responsible for helping to build out Magna’s Equities strategy, making portfolio investments as both a lead investor in syndicated transactions and as a sole investor. Prior to joining Magna, from September 2009 until July 2012, Mr. Manuel worked as an Investment Banker at Scarsdale Equities LLC. Prior to working at Scarsdale Equities LLC, Mr. Manuel owned his own business and consulted for a wide array of companies ranging from early stage startups to members of the Fortune 10. He holds a B.A. from George Washington University, Cum Laude, and an MBA from Fordham University.

Russell Riegerhas been our Vice President of Strategy since July 25, 2016. Mr. Rieger has been Vice President of Magna Entertainment, LLC since April 2014. From 1997 to 2002, he served as General Manager and Executive Vice President of Creative for Maverick Records (of which Madonna was one of the founders), building the label into a freestanding record company with over 100 employees and working with successful artists including the Prodigy, Alanis Morissette, Muse, and the Deftones, as well as was executive producing movie soundtracks, including The Matrix. In 2003 he became principal founder and partner at Pipeline LLC, an entertainment branding and marketing company based in Los Angeles where he worked until 2009. Mr. Rieger moved to NYC in 2010 and founded his own consulting firm, working with startup companies, private equity and hedge funds focusing on the entertainment and media industries, where he worked until April 2014. Prior to working at Maverick and Pipeline, Mr. Rieger was the General Manager of London Records, from 1992 to 1997, where he helped to launch the record label in the United States and worked with several gold and platinum artists such as Portishead, Salt n’ Pepa, Meat Puppets and Paul Weller. He began his career, in 1982 as a co-manager for Modern English and shortly after, co-founded a management company that represented the Replacements, the Del Fuegos and Cyndi Lauper among others. Mr. Rieger is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany where he received a BA in both Political Science and Philosophy.

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Donald S. Iennerhas been our director since February 1, 2016. Mr. Ienner has been the managing member of DSI-1008, LLC, a consulting firm for the music industry, since October 2011. From 2007 to October 2011, he served as a consultant to the music industry. From 1989 to 2006, he served in various capacities with Columbia Records/Sony Music, most recently as Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Label Group U.S. Mr. Ienner has worked in the music industry since 1969 and held various positions with Cam-USA, Millennium Records and Arista Records prior to joining Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1989. Mr. Ienner has previously been a nominating committee member for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a board member of the Recording Industry Association of America, and a board member of Gibson Guitars.

David Schulhofhas been our director since December 16, 2015. Mr. Schulhof has served as the President of IM Global Music since December 2014. Previously, from March 2012 to November 2014, he was a Managing Director at G2 Investment Group, an offshoot of New York private equity firm Guggenheim Partners, focusing on the firm’s media investments. Prior to G2, he was Co-Founder and CEO of Evergreen Copyrights from January 2005 through December 2010, which pursued a global acquisition strategy. Schulhof and his partners built Evergreen into one of the leading independent music publishing companies worldwide and in 2010 sold Evergreen to KKR/BMG Rights Management. Before launching Evergreen, from 1997 to 2004, he was Vice President of Motion Picture Music at Miramax and Dimension films, overseeing music, music publishing, music supervision and soundtracks for the Studio. Prior to joining Miramax, he was a lawyer at the law offices of Pryor Cashman Sherman and Flynn, representing film, music and TV clients. He began his career at Interscope Records and graduated from the NYU School of Law and Georgetown University.

Samuel S. Holdsworthhas been our director since December 16, 2015. Mr. Holdsworth is a Managing Director of Sword, Rowe & Co., a firm providing investment and advisory services for media and entertainment businesses. Prior thereto, from January 2012 until December 2013, Mr. Holdsworth provided consulting services to financial and content related businesses. From January 2008 until January 2012 he was the Executive Chairman of Solvi Brands, LLC, an early stage consumables company. Mr. Holdsworth was a founding partner at JPMorgan Entertainment Partners, a private equity fund, from Jan. 1999 until June 2006. He was also Chairman and CEO of Ryko Corp., a diversified music company from early 2001 until it was sold to Warner Music Group in June 2006. From 1991 through 1999 he ran an investment banking practice doing M&A, turn-around and fundraising for businesses in the media, entertainment and lodging space. He began his entrepreneurial career in publishing, founding Musician Magazine in 1976 and selling it to Billboard Publications in 1981. He was previously a principal and president of BPI Communications Entertainment division, publisher of Billboard Magazine and managed the Hollywood Reporter, Adweek and other media business properties. He also founded and was Executive Producer of the Billboard Awards Show on the Fox Network from 1990 through 1997.

Except as described below and under “— Conflicts of Interest,” none of these individuals is currently a principal of or affiliated with a public company or blank check company that executed a business plan similar to our business plan.

Officer and Director Qualifications

Our officers and board of directors are composed of a diverse group of leaders. Most of the current officers or directors have senior leadership experience in the entertainment and media industry. In these positions, they have also gained experience in core management skills, such as strategic and financial planning, financial reporting, compliance, risk management, and leadership development. Most of our officers and directors also have experience serving on boards of directors and board committees of other companies, and have an understanding of corporate governance practices and trends, which provides an understanding of different business processes, challenges, and strategies. Further, our officers and directors also have other experience that makes them valuable, managing and investing assets or facilitating the consummation of business combinations.

We, along with our officers and directors, believe that the above-mentioned attributes, along with the leadership skills and other experiences of our officers and board members described below, provide us with a diverse range of perspectives and judgment necessary to facilitate our goals of consummating an acquisition transaction.

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Joshua Sason

Mr. Sason is well-qualified to serve as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board due to his business leadership, operational experience, and experience in direct investments across the worldwide public and private equity markets and the entertainment industry. We believe Mr. Sason’s access to contacts and sources, ranging from private and public company contacts, private equity funds and investment bankers will allow us to generate acquisition opportunities and identify suitable acquisition candidates. We believe Mr. Sason’s investment experience in the entertainment industry and background in negotiating, structuring and consummating private equity transactions will further our purpose of consummating an acquisition transaction.

Marc Manuel

Mr. Manuel is well-qualified to serve as a member of the Board due to his investment experience, merger and acquisition experience and operational experience. We believe Mr. Manuel’s access to contacts and sources, ranging from private and public company contacts, private equity funds and investment bankers will allow us to generate acquisition opportunities and identify suitable acquisition candidates. We believe Mr. Manuel’s strategic consulting experience and background in negotiating, structuring and consummating private equity transactions will further our purpose of consummating an acquisition transaction.

Donald S. Ienner

Mr. Ienner is well-qualified to serve as a member of the Board due to his business leadership and experience in the music industry and public company experience. We believe Mr. Manuel’s access to contacts and sources in the music industry will allow us to generate acquisition opportunities and identify suitable acquisition candidates. We believe Mr. Ienner’s strategic consulting experience and background in the music industry will further our purpose of consummating an acquisition transaction.

David Schulhof 

Mr. Schulhof is well-qualified to serve as a member of the Board due to his business leadership, operational experience, legal background and experience in mergers and acquisitions in the entertainment and media industry. We believe Mr. Schulhof’s access to contacts and sources, ranging from private and public company contacts, private equity funds and investment bankers in the entertainment and media industry will allow us to generate acquisition opportunities and identify suitable acquisition candidates. We believe Mr. Schulhof’s broad operational experience and background in negotiating, structuring and consummating mergers and acquisitions including the acquisition of Evergreen by KKR/BMG Rights Management will further our purpose of consummating an acquisition transaction.

Samuel S. Holdsworth

Mr. Holdsworth is well-qualified to serve as a member of the Board due to his business leadership, operational experience, experience in investment and advisory services for media and entertainment businesses. We believe Mr. Holdsworth’s contacts and sources, ranging from private and public company contacts, private equity funds and investment bankers in the entertainment and media industry will allow us to generate acquisition opportunities and identify suitable acquisition candidates. We believe Mr. Holdsworth’s broad consulting experience and background in negotiating, structuring and consummating mergers and acquisitions will further our purpose of consummating an acquisition transaction.

Russell Rieger

Mr. Rieger is well-qualified to serve as an officer of the company due to his investment, operational, corporate strategy and consulting experience in the entertainment and media industries. We believe Mr. Rieger’s access to contacts and sources in the entertainment and media industries, ranging from private and public company contacts, private equity funds and investment bankers will allow us to generate acquisition opportunities and identify suitable acquisition candidates. We believe Mr. Rieger’s consulting experience and background in negotiating, structuring and consummating private equity transactions will further our purpose of consummating an acquisition transaction.

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Board Committees

The Board has a standing audit and compensation committee. The independent directors oversee director nominations. Each audit committee and compensation committee has a charter, which was filed with the SEC as exhibits to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 on July 26, 2016.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee, which is established in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act, engages Company’s independent accountants, reviewing their independence and performance; reviews the Company’s accounting and financial reporting processes and the integrity of its financial statements; the audits of the Company’s financial statements and the appointment, compensation, qualifications, independence and performance of the Company’s independent auditors; the Company’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; and the performance of the Company’s internal audit function and internal control over financial reporting. The Audit Committee held two meetings during 2017.

The members of the Audit Committee are Samuel S. Holdsworth, Chair, David Schulhof and Donald S. Ienner. The Board has determined that Samuel S. Holdsworth is an audit committee financial expert, as defined in the Exchange Act.

Compensation Committee

The Compensation Committee reviews annually the Company’s corporate goals and objectives relevant to the officers’ compensation, evaluates the officers’ performance in light of such goals and objectives, determines and approves the officers’ compensation level based on this evaluation; makes recommendations to the Board regarding approval, disapproval, modification, or termination of existing or proposed employee benefit plans, makes recommendations to the Board with respect to non-CEO and non-CFO compensation and administers the Company’s incentive-compensation plans and equity-based plans. The Compensation Committee has the authority to delegate any of its responsibilities to subcommittees as it may deem appropriate in its sole discretion. The chief executive officer of the Company may not be present during voting or deliberations of the Compensation Committee with respect to his compensation. The Company’s executive officers do not play a role in suggesting their own salaries. Neither the Company nor the Compensation Committee has engaged any compensation consultant who has a role in determining or recommending the amount or form of executive or director compensation. The Compensation Committee held one meeting during 2017.

The members of the Compensation Committee are David Schulhof, Chair, Samuel S. Holdsworth and Donald S. Ienner.

Independent Directors Overseeing Director Nominations

The independent directors of the Company assist the Board in overseeing various Board composition, and to the extent they deem necessary, perform the following:

Make recommendations to the Board regarding the size and composition of the Board, establish procedures for the nomination process and screen and recommend candidates for election to the Board.

Recommend for approval by the Board on an annual basis desired qualification and characteristics for Board membership and with corresponding attributes.

Establish and administer a periodic assessment procedure relating to the performance of the Board as a whole and its individual members.

The Board does not have a formal policy on Board candidate qualifications. The Board may consider those factors it deems appropriate in evaluating director nominees made either by the Board or shareholders, including judgment, skill, strength of character, experience with businesses and organizations comparable in size or scope to the Company, experience and skill relative to other Board members, and specialized knowledge or experience. Depending upon the current needs of the Board, certain factors may be weighed more or less heavily. In considering candidates for the Board, the directors evaluate the entirety of each candidate’s credentials and do not have any specific minimum qualifications that must be met. “Diversity,” as such, is not a criterion that the Committee considers. The directors will consider candidates from any reasonable source, including current Board members, shareholders, professional search firms or other persons. The directors will not evaluate candidates differently based on who has made the recommendation.

Conflicts of Interest

Investors should be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest:

•     None of our officers and directors is required to commit their full time to our affairs and, accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities.

•     In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to our company as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our officers and directors may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

•     Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities, including other blank check companies, engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by our company.

•     Unless we consummate our initial business combination, our officers, directors and insiders will not receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them to the extent that such expenses exceed the amount of available proceeds not deposited in the trust account.

•     The insider shares beneficially owned by our officers and directors will be released from escrow only if our initial business combination is successfully completed. Additionally, if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time frame, our officers and directors will not be entitled to receive any amounts held in the trust account with respect to any of their insider shares or private units. Furthermore, our insiders (and/or their designees) have agreed that the private units will not be sold or transferred by them until after we have completed our initial business combination. For the foregoing reasons, our board may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effect our initial business combination.

In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:

•     the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;

•     the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and

•     it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.


Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our officers or directors in circumstances where the application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have. In order to minimize potential conflicts of interest which may arise from multiple affiliations, our officers and directors (other than our independent directors) have agreed to present to us for our consideration, prior to presentation to any other person or entity, any suitable opportunity to acquire a target business, until the earlier of: (1) our consummation of an initial business combination and (2) 21 months from the date of the IPO. This agreement is, however, subject to any pre-existing fiduciary and contractual obligations such officer or director may from time to time have to another entity. Accordingly, if any of them becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that the pre-existing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers and directors will materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination because in most cases the affiliated companies are closely held entities controlled by the officer or director or the nature of the affiliated company’s business is such that it is unlikely that a conflict will arise.

The following table summarizes the current pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations of our officers, directors and director nominees:

Name of Individual

Name of Affiliated
Company
Entity’s BusinessAffiliation
Joshua SasonMagna Management LLCInvestmentsFounder & Chief Executive Officer
Joshua SasonSason BuildersConstructionChairman
Joshua SasonMagna Entertainment, LLCFilm productionChief Executive Officer
Joshua SasonBowmo Inc.StaffingBoard Member
Joshua SasonPledgeMusicMusicBoard Member
Joshua SasonM SPAC LLCInvestment Holding CompanyManaging Member
Joshua SasonM SPAC Holdings I LLCInvestment Holding CompanyManaging Member
Joshua SasonM SPAC Holdings II LLCInvestment Holding CompanyManaging Member
Russell RiegerMagna Entertainment, LLCFilm productionVice President
Donald S. IennerDSI-1008, LLCConsultingManaging Member
David SchulhofIM Global MusicFilm distributionPresident
Samuel S. HoldsworthSword, Rowe & Co.Investment and advisory servicesManaging Director

Our insiders, officers and directors, have agreed to vote any shares of common stock held by them in favor of our initial business combination. In addition, they have agreed to waive their respective rights to receive any amounts held in the trust account with respect to their insider shares and private shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the required time frame. If they purchase shares of common stock in the IPO or in the open market, however, they would be entitled to receive their pro rata share of the amounts held in the trust account if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the required time frame, but have agreed not to convert such shares in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination.

All ongoing and future transactions between us and any of our officers and directors or their respective affiliates will be on terms believed by us to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. Such transactions will require prior approval by our audit committee and a majority of our uninterested “independent” directors, or the members of our board who do not have an interest in the transaction, in either case who had access, at our expense, to our attorneys or independent legal counsel. We will not enter into any such transaction unless our audit committee and a majority of our disinterested “independent” directors determine that the terms of such transaction are no less favorable to us than those that would be available to us with respect to such a transaction from unaffiliated third parties.


To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate our initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our officers, directors or insiders, unless we have obtained (i) an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view and (ii) the approval of a majority of our disinterested and independent directors (if we have any at that time). Furthermore, in no event will our insiders or any of the members of our management team be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other similar compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).

Code of Ethics

We adopted a code of conduct and ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees in accordance with applicable federal securities laws. The code of ethics codifies the business and ethical principles that govern all aspects of our business.

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, requires our executive officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership of our common stock and other equity securities. These executive officers, directors, and greater than 10% beneficial owners are required by SEC regulation to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms filed by such reporting persons.

Based solely on our review of such forms furnished to us and written representations from certain reporting persons, we believe that all filing requirements applicable to our executive officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners were filed in a timely manner.

ITEM 11.EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Employment Agreements

We have not entered into any employment agreements with our executive officers and have not made any agreements to provide benefits upon termination of employment.

Executive Officers and Director Compensation

No executive officer has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on September 13, 2016 through the completion of our initial business combination with a target business, we will pay to Magna Management LLC, a company owned by our insiders, a fee of $10,000 per month for providing us with office space and certain office and secretarial services. However, pursuant to the terms of such agreement, we may delay payment of such monthly fee upon a determination by our audit committee that we lack sufficient funds held outside the trust to pay actual or anticipated expenses in connection with our initial business combination. Any such unpaid amount will accrue without interest and be due and payable no later than the date of the consummation of our initial business combination. Other than the $10,000 per month administrative fee, no compensation or fees of any kind, including finder’s fees, consulting fees and other similar fees, will be paid to our insiders or any of the members of our management team, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, such individuals will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination.


After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. In this event, such compensation will be publicly disclosed at the time of its determination in a Current Report on Form 8-K, as required by the SEC.

We have not set aside any amount of assets for pension or retirement benefits.

Any compensation to be paid to our chief executive officer and other officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.

ITEM 12.               SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS

The following table sets forth as of March 27, 2018 the number of shares of our common stock beneficially owned by (i) each person who is known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than five percent of our common stock; (ii) each director; (iii) each of the named executive officers in the Summary Compensation Table; and (iv) all directors and executive officers as a group. As of March 27, 2018, we had 7,058,743 shares of common stock issued and outstanding.

Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not include the placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of March 27, 2018. All shares have identical voting rights.

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) Amount and
Nature of
Beneficial
Ownership of
Common
Stock(2)
  Approximate
Percentage of
Outstanding
Shares of
Common Stock
 
M SPAC LLC(3)  1,139,609   16.1%
M SPAC Holdings I LLC(3)  249,148   3.5%
M SPAC Holdings II LLC(3)  359,878   5.1%
Joshua Sason(4)  1,748,634   24.8%
Marc Manuel  0    
Russell Rieger  0    
Donald S. Ienner  0    
David Schulhof  0    
Samuel S. Holdsworth  0    
All directors, director nominees and executive officers as a group (6 individuals)  1,748,634   24.8%

____________

*     Less than 1%.

(1)  Unless otherwise indicated, the business address of each of the individuals is c/o Magna Management LLC, 40 Wall Street, 58th Floor, New York, NY 10005.

(2)  Does not include beneficial ownership of any shares of common stock underlying outstanding warrants as such shares are not issuable within 60 days of the date of this report.

(3)  Joshua Sason is the sole managing member of M SPAC LLC, M SPAC Holdings I LLC and M SPAC Holdings II LLC and thus may be deemed to have voting and investment power with respect to the shares owned by such entities.

(4)  Securities beneficially owned consist of securities owned by M SPAC LLC, M SPAC Holdings I LLC and M SPAC Holdings II LLC, of which the individual is a managing member.


All of the insider shares outstanding prior to the IPO were placed in escrow with American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, as escrow agent. Subject to certain limited exceptions, 50% of these shares will not be transferred, assigned, sold or released from escrow until the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination and the date the closing price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.50 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing after our initial business combination and the remaining 50% of the insider shares will not be transferred, assigned, sold or released from escrow until six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination or earlier in either case if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. We cancelled 109,973 shares of the insider shares which were released from escrow for cancellation on November 10, 2016.

During the escrow period, the holders of these shares will not be able to sell or transfer their securities except (1) transfers among the insiders, to our officers, directors, advisors and employees, (2) transfers to an insider’s affiliates or its members upon its liquidation, (3) transfers to relatives and trusts for estate planning purposes, (4) transfers by virtue of the laws of descent and distribution upon death, (5) transfers pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, (6) private sales made at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased or (7) transfers to us for cancellation in connection with the consummation of an initial business combination, in each case (except for clause 7) where the transferee agrees to the terms of the escrow agreement and forfeiture, as the case may be, as well as the other applicable restrictions and agreements of the holders of the insider shares. If dividends are declared and payable in shares of common stock, such dividends will also be placed in escrow. If we are unable to effect a business combination and liquidate, there will be no liquidation distribution with respect to the insider shares.

In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of the IPO, our insiders, officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. The notes would either be paid upon consummation of our initial business combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $200,000 of the notes may be converted upon consummation of our business combination into additional private units at a price of $10.00 per unit. Our stockholders have approved the issuance of the private units upon conversion of such notes, to the extent the holder wishes to so convert such notes at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination. If we do not complete a business combination, any outstanding loans from our insiders, officers and directors or their affiliates, will be repaid only from amounts remaining outside our trust account, if any. Concurrently with the Purchase Agreement, our founding stockholders (the “Founders”) and Priority entered into a purchase agreement (the “Promote Agreement”) pursuant to which Priority agreed to purchase 421,107 of the units issued to the Founders in a private placement immediately prior to M I’s initial public offering, and 453,210 shares of common stock of M I issued to the Founders for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2.1 million. In addition, pursuant to the Promote Agreement, the Founders will forfeit 174,863 founder’s shares at the closing of the Acquisition, which shares may be reissued to the Founders if one of the earn outs described above is achieved.

In addition, the Founders and Thomas C. Priore, the Executive Chairman of Priority (“TCP”), entered into a letter agreement (the “Letter Agreement”) pursuant to which the Founders granted TCP (i) the right to purchase the Founders’ remaining shares of our common stock at the prevailing market price subject to certain conditions including a floor of $10.30 per share and (ii) a right of first refusal on the shares.

Our executive officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters,” as that term is defined under the federal securities laws.

34

ITEM 13.CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

In April 2015, we sold an aggregate of 1,437,500 shares of our common stock for $25,000, or approximately $.02 per share, to M SPAC LLC, which is controlled by Joshua Sason. On July 20, 2016, M SPAC LLC sold back 494,480 shares to us at a price equal to the amount paid for such shares. We subsequently sold an aggregate of 494,480 shares of our common stock for $8,600, or approximately $0.02 per share, to M SPAC Holdings I LLC and M SPAC Holdings II LLC, each of which is controlled by Joshua Sason.

The underwriters exercised a portion of their over-allotment option. Our insiders forfeited an aggregate of 109,973 insider shares in proportion to the portion of the over-allotment option that was not exercised. We recorded the forfeited shares as treasury stock and simultaneously retired the shares. Such forfeited shares were immediately cancelled which resulted in the retirement of the treasury shares and a corresponding charge to additional paid-in capital.

M SPAC LLC, M SPAC Holdings I LLC and M SPAC Holdings II LLC, entities controlled by Joshua Sason, our Chief Executive Officer, purchased, pursuant to written purchase agreements with us, 402,500 private units for a total purchase price of $4,025,000, from us. These purchases took place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of the IPO. Simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option by the underwriter, M SPAC LLC, M SPAC Holdings I LLC and M SPAC Holdings II LLC also purchased from us at a price of $10.00 per unit 18,607 private units.

In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of the IPO, our insiders, officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. The notes would either be paid upon consummation of our initial business combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $200,000 of the notes may be converted upon consummation of our business combination into additional private units at a price of $10.00 per unit. Our stockholders have approved the issuance of the private units upon conversion of such notes, to the extent the holder wishes to so convert such notes at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination. If we do not complete a business combination, any outstanding loans from our insiders, officers and directors or their affiliates, will be repaid only from amounts remaining outside our trust account, if any.

On March 13, 2018, the Company issued promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of$132,753 to its sponsors (M SPAC LLC, M SPAC Holdings I, LLC and M SPAC Holdings II, LLC). The $132,753 received by the Company upon issuance of the notes was deposited into our trust account for the benefit of its public stockholders in order to extend theperiod of time we have to complete a business combination for an additional one month, from March 19, 2018 to April 19, 2018. The notes do not bear interest and are payable five business days after the date we complete a business combination.

A more detailed description of the promissory notes and the related transactions can be found in our Current Report on Form 8-K dated March 14, 2018.

The holders of our insider shares issued and outstanding on the date of the IPO, as well as the holders of the private units (and underlying securities) and any shares our insiders, officers, directors or their affiliates may be issued in payment of working capital loans made to us, will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the IPO. The holders of a majority of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands that we register such securities. The holders of the majority of the insider shares can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which these shares of common stock are to be released from escrow. The holders of a majority of the private units or shares issued in payment of working capital loans made to us can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time after we consummate a business combination. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our consummation of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.


Magna Management LLC, a company owned by our insiders, has agreed that, commencing on the date of the IPO through the earlier of our consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation, it will make available to us certain general and administrative services, including office space, utilities and administrative support, as we may require from time to time. We have agreed to pay Magna Management LLC $10,000 per month for these services. However, pursuant to the terms of such agreement, we may delay payment of such monthly fee upon a determination by our audit committee that we lack sufficient funds held outside the trust to pay actual or anticipated expenses in connection with our initial business combination. Any such unpaid amount will accrue without interest and be due and payable no later than the date of the consummation of our initial business combination. We believe that the fee charged by Magna Management LLC is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person.

Other than the fees described above, no compensation or fees of any kind, including finder’s fees, consulting fees or other similar compensation, will be paid to our insiders or any of the members of our management team, for services rendered to us prior to, or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, such individuals will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account and the interest income earned on the amounts held in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination.

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, board, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. In this event, such compensation will be publicly disclosed at the time of its determination in a Current Report on Form 8-K, as required by the SEC.

All ongoing and future transactions between us and any of our officers and directors or their respective affiliates will be on terms believed by us to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. Such transactions will require prior approval by our audit committee and a majority of our uninterested independent directors, in either case who had access, at our expense, to our attorneys or independent legal counsel. We will not enter into any such transaction unless our audit committee and a majority of our disinterested independent directors determine that the terms of such transaction are no less favorable to us than those that would be available to us with respect to such a transaction from unaffiliated third parties.

36

Related Party Policy

Our Code of Ethics requires us to avoid, wherever possible, all related party transactions that could result in actual or potential conflicts of interests, except under guidelines approved by the board of directors (or the audit committee). Related-party transactions are defined as transactions in which (1) the aggregate amount involved will or may be expected to exceed $100,000 in any calendar year, (2) we or any of our subsidiaries is a participant, and (3) any (a) executive officer, director or nominee for election as a director, (b) greater than 5% beneficial owner of our shares of common stock, or (c) immediate family member, of the persons referred to in clauses (a) and (b), has or will have a direct or indirect material interest (other than solely as a result of being a director or a less than 10% beneficial owner of another entity). A conflict of interest situation can arise when a person takes actions or has interests that may make it difficult to perform his or her work objectively and effectively. Conflicts of interest may also arise if a person, or a member of his or her family, receives improper personal benefits as a result of his or her position.

We also require each of our directors and executive officers to annually complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.

These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.

To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate our initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our insiders, officers or directors unless we have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm and the approval of a majority of our disinterested and independent directors (if we have any at that time) that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view. Furthermore, in no event will our insiders, or any of the members of our management team be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other similar compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).

Director Independence

Nasdaq listing standards require that within one year of the listing of our securities on the Nasdaq Capital Market we have at least three independent directors and that a majority of our board of directors be independent. For a description of the director independence, see above Part III, Item 10 - Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.

ITEM 14.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

Principal Accounting Fees 

The following chart sets forth public accounting fees in connection with services rendered byMarcum LLP for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.

Marcum LLP      
  2017  2016 
Audit Fees $43,540   60,000 
Audit-Related Fees $-   - 
Tax Fees $2,288   2,189 
All Other Fees $85,831   - 

Audit fees were for professional services rendered by Marcum LLP for the audit of our annual financial statements and the review of the financial statements included in our quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q, and services that are normally provided by Marcum LLP in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements for that fiscal year, including in connection with our initial public offering. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services including permitted due diligence services related to a potential business combination.

Marcum LLP did not bill any other fees for services rendered to us during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 for assurance and related services in connection with the audit or review of our financial statements.

Pre-Approval of Services

The audit committee is responsible for appointing, setting compensation and overseeing the work of the independent auditors. In recognition of this responsibility, the audit committee shall review and, in its sole discretion, pre-approve all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors as provided under the audit committee charter. All services subsequent to the formation of the audit committee in 2015 have been approved by the audit committee.


part IV

ITEM 15.EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

(a)           The following are filed with this report:

(1)The financial statements listed on the Financial Statements’ Table of Contents
(2)Not applicable

(b)           Exhibits

The following exhibits are filed with this report. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington D.C. 20549. Copies of such materials can also be obtained from the Public Reference Section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, at prescribed rates.

Exhibit No.Description
1.1Underwriting Agreement, dated September 13, 2016, by and between the Registrant and Chardan Capital Markets, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 1.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
2.1*Amended and Restated Contribution Agreement dated March 26, 2018 by and among Priority Investment Holdings, LLC and Priority Incentive Equity Holdings, LLC
3.1Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
3.2Bylaws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
4.1Specimen Unit Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
4.2Specimen Common Stock Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
4.3Specimen Warrant Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.3 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
4.4Form of Unit Purchase Option between the Registrant and Chardan Capital Markets, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.5 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 12, 2016)
4.5Warrant Agreement, dated September 13, 2016, by and between American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC and the Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
10.1Investment Management Trust Account Agreement, dated September 13, 2016, by and between American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC and the Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
10.2Registration Rights Agreement, dated September 13, 2016, by and among the Registrant and the initial stockholders (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)

10.3Stock Escrow Agreement dated September 13, 2016 among the Registrant, American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, and the initial stockholders (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
10.4Form of Letter Agreement by and between the Registrant, the initial shareholders and the officers and directors of the Company (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 9, 2016)
10.5Administrative Services Agreement dated September 13, 2016 by and between the Registrant and Magna Management LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
10.6Purchase Agreement dated February 26, 2018(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 2, 2018)
10.7Letter Agreement dated February 26, 2018(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 2, 2018)
10.8Promissory Note issued to M SPAC LLC dated March 13, 2018. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 14, 2018)
10.9Promissory Note issued to M SPAC Holdings I LLC dated March 13, 2018. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 14, 2018)
10.10Promissory Note issued to M SPAC Holdings II LLC dated March 13, 2018. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 14, 2018)
14Form of Code of Ethics (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
31.1Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14 and Rule 15d-14(a), promulgated under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
31.2Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14 and Rule 15d-14(a), promulgated under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
32Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

*Schedules and exhibits have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. The registrant hereby undertakes to furnish copies of any of the omitted schedules and exhibits upon request by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

101.INSXBRL Instance Document
101.SCHXBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CALXBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEFXBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LABXBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PREXBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

39

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

M I ACQUISITIONS, INC.
Dated: March 27, 2018By:/s/ Joshua Sason
Name:Joshua Sason
Title:Chief Executive Officer

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this report has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

SignatureTitleDate
/s/ Joshua SasonChief Executive Officer and DirectorMarch 27, 2018
Joshua Sason(Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Marc ManuelChief Financial Officer and DirectorMarch 27, 2018
Marc Manuel(Principal Accounting and Financial Officer)
/s/ Russell RiegerVice President of StrategyMarch 27, 2018
Russell Rieger
/s/ Donald S. IennerDirectorMarch 27, 2018
Donald S. Ienner
/s/ David SchulhofDirectorMarch 27, 2018
David Schulhof
/s/ Samuel S. HoldsworthDirectorMarch 27, 2018
Samuel S. Holdsworth

40

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No.Description
1.1Underwriting Agreement, dated September 13, 2016, by and between the Registrant and Chardan Capital Markets, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 1.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
2.1*Amended and Restated Contribution Agreement dated March 26, 2018 by and among Priority Investment Holdings, LLC and Priority Incentive Equity Holdings, LLC
3.1Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
3.2Bylaws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
4.1Specimen Unit Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
4.2Specimen Common Stock Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
4.3Specimen Warrant Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.3 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
4.4Form of Unit Purchase Option between the Registrant and Chardan Capital Markets, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.5 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 12, 2016)
4.5Warrant Agreement, dated September 13, 2016, by and between American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC and the Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
10.1Investment Management Trust Account Agreement, dated September 13, 2016, by and between American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC and the Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
10.2Registration Rights Agreement, dated September 13, 2016, by and among the Registrant and the initial stockholders (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)

10.3Stock Escrow Agreement dated September 13, 2016 among the Registrant, American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, and the initial stockholders (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)
10.4Form of Letter Agreement by and between the Registrant, the initial shareholders and the officers and directors of the Company (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 9, 2016)
10.5Administrative Services Agreement dated September 13, 2016 by and between the Registrant and Magna Management LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on September 16, 2016)

10.6Purchase Agreement dated February 26, 2018(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 2, 2018)
10.7Letter Agreement dated February 26, 2018(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 2, 2018)
10.8Promissory Note issued to M SPAC LLC dated March 13, 2018. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 14, 2018)
10.9Promissory Note issued to M SPAC Holdings I LLC dated March 13, 2018. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 14, 2018)
10.10Promissory Note issued to M SPAC Holdings II LLC dated March 13, 2018. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on March 14, 2018)
14Form of Code of Ethics (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 26, 2016)
31.1Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14 and Rule 15d-14(a), promulgated under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
31.2Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14 and Rule 15d-14(a), promulgated under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
32Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

*Schedules and exhibits have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. The registrant hereby undertakes to furnish copies of any of the omitted schedules and exhibits upon request by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

101.INSXBRL Instance Document
101.SCHXBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CALXBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEFXBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LABXBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PREXBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

M I ACQUISITIONS, INC.

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 Page
F – 2
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016
F – 4
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016


59



Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm



To the ShareholdersStockholders and Board of Directors of

M I Acquisitions, Priority Technology Holdings, Inc.

and Subsidiaries

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of M I Acquisitions,Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries (as successor to Priority Holdings, LLC and Subsidiaries) (the “Company”"Company") as of December 31, 20172018 and 2016,2017, the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’changes in stockholders' equity (deficit) and cash flows for each of the twothree years in the period ended December 31, 2017,2018, and the related notes to the consolidated financial statements (collectively, referred to as the “financial statements”)financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 20172018 and 2016,2017, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the twothree years in the period ended December 31, 2017,2018, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern.

Recapitalization
As more fully describeddiscussed in Note 1 the Company has a working capital deficiency, has incurred significant losses and needs to raise additional funds to meet its obligations and sustain its operations. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements, do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

on July 25, 2018, Priority Holdings LLC consummated a reverse merger with M I Acquisitions, Inc. and a simultaneous recapitalization.


Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB")(PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the auditsaudit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Marcumllp


/s/Marcum RSM US LLP



We have served as the Company’sCompany's auditor since 2015.

New York, NY
2014.



Atlanta, Georgia
March 27, 2018

F-1

29, 2019


60

M I Acquisitions,
Priority Technology Holdings, Inc.



Consolidated Balance Sheets

  December 31, 2017  December 31, 2016 
       
Assets        
Current Assets:        
Cash and cash equivalents $172,196  $362,535 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets  9,936   56,241 
Total current assets  182,132   418,776 
         
Cash and cash equivalents held in trust  55,081,899   54,731,828 
Total Assets $55,264,031  $55,150,604 
         
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity        
         
Current Liabilities:        
Accounts payable and accrued expenses $349,292  $111,011 
Offering costs payable  11,616   11,616 
Note payable  27,500   27,500 
Total Current Liabilities  388,408   150,127 
         
Deferred underwriting fee payable  1,062,022   1,062,022 
         
Total Liabilities  1,450,430   1,212,149 
         
Commitments        
         
Common stock subject to possible conversion (4,705,821 and 4,748,033 shares at conversion value as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively)  48,813,595   48,938,449 
         
Stockholders' Equity:        
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value; 1,000,000 authorized none issued and outstanding  -   - 
Common stock, $0.001 par value; 30,000,000 shares authorized; 2,352,922 and 2,310,710 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 4,705,821 and 4,748,033 shares subject to possible conversion) at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively  2,353   2,311 
Additional paid in capital  5,240,728   5,115,916 
Accumulated deficit  (243,075)  (118,221)
Total Stockholders' Equity  5,000,006   5,000,006 
         
Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity $55,264,031  $55,150,604 

The accompanying notes are an integral part

As of these financial statements.

December 31, 2018 and 2017

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017
ASSETS   
Current assets:   
Cash$15,631
 $27,966
Restricted cash18,200
 16,193
Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $511 and $484, respectively45,651
 47,433
Prepaid expenses and other current assets3,642
 3,747
Current portion of notes receivable (Note 4)979
 3,442
Settlement assets (Note 3)1,042
 7,207
Total current assets85,145
 105,988
    
Notes receivable, less current portion (Note 4)852
 3,807
Property, equipment, and software, net (Note 6)17,482
 11,943
Goodwill (Note 5)109,515
 101,532
Intangible assets, net (Note 5)124,637
 42,062
Deferred income tax assets, net (Note 9)49,692
 
Other non-current assets1,295
 1,375
Total assets$388,618
 $266,707
    
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)   
Current liabilities:   
Accounts payable and accrued expenses (Note 7)$27,638
 $18,603
Accrued residual commissions18,715
 23,470
Customer deposits and advance payments3,282
 4,853
Current portion of long-term debt (Note 8)3,293
 7,582
Settlement obligations (Note 3)11,132
 10,474
Current portion of equity repurchase obligation
 1,500
Total current liabilities64,060
 66,482
    
Long-term debt, net of discounts and deferred financing costs (Note 8)402,095
 267,939
Warrant liability (Note 8)
 8,701
Equity repurchase obligation
 7,690
Other non-current liabilities7,936
 6,050
Total long-term liabilities410,031
 290,380
    
Total liabilities474,091
 356,862
    
Commitments and contingencies (Note 10)


 


    
Stockholders' equity (deficit): (Note 12)

 
Preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share, 100,000,000 and zero shares authorized at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and zero shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2018 and 2017
 
Common stock, par value of $0.001 per share, 1 billion shares authorized, 67,038,304 and 73,110,114 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively67
 73
Accumulated deficit(85,540) (90,228)
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)(85,473) (90,155)
    
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)$388,618
 $266,707

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

61

M I Acquisitions,
Priority Technology Holdings, Inc.


Consolidated Statements of Operations

  For the Year  For the Year 
  Ended  Ended 
  December 31, 2017  December 31, 2016 
       
EXPENSES        
Administration fee - related party $120,000  $35,667 
Operating costs  831,721   137,529 
         
TOTAL EXPENSES  951,721   173,196 
         
OTHER INCOME        
Interest income  399,166   37,701 
Settlement income  427,701   - 
Extinguishment of debt  -   27,500 
TOTAL OTHER INCOME  826,867   65,201 
         
Net loss $(124,854) $(107,995)
         
Net loss per share of common stock - basic and diluted $(0.19) $(0.06)
         
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding - basic and diluted  2,330,884   1,664,794 

The accompanying notes are an integral part

For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016

(in thousands, except per share amounts) 2018 2017 2016
REVENUE:      
Merchant card fees $392,033
 $398,988
 $321,091
Outsourced services and other 32,382
 26,631
 23,023
Total revenue 424,415
 425,619
 344,114
       
OPERATING EXPENSES:      
Costs of merchant card fees 296,223
 305,461
 243,049
Costs of outsourced services and other 18,128
 15,743
 13,971
Salary and employee benefits 38,324
 32,357
 32,330
Depreciation and amortization 19,740
 14,674
 14,733
Selling, general and administrative 32,081
 22,545
 16,856
Changes in fair value of contingent consideration 
 (410) (2,665)
Total operating expenses 404,496
 390,370
 318,274
       
Income from operations 19,919
 35,249
 25,840
       
OTHER (EXPENSES) INCOME:      
       
Interest expense (29,935) (25,058) (4,777)
  Other, net (6,784) (5,597) (877)
Total other expenses, net (36,719) (30,655) (5,654)
       
(Loss) income before income taxes (16,800) 4,594
 20,186
       
Income tax benefit (Note 9) (1,759) 
 
       
Net (loss) income $(15,041) $4,594
 $20,186
       
(Loss) income per common share: (Note 17)      
Basic and diluted $(0.24) $0.06
 $0.15
       
Weighted-average common shares outstanding: (Note 17)      
Basic and diluted 61,607
 67,144
 131,706
       
PRO FORMA (C-corporation basis): (Note 9)      
Pro forma income tax (benefit) expense (unaudited) $(2,619) $1,530
  
Pro forma net (loss) income (unaudited) $(14,181) $3,064
  
       
(Loss) earnings per common share:      
Basic and diluted (unaudited) $(0.23) $0.04
  

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

62


Priority Technology Holdings, Inc.

M I Acquisitions, Inc.

Statement



Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’Stockholders' Equity

(Deficit)

For the Years Endedyears ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016

  Common Stock  Additional Paid-In  Accumulated  Stockholders' 
  Shares  Amount  Capital  Deficit  Equity 
                
Balance, December 31, 2015  1,437,500  $1,438  $23,562  $(10,226) $14,774 
                     
Sale of 5,000,000 units  5,000,000   5,000   49,995,000   -   50,000,000 
                     
Underwriters discount and offering expenses  -   -   (3,280,484)  -   (3,280,484)
                     
Sale of 421,107 private units  421,107   421   4,210,649   -   4,211,070 
                     
Exercise of underwriters' overallotment  310,109   310   3,100,780   -   3,101,090 
                     
Forfeiture and cancellation of 109,973 Founders' shares  (109,973)  (110)  110   -   - 
                     
Decrease in common stock subject to possible conversion  (4,748,033)  (4,748)  (48,933,701)  -   (48,938,449)
                     
Net loss  -   -   -   (107,995)  (107,995)
                     
Balance, December 31, 2016  2,310,710   2,311   5,115,916   (118,221)  5,000,006 
                     
Decrease in common stock subject to possible conversion  42,212   42   124,812   -   124,854 
                     
Net loss  -   -   -   (124,854)  (124,854)
                     
Balance, December 31, 2017  2,352,922  $2,353  $5,240,728  $(243,075) $5,000,006 

The accompanying notes are an integral part


(in thousands)         Additional Paid-In Capital (Deficit) Retained Earnings/  
  Preferred Stock Common Stock  Accumulated Stockholders' Equity (Deficit)
  Shares Amount Shares Amount  (Deficit) 
               
January 1, 2016 
 $
 187,036
 $187
 $94,752
 $8,587
 $103,526
Cash distributions to members 
 
 
 
 (10,019) 
 (10,019)
Equity-based compensation 
 
 8,403
 8
 2,306
 
 2,314
Net income 
 
 
 
 
 20,186
 20,186
December 31, 2016 
 
 195,439
 195
 87,039
 28,773
 116,007
               
Cash distributions to members 
 
 
 
 (3,399) 
 (3,399)
Member redemptions 
 
 (62,574) (122) (79,283) (123,595) (203,000)
Reclass for common shares repurchase obligation 
 
 
 
 (9,190) 
 (9,190)
Elimination of Class C units 
 
 (19,756) 
 
 
 
Release of contingent consideration 
 
 
 
 3,812
 
 3,812
Elimination of Preferred units 
 
 (35,574) 
 
 
 
Pro-rate adjustment and forfeitures 
 
 (4,425) 
 
 
 
Equity-based compensation 
 
 
 
 1,021
 
 1,021
Net income 
 
 
 
 
 4,594
 4,594
December 31, 2017 
 
 73,110
 73
 
 (90,228) (90,155)
Cash distributions to members prior to Business Combination 
 
 
 
 (7,075) 
 (7,075)
Member redemptions prior to Business Combination 
 
 (12,565) (13) (36,548) (28,342) (64,903)
Conversion of MI Acquisitions, Inc. shares 
 
 6,667
 7
 49,382
 
 49,389
Pro-rata adjustment 
 
 (724) 
 
 
 
Effects of Founders' Share Agreement 
 
 (175) 
 (2,118) 
 (2,118)
Equity-based compensation 
 
 250
 
 1,063
 586
 1,649
Recapitalization costs 
 
 
 
 (9,704) 
 (9,704)
Net deferred income taxes related to loss of partnership status 
 
 
 
 
 47,485
 47,485
Common stock issued for business acquisitions 
 
 475
 
 5,000
 
 5,000
Net loss 
 
 
 
 
 (15,041) (15,041)
December 31, 2018 
 $
 67,038
 $67
 $
 $(85,540) $(85,473)



See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements












63


Priority Technology Holdings, Inc.

M I Acquisitions, Inc.



Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

  For the Year  For the Year 
  Ended  Ended 
  December 31, 2017  December 31, 2016 
       
Cash Flows From Operating Activities:        
Net loss $(124,854) $(107,995)
Gain on extinguishment of debt  -   (27,500)
Interest earned on cash and securities held in Trust Account  (399,166)  (37,701)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:        
Formation and organization costs paid by related parties  -   2,537 
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:        
Prepaid expenses  46,305   (56,241)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses  238,281   111,011 
Accrued offering costs payable  -   (34,383)
Net Cash Used In Operating Activities  (239,434)  (150,272)
         
Cash Flows From Investing Activities:        
Cash deposited into Trust Account  (22,607)  (54,694,127)
Interest released from Trust Account  71,702     
Net Cash Provided By (Used In) Investing Activities  49,095   (54,694,127)
         
Cash Flows From Financing Activities:        
Proceeds from public offering, net of offering costs  -   51,202,624 
Proceeds from insider units  -   4,211,070 
Payments of related party notes  -   (131,720)
Proceeds from related party advances  -   55,201 
Payments of related party advances  -   (55,201)
Payments of offering costs  -   (80,040)
Net Cash Provided By Financing Activities  -   55,201,934 
         
Net change in cash and cash equivalents  (190,339)  357,535 
         
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period  362,535   5,000 
         
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $172,196  $362,535 
         
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash financing activities:        
Payment of deferred offering costs by issuance of notes and related party notes $-  $15,000 
Reclassification of deferred offering costs to equity $-  $258,997 
Accrual of offering costs $-  $45,999 
Change in common stock subject to possible conversion $124,854  $48,938,449 
Deferred Underwriting commission $-  $1,062,022 

The accompanying notes are an integral part

For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016
(in thousands) 2018 2017 2016
Cash Flows From Operating Activities:    
  
Net (loss) income $(15,041) $4,594
 $20,186
Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash provided by operating activities:      
Depreciation and amortization of assets 19,740
 14,674
 14,733
Equity-based compensation 1,649
 1,021
 2,314
Amortization of debt issuance costs and discount 1,418
 1,211
 665
Equity in losses and impairment of unconsolidated entities 865
 133
 162
Provision for deferred income taxes (2,206) 
 
Change in fair value of warrant liability 3,458
 4,198
 1,204
Change in fair value of contingent consideration 
 (410) (2,665)
Loss on debt extinguishment 
 1,753
 
Payment-in-kind interest 4,897
 5,118
 
Other non-cash charges 211
 133
 196
Change in operating assets and liabilities (net of business combinations):      
     Accounts receivable 1,991
 (13,687) 8,388
     Settlement assets 6,166
 (1,517) 1,296
     Prepaid expenses and other current assets 171
 1,673
 409
     Notes receivable 4,862
 (1,677) (2,855)
     Accounts payable and other current liabilities 2,473
 19,017
 (21,685)
     Other assets and liabilities 694
 635
 (73)
Net Cash Provided By Operating Activities 31,348
 36,869
 22,275
       
Cash Flows From Investing Activities:    
  
Acquisitions of businesses (7,508) 
 
Additions to property, equipment, and software (10,562) (6,554) (4,098)
Acquisitions of merchant portfolios (90,858) (2,483) (2,264)
Net Cash Used In Investing Activities (108,928) (9,037) (6,362)
       
Cash Flows From Financing Activities:    
  
Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt, net of issue discount 126,813
 276,290
 
Repayments of long-term debt (2,834) (90,696) 
Borrowings under revolving line of credit 8,000
 
 
Repayments of borrowings under revolving line of credit (8,000) 
 
Debt issuance costs (425) (4,570) (529)
Distributions from equity (7,075) (3,399) (10,019)
Redemptions of equity interests (76,211) (203,000) 
Recapitalization proceeds 49,389
 
 
Redemption of warrants (12,701) 
 
Recapitalization costs (9,704) 
 
Net Provided By (Used In) Financing Activities 67,252
 (25,375) (10,548)
       
Net change in cash and restricted cash (10,328) 2,457
 5,365
Cash and restricted cash at beginning of year 44,159
 41,702
 36,337
Cash and restricted cash at end of year $33,831
 $44,159
 $41,702
       

64


Priority Technology Holdings, Inc.

M I Acquisitions, Inc.



Supplemental cash flow information:    
  
Cash paid for interest $23,350
 $19,036
 $3,716
       
Non-cash investing and financing activities:      
Purchases of property, equipment, and software through accounts payable $50
 $60
 $392
Notes receivable from sellers used as partial consideration for business acquisitions $560
 $
 $
Common stock issued as partial consideration in business acquisitions in Consumer Payments segment $5,000
 $
 $
Cash consideration payable for business acquisition $184
 $
 $
  Common share repurchase obligation $
 $9,190
 $

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements


65


NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS


1.    NATURE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING POLICIES


The Business

Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. and subsidiaries (together, the "Company") began operations in 2005 with a mission to build a merchant inspired payments platform that would advance the goals of its customers and partners. Today, the Company is a leading provider of merchant acquiring and commercial payment solutions, offering unique product capabilities to small and medium size businesses ("SMBs") and enterprises and distribution partners in the United States. The Company operates from a purpose-built business platform that includes tailored customer service offerings and bespoke technology development, allowing the Company to provide end-to-end solutions for payment and payment-adjacent needs.

The Company provides:

Consumer payments processing solutions for business-to-consumer ("B2C") transactions through independent sales organizations ("ISOs"), financial institutions, independent software vendors ("ISVs"), and other referral partners. Our proprietary MX platform for B2C payments provides merchants a fully customizable suite of business management solutions.
Commercial payments solutions such as automated vendor payments and professionally curated managed services to industry leading financial institutions and networks. Our proprietary business-to-business ("B2B") Commercial Payment Exchange (CPX) platform was developed to be a best-in-class solution for buyer/supplier payment enablement.
Institutional services (also known as Managed Services) solutions that provide audience-specific programs for institutional partners and other third parties looking to leverage the Company's professionally trained and managed call center teams for customer onboarding, assistance, and support, including marketing and direct-sales resources.
Integrated partners solutions for ISVs and other third-parties that allow them to leverage the Company's core payments engine via robust application program interfaces ("APIs") resources and high-utility embeddable code.
Consulting and development solutions focused on the increasing demand for integrated payments solutions for transitioning to the digital economy.

The Company provides its services through two reportable segments: (1) Consumer Payments and (2) Commercial Payments and Managed Services. For additional information about our reportable segments, see Note 1 — Organization, Plan16, Segment Information.

To provide many of Business Operationsits services, the Company enters into agreements with payment processors which in turn have agreements with multiple card associations. These card associations comprise an alliance aligned with insured financial institutions ("member banks") that work in conjunction with various local, state, territory, and Going Concern Consideration

federal government agencies to make the rules and guidelines regarding the use and acceptance of credit and debit cards. Card association rules require that vendors and processors be sponsored by a member bank and register with the card associations. The Company has multiple sponsorship bank agreements and is itself a registered ISO with Visa®. The Company is also a registered member service provider with MasterCard®. The Company's sponsorship agreements allow the capture and processing of electronic data in a format to allow such data to flow through networks for clearing and fund settlement of merchant transactions.


Corporate History and Recapitalization

M I Acquisitions, Inc. (the “Company”("MI Acquisitions") was incorporated inunder the laws of the state of Delaware on April 23, 2015 as a blank checkspecial purpose acquisition company ("SPAC") whose objective iswas to acquire, through a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination, one or more businesses or entities (a “Business Combination”). The Company’s efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to any particular industry or geographic region, although the Company intends to focus its search on target businesses operating in the technology, media and telecommunications industries.

At December 31, 2017, the Company had not yet commenced any operations.For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company’s activity has been limited to the evaluation of business combination candidates, and the Company will not be generating any operating revenues until the closing and completion ofentities. MI Acquisitions completed an initial business combination.

The registration statement for the Company’s initial public offering was declared effective("IPO") in September 2016, and MI Acquisitions' common stock began trading on September 13, 2016. The Company consummated a public offering of 5,000,000 units (“Units”) on September 19, 2016 (the “Offering”), generating gross proceeds of $50,000,000 and net proceeds of $47,981,581 after deducting $2,018,419 of transaction costs.Nasdaq Capital Market with the symbol MACQ. In addition, the Company generated gross proceeds of $4,025,000 from theMI Acquisitions completed a private placement of 402,500 units (the “Private Placement”) to certain initial stockholders (“Initial Stockholders”) of the Company. The Units sold pursuant to the Offering and the Private Placement were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit.  The Company also incurred additional issuance costs totaling $1,169,032, of which the deferred underwriting fee of $1,062,022 was unpaid as of December 31, 2017.

The underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in part and, on October 14, 2016, the underwriters purchased 310,109 Over-allotment Option Units, which were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generatingMI Acquisitions. MI Acquisitions received gross proceeds of $3,101,090approximately $54.0 million from the IPO and net proceeds of $3,008,057 after deducting $93,033 of transaction costs. private placement.


On October 14, 2016, simultaneously with the sale of the over-allotment Units, the Company consummated the private sale of an additional 18,607 private Units to one of the initial stockholders, generating gross proceeds of $186,070.

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Offering and Private Placement, although substantiallyJuly 25, 2018, MI Acquisitions acquired all of the net proceeds are intended to be generally applied toward consummating a Business Combination. The Company’s Units,outstanding member equity interests of Priority Holdings, LLC ("Priority") in exchange for the issuance of MI Acquisitions' common stock and warrants are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“NASDAQ”). Pursuant to the NASDAQ listing rules, the Company’s initial Business Combination must be with a target business or businesses whose collective fair market value is at least equal to 80% of the balance in the trust account at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for such Business Combination, although this may entail simultaneous acquisitions of several target businesses. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to effect a Business Combination successfully.

Following the closing of the Offering and the Private Placement (including the partial exercise of the over-allotment option) an amount of $54,694,127 (or $10.30 per share sold to the public in the Offering included in the Units (“Public Shares”)(the "Business Combination") from the salea private placement. As a


66


result, Priority, which was previously a trust account (“Trust Account”) at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank maintained by American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee, and may be invested in money market funds meeting the applicable conditionsprivately-owned company, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and that invest solely in U.S. treasuries or United States bonds, treasuries or notes having a maturity of 180 days or less. The funds in the Trust Account may not be released until the earlier of (i) the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination and (ii) the Company’s failure to consummate a Business Combination within the prescribed time. The remaining net proceeds (not held in the Trust Account) may be used to pay for business, legal and accounting due diligence on prospective acquisitions and continuing general and administrative expenses. However, the interest earned on the Trust Account balance may be released to the Company to pay the Company’s tax obligations. Placing funds in the Trust Account may not protect those funds from third party claims against the Company. Although the Company will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities it engages, execute agreementsMI Acquisitions. Simultaneously with the Company waiving any claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account, there is no guarantee that such persons will execute such agreements. The Company’s insiders will agree to be liable under certain circumstances to ensure that the proceeds in the Trust Account are not reduced by the claims of target businesses or vendors or other entities that are owed money by the Company for service rendered, contracted for or products sold to the Company. However, they may not be able to satisfy those obligations should they arise. With these exceptions, expenses incurred by the Company may be paid prior to a Business Combination only from the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering not held in the Trust Account; provided, however, that in order to meet its working capital needs following the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering, the Company’s Initial Stockholders, officers and directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. The notes would either be paid upon consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $200,000 of the notes may be converted upon consummation of the Company’s Business Combination into additional Private Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination, the loans would not be repaid.


The Company will either seek stockholder approval of any Business Combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which stockholders may seek to convert their shares into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, less any tax obligations then due but not yet paid, or provide stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares to the Company by means of a tender offer for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, less any tax obligations then due but not yet paid. The Company will proceed with a Business Combination only if it will have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon consummation of the Business Combination, MI Acquisitions changed its name to Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. and solely if stockholder approval is sought, a majority of the outstandingits common shares of the Company voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of his or any other person with whom he is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act) will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to 20% or more of the common shares sold in the Offering. Accordingly, all shares purchased by a holder in excess of 20% of the shares sold in the Offering will not be converted to cash.

In connection with any stockholder vote required to approve any Business Combination, the Initial Stockholders agreed (i) to vote any of their respective shares, including the common shares sold to the Initial Stockholders in connectionstock began trading on The Nasdaq Global Market with the organization of the Company (the “Initial Shares”), common shares included in the Private Units sold in the Private Placement, and any common shares which were initially issued in connection with the Offering, whether acquired in or after the effective date of the Offering, in favor of the initial Business Combination and (ii) not to convert such respective shares intosymbol PRTH.


As a pro rata portion of the Trust Account or seek to sell their shares in connection with any tender offer the Company engages in.

Pursuant to the Company’s amended and restated Certificate of Incorporation if the Company is unable to complete its initial Business Combination by April 19, 2018, the Company will (i) cease allSPAC, MI Acquisitions had substantially no business operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the outstanding public shares and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining holders of common stock and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate.

We have extended the time to complete an initial business combination to April 19, 2018 by depositing $132,753 into our trust account. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination by April 19, 2018 (as seems likely), we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to two additional times, each by an additional one month (for a total of up to 21 months to complete a business combination). Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC on the date of the IPO, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our insiders or their affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $132,753 ($0.025 per unit in either case), up to an aggregate of $398,258, or $0.075 per unit (if our life is extended three times), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each one month extension (we have already deposited $132,753 for the first extension). The insiders received for the first depositJuly 25, 2018. For financial accounting and and they or their designees will receive for any subsequent deposits a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note equal to the amount of any such deposit that will not be repaid in the event that we are unable to close a business combination unless there are funds available outside the trust account to do so. . In the event that the Company receives notice from its insiders five days prior to the applicable deadline of their intent to effect an extension, the Company intends to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, the Company intends to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. The Company’s insiders and their affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for the Company to complete its initial Business Combination. To the extent that some, but not all, of the Company’s insiders, decide to extend the period of time to consummate the initial Business Combination, such insiders (or their affiliates or designees) may deposit the entire $398,259. If the Company is unable to consummate an initial Business Combination and is forced to redeem 100% of the outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the Trust Account, each holder will receive a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account less tax obligations. Holders of warrants will receive no proceeds in connection with the liquidation. The Initial Stockholders and the holders of Private Units will not participate in any redemption distribution with respect to their initial shares and Private Units, including the common stock included in the Private Units.


To the extent the Company is unable to consummate a business combination, the Company will pay the costs of liquidation from the remaining assets outside of the trust account. If such funds are insufficient, the insiders have agreed to pay the funds necessary to complete such liquidation (currently anticipated to be no more than $15,000) and have agreed not to seek repayment of such expenses.

Going Concern

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern, which contemplates, among other things, the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. As of December 31, 2017, the Company had $172,196 in cash and cash equivalents held outside Trust Account, $399,166 in interest income available from the Company’s investments in the Trust Account to pay its tax obligations, and a working capital deficit of $206,276. Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. The Company’s plans to raise capital or to consummate the initial Business Combination may not be successful.  These matters, among others, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Based on the foregoing, the Company may have insufficient funds available to operate its business through the earlier of consummation of a Business Combination or June 19, 2018 (if an extension is completed).  Following the initial Business Combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, the Company may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet its obligations.  The Company cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all.

The accompanying financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern. 

Note 2 — Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of presentation

The accompanying financial statements are presented in conformity withreporting purposes under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S. GAAP"), the acquisition was accounted for as a "reverse merger," with no recognition of America (“GAAP”goodwill or other intangible assets. Under this method of accounting, MI Acquisitions was treated as the acquired entity whereby Priority was deemed to have issued common stock for the net assets and equity of MI Acquisitions consisting mainly of cash of $49.4 million, accompanied by a simultaneous equity recapitalization (the "Recapitalization") of Priority. The net assets of MI Acquisitions are stated at historical cost and, pursuantaccordingly, the equity and net assets of the Company have not been adjusted to fair value. As of July 25, 2018, the consolidated financial statements of the Company include the combined operations, cash flows, and financial positions of both MI Acquisitions and Priority. Prior to July 25, 2018, the results of operations, cash flows, and financial position are those of Priority. The units and corresponding capital amounts and earnings per unit of Priority prior to the rulesRecapitalization have been retroactively restated as shares reflecting the exchange ratio established in the Recapitalization.


The Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and regulationsChairman controls a majority of the Securitiesvoting power of the Company's outstanding common stock. As a result, the Company is a "controlled company" within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of the Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC ("Nasdaq").

The Company operates in two reportable segments: 1) Consumer Payments and Exchange Commission (“SEC”)2) Commercial Payments and Managed Services. For more information about the Company's segments, refer to Note 16, Segment Information.


Emerging Growth Company

Section 102(b)(1)


The Company is an "emerging growth company" (EGC), as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 ("JOBS Act"). The Company may remain an EGC until December 31, 2021. However, if the Company's non-convertible debt issued within a rolling three-year period or if its revenue for any year exceeds $1.07 billion, the Company would cease to be an EGC immediately, or the market value of its common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million on the last day of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being requiredsecond quarter of any given year, the Company would cease to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (thatbe an EGC as of the beginning of the following year. As an EGC, the Company is those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt outauditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt outSarbanes-Oxley Act of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies,2002. Additionally, the Company as an emerging growth company, can adoptEGC may continue to elect to delay the adoption of any new or revised standard at the timeaccounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies adoptuntil those standards apply to private companies. As such, the new or revised standard. ThisCompany's financial statements may make comparisonnot be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates.

Basis of Presentation and Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include those of the Company’s financial statement with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of usingCompany and its controlled subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation. Investments in unconsolidated affiliated companies are accounted for under the extended transition period difficult or impossible because ofequity method and are included in "Other non-current assets" in the potential differences in accounting standards used.


Cash and Cash Equivalents

accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Company considers all short-term investments withgenerally utilizes the equity method of accounting when it has an original maturityownership interest of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents.

Marketable securities heldbetween 20% and 50% in Trust Account

The amounts held in the Trust Account represent substantially all of the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and are classified as restricted assets since such amounts can only be used byan entity, provided the Company in connection withis able to exercise significant influence over the consummation of a Business Combination. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to pay income or other tax obligations, the proceeds will not be released from the Trust Account until the earlier of the completion of a Business Combination or the redemption of 100% of the outstanding public shares if we have not completed a Business Combination in the required time period. As of December 31, 2017, marketable securities held in the Trust Account consisted of $55,081,899 in United States Treasury Bills with an original maturity of six months or less. During the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company withdrew interest income totaling $71,702 to be utilized for payment of tax obligations. Of this amount, $22,607 was returned to the Company for overpayment of its tax obligations and deposited into the Trust Account.

Fair value of financial instruments

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.

investee's operations.


Use of Estimates


The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements.statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported period. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates.

Concentration








67



Components of Revenues and Expenses

Revenues

Merchant card fees revenue consists mainly of fees for processing electronic payments, including credit, debit and electronic benefit transaction card processing. The fees are generally based on a variable percentage of the dollar amount of each transaction and, in some cases, additional fees for each transaction. In addition, merchant customers may also be charged miscellaneous fees, including statement fees, annual fees, monthly minimum fees, fees for handling chargebacks, gateway fees, and fees for other miscellaneous services. Merchant card fees revenue is attributable primarily to our Consumer Payments segment.
Outsourced services and other revenue consist mainly of cost-plus fees related to B2B services, merchant financing and buyer-initiated payment programs sold on behalf of certain enterprise customers, originated through our in-house sales force, including incentives for meeting sales targets. Outsourced services revenue is attributable primarily to our Commercial Payments and Managed Services reportable segment. Other revenues include revenue from the sales of equipment (primarily point of sale terminals) and processing of automated clearing house ("ACH") transactions.


Costs of Services

Costs of Merchant Card Fees

Costs of merchant card fees primarily consist of residual payments to agents and ISOs and other third-party costs directly attributable to payment processing. The residual payments represent commissions paid to agents and ISOs based upon a percentage of the net revenues generated from merchant transactions.

Costs of Outsourced Services and Other Revenue

Costs of outsourced services and other revenue consist of salaries directly related to outsourced services revenue, the cost of equipment (point of sale terminals) sold, and third-party fees and commissions related to the Company's ACH processing activities.

Selling, General and Administrative
SG&A expenses include mainly professional services, advertising, rent, office supplies, software licenses, utilities, state and local franchise and sales taxes, litigation settlements, executive travel, insurance, and expenses related to the Business Combination.

Interest Expense
Interest expense consists of interest on outstanding debt and amortization of deferred financing costs and original issue discounts.

Other, net
Other, net is composed of interest income, debt modification and extinguishment expenses, changes in fair value of warrant liabilities, and equity in losses and impairment of unconsolidated entities. Interest income consists mainly of interest received pursuant to notes receivable from independent sales agents. Debt modification and extinguishment expenses includes write-offs of unamortized deferred financing costs and original issue discount relating to the extinguished debt. Equity in loss and impairment of unconsolidated entities consists of the Company's share of the income or loss of its equity method investment as well as any impairment charges related to such investments.


68


Comprehensive Income (Loss)

Comprehensive income (loss) represents the sum of net income (loss) and other amounts that are not included in the audited consolidated statement of operations as the amounts have not been realized. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, there were no differences between the Company's net income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss). Therefore, no separate Statements of Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) are included in the financial statements for the reporting periods.

Significant Accounting Policies

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue when (1) it is realized or realizable and earned, (2) there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, (3) delivery and performance has occurred, (4) there is a fixed or determinable sales price and (5) collection is reasonably assured.

The Company's reportable segments are organized by services the Company provides and distinct business units. Set forth below is a description of the Company's revenue recognition polices by segment.

Consumer Payments

The Company's Consumer Payments segment represents merchant card fee revenues, which are based on the electronic transaction processing of credit, debit and electronic benefit transaction card processing authorized and captured through third-party networks, check conversion and guarantee, and electronic gift certificate processing. Merchants are charged rates which are based on various factors, including the type of bank card, card brand, merchant charge volume, the merchant's industry and the merchant's risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject profile. Typically, revenues generated from these transactions are based on a variable percentage of the dollar amount of each transaction, and in some instances, additional fees are charged for each transaction. The Company's contracts in most instances involve three parties: the Company, the merchant and the sponsoring bank. The Company's sponsoring banks collect the gross revenue from the merchants, pay the interchange fees and assessments to concentrationthe credit card associations, retain their fees and pay to the Company a residual payment representing the Company's fee for the services provided. Merchant customers may also be charged miscellaneous fees, including statement fees, annual fees, and monthly minimum fees, fees for handling chargebacks, gateway fees and fees for other miscellaneous services.


The determination of whether a company should recognize revenue based on the gross amount billed to a customer or the net amount retained is a matter of judgment that depends on the facts and circumstances of the arrangement and that certain factors should be considered in the evaluation. The Company recognizes merchant card fee revenues net of interchange fees, which are assessed to the Company's merchant customers on all transactions processed by third parties. Interchange fees and rates are not controlled by the Company, which effectively acts as a clearing house collecting and remitting interchange fee settlement on behalf of issuing banks, debit networks, credit card associations and its processing customers. All other revenue is reported on a gross basis, as the Company contracts directly with the merchant, assumes the risk consist of loss and has pricing flexibility.

Commercial Payments and Managed Services

This segment provides business-to-business ("B2B") automated payment processing services to buyers and suppliers, including virtual payments, purchase cards, electronic funds transfers, ACH payments, and check payments. Revenues are generally earned on a per-transaction basis and through implementation services. Additionally, this segment provides outsourced services by providing a sales force to certain enterprise customers. Such services are provided on a cost-plus fee arrangement and revenue is recognized to the extent of billable rates times hours worked and other reimbursable costs incurred.

Cash and Restricted Cash

Cash includes cash held at financial institutions that is owned by the Company. Restricted cash is held by the Company in financial institutions for the purpose of in-process customer settlements or reserves held per contact terms.




69


Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable are stated net of allowance for doubtful accounts and are amounts primarily due from the Company's sponsor banks for revenues earned, net of related interchange and bank processing fees, and do not bear interest. Other types of accounts receivable are from agents, merchants and other customers. Amounts due from sponsor banks are typically paid within 30 days following the end of each month.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Receivable
The Company records an allowance for doubtful accounts when it is probable that the accounts receivable balance will not be collected, based upon loss trends and an analysis of individual accounts. Accounts receivable are written off when deemed uncollectible. Recoveries of accounts receivable previously written off are recognized when received.

Customer Deposits and Advance Payments

The Company may receive cash payments from certain customers and vendors that require future performance obligations by the Company. Amounts associated with obligations expected to be satisfied within one year are reported in Customer deposits and advance payments on the Company's consolidated balance sheets and amounts associated with obligations expected to be satisfied after one year are reported as a component of Other non-current liabilities on the Company's consolidated balance sheets. These payments are subsequently recognized in the Company's consolidated statements of operations when the Company satisfies the performance obligations required to retain and earn these deposits and advance payments.

Property and Equipment, Including Leases

Property and equipment are stated at cost, except for property and equipment acquired in a financial institutionmerger or business combination, which is recorded at times may exceedfair value at the Federal depository insurance coveragetime of $250,000. the transaction. Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets.
The Company has multiple operating leases related to office space. Operating leases do not experienced lossesinvolve transfer of risks and rewards of ownership of the leased asset to the lessee, therefore the Company expenses the costs of its operating leases. The Company may make various alterations (leasehold improvements) to the office space and capitalize these costs as part of property and equipment. Leasehold improvements are amortized on thesea straight-line basis over the useful life of the improvement or the term of the lease, whichever is shorter.
Expenditures for repairs and maintenance which do not extend the useful life of the respective assets are charged to expense as incurred. Expenditures that increase the value or productive capacity of assets are capitalized. At the time of retirements, sales, or other dispositions of property and equipment, the original cost and related accumulated depreciation are removed from the respective accounts, and the gains or losses are presented as a component of income or loss from operations.

Costs Incurred to Develop Software for Internal Use
Costs incurred to develop computer software for internal use are capitalized once: (1) the preliminary project stage is completed, (2) management believesauthorizes and commits to funding a specific software project, and (3) it is probable that the project will be completed and the software will be used to perform the function intended. Costs incurred prior to meeting the qualifications are expensed as incurred. Capitalization of costs ceases when the project is substantially complete and ready for its intended use. Post-implementation costs related to the internal use computer software, are expensed as incurred. Internal use software development costs are amortized using the straight-line method over its estimated useful life which ranges from three to five years. Software development costs may become impaired in situations where development efforts are abandoned due to the viability of the planned project becoming doubtful or due to technological obsolescence of the planned software product. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, there has been no impairment associated with internal use software. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, the Company capitalized software development costs of $6.7 million, $3.1 million, and $3.1 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, capitalized software development costs, net of accumulated amortization, totaled $10.8 million and $6.7 million, respectively, and is included in property, equipment, and software, net on the consolidated balance sheets. Amortization expense for capitalized software development costs for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016 was $2.6 million, $1.6 million, and $1.0 million, respectively.

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Settlement Assets and Obligations

Settlement processing assets and obligations recognized on the Company's consolidated balance sheet represent intermediary balances arising in the Company's settlement process for merchants and other customers. See Note 3, Settlement Assets and Obligations.

Debt Issuance Costs

Eligible debt issuance costs associated with the Company's credit facilities are deferred and amortized to interest expense over the term of the related debt using the effective interest method. Debt issuance costs associated with Company's term debt are presented on the Company's consolidated balance sheets as a direct reduction in the carrying value of the associated debt liability.

Business Combinations

The Company uses the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations which requires assets acquired and liabilities assumed to be recognized at their fair values on the acquisition date. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net assets acquired. The fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed are determined based upon the valuation of the acquired business and involves making significant estimates and assumptions based on facts and circumstances that existed as of the acquisition date. The Company uses a measurement period following the acquisition date to gather information that existed as of the acquisition date that is needed to determine the fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed. The measurement period ends once all information is obtained, but no later than one year from the acquisition date.

Non-Controlling Interests

The Company has issued non-voting profit-sharing interests in two of its subsidiaries that were formed in 2018 to acquire the operating assets of certain businesses (see Note 2, Business Combinations). The Company is still the majority owner of these subsidiaries and therefore the profit-sharing interests are deemed to be non-controlling interests ("NCI").

To estimate the initial fair value of a profit-sharing interest, the Company utilizes future cash flow scenarios with focus on those cash flow scenarios that could result in future distributions to the NCIs. In subsequent periods, profits or losses are attributed to an NCI based on the hypothetical-liquidation-at-book-value method that utilizes the terms of the profit-sharing agreement between the Company and the NCIs.

As the majority owner, the Company has call rights on the profit-sharing interests issued to the NCIs. These call rights can be executed only under certain circumstances and execution is always voluntary at the Company's discretion. The call rights do not exposedmeet the definition of a free-standing financial instrument or derivative, thus no separate accounting is required for these call rights.

Goodwill

The Company tests goodwill for impairment for its reporting units on an annual basis, or when events occur or circumstances indicate the fair value of a reporting unit is below its carrying value. If the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, an impairment loss is recorded to significant risksthe extent that implied fair value of the goodwill within the reporting unit is less than its carrying value. The Company performed its most recent annual goodwill impairment test as of November 30, 2018 using market data and discounted cash flow analysis. Based on this analysis, it was determined that the fair value exceeded the carrying value of its reporting units. The Company concluded there were no indicators of impairment for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016.

Intangible Assets

Intangible assets, acquired in connection with various acquisitions, are recorded at fair value determined using a discounted cash flow model as of the date of the acquisition. Intangible assets primarily include merchant portfolios and other intangible assets such accounts.  

Net Incomeas non-compete agreements, trade names, acquired technology (developed internally by acquired companies prior to the business combination with the Company) and customer relationships.


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Merchant Portfolios
Merchant portfolios represent the value of the acquired merchant customer base at the time of acquisition. The Company amortizes the cost of its acquired merchant portfolios over their estimated useful lives, which range from one year to ten years, using either a straight-line or an accelerated method that most accurately reflects the pattern in which the economic benefits of the respective asset is consumed.
Other Intangible Assets
Other intangible assets consist of values relating to non-compete agreements, trade names, acquired technology, and customer relationships. These values are amortized over the estimated useful lives ranging from one year to 25 years.

Impairment of Long-lived Assets

The Company reviews its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. For long-lived assets, except goodwill, an impairment loss is indicated when the undiscounted future cash flows estimated to be generated by the asset group are not sufficient to recover the unamortized balance of the asset group. If indicated, the loss is measured as the excess of carrying value over the asset groups' fair value, as determined based on discounted future cash flows. The Company concluded there were no indications of impairment for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016.

Accrued Residual Commissions

Accrued residual commissions consist of amounts due to independent sales organizations ("ISOs") and independent sales agents on the processing volume of the Company's merchant customers. The commissions due are based on varying percentages of the volume processed by the Company on behalf of the merchants. Percentages vary based on the program type and transaction volume of each merchant. Residual commission expenses were $242.8 million, $249.9 million, and $195.4 million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, and are included in costs of merchant card fees in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

ISO Deposit and Loss Reserve

ISOs may partner with the Company in an executive partner program in which ISOs are given negotiated pricing in exchange for bearing risk of loss. Through the arrangement, the Company accepts deposits on behalf of the ISO and a reserve account is established by the Company. All amounts maintained by the Company are included in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as other liabilities, which are directly offset by restricted cash accounts owned by the Company.

Equity-Based Compensation

The Company recognizes the cost resulting from all equity-based payment transactions in the financial statements at grant date fair value. Equity-based compensation expense is recognized over the requisite service period and is reflected in Salary and employee benefits expense on the Company's consolidated statements of operations. The effects of forfeitures are recognized as they occur.

Stock options

Under the Company's 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, the Company determines the fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which requires the use of the following subjective assumptions:

Expected Volatility - Measure of the amount by which a stock price has fluctuated or is expected to fluctuate. Due to the relatively short amount of time that the Company's common stock (Nasdaq: PRTH) has traded on a public market, the Company uses volatility data for the common stocks of a peer group of comparable public companies. An increase in the expected volatility will increase the fair value of the stock option and related compensation expense.


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Risk-free interest rate - U.S. Treasury rate for a stripped-principal treasury note as of the grant date having a term equal to the expected term of the stock option. An increase in the risk-free interest rate will increase the fair value of the stock option and related compensation expense.

Expected term - Period of time over which the stock options granted are expected to remain outstanding. As a newly-public company, the Company lacks sufficient exercise information for its stock option plan. Accordingly, the Company uses a method permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") whereby the expected term is estimated to be the mid-point between the vesting dates and the expiration dates of the stock option grants. An increase in the expected term will increase the fair value of the stock option and the related compensation expense.

Dividend yield - The Company used an amount of zero as the Company has paid no cash or stock dividends and does not anticipate doing so in the foreseeable future. An increase in the dividend yield will decrease the fair value of the stock option and the related compensation expenses.

Time-Based Restricted Stock Awards

The fair value of time-based restricted stock awards is determined based on the quoted closing price of the Company's common stock on the date of grant and is recognized as compensation expense over the vesting term of the awards.

Performance-Based Restricted Stock Awards

The Company accounts for its performance-based restricted equity awards based on the quoted closing price of the Company's common stock on the date of grant, adjusted for any market-based vesting criteria, and records equity-based compensation expense over the vesting term of the awards based on the probability that the performance criteria will be achieved. The Company reassesses the probability of vesting at each reporting period and prospectively adjusts equity-based compensation expense based on its probability assessment.

Advertising

The Company expenses advertising and promotion costs as incurred. Advertising and promotion expenses were approximately $0.9 million, $0.5 million, and $0.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share

The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net income

Basic earnings (loss) per common share ("EPS") is computed by dividing net income (loss) applicableavailable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period, plus, to the extent dilutive, the incrementalweighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, excluding the effects of any potentially dilutive securities. Diluted EPS gives effect to settle warrants, as calculated using the treasury stock method. An aggregate of 4,707,821 and 4,748,033 shares ofpotential dilution, if any, that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock subject to possible redemption at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, have been excluded from the calculation of basic loss per ordinary share since such shares, if redeemed, only participate in their pro rata share of the trust earnings.  At December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, bewere exercised or converted into common stock, using the more dilutive of the two-class method or if-converted method. Diluted EPS excludes potential shares of common stock if their effect is anti-dilutive. If there is a net loss in any period, basic and then sharediluted EPS are computed in the earnings of the Company under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted loss per common share is the same as basic lossmanner.

The two-class method determines net income (loss) per common share for each class of common stock and participating securities according to dividends declared or accumulated and participation rights in undistributed earnings. The two-class method requires income available to common shareholders for the period.


Reconciliation ofperiod to be allocated between common stock and participating securities based upon their respective rights to receive dividends as if all income for the period had been distributed. Prior to redemption in July 2018, the Goldman Sachs warrants were deemed to be participating securities because they had a contractual right to participate in non-forfeitable dividends on a one-for-one basis with the Company's common stock. Accordingly, the Company applied the two-class method for EPS when computing net lossincome (loss) per common share

The Company’s net lossshare. For periods beginning after September 30, 2018, EPS using the two-class method is adjustedno longer required due to the redemption of the Goldman Sachs warrant. See Note 8, Long-term Debt and Warrant Liability.


Income Taxes

Prior to July 25, 2018, Priority was a "pass-through" entity for income tax purposes and had no material income tax accounting reflected in its financial statements since taxable income and deductions were "passed through" to Priority's unconsolidated owners.

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As a limited liability company, Priority Holdings, LLC elected to be treated as a partnership for the portionpurpose of filing income that is attributabletax returns, and as such, the income and losses of Priority Holdings, LLC flowed through to common stock subject to redemption, as these shares only participateits members. Accordingly, no provisions for federal and most state income taxes was provided in the consolidated financial statements. However, periodic distributions were made to members to cover company-related tax liabilities.

MI Acquisitions was a taxable "C-Corp" for income tax purposes. As a result of Priority's acquisition by MI Acquisitions, the combined Company is now a taxable "C-Corp" that reports all of Priority's income and deductions for income tax purposes. Accordingly, subsequent to July 25, 2018, the consolidated financial statements of the Trust Account and notCompany reflect the losses of the Company. Accordingly, basic and diluted loss per common share is calculated as follows:

  Year Ended
December 31,
  Year Ended
December 31,
 
  2017  2016 
Net loss $(124,854) $(107,995)
Less: Income attributable to common shares subject to redemption  (309,425)  38,533 
Adjusted net loss $(434,279) $(69,462)
         
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted  2,330,884   1,664,794 
         
Basic and diluted net loss per common share $(0.19) $(0.04)

Common stock subject to possible conversion

The Company accountsaccounting for its common stock subject to possible conversionincome taxes in accordance with the guidance enumerated in ASC 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity”.   Common stock subject to mandatory conversion is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally convertible common stock (including common shares that feature conversion rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to conversion upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s common stock features certain conversion rights that are considered by the Company to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, the common stock subject to possible conversion is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.

Financial Accounting Standards Board 's ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 740, Income Taxes

("ASC 740").


The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC 740 “the asset and liability method. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities and are measured using enacted tax rates and laws that are expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to be recovered or settled. Realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon future taxable income. A valuation allowance is recognized if it is more likely than not that some portion or all of a deferred tax asset will not be realized based on the weight of available evidence, including expected future earnings.
The Company recognizes an uncertain tax position in its financial statements when it concludes that a tax position is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination based solely on its technical merits. Only after a tax position passes the first step of recognition will measurement be required. Under the measurement step, the tax benefit is measured as the largest amount of benefit that is more likely than not to be realized upon effective settlement. This is determined on a cumulative probability basis. The full impact of any change in recognition or measurement is reflected in the period in which such change occurs.  The Company recognized interest and penalties associated with uncertain tax positions as a component of interest expense.

Fair Value Measurements
The Company measures certain assets and liabilities at fair value. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The Company uses a three-level fair value hierarchy to prioritize the inputs used to measure fair value and maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs. The three levels of inputs used to measure fair value are as follows:
Level 1 – Quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities as of the reporting date.
Level 2 – Observable market-based inputs or unobservable inputs that are corroborated by market data.
Level 3 – Unobservable inputs that are not corroborated by market data.
The fair values of the Company's merchant portfolios, assets and liabilities acquired in mergers and business combinations, and former warrant liability are primarily based on Level 3 inputs and are generally estimated based upon valuation techniques that include discounted cash flow analysis based on cash flow projections and, for years beyond the projection period, estimates based on assumed growth rates. Assumptions are also made regarding appropriate discount rates, perpetual growth rates, and capital expenditures, among others. In certain circumstances, the discounted cash flow analysis is corroborated by a market-based approach that utilizes comparable company public trading values and, where available, values observed in public market transactions.
The carrying values of accounts and notes receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses, long-term debt and cash, including settlement assets and the associated deposit liabilities approximate fair value due to either the short-term nature of such instruments or the fact that the interest rate of the debt is based upon current market rates.

Warrant Liability

As discussed in Note 8, Long-Term Debt and Warrant Liability, the Company issued warrants to purchase Class A common units of Priority Holdings, LLC representing 2.2% of the outstanding common units of Priority Holdings, LLC. These warrants were

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redeemed in full during July 2018. Prior to redemption in July 2018, the warrants were accounted for as a liability at estimated fair value with changes in fair value recognized in earnings for each reporting period. See Note 15, Fair Value.


New Accounting and Reporting Standards

Prior to July 25, 2018, Priority was defined as a non-public entity for purposes of applying transition guidance related to new or revised accounting standards under U.S. GAAP, and as such was typically required to adopt new or revised accounting standards subsequent to the required adoption dates that applied to public companies. MI Acquisitions was classified as an EGC. Subsequent to the Business Combination, the Company will cease to be an EGC no later than December 31, 2021. The Company will maintain the election available to an EGC to use any extended transition period applicable to non-public companies when complying with a new or revised accounting standards. Therefore, as long as the Company retains EGC status, the Company can continue to elect to adopt any new or revised accounting standards on the adoption date (including early adoption) required for a private company.


Accounting Standards Adopted in 2018

Modifications to Share-Based Compensation Awards (ASU 2017-09)

As of January 1, 2018, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2017-09, Compensation-Stock Compensation Topic 718 - Scope of Modification Accounting ("ASU 2017-09"). ASU 2017-09 clarifies when changes to the terms and conditions of share-based payment awards must be accounted for as modifications. Entities apply the modification accounting guidance if the value, vesting conditions, or classification of an award changes. The Company has not modified any share-based payment awards since the adoption of ASU 2017-09, therefore this new ASU has had no impact on the Company's financial position, operations, or cash flows. Should the Company modify share-based payment awards in the future, it will apply the provisions of ASU 2017-09.

Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Income Taxes”. ASC 740 requires (ASU 2015-17)

In connection with the recognitionBusiness Combination and Recapitalization, the Company prospectively adopted the provisions of ASU No. 2015-17, Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes ("ASU 2015-17"), during the third quarter of 2018. ASU 2015-17 simplifies the balance sheet presentation of deferred income taxes by reporting the net amount of deferred tax assets and liabilities for each tax-paying jurisdiction as non-current on the balance sheet. Prior guidance required the deferred taxes for each tax-paying jurisdiction to be presented as a net current asset or liability and net non-current asset or liability.

Definition of a Business (ASU 2017-01)

On October 1, 2018, the Company prospectively adopted the provisions of ASU No. 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business ("ASU 2017-01"). ASU 2017-01 assists entities in determining if acquired assets constitute the acquisition of a business or the acquisition of assets for accounting and reporting purposes. The guidance requires an entity to evaluate if substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets; if so, the set of transferred assets and activities is not a business. In practice prior to ASU 2017-01, if revenues were generated immediately before and after a transaction, the acquisition was typically considered a business. The Company's December 2018 acquisition of certain assets of Direct Connect Merchant Services, LLC was not deemed to be the acquisition of a business under ASU 2017-01 because substantially all of the fair value was concentrated in a single identifiable group of similar identifiable assets.

Accounting for Share-Based Payments to Employees (ASU 2016-09)

For its annual reporting period beginning January 1, 2018, the Company adopted the provisions of ASU 2016­-09, Improvements to Employee Share­-Based Payment Accounting ("ASU 2016-09"), which amends ASC Topic 718, Compensation–Stock Compensation. This adoption of this new ASU had the following effects:

Consolidated Statement of Operations - ASU 2016-09 imposes a new requirement to record all of the excess income tax benefits and deficiencies (that result from an increase or decrease in the value of an award from grant date to settlement date) related to

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share-based payments at settlement through the statement of operations instead of the former requirement to record income tax benefits in excess of compensation cost ("windfalls") in equity, and income tax deficiencies ("shortfalls") in equity to the extent of previous windfalls, and then to operations. This change is required to be applied prospectively upon adoption of ASU 2016-09 to all excess income tax benefits and deficiencies resulting from settlements of share-based payments after the date of adoption. This particular provision of ASU 2016-09 had no material effect on the Company's financial position, operations, or cash flows.

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows - ASU 2016-09 requires that all income tax-related cash flows resulting from share-based payments, such as excess income tax benefits, are to be reported as operating activities on the statement of cash flows, a change from the prior requirement to present windfall income tax benefits as an inflow from financing activities and an offsetting outflow from operating activities. This particular provision of ASU 2016-09 had no material effect on the Company's financial position, operations, or cash flows.

Additionally, ASU 2016-09 clarifies that:

All cash payments made to taxing authorities on an employee's behalf for withheld shares at settlement are presented as financing activities on the statement of cash flows. This change must be applied retrospectively. This particular provision of ASU 2016-09 had no material effect on the Company's financial position, operations, or cash flows.

Entities are permitted to make an accounting policy election for the impact of forfeitures on the recognition of expense for share-­based payment awards. Forfeitures can be estimated or recognized when they occur. Estimates of forfeitures will still be required in certain circumstances, such as at the time of modification of an award or issuance of a replacement award in a business combination. If elected, the change to recognize forfeitures when they occur needs to be adopted using a modified retrospective approach, with a cumulative effect adjustment recorded to opening retained earnings. The Company made a policy election to recognize the impact of forfeitures when they occur. This policy election primarily impacted the Company's new equity compensation plans originating in 2018 (see Note 13, Equity-Based Compensation), thus not requiring a cumulative effect adjustment to opening retained earnings for these new plans. For the Company's previously existing equity compensation plan (the Management Incentive Plan), see Note 13, Equity-Based Compensation. The amount of the cumulative effect upon adoption of ASU 2016-09 was not material and therefore has not been reflected in opening retained earnings on the Company's consolidated balance sheets or consolidated statements of changes in stockholders' equity (deficit).


Recently Issued Accounting Standards Pending Adoption

Revenue Recognition (ASC 606)

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which since has been codified and amended in ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. This guidance clarifies the principles for recognizing revenue and will be applicable to all contracts with customers regardless of industry-specific or transaction-specific fact patterns. Further, the guidance will require improved disclosures as well as additional disclosures to help users of financial statements better understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue that is recognized. Since its original issuance, the FASB has issued several updates to this guidance. The new standard could change the amount and timing of revenue and costs for certain significant revenue streams, increase areas of judgment and related internal controls requirements, change the presentation of revenue for certain contract arrangements and possibly require changes to the Company's software systems to assist in both internally capturing accounting differences and externally reporting such differences through enhanced disclosure requirements. As an EGC, the standard is effective for the Company's 2019 annual reporting period and for interim periods after 2019. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or modified retrospective transition method. The Company has not yet selected a transition method and is currently evaluating the effect that the standard may have on its consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

Leases (ASC 842)

In February 2016, the FASB issued new lease accounting guidance in ASU No. 2016-02, Leases-Topic 842, which has been codified in ASC 842, Leases. Under this new guidance, lessees will be required to recognize for all leases (with the exception of short-term leases): 1) a lease liability equal to the lessee's obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis and 2) a right-of-use asset which will represent the lessee's right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease

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term. As an EGC, this standard is effective for the Company's annual reporting period beginning in 2020 and interim reporting periods beginning first quarter of 2021. The adoption of ASC 842 will require the Company to recognize non-current assets and liabilities for right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet, but it is not expected to have a material effect on the Company's results of operations or cash flows. ASC 842 will also require additional footnote disclosures to the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Credit Losses (ASU 2016-13 and ASU 2018-19)

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This new guidance will change how entities account for credit impairment for trade and other receivables, as well as for certain financial assets and other instruments. ASU 2016-13 will replace the current "incurred loss" model with an "expected loss" model. Under the "incurred loss" model, a loss (or allowance) is recognized only when an event has occurred (such as a payment delinquency) that causes the entity to believe that a loss is probable (i.e., that it has been "incurred"). Under the "expected loss" model, a loss (or allowance) is recognized upon initial recognition of the asset that reflects all future events that leads to a loss being realized, regardless of whether it is probable that the future event will occur. The "incurred loss" model considers past events and current conditions, while the "expected loss" model includes expectations for the future which have yet to occur. ASU 2018-19, Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses, was issued in November 2018 and excludes operating leases from the new guidance. The standard will require entities to record a cumulative-effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact that ASU 2016-13 may have on the timing of recognizing future provisions for expected losses on the Company's accounts receivable. As an EGC, the ASU is effective for annual periods beginning in 2021 and interim periods within annual periods beginning in 2022.

Statement of Cash Flows (ASU 2016-15)
In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230). This ASU represents a consensus of the FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force on eight separate issues that each impact classifications on the statement of cash flows. In particular, issue number three addresses the classification of contingent consideration payments made after a business combination. Under ASU 2016-15, cash payments made soon after an acquisition's consummation date (i.e., approximately three months or less) will be classified as cash outflows from investing activities. Payments made thereafter will be classified as cash outflows from financing activities up to the amount of the original contingent consideration liability. Payments made in excess of the amount of the original contingent consideration liability will be classified as cash outflows from operating activities. As an EGC, this ASU is effective for the Company for years beginning in 2019 and interim periods within years beginning in 2020. The Company is evaluating the effect this ASU will have on its consolidated statement of cash flows.

Goodwill Impairment Testing (ASU 2017-04)

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment.  ASU 2017-04 will eliminate the requirement to calculate the implied fair value of goodwill (i.e., step 2 of the current goodwill impairment test) to measure a goodwill impairment charge. Instead, entities will record an impairment charge based on the excess of a reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value (i.e., measure the charge based on the current step 1). Any impairment charge will be limited to the amount of goodwill allocated to an impacted reporting unit. ASU 2017-04 will not change the current guidance for completing Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test, and an entity will still be able to perform the current optional qualitative goodwill impairment assessment before determining whether to proceed to Step 1. Upon adoption, the ASU will be applied prospectively. As an EGC, this ASU will be effective for annual and interim impairment tests performed in periods beginning in 2022. The impact that ASU 2017-04 may have on the Company's financial condition or results of operations will depend on the circumstances of any goodwill impairment event that may occur after adoption.

Share-Based Payments to Non-Employees (ASU 2018-07)

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07, Share-based Payments to Non-Employees, to simplify the accounting for share-based payments to non-employees by aligning it with the accounting for share-based payments to employees, with certain exceptions. As an EGC, the ASU is effective for annual reporting periods beginning in 2020 and interim periods within annual periods beginning first quarter 2021, but not before the Company adopts ASC 606, Revenue Recognition. The Company is evaluating the impact this ASU will have on its consolidated financial statements.

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Disclosures for Fair Value Measurements (ASU 2018-13)

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework — Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement. This ASU eliminates, adds and modifies certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements as part of the FASB's disclosure framework project. For all entities, this ASU is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning in 2020. Certain amendments must be applied prospectively while others are to be applied on a retrospective basis to all periods presented. As disclosure guidance, the adoption of this ASU will not have an effect on the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Implementation Costs Incurred in Cloud Computing Arrangements (ASU 2018-15)

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Implementation Costs Incurred in Cloud Computing Arrangements ("ASU 2018-15"),which aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license). As an EGC, this ASU is effective for the Company for annual reporting periods beginning in 2021, and interim periods within annual periods beginning in 2022. The amendments should be applied either retrospectively or prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption. The Company is evaluating the impact this ASU will have on its consolidated financial statements.


Concentration of Risk

The Company's revenue is substantially derived from processing Visa® and MasterCard® bank card transactions. Because the Company is not a member bank, in order to process these bank card transactions, the Company maintains sponsorship agreements with member banks which require, among other things, that the Company abide by the by-laws and regulations of the card associations.

Substantially all of the Company's revenues and receivables are attributable to merchant customer transactions, which are processed by third-party payment processors.

A majority of the Company's cash and restricted cash is held in certain financial institutions, substantially all of which is in excess of federal deposit insurance corporation limits. The Company does not believe it is exposed to any significant credit risk from these transactions.

In 2018, 2017, and 2016, no one merchant customer accounted for 10% or more of the Company's consolidated revenues.


Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts in these consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation, with no net effect on the Company's stockholders' equity (deficit) or net income (loss) for any period.



2.    BUSINESS COMBINATIONS


Business Combinations in 2018

PayRight

In April 2018, Priority PayRight Health Solutions, LLC ("PPRHS"), a subsidiary of the Company, purchased the majority of the operating assets and certain operating liabilities of PayRight Health Solutions LLC ("PayRight"). This purchase allowed PPRHS to gain control over the PayRight business and therefore the Company's consolidated financial statements include the financial

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position, results of operations, and cash flows of PayRight from the date of acquisition. PayRight utilizes technology assets to deliver customized payment solutions to the health care industry. The results of the acquired business and goodwill of $0.3 million from the transaction are being reported by the Company as part of the Commercial Payments and Managed Services reportable segment. Additionally, the acquisition resulted in the recognition of intangible and net tangible assets with a fair value of $0.6 million. The Company transferred total consideration with a fair value of $0.9 million consisting of: $0.5 million in cash and forgiveness of amounts owed to the Company by PayRight; $0.3 million fair value of the Company's previous equity-method investment in PayRight described in the following paragraph; and $0.1 million of other consideration. Certain PayRight sellers were provided profit-sharing rights in PayRight as non-controlling interests, however, based on this arrangement no losses or earnings were allocated to the non-controlling interests for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Previously, in October 2015, the Company purchased a non-controlling interest in the equity of PayRight, and prior to April 2018 the Company accounted for this investment using the equity method of accounting. At December 31, 2017, the Company's carrying value of this investment was $1.1 million. Immediately prior to PPRHS' April 2018 purchase of substantially all of PayRight's business assets, the Company's existing non-controlling investment in PayRight had a carrying value of approximately $1.1 million with an estimated fair value on the acquisition date of approximately $0.3 million. The Company recorded an impairment loss of $0.8 million during the second quarter of 2018 for the difference between the carrying value and the fair value of the non-controlling equity-method investment in PayRight. The loss is reported within Other, net in the Company's consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2018.

RadPad and Landlord Station

In July 2018, the Company acquired substantially all of the net operating assets of RadPad Holdings, Inc. ("RadPad") and Landlord Station, LLC ("Landlord Station"). RadPad is a marketplace for the rental real estate market. Landlord Station offers a complementary toolset that focuses on facilitation of tenant screening and other services to the fast-growing independent landlord market. These asset purchases were deemed to be a business under ASC 805. The Company formed a new entity, Priority Real Estate Technology, LLC ("PRET"), to acquire and operate these businesses. Due to the related nature of the two sets of business assets, same acquisition dates, and how the Company intends to operate them under the "RadPad" name and operating platform within PRET, the Company deemed them to be one business for accounting and reporting purposes. PRET is reported within the Company's Commercial Payments and Managed Services reportable segment.

Total consideration paid for RadPad and Landlord Station was $4.3 million consisting of $3.9 million in cash plus forgiveness of pre-existing debt owed by the sellers to the Company of $0.4 million. Additionally, the Company paid and expensed $0.1 million for transaction costs. Net tangible and separately-identifiable intangible assets with an initial fair value of $2.1 million were acquired along with goodwill with an initial value of $2.2 million. Non-controlling equity interests in PRET were issued to certain sellers in the form of residual profit interests and distribution rights, however the fair value of these non-controlling interests was deemed to be immaterial at time of acquisition due to the nature of the profit-sharing and liquidations provisions contained in the operating agreement for PRET. Under the terms of the profit-sharing arrangement between the controlling and non-controlling interests, no losses or earnings were allocated to the non-controlling interests for the year ended December 31, 2018.

During the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company received additional information about the fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Accordingly, measurement period adjustments were made to the opening balance sheet to decrease net assets acquired and increase goodwill by $0.2 million.

Priority Payment Systems Northeast

In July 2018, the Company acquired substantially all of the net operating assets of Priority Payment Systems Northeast, Inc. ("PPS Northeast"). This purchase of these net assets was deemed to be a business under ASC 805. Prior to this acquisition, PPS Northeast was an independent brand-licensed office of the Company where it developed expertise in software-integrated payment services designed to manage turnkey installations of point-of-sale and supporting systems, as well as marketing programs that place emphasis on online ordering systems and digital marketing campaigns. PPS Northeast is reported within the Company's Consumer Payments reportable segment.

Initial consideration of $3.5 million consisted of $0.5 million plus 285,117 shares of common stock of the Company with a fair value of approximately of $3.0 million. In addition, contingent consideration in an amount up to $0.5 million was deemed to have a fair value of $0.4 million at acquisition date. If earned, the seller can receive this contingent consideration in either cash or

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additional shares of the Company's common stock, as mutually agreed by the Company and seller. Net tangible and separately-identifiable intangible assets with an initial fair value of $2.0 million were acquired along with goodwill with an initial value of $1.9 million, including the $0.4 million estimated fair value of the contingent consideration due to the seller. At December 31, 2018, the fair value of the contingent consideration still approximated the original $0.4 million fair value assigned on date of acquisition. Transaction costs were not material and were expensed.

Priority Payment Systems Tech Partners

In August 2018, the Company acquired substantially all of the net operating assets of M.Y. Capital, Inc. and Payments In Kind, Inc., collectively doing business as Priority Payment Systems Tech Partners ("PPS Tech"). These related asset purchases were deemed to be a business under ASC 805. Due to the related nature of the two sets of business assets and how the Company intends to operate them, the Company deemed them to be one business for accounting and reporting purposes. Prior to this acquisition, PPS Tech was an independent brand-licensed office of the Company where it developed a track record and extensive network in the integrated payments and B2B marketplaces. PPS Tech is reported within the Company's Consumer Payments reportable segment.

Initial consideration of $5.0 million consisted of $3.0 million plus 190,078 shares of common stock of the Company with a fair value of approximately $2.0 million. In addition, contingent consideration in an amount up to $1.0 million was deemed to have a fair value of $0.6 million at acquisition date. If earned, the seller will receive half of any contingent consideration in cash and the other half in a number of shares of common stock of the Company equal to the portion of the earned contingent consideration payable in shares of common stock of the Company. Net tangible and separately-identifiable intangible assets with an initial fair value of $2.2 million were acquired along with goodwill with an initial value of $3.4 million, including the $0.6 million estimated fair value of the contingent consideration due to the seller. At December 31, 2018, the fair value of the contingent consideration still approximated the original $0.6 million fair value assigned on date of acquisition. Transaction costs were not material and were expensed.

Other Information

Based on their purchase prices and pre-acquisition operating results and assets, none of the business combinations consummated by the Company in 2018, as described above, met the materiality requirements for disclosure of pro-forma financial information, either individually or in the aggregate. The measurement periods, as defined by ASC 805, Business Combination ("ASC 805"), are still open for all of these business combinations since the Company is awaiting information to finalize the acquisition-date fair values of certain acquired assets and assumed liabilities.

Goodwill for all 2018 business combinations is deductible by the Company for income tax purposes.

The Company did not consummate any business combinations during 2017 or 2016.



3.    SETTLEMENT ASSETS AND OBLIGATIONS

The standards of the card networks restrict non-members, such as the Company, from performing funds settlement or accessing merchant settlement funds. Instead, these funds must be in the possession of the member bank until the merchant is funded. The Company has relationships with member banks to facilitate payment transactions. These agreements allow the Company to route transactions under a member bank's control to process and clear transactions through card networks. Amounts for payment card settlements included in settlement assets and obligations on the Company's consolidated balance sheets represent intermediary balances arising in the settlement process.

Reserves Held For ACH Customers

For the Company's ACH business component that conducts business as ACH.com, the Company earns revenues by processing ACH transactions for financial institutions and other business customers. Certain customers establish and maintain reserves with the Company to cover potential losses in processing ACH transactions. These reserves are held in bank accounts controlled by

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the Company. As such, the Company recognizes the cash balances within restricted cash and settlement obligations on its consolidated balance sheets.

Merchant Reserves and Estimated Shortfalls

Under agreements between the Company and merchants, merchants assume liability for obligations such as chargebacks, customer disputes, and unfilled orders.  However, under its risk-based underwriting policy, the Company may require certain merchants to establish and maintain reserves designed to protect the Company from anticipated obligations such as chargebacks, customer disputes, and unfilled orders. A merchant reserve account is funded by the merchant but controlled by a sponsor bank during the term of the merchant agreement. Unused merchant reserves are returned to the merchant after termination of the merchant agreement or in certain instances upon a reassessment of risks during the term of the merchant agreement. Sponsor banks held merchant reserves of approximately $186.2 million and $191.5 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Since these merchant reserves held at sponsor banks are not assets of the Company and the associated risks are not liabilities of the Company, neither is recognized on the Company's consolidated balance sheets. 

In the event the amount in a merchant reserve is insufficient to cover expected or incurred losses, the Company may be liable to cover the shortfall.  The Company recognized a liability for estimated shortfalls of approximately $2.0 million and $1.1 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  The liabilities are included in the Company's consolidated balance sheet as contra balances against settlement assets.

The Company's settlement assets and obligations at December 31, 2018 and 2017 were as follows:

(in thousands)December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017
    
Settlement Assets:   
Card settlements due from merchants, net of estimated losses$988
 $7,207
Card settlements due from processors54
 
Total Settlement Assets$1,042
 $7,207
    
Settlement Obligations:   
Card settlements due to merchants$777
 $
Due to ACH payees (1)10,355
 10,474
Total Settlement Obligations$11,132
 $10,474

(1) Amounts due to ACH payees are held by the Company in restricted cash.



4.     NOTES RECEIVABLE

The Company has notes receivable from sales agents of $1.8 million and $7.2 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. These notes bear an average interest rate of 12.8% and 10.5% as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Interest and principal payments on the notes are due at various dates through January 2021.
Under the terms of the agreements, the Company preserves the right to holdback residual payments due to the applicable sales agents and applies such residuals against future payments due to the Company. Based on the terms of these agreements and historical experience, no reserve has been recorded for notes receivable as of December 31, 2018 and 2017.
Principal contractual maturities on the notes receivable at December 31, 2018 were as follows:


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(in thousands)  
Years Ended December 31, Maturities
2019 $979
2020 852
  $1,831




5.    GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS

The Company records goodwill when an acquisition is made and the purchase price is greater than the fair value assigned to the underlying tangible and intangible assets acquired and the liabilities assumed. The Company's goodwill is allocated to reporting units as follows:
(in thousands)December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017
Consumer Payments$106,832
 $101,532
Commercial Payments and Managed Services2,683
 
 $109,515
 $101,532


The Company's intangible assets primarily include merchant portfolios and other intangible assets such as non-compete agreements, trade names, acquired technology (developed internally by acquired companies prior to acquisition by the Company) and customer relationships. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company acquired merchant portfolios totaling approximately $90.9 million, including $44.8 million in December 2018 related to Direct Connect Merchant Services, LLC. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company acquired merchant portfolios totaling approximately $2.5 million.

There were no changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the year ended December 31, 2017. The following table summarizes the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the year ended December 31, 2018:
(in thousands)Amount
  
Balance at December 31, 2017: 
Pipeline Cynergy Holdings, LLC and ACCPC, Inc.$101,532
Goodwill arising from business combinations in 2018: 
  PayRight298
  RadPad/Landlord Station2,385
  PPS Northeast1,920
  PPS Tech3,380
Balance at December 31, 2018$109,515


For business combinations consummated during the year ended December 31, 2018, goodwill is deductible for income tax purposes.

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As of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 intangible assets consisted of the following:
(in thousands)December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017
    
Other intangible assets:   
Merchant portfolios$137,576
 $46,716
Non-compete agreements3,390
 3,390
Trade names2,870
 2,580
Acquired technology14,390
 13,200
Customer relationships55,940
 51,090
 214,166
 116,976
Less accumulated amortization:   
Merchant portfolios(48,492) (41,915)
Non-compete agreements(3,390) (3,243)
Trade names(1,017) (776)
Acquired technology(10,222) (7,928)
Customer relationships(26,408) (21,052)
 (89,529) (74,914)
    
Balance at December 31, 2018$124,637
 $42,062


The weighted-average amortization periods for intangible assets at December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 were as follows:


Useful LifeAmortization MethodWeighted-Average Life
Merchant portfolios1 - 10 yearsStraight-line and double declining6.3 years
Non-compete agreements3 yearsStraight-line3.0 years
Trade name5 - 12 yearsStraight-line11.6 years
Technology6 - 7 yearsStraight-line6.1 years
Customer relationships1 - 25 yearsStraight-line and sum-of-years digits14.4 years



Amortization expense for intangible assets was $14.7 million, $10.5 million, and $11.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The estimated amortization expense of intangible assets as of December 31, 2018 for the next five years and thereafter is:

(in thousands)  
Years Ending December 31, Maturities
2019 $26,544
2020 24,250
2021 22,575
2022 21,133
2023 16,132
Thereafter 14,003
Total $124,637


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Actual amortization expense to be reported in future periods could differ from these estimates as a result of new intangible asset acquisitions, changes in useful lives, and other relevant events or circumstances.

The Company tests goodwill for impairment for each of its reporting units on an annual basis, or when events occur or circumstances indicate the fair value of a reporting unit is below its carrying value. The Company performed its most recent annual goodwill impairment test as of November 30, 2018 using market data and discounted cash flow analysis. The Company concluded there were no indicators of impairment as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017. As such, there was no impairment loss for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016.



6.    PROPERTY, EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE
The Company's property, equipment, and software balance primarily consists of furniture, fixtures, and equipment used in the normal course of business, computer software developed for internal use, and leasehold improvements. Computer software represents purchased software and internally developed back office and merchant interfacing systems used to assist the reporting of merchant processing transactions and other related information.

A summary of property, equipment, and software as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 follows:
(in thousands)December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 Useful Life
Furniture and fixtures$2,254
 $1,871
 2-7 years
Equipment8,164
 6,256
 3-7 years
Computer software27,804
 20,443
 3-5 years
Leasehold improvements5,935
 4,965
 5-10 years
 44,157
 33,535
  
Less accumulated depreciation(26,675) (21,592)  
Property, equipment, and software, net$17,482
 $11,943
  


Depreciation expense totaled $5.1 million, $4.2 million, and $2.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.



7.    ACCOUNTS PAYABLE AND ACCRUED EXPENSES

The Company accrues for certain expenses that have been incurred and not paid, which are classified within accounts payable and accrued expenses in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

The components of accounts payable and accrued expenses that exceeded five percent of total current liabilities consisted of the following at December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 consisted of the following:

(in thousands)December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017
Accounts payable$8,030
 $8,751
Accrued compensation$6,193
 $6,136
Accrued network fees$6,971
 $1,529




8.    LONG-TERM DEBT AND WARRANT LIABILITY


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Long-term debt owed by certain subsidiaries (the "Borrowers") of the Company consisted of the following as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017:
(dollar amounts in thousands)December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017
Term Loan - Senior, matures January 3, 2023 and bears interest at LIBOR plus 5.0% at December 31, 2018 and 6.0% at December 31, 2017 (actual rate of approximately 7.5% at December 31, 2018 and 7.4% at December 31, 2017)$322,666
 $198,000
Term Loan - Subordinated, matures July 3, 2023 and bears interest at 5.0% plus payment-in-kind interest (actual rate of 10.5% at December 31, 2018 and 11.3% at December 31, 2017)90,016
 85,118
Revolving credit agreement - expires January 2, 2022
 
Total Debt412,682
 283,118
Less: current portion of long-term debt(3,293) (7,582)
Less: unamortized debt discounts(3,300) (3,212)
Less: deferred financing costs(3,994) (4,385)
Total long-term debt$402,095
 $267,939



Substantially all of the Company's assets are pledged as collateral under the long-term debt agreements, which are described in more detail in the following sections of this footnote. However, the parent entity, Priority Technology Holdings, Inc., is neither a borrower nor a guarantor of the long-term debt.

Debt Refinancing in January 2017

On January 3, 2017, the Company refinanced existing long-term debt whereby the Borrowers entered into a credit agreement with a syndicate of lenders (the "Senior Credit Agreement"). The Senior Credit Agreement had an original maximum borrowing amount of $225.0 million, consisting of a $200.0 million term loan and a $25.0 million revolving credit facility. Borrowings under the Senior Credit Agreement were subject to an applicable margin, or percentage per annum, equal to: (i) with respect to initial term loans, (a) for LIBOR rate loans, 6.00% per annum and (b) for base rate loans, 5.00% per annum; and (ii) with respect to revolving loans (a) for LIBOR rate loans and letter of credit fees, 6.00%, (b) for base rate loans, 5.00% and (c) for unused commitment fees, 0.50%.

As part of the debt refinancing on January 3, 2017, the Borrowers also entered into a Credit and Guaranty Agreement (the "GS Credit Agreement") with Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, L.P. ("Goldman Sachs" or "GS") for an $80.0 million term loan, the proceeds of which were used to refinance the amounts previously outstanding with Goldman Sachs.

The term loans under the Senior Credit Agreement and the GS Credit Agreement were issued at a discount of $3.7 million. The Company determined that the 2017 debt refinancing should be accounted for as a debt extinguishment. The Company recorded an extinguishment loss of approximately $1.8 million, which consisted primarily of lender fees incurred in connection with the refinancing and the write-off of unamortized deferred financing fees and original issue discount. The extinguishment loss is reported within "Other, net" on the Company's consolidated statements of operations.

First Amendment in November 2017

The Senior Credit Agreement and the GS Credit Agreement were amended on November 14, 2017 (the "First Amendment"). The First Amendment allows for loan advances of less than $5.0 million and for certain liens on cash securing the Company's funding obligations under a new product involving a virtual credit card program. There were no other substantive changes in the First Amendment.

Second Amendment in January 2018

On January 11, 2018, the Borrowers modified the Senior Credit Agreement and the GS Credit Agreement (collectively, the "Second Amendment"). The Second Amendment increased the Senior Credit Agreement term loans by $67.5 million and lowered the applicable margin under the Senior Credit Agreement. The $67.5 million in additional borrowings under the Senior Credit

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Agreement was issued at a discount of $0.4 million. As a result of the Second Amendment, borrowings under the Senior Credit Agreement were subject to an applicable margin, or percentage per annum, equal to: (i) with respect to initial term loans, (a) for LIBOR rate loans, 5.00% per annum, and (b) for base rate loans, 4.00% per annum; and (ii) with respect to revolving loans (a) for LIBOR rate loans and letter of credit fees, 5.00%, (b) for base rate loans, 4.00%, and (c) for unused commitment fees, 0.50%.

The Company determined that the Second Amendment should be accounted for as a debt modification. Therefore, all previously deferred fees and costs continued to be amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method over the respective terms of the amended term. The Company incurred $0.8 million in issuance costs related to the Second Amendment, which were expensed as incurred and recorded as a component of Other, net in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2018. In connection with the new lenders to the Senior Credit Agreement as a result of the Second Amendment, the Company capitalized incremental deferred financing costs of $0.3 million and fees paid to lenders of $0.4 million. As a result of the Second Amendment, the Senior Credit Agreement had a maximum borrowing amount of $292.5 million, consisting of a $267.5 million Term Loan and a $25.0 million revolving credit facility.

Third Amendment in December 2018

On December 24, 2018, the Borrowers modified the Senior Credit Agreement and the GS Credit Agreement (collectively, the "Third Amendment"). Under the Third Amendment, (i) the term loan under the Senior Credit Agreement was increased in an aggregate principal amount of $60.0 million (issued at a discount of $0.3 million) and (ii) the term loan commitments under the Senior Credit Agreement were increased by $70.0 million on a delayed basis ($130.0 million increase in total). Until the additional $70.0 million is drawn, the Borrowers will pay a fee on the undrawn amounts at a rate of 2.50% per annum from the 31st day after the date of the Third Amendment to the 60th day and 5.00% per annum thereafter for so long as the amounts remain committed and undrawn. In addition, the Borrowers will be required to pay a fee of 0.50% of any of the additional $70.0 million that is drawn.  The existing applicable margins, or interest rates, in the Second Amendment did not change as a result of the Third Amendment.

The terms of the GS Credit Agreement were amended to allow for the increase in borrowings under the Senior Credit Agreement but otherwise the terms of the GS Credit Agreement were not substantively changed by the Third Amendment. The allowed borrowings amount under the GS Credit Agreement are $80.0 million and this was not changed by the Third Amendment.
The Company determined that the Third Amendment should be accounted for as a debt modification. Therefore, all previously deferred fees and costs continue to be amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method over the respective terms. The Company incurred approximately $1.3 million in issuance costs related to the Third Amendment, of which $1.2 million was expensed as a component of Other, net in the Company's consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2018 and approximately $0.1 million was recorded as deferred financing costs on the Company's consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018. As a result of the Third Amendment, the Senior Credit Agreement has a maximum borrowing amount of $422.5 million, consisting of a $327.5 million term loan, a $70.0 million undrawn term loan commitment, and a $25.0 million revolving credit facility.

Additional Information

The Senior Credit Agreement matures on January 3, 2023, with the exception of the revolving credit facility which expires on January 2, 2022. Any amounts outstanding under the revolving credit facility must be paid in full before the maturity date of January 2, 2022. There were no amounts outstanding under the revolving credit facility as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017. The Company recorded $0.2 million of interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2018 as a penalty for not drawing on the revolving credit facility. The GS Credit Agreement matures on July 3, 2023.

Under the Senior Credit Agreement, the Company is required to make quarterly principal payments of $0.8 million. Additionally, the Company may be obligated to make certain additional mandatory prepayments based on excess cash flow, as defined in the Senior Credit Agreement. No such prepayment was due for the year ended December 31, 2018. At December 31, 2017, the mandatory prepayment was $5.6 million, which was included in current portion of long-term debt. On April 30, 2018, the Company entered into a limited waiver and consent whereby the 2017 mandatory prepayment was waived. Accordingly, this $5.6 million at December 31, 2017 was not paid.


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Principal contractual maturities on long-term debt at December 31, 2018 are as follows:
(in thousands)  
Years Ended December 31, Maturities
2019 $3,293
2020 3,293
2021 3,293
2022 3,293
2023 399,510
  $412,682

For the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, the payment-in-kind (PIK) interest under the GS Credit Agreement added $4.9 million and $5.1 million, respectively, to the principal amount of the subordinated debt, which totaled $90.0 million and $85.1 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, the Company recorded interest expense, including amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discounts, of $29.9 million, $25.1 million, and $4.8 million, respectively.



Covenants

The Senior Credit Agreement and the GS Credit Agreement, as amended, contain representations and warranties, financial and collateral requirements, mandatory payment events, events of default, and affirmative and negative covenants, including without limitation, covenants that restrict among other things, the ability to create liens, pay dividends or distribute assets from the Company's subsidiaries to Priority Technology Holdings, Inc., merge or consolidate, dispose of assets, incur additional indebtedness, make certain investments or acquisitions, enter into certain transactions (including with affiliates), and to enter into certain leases. Substantially all of the borrowers' assets are pledged as collateral under the Senior Credit Agreement and GS Credit Agreement. The borrowers are also required to comply with certain restrictions on their Total Net Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Senior Credit Agreement and GS Credit Agreement). As of December 31, 2018, the Borrowers were in compliance with the covenants.

The Total Net Leverage Ratio covenant under the Senior Credit Facility requires a Total Net Leverage Ratio of no more than 6.50:1.00 as of December 31, 2018, 6.25:1.00 as of March 31, 2019, and further steps down in each subsequent quarter of 2019 to be no more than 5.25:1.00 as of December 31, 2019 and for each quarter thereafter. The Senior Credit Facility defines Total Net Leverage Ratio as the consolidated total debt of the Borrowers, less unrestricted cash subject to certain restrictions, divided by the Earnout Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure) of the Borrowers for the prior four quarters. As of December 31, 2018, the Borrowers' Total Net Leverage Ratio was 5.06:1.00.

Goldman Sachs Warrant ("GS warrant")

In connection with the prior GS Credit Agreement, Priority Holdings, LLC issued a warrant to GS to purchase 1.0% of Priority Holdings, LLC's outstanding Class A common units. As part of the 2017 debt amendment, the 1.0% warrant with GS was extinguished and Priority Holdings, LLC issued a new warrant to GS to purchase 1.8% of Priority Holding, LLC's outstanding Class A common units. As of December 31, 2017, the warrant had a fair value of $8.7 million and was presented as a warrant liability in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

On January 11, 2018, the 1.8% warrant was amended to provide GS with a warrant to purchase 2.2% of Priority Holdings, LLC's outstanding Class A common units. The change in the warrant percentage was the result of anti-dilution provisions in the warrant agreement, which were triggered by Priority Holdings, LLC's Class A common unit redemption that occurred during the first quarter of 2018. The warrant had a term of 7 years and an exercise price of $0. Since the obligation was based solely on the fact that the 2.2% interest in equity of Priority Holdings, LLC was fixed and known at inception as well as the fact that GS could exercise the warrant with a settlement in cash any time prior to the expiration date of December 31, 2023, the warrant was recorded as a liability in the Company's historical financial statements prior to redemption on July 25, 2018. On July 25, 2018, Priority Holdings, LLC and GS agreed to redeem the warrant in full in exchange for $12.7 million in cash.

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Deferred Financing Costs

Capitalized deferred financing costs related to the Company's credit facilities totaled of $4.0 million and $4.4 million at December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. Deferred financing costs are being amortized using the effective interest method over the remaining term of the respective debt and are recorded as a component of interest expense. Interest expense related to amortization of deferred financing costs was $0.8 million, $0.7 million, and $0.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. Deferred financing costs are included in long-term debt in the Company's consolidated balance sheets.



9.    INCOME TAXES

In connection with the Business Combination as disclosed in Note 1, Nature of Business and Accounting Policies, the partnership tax status was terminated on July 25, 2018. Under the former partnership status, Priority Holdings, LLC was a dual member limited liability company and as such its financial statements reflected no income tax provisions as a pass-through entity. As a result of the Business Combination, for income tax purposes Priority Holdings, LLC became a disregarded subsidiary of the Company, the successor entity to MI Acquisitions, Inc., whereby its operations became taxable. For all periods subsequent to the Business Combination, the income tax provision reflects the taxable status of the Company as a corporation. The initial net deferred tax asset from the Business Combination is the result of the difference between initial tax basis, generally substituted tax basis, and the reflective carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities for financial statement purposes. The net deferred tax asset as of July 25, 2018 was approximately $47.5 million, which was recorded and classified on the Company's consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2018 in accordance with ASU 2015-17 and as an adjustment to Additional Paid-In Capital in the Company's consolidated statement of changes in stockholders' equity (deficit) for the year ended December 31, 2018. In addition, the Company's consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 reflect unaudited pro-forma income tax disclosure amounts to illustrate the income tax effects had the Company been subject to federal and state income taxes for both full years.
Components of income tax (benefit) expense for the year ended December 31, 2018 was as follows:
(in thousands)December 31, 2018
U.S. current income tax expense 
    Federal$29
    State and local418
    Total current income tax expense447
  
U.S. deferred income tax (benefit) 
    Federal(1,901)
    State and local(305)
    Total deferred income tax (benefit)(2,206)
  
    Total income tax (benefit)$(1,759)


The Company's effective income tax rate was 10.5% for the year ended December 31, 2018. This rate differs from the statutory federal rate of 21% primarily due to the partnership status of Priority Holdings, LLC. for periods prior to July 25, 2018. The following table provides a reconciliation of the income tax benefit at the statutory U.S. federal tax rate to actual income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2018:

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(in thousands)December 31, 2018
U.S. federal statutory (benefit)$(3,528)
Earnings as dual-member LLC1,643
State and local income taxes, net89
Excess tax benefits pursuant to ASU 2016-09140
Valuation allowance changes(66)
Nondeductible items86
Tax credits(123)
Income tax (benefit)$(1,759)



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Deferred income taxes reflect the expected impactfuture tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial statement and tax basiscarrying amount of the Company's assets and liabilities, tax credits and for the expected futuretheir respective tax benefit to be derived from taxbases, and loss and tax credit carry forwards. The significant components of deferred income taxes were as follows:
(in thousands)December 31, 2018
  
Deferred Tax Assets: 
Accruals and reserves$861
Intangible assets53,383
Net operating loss carryforwards796
Interest limitation carryforwards2,638
Other1,098
Gross deferred tax assets58,776
     Valuation allowance(842)
     Total deferred tax assets57,934
  
Deferred Tax Liabilities: 
Prepaid assets(632)
Investments in partnership(3,896)
Property and equipment(3,714)
Total deferred tax liabilities(8,242)
  
Net deferred tax assets$49,692



In accordance with the provisions of ASC 740, additionally requiresIncome Taxes ("ASC 740"), the Company will provide a valuation allowance to be establishedagainst deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that some portion or all or a portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

ASC 740 also clarifies The assessment considers all available positive and negative evidence and is measured quarterly. As of December 31, 2018, the accounting for uncertainty inCompany has recorded a valuation allowance of approximately $0.8 million against certain deferred income taxestax assets related to Business Combination costs that the Company believes are not more likely than not to be realized.

The Company recognizes the tax effects of uncertain tax positions only if such positions are more likely than not to be sustained based solely upon its technical merits at the reporting date. The Company refers to the difference between the tax benefit recognized in an enterprise’sits financial statements and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statement recognition and measurementthe tax benefit claimed in the income tax return as an "unrecognized tax benefit." As of aDecember 31, 2018, the net amount of our unrecognized tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. ASC 740 also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition. was not material.

The Company is requiredsubject to fileU.S. federal income tax returnsand income tax in multiple state jurisdictions. Tax periods for 2015 and all years thereafter remain open to examination by the United States (federal)federal and in various state taxing jurisdictions and local jurisdictions. Based on the Company’s evaluation, it has been concluded that there are no significant uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Company’s financial statements. Sinceperiods for 2014 and all years thereafter remain open for certain state taxing jurisdictions to which the Company was incorporatedis subject.

A change in MI Acquisitions' beneficial ownership occurred concurrent with the Business Combination and Recapitalization on April 23, 2015,July 25, 2018, which likely caused a stock ownership change for purposes of Section 382 of the evaluation was performed forInternal Revenue Code. However, this ownership change should have no material impact to the 2015, 2016 and 2017 tax year. The Company believes that its income tax positions and deductions would be sustained on audit and does not anticipate any adjustments that would result in a material change to its financial position.

The Company’s policy for recording interest and penalties associated with audits is to record such expense as a component of income tax expense. There were no amounts accrued for penalties or interestnet operating losses ("NOLs") available as of or during the period from January 1, 2017 throughthis date. At December 31, 2017. Management is currently unaware2018, the Company had federal NOL carryforwards of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviationsapproximately $2.8 million which can offset future taxable income as follows:  1) approximately $2.5 million can offset 80% of future taxable income for an indefinite period of time and 2) approximately $0.2 million can offset 100% of future taxable income through expiration dates ranging from its position.

2036 to 2038. Also at December 31, 2018, the Company had state NOL carryforwards of approximately $3.8 million with expirations dates ranging from 2019 to 2024.


On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“("Tax Act”Act") was signed into law. Under ASC 740, the enactmentenacted. The Tax Act included a number of changes to existing U.S. tax laws. The most notable provisions of the Tax Act also requires companies, to recognizethat impacted the effectsCompany included a reduction of changes inthe U.S. corporate

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income tax laws and rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities and the retroactive effects of changes in tax laws in the period in which the new legislation is enacted. There is no further change to its assertion on maintaining a full valuation allowance against its U.S. deferred tax assets. The Company's gross deferred tax assets will be revaluedrate from 35% to 21% with a corresponding offset toand the valuation allowance.limitations on interest deductibility, both effective January 1, 2018, as well as immediate expensing for certain assets placed into service after September 27, 2017. The Company will continue to analyzedid not experience any material impacts of the provisions of the Tax Act to assessfor the full effects on its financial results, including disclosures, for our fiscal year endingended December 31, 2018.

2018 other than the impact of the reduction of the U.S. corporate rate from 35% to 21% and the limitation on interest deductibility. As of December 31, 2018, the Company has completed the accounting for the income tax effects of all elements of the Tax Act in accordance with the SEC's Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118.

Related Parties

The Company follows subtopic ASC 850-10was affected by the new interest deductibility rule under the Tax Act. This rule disallows interest expense to the extent it exceeds 30% of adjusted taxable income, as defined. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company's interest deduction was limited to $11.7 million. The excess interest not deducted for the identificationyear ended December 31, 2018 can be carried forward indefinitely for use in future years.



10.    COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Leases

The Company has various operating leases for office space and equipment. These leases range in terms from one to 16 years. Most of relatedthese leases are renewable at expiration, subject to terms acceptable to the lessors and the Company.

Future minimum lease commitments under non-cancelable operating leases with initial or remaining terms in excess of one year are as follows:

  (in thousands)
Due In Amount Due
2019 $1,637
2020 1,353
2021 1,234
2022 1,258
2023 1,315
Thereafter 3,831
Total $10,628



Total rent expenses for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016 was $1.9 million, $1.5 million, and $1.3 million, respectively, which is included in SG&A expenses in the Company's consolidated statements of operations.

Minimum Annual Commitments with Third-Party Processors

The Company has multi-year agreements with third parties to provide certain payment processing services to the Company. The Company pays processing fees under these agreements that are based on the volume and disclosuredollar amounts of related partyprocessed payments transactions.

Pursuant to Section 850-10-20, the related parties include: (a.) affiliates Some of these agreements have minimum annual requirements for processing volumes. As of December 31, 2018, the Company (“Affiliate” means, with respectis committed to any specified Person, any other Personpay minimum processing fees under these agreements of approximately $21.0 million over the next four years.

Legal Proceedings

During 2017, the Company settled a legal matter that directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with such Person, as such terms are usedresulted in and construed under Rule 405 undera loss to the Securities Act); (b.) entities forCompany of $2.2 million, which investmentswas recorded within SG&A expenses in their equity securities would be required, absent the electionCompany's consolidated statement of the fair value option under the Fair Value Option Subsection of Section 825–10–15, to be accounted for by the equity method by the investing entity; (c.) trustsoperations for the benefityear ended December 31, 2017.


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During the trusteeshipfourth quarter of management; (d.) principal owners of the Company; (e.) management of the Company; (f.) other parties with which2018, the Company may deal if one party controls or can significantly influencesettled a legal matter for $1.6 million, which is included in SG&A expenses in the management or operating policiesCompany's consolidated statement of operations for the other to an extent that one of the transacting parties might be prevented from fully pursuing its own separate interests;year ended December 31, 2018.

The Company is involved in certain legal proceedings and (g.) other parties that can significantly influence the management or operating policies of the transacting parties or that have an ownership interest in one of the transacting parties and can significantly influence the other to an extent that one or more of the transacting parties might be prevented from fully pursuing its own separate interests.

The financial statements shall include disclosures of material related party transactions, other than compensation arrangements, expense allowances, and other similar itemsclaims which arise in the ordinary course of business. However, disclosureIn the opinion of transactions that are eliminatedthe Company and based on consultations with inside and outside counsel, the results of any of these matters, individually and in the preparation of consolidated or combined financial statements isaggregate, are not required in those statements. The disclosures shall include: (a.) the nature of the relationship(s) involved; (b.) a description of the transactions, including transactionsexpected to which no amounts or nominal amounts were ascribed, for each of the periods for which income statements are presented, and such other information deemed necessary to an understanding of the effects of the transactions on the financial statements; (c.) the dollar amounts of transactions for each of the periods for which income statements are presented and the effects of any change in the method of establishing the terms from that used in the preceding period; and (d.) amounts due from or to related parties as of the date of each balance sheet presented and, if not otherwise apparent, the terms and manner of settlement. 

Settlement Income

During the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company received $427,701 from an entity with which the Company was negotiating a business combination pursuant to a Letter of Intent originally executed in February 2017. During quarter ended June 30, 2017, the Letter of Intent expired.  The amount received was approximately the amount of the expenses the Company incurred in pursuing that business combination transaction.

Subsequent Events

The Company’s management reviewed all material events that have occurred after the balance sheet date through the date which these financial statements were issued.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanyingCompany's results of operations, financial statements.

Note 3 — Initial Public Offering

On September 19, 2016,condition, or cash flows. As more information becomes available, and the Company sold 5,000,000 Units atdetermines that an unfavorable outcome is probable on a price of $10.00 per Unit generating gross proceeds of $50,000,000claim and net proceeds of $47,981,581 after deducting $2,018,419 of transaction costs. In addition, the Company granted the Underwriter the option to purchase an additional 750,000 Units solely to cover over allotments, if any, pursuant to a 45-day over-allotment option granted to the Underwriter. The underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in part and, on October 14, 2016, the underwriters purchased 310,109 Over-allotment Option Units, which were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $3,101,090 and net proceeds of $3,008,057 after deducting $93,033 of transaction costs.


Each Unit consists of one share of common stock in the Company, and one Warrant (“Warrant”). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share commencing on the later of 30 days after the Company’s completion of its initial Business Combination and expiring five years from the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination. The Company may redeem the Warrants at a price of $0.01 per Warrant upon 30 days’ notice, only in the event that the last sale priceamount of the common shares is at least $16.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period (“30-Day Trading Period”) ending on the third day prior to the date on which notice of redemption is given, provided there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the common shares underlying such Warrants during the 30 day redemption period. If the Company redeems the Warrants as described above, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In accordance with the warrant agreement relating to the Warrants to be sold and issued in the Offering the Company is only required to use its best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of the registration statement covering the Warrants. If a registration statement is not effective within 90 days following the consummation of a Business Combination, Warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise Warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to an available exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. In the event that a registration statement is not effective at the time of exercise or no exemption is available for a cashless exercise, the holder of such Warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such Warrant for cash and in no event (whether in the case of a registration statement being effective or otherwise) will the Company be required to net cash settle the Warrant exercise. If an initial Business Combination is not consummated, the Warrants will expire and will be worthless.

Note 4 — Private Units

Simultaneously with the Offering, the Initial Shareholders of the Company purchased an aggregate of 421,107 Private Units at $10.00 per Private Unit (for an aggregate purchase price of $4,211,070) from the Company. All of the proceeds received from these purchases were placed in the Trust Account.

The Private Units are identical to the Units sold in the Offering except the Warrants included in the Private Units will be non-redeemable and may be exercised on a cashless basis, in each case so long as they continue to be held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. Additionally, the holders of the Private Units have agreed (A) to vote the shares underlying their Private Units in favor of any proposed Business Combination, (B) not to propose, or vote in favor of, an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation with respect to the Company’s pre-Business Combination activities prior to the consummation of such a Business Combination unless the Company provides dissenting Public Stockholders with the opportunity to convert their public shares in connection with any such vote, (C) not to convert any shares underlying the Private Units into the right to receive cash from the Trust Account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an initial Business Combination or a vote to amend the provisions of the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-Business Combination activity or sell their shares to the Company in connection with a tender offer the Company engages in and (D) that the shares underlying the Private Units shall not participate in any liquidating distribution upon winding up if a Business Combination is not consummated. The purchasers have also agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Private Units or underlying securities (except to the same permitted transferees as the insider shares and provided the transferees agree to the same terms and restrictions as the permitted transferees of the insider shares must agree to, each as described above) until the completion of an initial Business Combination.

Note 5 — Notes Payable

On July 1, 2015, the Company issued a $55,000 principal amount unsecured promissory note. The note was non-interest bearing and was payable on the consummation of the Offering. On September 26, 2016, the Company amended the agreement with lender and outstanding balance was amended to $27,500. The note is now due upon completion of an initial business combination. Due to the short-term nature of the note, the fair value of the note approximates the carrying amount.


Note 6 — Commitments

Underwriting Agreement

The Company entered into an agreement with the underwriters of the Offering (“Underwriting Agreement”). The Underwriting Agreement required the Company to pay an underwriting discount of 3.0% of the gross proceeds of the Offering as an underwriting discount and incur a deferred underwriting discount of up to 2.0% for an aggregate underwriting discount of 5.0% of the gross proceeds of the Offering, in each case as set forth in the Underwriting Agreement. The Company will pay the deferred underwriting fee at the closing of the Business Combination. The underwriters also purchased an interest in M SPAC Holdings I LLC, an entity controlled by the Company’s insiders, which entitles it to a beneficial interest in 63,184 insider shares.

The Underwriting Agreement granted Chardan Capital Markets, LLC a right of first refusal, for a period of thirty-six months from the closing of the Offering, to act as lead investment banker, lead book-runner, and/or lead placement agent with 33% of the economics or 25% if three investment banks are involved in the transaction, for any public or private equity and debt offerings during such period.

The Underwriting Agreement will provideprobable loss that the Company will pay Chardan Capital Markets, LLC a warrant solicitation fee of five percent (5%) of the exercise price of each public warrant exercised during the period commencingincur on the later of 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering or 30 days after the completion of the Company’s initial business combination including warrants acquired by security holders in the open market. The warrant solicitation fee will be payable in cash. Therethat claim is no limitation on the maximum warrant solicitation fee payable to Chardan Capital Markets, LLC except to the extent it is limited by the number of warrants outstanding.

Registration Rights

The Initial Stockholders are entitled to registration rights with respect to their initial shares and the purchasers of the Private Units will be entitled to registration rights with respect to the Private Units (and underlying securities), pursuant to an agreement signed on September 13, 2016. The holders of the majority of the initial shares are entitled to demand thatreasonably estimable, the Company register these shares at any time commencing three months prior towill record an accrued expense for the first anniversary of the consummation of a Business Combination. The holders of the Private Units (or underlying securities) are entitled to demand thatclaim in question. If and when the Company register these securities at any time afterrecords such an accrual, it could be material and could adversely impact the Company consummatesCompany's results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.


Merchant Reserves

See Note 3, Settlement Assets and Obligations, for information about merchant reserves.



11.    RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS


Management Services Agreement

During the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, Priority Holdings, LLC had a Business Combination. In addition,management services agreement with PSD Partners LP, which is owned by Mr. Thomas Priore, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights on registration statements filed after the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination.

Administrative Service Fee

Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. The Company commencing on September 13, 2016, has agreed to pay an affiliateincurred total expenses of $1.1 million for the Company’s executive officers a monthly feeyear ended December 31, 2018 and $0.8 million for each of $10,000 for general and administrative services due on the first of each month. During the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 related to management service fees, annual bonus payout, and occupancy fees, which are recorded in SG&A expenses in the Company's consolidated statements of operations.


Call Right

The Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman was given the right to require any of the founders of MI Acquisitions to sell all or a portion of their Company securities at a call-right purchase price, payable in cash. The call right purchase price for common stock will be based on the greater of: 1) $10.30; 2) a preceding volume-weighted average closing price (as defined in the governing document); or 3) a subsequent volume-weighted average closing price (as defined in the governing document). The call right purchase price for warrants will be determined by the greater of: 1) a preceding volume-weighted average closing price (as defined in the governing document) of the called security or 2) a subsequent volume-weighted average closing price of the called security. For the Company, incurred administrative feesthe call right does not constitute a financial instrument or derivative under GAAP since it does not represent an asset or obligation of $120,000the Company, however the Company discloses it as a related party matter.


12.    STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)

As disclosed in Note 1, Nature of Business and $35,667, respectively.

Note 7 — Stockholder’s Equity

Accounting Policies, on July 25, 2018 the Company executed the Business Combination which was accounted for as a "reverse merger" between Priority Holdings, LLC and MI Acquisitions, resulting in the Recapitalization of the Company's equity. The combined entity was renamed Priority Technology Holdings, Inc.

Common and Preferred Stock


For periods prior to July 25, 2018, equity has been retroactively restated to reflect the number of shares received as a result of the Recapitalization.

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The equity structure of the Company was as follows on December 31, 2018 and 2017:
(in thousands) December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017
  Authorized Issued Authorized Issued
Common stock, par value $0.001 1,000,000
 67,038
 1,000,000
 73,110
Preferred stock, par value $0.001 100,000
 
 
 


In connection with the Business Combination and Recapitalization, the following occurred:

In exchange for the 4.6 million common units of Priority Holdings, LLC, 60.1 million shares of common stock were issued in a private placement that resulted in the Company receiving approximately $49.4 million. The 60.1 million shares exclude 0.5 million shares issued as partial consideration in two business acquisitions (see Note 2, Business Combinations) and includes 3.0 million shares issued in connection with the 2014 Management Incentive Plan (see Note 13, Equity-Based Compensation).
Approximately 4.9 million shares of common stock were deemed to have been issued through share conversion in exchange for the publicly-traded shares of MI Acquisitions that originated from MI Acquisitions' 2016 IPO.
$2.1 million was paid to MI Acquisitions' founding shareholders (the "MI Founders") in exchange for 421,107 units and 453,210 shares of common stock held by the MI Founders. Each unit consisted of one share and one warrant of MI Acquisitions.
The MI Founders forfeited 174,863 shares of their common stock.

At December 31, 2018, the Company had 67,038,304 shares of common stock outstanding, of which: 1) 60,071,200 shares were issued in the Recapitalization through the private placement; 2) 874,317 shares were transferred to the sellers of Priority Holdings, LLC that were purchased from the MI Founders; 3) 4,918,138 shares were issued in MI Acquisitions' 2016 IPO; 4) 699,454 shares were issued to the MI Founders; and 5) 475,195 shares were issued as partial consideration for two business acquisitions. Certain holders of common stock from the private placement may be subject to holding period restrictions under applicable securities laws.

Except as otherwise required by law or as otherwise provided in any certificate of designation for any series of preferred stock, the holders of the Company's common stock possess all voting power for the election of members of the Company's board of directors and all other matters requiring stockholder action and will at all times vote together as one class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company's stockholders. Holders of the Company's common stock are entitled to one vote per share on matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of the Company's common stock will be entitled to receive such dividends and other distributions, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the Company's board of directors in its discretion. Since the Business Combination and Recapitalization, the Company has neither declared nor paid dividends. The holders of the Company's common stock have no conversion, preemptive or other subscription rights and there is no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to the common stock.

The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000100,000,000 shares of preferred shares with a par value of $0.001 per sharestock with such designation,designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors.

As of December 31, 2017, there are no2018, the Company has not issued any shares of preferred shares issued or outstanding.

stock.

Earn-Out Consideration

Common Stock

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation was amended in connection with the Offering


Subsequent to reduce the Company’s authorizedJuly 25, 2018, an additional 9.8 million shares of common stock from 50,000,000 to 30,000,000.

The Company is authorized to issue 30,000,000 shares of common stock with a par value of $0.001 per share.

On April 23, 2015, 1,437,500 shares of the Company’s common stock were sold to the Initial Stockholders at a price of approximately $0.02 per share for an aggregate of $25,000. This number includes an aggregate of up to 187,500 shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters. All of these shares will be placed in escrow until (1) with respect to 50% of the shares, the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of an initial Business Combination and the date on which the closing price of the Company’s common stock equals or exceeds $12.50 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing after the Company’s initial business combination and (2) with respect to the remaining 50% of the insider shares, six months after the date of the consummation of an initial Business Combination, or earlier, in either case, if, subsequent to an initial Business Combination, the Company consummates a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property. On November 11, 2016, 109,973 Founders’ shares were forfeited and cancelled.

As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, there were 2,352,922 and 2,310,710 common shares issued and outstanding, which excludes 4,705,821 and 4,748,033 shares subject to possible conversion, respectively. 

The Company’s insiders have agreed (A) to vote their insider shares, private shares and any public shares acquired in or after the Offering in favor of any proposed Business Combination, (B) not to propose, or vote in favor of, an amendment to the Company’s certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of its obligation to redeem 100% of its public shares if it does not complete its initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Offering (or 21 months, as applicable), unless the Company provides its public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, (C) not to convert any shares (including the insider shares and private shares) into the right to receive cash from the Trust Account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve the Company’s proposed initial Business Combination (or sell any shares they hold to the Company in a tender offer in connection with a proposed initial Business Combination) or a vote to amend the provisions of the Company’s certificate of incorporation relating to the substance or timing of its obligation to redeem 100% of the Company’s public shares if it does not complete its initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Offering (or 21 months, as applicable) and (D) that the insider shares and private shares shall not be entitled to be redeemed for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the Trust Account if a Business Combination is not consummated.  

Purchase Option

The Company sold to the underwriters, for $100, a unit purchase option to purchase up to a total of 300,000 units exercisable at $12.00 per unit (or an aggregate exercise price of $3,600,000) commencing on the later of the consummation of a Business Combination and six months from September 13, 2016. The unit purchase option expires five years from September 13, 2016. The units issuable upon exercise of this option are identical to the Units being offered in the Offering. The Company has agreed to grant to the holders of the unit purchase option, demand and “piggy back” registration rights for periods of five and seven years, respectively, from September 13, 2016, including securities directly and indirectly issuable upon exercise of the unit purchase option. 


The Company accounts for the fair value of the unit purchase option, inclusive of the receipt of a $100 cash payment, as an expense of the Offering resulting in a charge directly to stockholders’ equity. The Company estimates that the fair value of this unit purchase option was approximately $2,695,000 (or $8.98 per unit) using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The fair value of the unit purchase option to be granted to the placement agent is estimated as of the date of grant using the following assumptions: (1) expected volatility of 149%, (2) risk-free interest rate of 1.22% and (3) expected life of five years. The unit purchase option may be exercised for cash or on a “cashless” basis, at the holder’s option (except in the case of a forced cashless exercise upon the Company’s redemption of the Warrants, as described in Note 3), such that the holder may use the appreciated value of the unit purchase option (the difference between the exercise prices of the unit purchase option and the underlying Warrants and the market price of the Units and underlying common stock) to exercise the unit purchase option without the payment of any cash. The Company will have no obligation to net cash settle the exercise of the unit purchase option or the Warrants underlying the unit purchase option. The holder of the unit purchase option will not be entitled to exercise the unit purchase option or the Warrants underlying the unit purchase option unless a registration statement covering the securities underlying the unit purchase option is effective or an exemption from registration is available. If the holder is unable to exercise the unit purchase option or underlying Warrants, the unit purchase option or Warrants, as applicable, will expire worthless. 

Note 8 — Income Tax

The Company’s deferred tax assets are as follows at December 31, 2017 and 2016:

  December 31, 2017  December 31, 2016 
Deferred tax asset        
Net operating loss carryforward $51,046   50,339 
Valuation Allowance  (51,046)  (50,339)
Deferred tax asset, net of allowance $-   - 

The income tax provision (benefit) consists of the following at December 31, 2017 and 2016:

  Year Ended
December 31, 2017
  Year Ended
December 31, 2016
 
Federal        
Current $-  $- 
Deferred  (26,219)  (36,718)
State and Local        
Current      - 
Deferred  (3,296)  (9,874)
Change in valuation allowance  29,515   46,592 
Income tax provision (benefit) $-  $- 

The Company has a net operating loss (“NOL”) of approximately $243,100. These NOLs, if not utilized, expire beginning in 2035. The ultimate realization of the net operating loss is dependent upon future taxable income, if any, of the Company and may be limited in any one period by applicable tax rules. Although management believes that the Company will have sufficient future taxable income to absorb the net loss carryovers before the expiration of the carryover period, there may be circumstances beyond the Company’s control that limit such utilization. Accordingly, management has determined that full valuation allowances of the deferred tax asset are appropriate as of December 31, 2017.

Internal Revenue Code Section 382 imposes limitations on the use of NOL carryovers when the stock ownership of one or more 5% shareholders (shareholders owning more than 5% of the Company’s outstanding capital stock) has increased on a cumulative basis more than 50 percentage points within a period of two years. Management cannot control the ownership changes occurring as a result of public trading of the Company’s Common Stock. Accordingly, there is a risk of an ownership change beyond the control of the Company that could trigger a limitation of the use of the loss carryover.

The deferred tax asset reflected in the tables above resulted from applying an effective combined federal and state tax rate of 23.6% to the net operating losses from fiscal 2015. Effective tax rates differ from statutory rates.


A reconciliation of the statutory tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rates as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 is as follows:

  Year Ended 
December 31, 2017
  Year Ended 
December 31, 2016
 
Statutory federal income tax rate  -21.0%  -34.0%
State taxes, net of federal tax benefit  -2.6%  -8.6%
Change in valuation allowance  23.6%  42.6%
Income tax provision (benefit)  0.0%  0.0%

Note 9 — Subsequent Events

The Company follows the guidance in Section 855-10-50 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification for the disclosure of subsequent events. The Company evaluated subsequent events through the date when the financial statements were issued. 

On February 26, 2018, the Company entered into a Contribution Agreement dated February 26, 2018 with Priority Investment Holdings, LLC and Priority Incentive Equity Holdings, LLC to acquire all of the outstanding equity interests of Priority Holdings, LLC, a leading provider of B2C and B2B payment processing solutions. On March 26, 2018, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated Contribution Agreement with the Interest Holders (as amended and restated, the “Purchase Agreement”).

Upon the closing of the transactions contemplated in the Purchase Agreement, M I will acquire (the “Acquisition”) 100% of the issued and outstanding equity securities of Priority, as well as assume certain of Priority’s debt, in exchange for a number of shares of our common stock equal to Priority’s equity value (which the Purchase Agreement defines as of the signing date as $947,835,000 enterprise value of Priority less the net debt of Priority at closing, subject to certain adjustments as described below) divided by $10.30. If Priority acquires any businesses prior to the closing of the Acquisition that increase Priority’s Adjusted EBITDA in aggregate by more than $9 million, Priority’s enterprise value will increase by multiplying the incremental increase in Adjusted EBITDA of such acquisition by 12.5, provided that estimated synergies related to any such acquisitions included in the Adjusted EBITDA calculation of Priority shall be capped at 20% of the Adjusted EBITDA of the applicable acquisition with respect to the 12-month period immediately preceding the consummation of such acquisition. In connection with the Acquisition, we will change our name to Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. In addition, any cash that Priority spends to acquire any technology assets, up to $5,000,000, to purchase securities from the Founders pursuant to the Promote Agreement described below or to extend the time we have to complete a business combination, such amounts will be included in the calculation of net debt as cash and cash equivalents(which would reduce the amount of net debt, effectively increasing the assumed enterprise value of Priority and increasing the number of shares that would be issued to the Interest Holders).

An additional 9.8 million shares may be issued as earn outearn-out consideration to the Interest Holders andsellers of Priority, or at their election, to members of Priority's management or other service providers, pursuant to the Company's Earn-Out Incentive Plan. For the first earn-out of the post-Acquisition company—up to 4.9 million shares forof common stock, Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA (as defined in the first earn out and 4.9 million shares forEarn-Out Incentive Plan) of the second earn out. For the first earn out, Adjusted EBITDACompany must be no less than $82.5 million for the year endingended December 31, 2018 and the Company's stock price must have traded in excess of $12.00 for any 20 trading days within any consecutive 30-day trading period at any time on or before December 31, 2019. For the second earn out,earn-out of up to 4.9 million shares of common stock, Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of the Company must be no less than $91.5 million for the year ending December 31, 2019 and the Company's stock price must have traded in excess of $14.00 for any 20 trading days within any consecutive 30-day trading period at any time between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020. In the event that the first earn outearn-out targets are not met, the


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entire 9.8 million shares may be issued if the second earn outearn-out targets are met.

Concurrently with As of December 31, 2018, none of the Purchase Agreement, our founding stockholders (the “Founders”) and Priority entered into a purchase agreement (the “Promote Agreement”) pursuant9.8 million shares have been earned. Any shares issued to which Priority agreedmanagement or directors under compensation plans are subject to the provisions of ASC 718, Stock Compensation. See Note 13, Equity-Based Compensation Plans.

Warrants issued by MI Acquisitions

Prior to July 25, 2018, MI Acquisitions issued warrants that allow the holders to purchase 421,107up to 5,731,216 shares of the units issuedCompany's common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to certain adjustments (5,310,109 of these warrants are designated as "public warrants" and 421,107 are designated as "private warrants"). The warrants may only be exercised during the period commencing on the later to occur of (i) 30 days following the completion of the MI Acquisitions' initial business combination and (ii) 12 months following the closing of MI Acquisitions' IPO, and terminating on the earlier to occur of (i) five years following the date the warrants became exercisable, and (ii) the date fixed for redemption upon the Company electing to redeem the warrants. The Company has the option to redeem all (and not less than all) of the outstanding public warrants at any time from and after the warrants become exercisable, and prior to their expiration, at the price of $0.01 per warrant; provided that the last sales price of the Company's common stock has been equal to or greater than $16.00 per share (subject to adjustment for splits, dividends, recapitalizations and other similar events), for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period ending on the third business day prior to the Foundersdate on which notice of redemption is given and provided further that (i) there is a current registration statement in a private placement immediately prioreffect with respect to M I’s initial public offering, and 453,210the shares of common stock underlying the public warrants for each day in the 30-day trading period and continuing each day thereafter until the redemption date or (ii) the cashless exercise is exempt from the registration requirements under the Securities Act of M I issued1933, as amended. The warrants are classified as equity, and therefore, subsequent changes in the fair value of the warrants will not be recognized in earnings.
The outstanding purchase option that was sold to the Foundersunderwriters (in addition to the warrants discussed above) for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2.1 million. $100, allows the holders to purchase up to a total of 300,000 units (each consisting of a share of common stock and a public warrant) exercisable at $12.00 per unit commencing on the later of the consummation of a business combination and six months from September 13, 2016 (the "Purchase Option"). The Purchase Option expires five years from September 13, 2016. The units issuable upon exercise of the Purchase Option are identical to the units offered in MI Acquisitions' IPO. The Purchase Option is classified as equity in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.
In addition,August 2018, the Company was informed by Nasdaq that it intended to delist the Company's outstanding warrants and units due to an insufficient number of round lot holders for the public warrants. The Company subsequently filed a Registration Statement on Form S-4 with the SEC for the purpose of offering holders of the Company's outstanding 5,310,109 public warrants and 421,107 private warrants the opportunity to exchange each warrant for 0.192 shares of the Company's common stock. The exchange offer expired in February 2019 resulting in a total of 2,174,746 warrants being tendered in exchange for 417,538 shares of the Company's common stock plus cash in lieu of fractional shares. Nasdaq proceeded to delist the remaining outstanding warrants and units, which were comprised of one share of common stock and one warrant, from The Nasdaq Global Market at the open of business on March 6, 2019. The delisting of the remaining outstanding warrants and units had no impact on the Company's financial statements.
Business Combination and Recapitalization Costs
In connection with the Business Combination and Recapitalization, the Company incurred $13.3 million in fees and expenses, of which $9.7 million of recapitalization costs were charged to Additional Paid in Capital since these costs were less than the cash received in conjunction with the Recapitalization costs and were directly related to the issuance of equity for the Recapitalization. These costs are presented as Recapitalization costs in the accompanying consolidated statements of changes in stockholders' equity (deficit). The remaining $3.6 million of expenses were related to the Business Combination and are presented in SG&A expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.
Authorization to Repurchase Shares of Common Stock

On December 19, 2018, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program. Under the program, the Company may purchase up to $5.0 million of its outstanding common stock from time to time through June 30, 2019. As of March 22, 2019, the Company has not repurchased any of its common stock pursuant to the Promote Agreement,repurchase plan.



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Equity Events for Priority Holdings, LLC that Occurred Prior to July 25, 2018 (date of Business Combination)

On January 3, 2017, Priority used the Founders will forfeit 174,863 founder’s shares atproceeds from the closing2017 debt refinancing (see Note 8, Long-Term Debt and Warrant Liability) to redeem 4,681,590 Class A common units for $200.0 million (the "Redemption"). Concurrent with the Redemption, (i) Priority and its members entered into an amended and restated operating agreement that eliminated the Class A preferred units and the Class C common units and (ii) the Plan of Merger, dated as of May 21, 2014 between Priority Payment Systems Holdings, LLC and Pipeline Cynergy Holdings, LLC was terminated which resulted in the Acquisition, which shares may be reissuedcancellation of related contingent consideration due to the Founders if oneholders of the earn outs described above is achieved.

In addition, the Founders and Thomas C. Priore, the Executive Chairman ofClass A preferred units.


On January 31, 2017, Priority (“TCP”), entered into a letterredemption agreement (the “Letter Agreement”with one of its minority unit holders to redeem their former Class A common membership units for a total redemption price of $12.2 million. Priority accounted for the Common Unit Repurchase Obligation as a liability because it was required to redeem these former Class A common units for cash. The liability was recorded at fair value at the date of the redemption agreement, which was equal to the redemption value. Under this agreement, Priority redeemed $3.0 million of 69,450 former Class A common units in April 2017. As of December 31, 2017, the Common Unit Repurchase Obligation had a redemption value of $9.2 million.

The remaining $9.2 million was redeemed through the January 17, 2018 redemption of 115,751 former Class A common units for $5.0 million and the February 23, 2018 redemption of 96,999 former Class A common units for $4.2 million.

In addition to the aforementioned redemptions, Priority redeemed 295,834 former Class A common units for $25.9 million on January 17, 2018 and 445,410 former Class A common units for $39.0 million on January 19, 2018. As a result of the aforementioned redemptions, Priority was 100% owned by Priority Investment Holdings, LLC and Priority Incentive Equity Holdings, LLC until July 25, 2018.

The former Class A common units redeemed in January and February 2018 were then canceled by Priority. The redemption transactions and the amended and restated operating agreement resulted in one unit holder gaining control and becoming the majority unit holder of the Company. These changes in the equity structure of Priority were recorded as capital transactions.

At December 31, 2017, Priority had 5,249 voting former Class A common stock authorized and issued, and 335 and 302 non-voting former Class B common stock authorized and issued, respectively.

Prior to the Business Combination, Priority recorded distributions of $7.1 million, $3.4 million, and $10.0 million to its members during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.


13.    EQUITY-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

The Company has three active equity-based compensation plans: 2018 Equity Incentive Plan; Earnout Incentive Plan; and 2014 Management Incentive Plan. Total equity-based compensation expense was approximately $1.6 million, $1.0 million, and $2.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively, which is included in Salary and employee benefits in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. Beginning in 2018, the Company elected to recognize the effects of forfeitures on compensation expense as the forfeitures occur for all plans.


2018 Equity Incentive Plan

The 2018 Equity Incentive Plan ("2018 Plan") pursuantwas approved by the Company's board of directors and shareholders in July 2018. The 2018 Plan provides for the issuance of up to which6,703,830 of the FoundersCompany's common stock. Under the 2018 Plan, the Company's compensation committee may grant awards of non-qualified stock options, incentive stock options, stock appreciation rights ("SARs"), restricted stock awards ("RSU"), restricted stock units, other stock-based awards (including cash bonus awards) or any combination of the foregoing. Any current or prospective employees, officers, consultants or advisors that the Company's compensation committee (or, in the case of non-employee directors, the Company's board of directors) selects, from time to time, are eligible to receive awards under the 2018 Plan. If any award granted TCP (i)under the right to purchase2018 Plan expires, terminates, or is canceled or forfeited without being settled or exercised, or if a SAR is settled in cash or otherwise without the Founders’ remainingissuance of shares, shares of ourthe Company's common stock at the prevailing market price subject to certain conditions including a floorsuch award will again be made available for future grants. In addition, if any shares are

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surrendered or tendered to pay the exercise price of first refusal onan award or to satisfy withholding taxes owed, such shares will again be available for grants under the shares.

On March 13,2018 Plan.


A summary of the cumulative activity for the 2018 Plan is provided in the following table:
6,703,830
Common stock authorized for the plan in July 2018
(2,098,792)Stock options granted in December 2018
7,558
Stock options grants forfeited in 2018
(202,200)RSU grants in 2018
4,410,396
Common stock available for issuance under the plan at December 31, 2018


Stock Options

In December 2018, the Company issued promissory notesstock option grants to substantially all of the Company's employees excluding the Company's executive officers. The stock options vest as follows: 50% on July 27, 2019; 25% on July 27, 2020; and 25% on July 27, 2021. If a participate terminates employment with the Company, vested options may be exercised for a short period of time while unvested options are forfeited. However, in any event, a stock option will expire ten years from date of grant.

Details about the aggregate principal amounttime-based stock options issued under the plan are as follows:
   Weighted-    
  Options foraverage Weighted-average Aggregate
  number ofexercise remaining intrinsic value
  sharesprice contractual terms (in thousands)
        
Outstanding, January 1, 2018 

   

Granted in 2018 2,098,792
$6.95
   

Exercised in 2018 

   

Forfeited in 2018 (7,558)$6.95
   

Expired in 2018 

   

Outstanding, December 31, 2018 2,091,234
$6.95
 9.9 years $2,196
        
Vested and Expected to Vest 2,091,234
$6.95
 9.9 years $2,196
Exercisable at December 31, 2018 

   



No stock options have become vested as of$132,753 December 31, 2018. For the year ended December 31, 2018, compensation expense of $0.2 million was recognized for these stock option grants. As of December 31, 2018, there was $4.0 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to its sponsors (M SPAC LLC, M SPACstock options, which is expected to be recognized over a remaining weighted-average period of 1.3 years.

The table below presents the assumptions used to calculate the fair value of the stock options issued during 2018:
Expected volatility30%
Risk-free interest rate2.4%
Expected term (years)4.3
Dividend yield%
Exercise price$6.95



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Restricted Stock Units - Service Based

During December 2018, the Company issued 107,143 RSUs with a grant-date fair value of $7.00 each and a total grant-date fair value of approximately $0.8 million. These RSUs have service-based vesting with 50% vesting in each of the years 2019 and 2020. At December 31, 2018, unrecognized compensation of approximately $0.7 million is expected to be recognized over remaining weighted-average period of approximately 1.4 years. Compensation expense for the year ended December 31, 2018 was not material.

Restricted Stock Units - Performance Based with Market Condition

During the third quarter of 2018, the Company issued 95,057 RSUs with a fair value of $10.52 each. In addition to the service vesting requirements, these RSUs vest only if certain performance metrics are achieved separately for 2018 and 2019. The performance metrics were not achieved for 2018 and it is not probable that the 2019 performance metrics will be achieved, thus no compensation expense has been recognized for the year ended December 31, 2018 for these RSUs. At the end of each subsequent reporting period, the Company will evaluate the probability of achievement for the performance metrics and adjust cumulative recognized compensation expense accordingly if the service requirements are also expected to be achieved.


Earnout Incentive Plan

The Company's Earnout Incentive Plan (the "EIP") was approved by the Company's board of directors and shareholders in July 2018. See Note 12, Stockholders'Equity (Deficit), for information about the EIP and the potential to issue up to 9.8 million additional shares of the Company's common stock. Awards issued under the EIP vest upon achievement of performance metrics and a market metric.

During the third quarter of 2018, the Company issued 95,057 RSUs under the EIP with a fair value of $10.52 each (these were in addition to the 95,057 RSUs issued under the 2018 Plan, as previously noted above). At December 31, 2018, it is not probable that the performance metrics will be achieved, thus no compensation expense has been recognized for these RSUs for the year ended December 31, 2018. At the end of each subsequent reporting period, the Company will evaluate the probability of achievement for the performance metrics and adjust cumulative recognized compensation expense accordingly. Under GAAP, the market metric only impacts the fair value of the RSUs, not the requirement to recognize compensation expense if the performance metrics are achieved or probable of being achieved.

As of December 31, 2018, up to 9,704,943 additional grants may be issued under the EIP.


2014 Management Incentive Plan

The Priority Holdings I, LLCManagement Incentive Plan (the "MIP") was established in 2014 to issue equity-based compensation awards to selected employees. Simultaneously with the Business Combination and M SPACRecapitalization (see Note 12, Stockholders'Equity (Deficit)), the fair value of the outstanding equity awards under the MIP were exchanged for approximately 3.0 million shares of common stock of Priority Technology Holdings, II, LLC).Inc. having approximately the same fair value. As such, this exchange was not deemed to be a modification for accounting purposes. The $132,753 receivedCompany continues to recognize compensation expense under the original vesting schedule for the MIP grants whereby each participant's awards vested at either 40% or 20% on September 21, 2016 and then continue to vest over various time periods with all vesting to be completed by May 2021.

Compensation expense under the MIP was approximately $1.5 million, $1.0 million, and $2.3 million for 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. At December 31, 2018, there was approximately $0.7 million of unrecognized compensation that is expected to be recognized by the Company upon issuanceas follows: $0.5 million in 2019; $0.1 million in 2020; and $0.1 million in 2021.



14.    EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS


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The Company sponsors a 401(k) defined contribution savings plan that covers substantially all of its eligible employees. Under the plan, the Company contributes safe-harbor matching contributions to eligible plan participants on an annual basis. The Company may also contribute additional discretionary amounts to plan participants. Company contributions to the plan were $0.9 million, $1.0 million, and $0.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.

The Company offers a comprehensive medical benefits plan to eligible employees. All obligations under the plan are fully insured through third-party insurance companies. Employees participating in the medical plan pay a portion of the notes was deposited into the Company’s trust accountcosts for the benefitinsurance benefits.



15.    FAIR VALUE

Fair Value Measurements

The following is a description of the valuation methodology used for the GS warrant and contingent consideration which are recorded and remeasured at fair value at the end of each reporting period.

Goldman Sachs Warrant

The GS warrant was classified as level 3 in the fair value hierarchy. Historically, the fair value of the GS warrant was estimated based on the fair value of Priority Holdings, LLC using a weighted-average of values derived from generally accepted valuation techniques, including market approaches, which consider the guideline public company method, the guideline transaction method, the recent funding method, and an income approach, which considers discounted cash flows. Priority Holdings, LLC adjusted the carrying value of the warrant to fair value as determined by the valuation model and recognized the change in fair value as an increase or decrease in interest and other expense. On July 25, 2018, the GS warrant was redeemed in exchange for $12.7 million cash, which resulted in a gain of $0.1 million, as the value of the GS warrant immediately prior to the cancellation was $12.8 million. See Note 8, Long-Term Debt and Warrant Liability. The warrant is no longer outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and had a fair value of $8.7 million as of December 31, 2017.

Contingent Consideration

Business Combinations

The estimated fair values of contingent consideration related to the PPS Tech and PPS Northeast business acquisitions (see Note 2, Business Combinations) were based on a weighted payout probability at the measurement date, which falls within Level 3 on the fair value hierarchy. Both of these acquisitions occurred during the third quarter of 2018, and at December 31, 2018, the total fair value of the contingent consideration for both acquisitions was approximately $1.0 million, which was not materially different than the fair values on their original measurement dates.

Former Preferred A Units Earnout

A preferred equity earnout plan resulted from the 2014 merger between Priority Payment Systems Holdings, LLC and Pipeline Cynergy Holdings, LLC. A level 3 valuation model was used to estimate the fair value of the earnout consideration. Changes in fair value were reflected in earnings for each reporting period prior to the 2017 expiration of the earnout arrangement.



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The following table shows a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances for liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs that are classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016:
(in thousands)Warrant Liability Contingent Consideration
    
Balance at January 1, 2016$3,149
 $6,887
Adjustment to fair value included in earnings1,204
 (2,665)
Balance at December 31, 20164,353
 4,222
Extinguishment of GS 1.0% warrant liability (Note 8)(4,353) 
GS 1.8% warrant liability (Note 8)4,503
 
Release and adjustment of contingent consideration (Note 12)
 (4,222)
Adjustment to fair value included in earnings4,198
 
Balance at December 31, 20178,701
 
Extinguishment of GS 1.8% warrant liability (Note 8)(8,701) 
GS 2.2% warrant liability (Note 8)12,182
 
Adjustment to fair value included in earnings591
 
Extinguishment of GS 2.2% warrant liability (Note 8)(12,701) 
Change in fair value of warrant liability(72) 
Earnout liabilities arising from business combinations (Note 2)
 980
Balance at December 31, 2018$
 $980


There were no transfers among the fair value levels during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016.


Fair Value of Debt

The Company's outstanding debt obligations (see Note 8, Long-term Debt and Warrant Liability) are reflected in the consolidated balance sheets at carrying value since the Company did not elect to remeasure its public stockholdersdebt obligations to fair value at the end of each reporting period. The carrying values of the Company's long-term debt approximate fair value due to mechanisms in orderthe credit agreements that adjust the applicable interest rates.


16.    SEGMENT INFORMATION

The Company has two reportable segments that are reviewed by the Company's chief operating decision maker ("CODM"), who is the Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. The Consumer Payments operating segment is one reportable segment. The Commercial Payments, Institutional Services, and Integrated Partners operating segments are aggregated into one reportable segment, Commercial Payments and Managed Services.

Consumer Payments – represents consumer-related services and offerings including merchant acquiring and transaction processing services including the proprietary MX enterprise suite. Either through acquisition of merchant portfolios or through resellers, the Company becomes a party or enters into contracts with a merchant and a sponsor bank. Pursuant to the contracts, for each card transaction, the sponsor bank collects payment from the credit, debit or other payment card issuing bank, net of interchange fees due to the issuing bank, pays credit card association (e.g., Visa, MasterCard) assessments and pays the transaction fee due to the Company for the suite of processing and related services it provides to merchants, with the remainder going to the merchant.

Commercial Payments and Managed Services – represents services provided to certain enterprise customers, including outsourced sales force to those customers and accounts payable automation services to commercial customers. Additional payment and payment adjacent services are provided to the health care and residential real estate industries.


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Corporate includes costs of corporate functions and shared services not allocated to extendour reportable segments. For theperiod year ended December 31, 2018, the Company adjusted its methodology of allocating certain corporate overhead costs to its reportable segments. All prior periods presented have been adjusted to reflect the current allocation methodology.

Information on segments and reconciliations to consolidated revenues, consolidated income (loss) from operations, and consolidated depreciation and amortization are as follows for the years presented:
(in thousands) Years Ended December 31,
  2018 2017 2016
Revenues:      
Consumer Payments $394,986
 $400,320
 $322,666
Commercial Payments and Managed Services 29,429
 25,299
 21,448
Consolidated revenues $424,415
 $425,619
 $344,114
       
Income (loss) from operations:      
Consumer Payments $50,528
 $55,473
 $37,772
Commercial Payments and Managed Services (2,921) 972
 1,861
   Corporate (27,688) (21,196) (13,793)
Consolidated income from operations $19,919
 $35,249
 $25,840
       
Depreciation and amortization:      
Consumer Payments $17,945
 $13,336
 $13,706
Commercial Payments and Managed Services 702
 451
 401
   Corporate 1,093
 887
 626
Consolidated depreciation and amortization $19,740
 $14,674
 $14,733



A reconciliation of total income from operations of reportable segments to the Company's net (loss) income is provided in the following table:

(in thousands) Years Ended December 31,
  2018 2017 2016
       
Total income from operations of reportable segments 47,607
 56,445
 $39,633
Less Corporate (27,688) (21,196) (13,793)
Less interest expense (29,935) (25,058) (4,777)
Less other, net (6,784) (5,597) (877)
Income tax benefit (1,759) 
 
     Net (loss) income $(15,041) $4,594
 $20,186



The Company is not significantly reliant upon any single customer for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, or 2016. Substantially all revenues are generated in the United States.

Total assets, all located in the United States, by reportable segment reconciled to consolidated assets as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 were as follows:


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(in thousands) As of December 31,
  2018 2017
     
Consumer Payments $267,111
 $216,345
Commercial Payments and Managed Services 71,756
 50,362
Corporate 49,751
 
Total consolidated assets $388,618
 $266,707

Assets in Corporate at December 31, 2018 primarily represent net deferred income tax assets of $49.7 million. The Company had no material tax assets at December 31, 2017 due to its former status as a pass-through entity for income tax purposes. Substantially all assets related to business operations are assigned to one of the Company's two reportable segments even though some of those assets result in Corporate expenses.



17.     (LOSS) EARNINGS PER SHARE

As a result of the Recapitalization, the Company has retrospectively adjusted the weighted-average Class A units outstanding prior to July 25, 2018 by multiplying them by the exchange ratio used to determine the number of Class A common stock into which they converted.

The following tables set forth the computation of the Company's (loss) earnings per share:
(in thousands except per share amounts) Years Ended December 31,
  2018 2017 2016
Numerator:      
Net (loss) income $(15,041) $4,594
 $20,186
Less:  Income allocated to participating securities (45) (236) (101)
Net (loss) income available to common stockholders $(15,086) $4,358
 $20,085
       
Denominator:      
Weighted-average common shares outstanding - basic and diluted 61,607
 67,144
 131,706
       
Basic and diluted (loss) earnings per share $(0.24) $0.06
 $0.15



Anti-dilutive securities that were excluded from EPS that could potentially be dilutive in future periods are as follows:
(in thousands) Years Ended December 31,
  2018 2017 2016
Stock options 2,091
 
 
Restricted stock awards 202
 
 
Earnout incentive awards 95
 
 
Warrants on common stock (see Note 12, Stockholders' Equity (Deficit)) 5,731
 3,402
 7,202






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18.     SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL RESULTS (UNAUDITED)

The following tables show a summary of the Company's quarterly financial information for each of the four quarters of 2018 and 2017:

(in thousands, except per share amounts) 2018
  1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q Year
Revenues $115,596
 $104,762
 $103,591
 $100,466
 $424,415
Operating expenses 107,718
 101,557
 100,031
 95,190
 404,496
Income from operations 7,878
 3,205
 3,560
 5,276
 19,919
Interest expense (6,929) (7,630) (7,334) (8,042) (29,935)
Other, net (4,126) (1,203) 221
 (1,676) (6,784)
Income tax benefit 
 
 (991) (768) (1,759)
Net loss $(3,177) $(5,628) $(2,562) $(3,674) $(15,041)
           
Basic and diluted (loss) per common share (1) $(0.06) $(0.10) $(0.04) $(0.05) $(0.24)

(in thousands, except per share amounts) 2017
  1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q Year
Revenues $93,092
 $101,611
 $110,946
 $119,970
 $425,619
Operating expenses 86,528
 93,341
 101,480
 109,021
 390,370
Income from operations 6,564
 8,270
 9,466
 10,949
 35,249
Interest expense (7,570) (4,612) (6,418) (6,458) (25,058)
Other, net��(215) (1,976) (790) (2,616) (5,597)
Net (loss) income $(1,221) $1,682
 $2,258
 $1,875
 $4,594
           
Basic and diluted (loss) per common share (1)
 $(0.02) $0.02
 $0.03
 $0.03
 $0.06


(1) May not be additive to the net income (loss) per common share amounts for the year due to the calculation provision of ASC 260, Earnings Per Share.



19.     SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Acquisitions from Related Party

In February 2019, a subsidiary of the Company, Priority Hospitality Technology, LLC ("PHT"), acquired substantially all of the operating assets and assumed certain liabilities of eTab, LLC ("eTab") and CUMULUS POS, LLC ("Cumulus") under asset contribution agreements. Prior to these transactions, eTab was 80% owned by the Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. No cash consideration was paid to the sellers of eTab or Cumulus at acquisition. As consideration for these acquired net assets, the sellers were issued preferred equity interests in PHT. Under these preferred equity interests, the sellers are eligible to receive up to $4.5 million of profits earned by PHT, plus a preferred yield on any of the $4.5 million amount that has not been distributed to them. The Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman owns 80% of the preferred equity interests in PHT. Once a total of $4.5 million plus the preferred yield has been distributed to the holders of the preferred equity interests,

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the preferred equity interests will cease to exist. The Company will recognize the fair value of the net assets acquired since the consideration was of a non-cash nature. At this time, the Company hasis finalizing the estimated fair values of the net assets acquired.

See Note 12, Stockholders'Equity (Deficit), for information about subsequent events pertaining to complete a business combination for an additional one month, from March 19, 2018certain warrants to April 19, 2018. The notes do not bear interest and are payable five business days after the datepurchase shares of common stock of the Company completesand units, consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant, of the Company.


Asset Acquisition

On March 22, 2019, the Company, through one of its subsidiaries, acquired certain assets and assumed certain related liabilities (the "net assets") from YapStone, Inc. ("YapStone") under an asset purchase and contribution agreement. The purchase price for the net assets was $65.0 million in cash and a business combination.

6.142% non-controlling interest in the Company's subsidiary that purchased the net assets of YapStone. The $65.0 million was funded from a draw down of the Senior Credit Facility on a delayed basis as provided for and pursuant to the third amendment thereto executed in December 2018. See Note 8, Long-Term Debt and Warrant Liability.

F-16



Residual Portfolio Asset Acquisition

On March 15, 2019, a subsidiary of the Company paid $15.2 million cash to acquire certain residual portfolio rights. Of the $15.2 million, $5.0 million was funded from a delayed draw down of the Senior Credit Facility as provided for and pursuant to the third amendment thereto executed in December 2018. See Note 8, Long-Term Debt and Warrant Liability. Additionally, a $10.0 million draw was made against the revolving credit facility under the Senior Credit Facility and cash on hand was used to fund the remaining amount. The purchase price may be subject to an increase of up to $6.4 million in accordance with the terms of the agreement between the Company and the sellers.




103



ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

N/A



ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

The term "disclosure controls and procedures" is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC's rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at a reasonable assurance level because of the material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting described below, which are in the process of being remediated.
Management necessarily applies its judgment in assessing the costs and benefits of such controls and procedures, which, by their nature, can provide only reasonable assurance regarding management's control objectives. The Company's management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures can prevent all possible errors or fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. There are inherent limitations in all control systems, including the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple errors or mistakes. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of one or more persons. The design of any system of controls is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and, while our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to be effective under circumstances where they should reasonably be expected to operate effectively, there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Because of the inherent limitations in any control system, misstatements due to possible errors or fraud may occur and not be detected.

Management's Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over our financial reporting. As discussed elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we completed the Business Combination on July 25, 2018. Prior to the Business Combination, Priority was a privately held company and therefore its controls were not required to be designed or maintained in accordance with Exchange Act Rule 13a-15. The design of public company internal controls over financial reporting for the Company following the Business Combination has required and will continue to require significant time and resources from our management and other personnel. Furthermore, M I Acquisitions, the legal acquirer in the Business Combination, was a non-operating public shell company prior to the Business Combination and, as such the internal controls of M I Acquisitions no longer exists as of the assessment date. As a result, management was unable, without incurring unreasonable effort or expense, to conduct an assessment of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018. Therefore, we are excluding management's report on internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Question 215.02 of the SEC's Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations. In the future, management's assessment of our internal control over financial reporting will include an evaluation of such elements as the design and operating effectiveness of key financial reporting controls, process documentation, accounting policies and our overall control environment.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm, because as an "emerging growth company" under the JOBS Act our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to issue such an attestation report.

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Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

As of December 31, 2018, we have identified material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting related to (1) lack of sufficient accounting and financial reporting resources and (2) deficiencies in certain aspects of our financial statement review and close processes. In order to begin to remediate the material weaknesses described above, during the year ended December 31, 2018, we undertook or were engaged in the following measures or activities to address the material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting:
recruiting and hiring additional qualified accounting and financial reporting personnel;
retaining outside consultants to assist us in the preparation of our financial statements and SEC disclosures; and
implementing additional policies and procedures to enhance internal control and provide timely reconciliation and review of our accounting policies and procedures.

As we continue to evaluate and improve our internal control over financial reporting, additional measures to remediate the material weaknesses or modifications to certain of the remediation procedures described above may be necessary, including related improvements to the architecture of our accounting and financial reporting systems.
Management is committed to improving our internal control processes and intends to meet with our Audit Committee on a regular basis to monitor the status of remediation activities. Management believes that the measures described above should remediate the material weakness identified and strengthen our internal control over financial reporting.
Except as set forth above, we have identified no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.


ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION

N/A








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PART III.

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

The information called for by Item 10 is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive proxy statement relating to the Company's 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. We intend to file such definitive proxy statement with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days of the end of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K.



ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The information called for by Item 11 is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive proxy statement referenced above in Item 10.



ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

The information called for by Item 12 is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive proxy statement referenced above in Item 10.



ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

The information called for by Item 13 is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive proxy statement referenced above in Item 10.



ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES

The information called for by Item 14 is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive proxy statement referenced above in Item 10.



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PART IV.

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES


(a) (1) Our consolidated financial statements listed below are set forth in "Item 8 - Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:

(2) Financial Statement Schedules
N/A

(b) Exhibits

ExhibitDescription
10.2
10.3

107


10.6
10.7
10.8
10.9
10.13 *
10.14 *
10.15 *

108


10.16 *
10.19 *
23.1 *
31.1 *
31.2 *
32 **
101.INS *XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.
101.SCH *XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL *XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.LAB *XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PRE *XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
101.DEF *XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
* Filed herewith
** Furnished herewith
Indicates exhibits that constitute management contracts or compensation plans or arrangements.    



ITEM 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY

None.





















109


SIGNATURES 


Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.



PRIORITY TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, INC.

March 29, 2019
/s/ Thomas C. Priore
Thomas C. Priore
President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
(Principal Executive Officer)



Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

SignatureTitleDate
/s/ Thomas C. Priore
Thomas C. Priore
President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman 
(Principal Executive Officer)
March 29, 2019
/s/ Michael Vollkommer
Michael Vollkommer 
Chief Financial Officer
(Principal Accounting and Financial Officer)
March 29, 2019
/s/ John PrioreVice-ChairmanMarch 29, 2019
John Priore

Marc Manuel
DirectorMarch 29, 2019
/s/ William Gahan
William Gahan 
DirectorMarch 29, 2019
/s/ Matthew Kearney
Matthew Kearney 
DirectorMarch 29, 2019


110