We are one of the world’s largest door and window manufacturers. We design, produce, and distribute an extensive range of interior and exterior doors, wood, vinyl, and aluminum windows, and related products for use in the new construction and R&R of residential homes and, to a lesser extent, non-residential buildings.

We are a leading global manufacturer of residential doors. We offer a full line of residential interior and exterior door products, including patio doors and folding or sliding wall systems. Our non-residential door product offering is concentrated in Europe, where we are a leading non-residential door provider by net revenues in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Scandinavia. In order to meet the style, design, and durability needs of our customers across a broad range of price points, our product portfolio encompasses many types of materials, including wood veneer, composite wood, steel, glass, and fiberglass. Our interior and exterior residential door models generally retail at prices ranging from $30 to $40 for our most basic products to several thousand dollars for our high-end exterior doors. Our highest volume products include molded interior doors, which are made from two composite molded door skins joined by a wooden frame and filled with a hollow honey-cell core or other solid core materials. These low-cost doors are the most popular choice for interior residential applications in North America and also are prevalent in France and the U.K. In Europe, we also sell highly engineered non-residential doors, with features such as soundproofing, fire resistance, radiation resistance, and added security. We also manufacture stile and rail doors in our Southeast Asia and U.S. manufacturing facilities, as well as in the U.S. through our 2015 acquisition of Karona.facilities. In the U.S., our 2015 acquisition of LaCantina added a line ofU.S.we also manufacture folding and sliding wall systems to our product offerings.systems. Additionally, we offer profitable value-added distribution services in all of our markets,

We are a leading global manufacturer of residential windows. We manufacture wood, vinyl, and aluminum windows in North America, wood and aluminum windows in Australia, and wood windows in the U.K. Our window product lines comprise a full range of styles, features, and energy-saving options in order to meet the varied needs of our customers in each of our regional end markets. For example, our high performance wood and vinyl windows with multi-pane glazing and superior energy efficiency properties are in greater demand in Canada and the northern U.S. By contrast, our lower-cost aluminum framed windows are popular in some regions of the southern U.S., while in coastal Florida certain local building codes require windows that can withstand the impact of debris propelled by hurricane-force winds. Wood windows are prevalent as a high-end option in all of our markets because they possess both insulating qualities and the beauty of natural wood. In North America, our wood windows and patio doors include our proprietary AuraLast treatment, which is a unique water-based wood protection process that provides protection against wood rot and decay. We believe AuraLast is unique in its ability to penetrate and protect the wood through to the core, as opposed to being a shallow or surface-only treatment. Our newestmost recent window product offerings include sashless window systems through our 2015 acquisition of Aneeta and louver window systems through our 2016 acquisition of Breezway. Our windows typically retail at prices ranging from $100 to $200 for a basic vinyl window to over $1,000 for a custom energy-efficient wood window. We believe that our innovative energy-efficient windows position us to benefit from increasing environmental awareness among consumers and from changes in local building codes. In recognition of our expansive energy-efficient product line, we have been an ENERGY STAR partner since 1998.

In certain regions, we sell a variety of other products that are ancillary to our door and window offerings, which we do not classify as door or window sales. These products include shower enclosures and wardrobes, moldings, trim board, lumber, cutstock, glass, staircases, hardware and locks, cabinets, and screens. Molded door skins sold to certain third-party manufacturers, as well as miscellaneous installation and other services, are also included in this category.

In our North America segment, we compete primarily in the market for residential doors and windows in the U.S. and Canada. We are the only manufacturer that offers a full line of interior and exterior door and window products, allowing us to offer a more complete solution to our customer base. We believe that our leading position in the North American market will enable us to benefit from continued recovery in residential construction activity over the next several years. We believe that our total market opportunity in North America also includes non-residential applications, other related building products, and value-added services.

The European market for doors is highly fragmented and we have the only platform in the industry capable of serving nearly all European countries. In our Europe segment, we compete primarily in the market for residential and non-residential doors in

In our Australasia segment, we compete primarily in the market for residential doors and windows in Australia, where we hold a leading position by net revenues. We believe that our total market opportunity in the Australasia region also includes non-residential applications and other countries in the region, as well as other related building products, and value-added services. For example, we also sell a full line of shower enclosures and closet systems throughout Australia.

Historically our sourcing function operated primarily in a regional, decentralized model. With our recent leadership transformation, we have increased our focus on making global sourcing a competitive advantage, as evidenced by our hiring in early 2016 of an experienced procurement executive to lead our global sourcing function. Under his leadership, our focus has been and will continue to be on minimizing material costs through strategic global sourcing and value-added re-engineering of components. We believe leveraging our significant spending and the global nature of our purchases will allow us to achieve these goals.

We actively market and sell our products directly to our customers around the world through our global sales force and indirectly through our marketing and branding initiatives. Our global sales force, which is organized and managed regionally, focuses on building and maintaining relationships with key customers as well as managing customer supply needs and arranging in-store promotional initiatives. In North America, we also have a dedicated team that focuses on our large home center customers. We have recently made significant investments in tools and technologies to enhance the effectiveness of our sales force and improve ease of doing business. For example, we are in the process of deploying Salesforce.com on a global basis, which will provide us with a common global customer relationship management platform. In addition, we are in the process of simplifying our order entry process by implementing online configuration tools. We have introduced an electronic ordering system for easy order placement, and we intend to expand our online retail sales. Our new strategy also includes initiatives focused on expanding our market through the use of social media. To date, these initiatives have included hosting videos and increasing our presence on Facebook.

Following a number of years during and after the global financial crisis of limited investment in new product development, a core element of our strategy is a renewed focus on innovation and the development of new products and technologies. We believe that leading the market in innovation will enhance demand for our products and allow us to sell a higher margin product mix. Our research and development efforts encompass new product development, derivative product development, as well as value added re-engineering of components in our existing products leading to reduced costs and manufacturing efficiencies. We have also designed a new governance process that prioritizes the most impactful projects and is expected to improve the efficiency and quality of our research and development efforts. The governance process is currently being deployed globally, such that we can leverage best practices from region to region. Additionally, a substantial driver of our acquisition activity has been increasing access to new and innovative products.

We sell our products worldwide and have well-established relationships with numerous customers throughout the door and window distribution chain in each of our end markets, including retail home centers, wholesale distributors, and building product dealers that supply homebuilders, contractors, and consumers. Our wholesale customers include such industry leaders as BMC/Stock Building Supply, ProBuild/Builders First Source, American Building Supply, Saint-Gobain, and the Holzring group. Our home center customers include, among others, The Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards in North America; B&Q, Howdens, and Bauhaus in Europe; and Bunnings Warehouse in Australia. We have maintained relationships with the majority of our top ten customers for over 1920 years and believe that the strength and tenure of our customer relationships is based on our ability to produce and deliver high-quality products quickly and in the desired volumes for a reasonable cost.price. Our top ten customers together accounted for approximately 36%35% of our net revenues in the year ended December 31, 2017,2018, and our largest customer, The Home Depot, accounted for approximately 17%14.2% of our net revenues in the year ended December 31, 2017.2018.

The door and window industry is highly competitive and includes a number of regional and international competitors. Competition is largely based on the functional and aesthetic quality of products, service quality, distribution capability and price. We believe that we are well-positioned in our industry due to our leading brands, our broad product lines, our consistently high product quality and service, our global manufacturing and distribution capabilities, and our extensive multi-channel distribution. For North American interior doors, our major competitors include Masonite and several smaller independent door manufacturers. For North American exterior doors, competitors include Masonite, Therma-Tru (a division of Fortune Brands), and Plastpro. The North American window market is highly fragmented, with sizable competitors including Anderson,Andersen, Pella, Marvin, Ply-Gem (a division of NCI Building Systems), and Milgard (a division of Masco). The door manufacturers that we primarily compete with in our European markets include Huga, Prüm/Garant, Viljandi, Masonite, Keyor, and Herholz. The competitive landscape in Australia is varied across the door and window markets. In the Australian door market, Hume Doors is our primary competitor, while in the window, shower screen, and wardrobe markets we largely compete against a fragmented set of smaller companies.

We rely primarily on patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret laws and contractual commitments to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights. Generally, registered trademarks have a perpetual life, provided that they are renewed on a timely basis and continue to be used properly as trademarks. We intend to maintain the trademark registrations listed below so long as they remain valuable to our business.

As of December 31, 2017,2018, we employed approximately 21,00023,000 people. Of our total number of employees, approximately 10,90011,500 are employed in operations included in our North America segment and corporate operations, approximately 6,0006,700 are employed in operations included in our Europe segment, and approximately 4,1004,800 are employed in operations included in our Australasia segment.

The geographic breadth of our facilities and the nature of our operations subject us to extensive environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations in jurisdictions throughout the world. Such laws and regulations relate to, among other things, air emissions, the treatment and discharge of wastewater, the discharge of hazardous materials into the environment, the handling, storage, use and disposal of solid, hazardous and other wastes, worker health and safety, or otherwise relate to health, safety, and protection of the environment. Many of our products are also subject to various laws and regulations such as building and construction codes, product safety regulations, and regulations and mandates related to energy efficiency.

We strive to conduct our business in a manner that is environmentally sustainable and demonstrates environmental stewardship. Toward that end, we pursue processes that are designed to minimize waste, maximize efficient utilization of materials, and conserve resources, including using recycled and reused materials to produce portions of our products. We continue to evaluate and modify our manufacturing and other processes on an ongoing basis to further reduce our impact on the environment. We believe it is important for our employees to share our commitment and we strive to recruit, educate, and train our employees in these values on an ongoing basis throughout their careers with us.

In 2008, we entered into an Agreed Order with the WADOE, to assess historic environmental contamination and remediation feasibility at our former manufacturing site in Everett, Washington. As part of this agreement, we also agreed to develop a CAP, arising from the feasibility assessment. We are currently working with WADOE to finalize our RI/FS, and, once final, we will develop the CAP. We estimate the remaining cost to complete our RI/FS (Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study), and develop the CAP at $0.5 million, which we have fully accrued.

In 2015, we entered into a COA with the PaDEP to remove a pile of wood fiber waste from our site in Towanda, Pennsylvania, which we acquired in connection with our acquisition of CMI in 2013, by using it as fuel for a boiler at that site. The COA replaced a 1995 Consent Decree between CMI’s predecessor Masonite, Inc. and PaDEP. Under the COA, we are required to achieve certain periodic removal objectives and ultimately remove the entire pile by August 31, 2022. There are currently $11.0 million in bonds posted in connection with these obligations. If we are unable to remove this pile by August 31, 2022, then the bonds will be forfeited and we may be subject to penalties by PaDEP. We currently anticipate meeting all applicable removal deadlines; however, if our operations at this site decrease and we burn less fuel than currently anticipated, we may not be able to meet such deadlines.

Toward the end of the last decade, the global economy endured a significant recession followed by a prolonged period of moderate recovery that had a substantial negative effect on sales across our end markets. In particular, beginning in mid-2006 and continuing through late 2011, the U.S. residential and non-residential construction industry experienced one of the most severe downturns of the last 40 years. While cyclicality in our new residential and non-residential construction end markets is moderated to a certain extent by R&R activity, much R&R spending is discretionary and can be deferred or postponed entirely when economic conditions are poor. We experienced sales declines in all of our end markets during thisthe most recent economic downturn.

Although conditions in the U.S. have improved in recent years, there can be no assurance that this improvement will be sustained in the near or long-term. Uncertain economic and political conditions may make it difficult for us and our customers or suppliers to accurately forecast and plan future business activities. For example, recent changes to U.S. policies related to global trade and tariffs have resulted in uncertainty surrounding the future of the global economy as well as retaliatory trade measures implemented by other countries. Increasing costs of steel and aluminum may impact customer spending as well as our raw materials costs.

Moreover, uncertain economic conditions continue in our Australasia segment, which has been forecasting a housing recession, and certain countries in our Europe segment. Negative business, financial market, and economic conditions globally within the industries or in the regions where we operatecompete in may materially and adversely affect demand for our products, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially negatively impacted as a result.

We operate in a highly competitive business environment. Some of our competitors may have greater financial, marketing, and distribution resources and may develop stronger relationships with customers in the markets where we sell our products. Some of our competitors may be less leveraged than we are, providing them with more flexibility to invest in new facilities and processes and also making them better able to withstand adverse economic or industry conditions.

In addition, some of our competitors, regardless of their size or resources, may choose to compete in the marketplace by adopting more aggressive sales policies, including price cuts, or by devoting greater resources to the development, promotion, and sale of their products. This could result in our loss of customers and/or market share to these competitors or being forced to reduce the prices at which we sell our products to remain competitive.

As a result of competitive bidding processes, we may have to provide pricing concessions to our significant customers in order for us to keep their business. Reduced pricing would result in lower product margins on sales to those customers. There is no guarantee that a reduction in prices would be offset by sufficient gains in market share and sales volume to those customers.

The loss of, or a reduction in orders from, any significant customers, or decreases in the prices of our products, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The quantity, type, and prices of products demanded by consumers and our customers have shifted over time. For example, demand has increased for multi-family housing units such as apartments and condominiums, which typically require fewer of our products, and we are experiencing growth in certain channels for products with lower price points. In certain cases, these shifts have negatively impacted our sales and/or our profitability. Also, we must continually anticipate and adapt to the increasing use of technology by our customers. Recent years have seen shifts in consumer preferences and purchasing practices and changes in the business models and strategies of our customers. Consumers are increasingly using the internet and mobile technology to research home improvement products and to inform and provide feedback on their purchasing and ownership experience for these products. Trends towards online purchases could impact our ability to compete as we currently sell a significant portion of our products through retail home centers, wholesale distributors, and building products dealers.

Accordingly, the success of our business depends in part on our ability to maintain strong brands and identify and respond promptly to evolving trends in demographics, consumer preferences, and expectations and needs, while also managing inventory levels. It is difficult to successfully predict the products and services our customers will demand. Even if we are successful in anticipating consumer preferences, our ability to adequately react to and address those preferences will in part depend upon our continued ability to develop and introduce innovative, high-quality products and acquire or develop the intellectual

In addition, our competitors could introduce new or improved products that would replace or reduce demand for our products or create new proprietary designs and/or changes in manufacturing technologies that may render our products obsolete or too expensive for efficient competition in the marketplace. Our failure to competitively respond to changing consumer and customer trends, demands, and preferences could cause us to lose market share, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If our products have performance, reliability, or quality problems, our reputation and brand equity, which we believe is a substantial competitive advantage, could be materially adversely affected. We may also experience increased and unanticipated warranty and service expenses. Furthermore, we manufacture a significant portion of our products based on the specific requirements of our customers, and delays in providing our customers the products and services they specify on a timely basis could result in reduced or canceled orders and delays in the collection of accounts receivable. Additionally, claims from our customers, with or without merit, could result in costly and time-consuming litigation that could require significant time and attention of management and involve significant monetary damages that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our future financial performance depends in part on our management’s ability to successfully implement our strategic initiatives, including JEM.JEM and our global footprint rationalization initiatives. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to successfully implement these initiatives and related strategies throughout the geographic regions in which we operate or be able to continue improving our operating results. Similarly, these initiatives, even if implemented in all of our geographic regions, may not produce similar results. Any failure to successfully implement these initiatives and related strategies could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We may, in addition, decide to alter or discontinue certain aspects of our business strategy at any time.

In furtherance of our strategy of growth through acquisitions, we routinely review and conduct investigations of potential acquisitions, some of which may be material. When we believe a favorable opportunity exists, we seek to enter into discussions with targets or sellers regarding the possibility of such acquisitions. At any given time, we may be in discussions with one or more counterparties. There can be no assurances that any such negotiations will lead to definitive agreements, or if such agreements are reached, that any transactions would be consummated.

Our inability to achieve the anticipated benefits of acquisitions and other investments could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition, the means by which we finance an acquisition may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, including changes to our equity, debt, and liquidity position. If we issue convertible preferred or common stock to pay for an acquisition, the ownership percentage of our existing shareholders may be diluted. Using our existing cash may reduce our liquidity. Incurring additional debt to fund an acquisition may result in higher debt service and a requirement to comply with additional financial and other covenants, including potential restrictions on future acquisitions and distributions.

Our business depends on our relationships with our key customers, which consist mainly of wholesale distributors and retail home centers. Our top ten customers together accounted for approximately 36%35% of our net revenues in the year ended December 31, 2017,2018, and our largest customer, The Home Depot, accounted for approximately 17%14.2% of our net revenues in the year ended December 31, 2017.2018. Although we have established and maintain significant long-term relationships with our key customers, we cannot assure you that all of these relationships will continue or will not diminish. We generally do not enter into long-term contracts with our customers and they generally do not have an obligation to purchase products from us. Accordingly, sales from customers that have accounted for a significant portion of our sales in past periods, individually or as a group, may not continue in future periods, or if continued, may not reach or exceed historical levels in any period. For example, certain of our large customers perform periodic line reviews to assess their product offering, which have in the past and may in the future lead to loss of business and pricing pressures. Some of our large customers may also experience economic difficulties or otherwise default on their obligations to us. Furthermore, our pricing optimization strategy, which requires maintaining pricing discipline in order to improve profit margins, has in the past and may in the future lead to the loss of certain customers, including key customers, who do not agree to our pricing terms. The loss of, or a diminution in our relationship with, any of our largest customers could lower our sales volumes, which could increase our costs and lower our profitability. This could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Certain of our significant customers are large companies with strong buying power, and our customers may expand through consolidation or internal growth. Consolidation could decrease the number of potential significant customers for our products and increase our reliance on key customers. Further, the increased size of our customers could result in our customers seeking more favorable terms, including pricing, for the products that they purchase from us. Accordingly, the increased size of our customers may further limit our ability to maintain or raise prices in the future. This could have a material adverse effect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to the credit risk of our customers because we provide credit to our customers in the normal course of business. All of our customers are sensitive to economic changes and to the cyclical nature of the building industry. Especially during protracted or severe economic declines and cyclical downturns in the building industry, our customers may be unable to perform on their payment obligations, including their debts to us. Any failure by our customers to meet their obligations to us may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, we may incur increased expenses related to collections in the future if we find it necessary to take legal action to enforce the contractual obligations of a significant number of our customers.

Our performance depends in part upon consumers having the ability to access third-party financing for the purchase of new homes and buildings and R&R of existing homes and other buildings. The ability of consumers to finance these purchases is affected by the interest rates available for home mortgages, credit card debt, home equity or other lines of credit, and other sources of third-party financing. Interest rates in the majority of the regions where we market and sell our products have begun to increase and are likely to continue to increasegenerally increased in recent years, most notably in the future. TheU.S. with the U.S. Federal Reserve raisedraising the federal funds rate for the first time in 10 years in December 2015 and again in each of December 2016, March 2017, June 2017 and December 2017, and is currently forecasting multiple rate increases in 2018 and 2019.numerous times since 2015. Each increase in the federal funds rate or applicable central bank’s prime rates could cause an increase in future interest rates applicable to mortgages, credit card debt, and other sources of third-party financing. If interest rates continue to increase and, consequently, the ability of prospective buyers to finance purchases of new homes or home improvement products is adversely affected, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

In addition to increased interest rates, the ability of consumers to procure third-party financing is impacted by such factors as new and existing home prices, unemployment levels, high mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates, and lower housing turnover. Adverse developments affecting any of these factors could result in the imposition of more restrictive lending standards by financial institutions and reduce the ability of some consumers to finance home purchases or R&R expenditures.

We use wood, glass, vinyl and other plastics, fiberglass and other composites, aluminum, steel and other metals, as well as hardware and other components to manufacture our products. Materials represented approximately 50%51% of our cost of sales in the year ended December 31, 2017.2018. Prices forand availability of our materials fluctuate for a variety of reasons beyond our control, many of which cannot be anticipated with any degree of reliability. Our most significant raw materials include logs and lumber, vinyl extrusions, glass, steel, and aluminum, each of which has been subject to periods of rapid and significant fluctuations in price. The reasons for these fluctuations include, among other things, variable worldwide supply and demand across different industries, speculation in commodities futures, general economic or environmental conditions, labor costs, competition, import duties, tariffs, worldwide currency fluctuations, freight, regulatory costs, and product and process evolutions that impact demand for the same materials.

For example, an increase in oilThe U.S. recently imposed tariffs on certain products imported into the U.S. from China and could impose additional tariffs or trade restrictions. The imposition of tariffs may impact the prices may affect the direct cost of materials derived from petroleum, most particularly vinyl.purchased outside of the U.S. and include goods in transit as well as increasing the price of domestically sourced materials, including, in particular, steel and aluminum. Impositions of tariffs by other countries could also impact pricing and availability of raw materials. As another example, many consumersas global demand certified sustainably harvested wood products as concerns about deforestation have become more prevalent. Certified sustainably harvested wood historically has not been as widely available as non-certified wood, which resultsfor key chemicals increases, the limited number of suppliers and investment in higher prices for sustainably harvested wood. As more consumers demand certified sustainably harvested wood, the price of such wood may increase due to limited supply.greater supply capacity drives increased global pricing.

We have short-term supply contracts with certain of our largest suppliers that limit our exposure to short term fluctuations in prices and availability of our materials, but we are susceptible to longer-term fluctuations in prices. We generally do not hedge against commodity price fluctuations. Significant increases in the prices of raw materials for finished goods, including as a result of significant or protracted material shortages, may be difficult to pass through to customers and may negatively impact our profitability and net revenues. We may attempt to modify products that use certain raw materials, but these changes may not be successful.

We rely upon regular deliveries of raw materials, finished goods, and certain component parts. For certain raw materials that are used in our products, we depend on a single or limited number of suppliers for our materials, and we typically do not have long-term contracts with our suppliers. If we are not able to accurately forecast our supply needs, our limited number of suppliers may make it difficult to quickly obtain additional raw materials to respond to shifting or increased demand. In addition, a supply shortage could occur as a result of unanticipated increases in market demand, including as a result of accelerated demand in reaction to the threat of tariffs or trade restrictions; difficulties in production or delivery,delivery; financial difficulties,difficulties; or catastrophic events in the supply chain. Furthermore, because our products and the components of some of our products are subject to regulation, changes to these regulations could cause delays in delivery of raw materials, finished goods, and certain component parts.

Until we can make acceptable arrangements with alternate suppliers, any interruption or disruption could impact our ability to ship orders on time and could idle some of our manufacturing capability for those products. This could result in a loss of revenues, reduced margins, and damage to our relationships with customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our business is seasonal, and our net revenues and operating results vary significantly from quarter to quarter based upon the timing of the building season in our markets. Our sales typically follow seasonal new construction and R&R industry patterns. The peak season for home construction and R&R activity in the majority of the geographies where we market and sell our products generally corresponds with the second and third calendar quarters, and therefore our sales volume is typically higher during those quarters. Our first and fourth quarter sales volumes are generally lower due to reduced R&R and new construction activity as a result of less favorable climate conditions in the majority of our geographic end markets. Failure to effectively manage our inventory in anticipation of or in response to seasonal fluctuations could negatively impact our liquidity profile during certain seasonal periods.

Weather patterns may affect our operating results and our ability to maintain our sales volume throughout the year. Because our customers depend on suitable weather to engage in construction projects, increased frequency or duration of extreme weather conditions could have a material adverse effect on our financial results or financial condition. For example, unseasonably cool weather or extraordinary amounts of rainfall may decrease construction activity, thereby decreasing our sales. Also, we cannot predict the effects that global climate change may have on our business. In addition to changes in weather patterns, it might, for example, reduce the demand for construction, destroy forests (increasing the cost and reducing the availability of wood products used in construction), and increase the cost and reduce the availability of raw materials and energy. New laws and regulations related to global climate change may also increase our expenses or reduce our sales.

We have operations in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. In the year ended December 31, 2017,2018, our North America segment accounted for approximately 57% of net revenues, our Europe segment accounted for approximately 28% of net revenues, and our Australasia segment accounted for approximately 15% of our net revenues. Further, certain of our businesses obtain raw materials and finished goods from foreign suppliers. Accordingly, our business is subject to political, economic, and other risks that are inherent in operating in numerous countries.

The recent notification by the U.K. of its intent to exit the E.U., or “Brexit”, has created volatility in the global financial markets. The terms of the withdrawal areremain subject to a negotiation period that could last up to two years following the formal initiation byan ongoing negotiation. If the U.K. government ofand the E.U. are unable to negotiate acceptable withdrawal process in March 2017.terms or if other E.U. member states pursue withdrawal, barrier-free access between the U.K. and other E.U. member states or among the European Economic Area overall could be diminished or eliminated. The effects of the U.K.’s withdrawal from the E.U. on the global economy, and on our business in particular, will depend on agreements the U.K. makes to retain access to E.U. markets both during a transitional period and more permanently. Brexit could impair the ability of our operations in the E.U. to transact business in the future in the U.K., as well as the ability of our U.K. operations to transact business in the future in the E.U. If, including through the U.K. and the E.U. are unable to negotiate acceptable withdrawal terms or if other E.U. member states pursue withdrawal, barrier-free accessimposition of tariffs between the U.K. and other E.U. member states or among the European Economic Area overall could be diminished or eliminated.countries.

Volatility associated with Brexit could continue to adversely affect European and worldwide economic conditions and may contribute to greater instability in the global financial markets. Among other things, Brexit could reduce consumer spending in the U.K. and the E.U., which could result in decreased demand for our products.products within these regions. Similarly, housing sales and home values in the U.K. and in the E.U. could be negatively impacted and Brexit could also influence foreign currency exchange rates. For the year ended December 31, 2017,2018, we derived 4%3% of our net revenues from our operations in the U.K., and we have moved our Europe headquarters tois located in the U.K. As a result, the effects of Brexit could inhibit the growth of our business and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our operations expose us to both transaction and translation exchange rate risks. In the year ended December 31, 2017,2018, 49% of our net revenues came from sales outside of the U.S., and we anticipate that our operations outside of the U.S. will continue to represent a significant portion of our net revenues for the foreseeable future. In addition, the nature of our operations often requires that we incur expenses in currencies other than those in which we earn revenue. Because of the mismatch between revenues and expenses, we are exposed to significant currency exchange rate risk and we may not be successful in achieving balances in currencies throughout our operations. In addition, if the effective price of our products were to increase as a result of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, demand for our products could decline, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Also, because our financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, we must translate the financial statements of our foreign subsidiaries and affiliates into U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect during or at the end of each reporting period, and increases or decreases in the value of the U.S. dollar against other major currencies will affect our reported financial results, including the amount of our outstanding indebtedness. Exchange rates, net, had a positivean impact of less than 1% on our consolidated net revenues in the year ended December 31, 20172018 as compared to a 1% negativepositive impact in the year ended December 31, 2016.2017. We cannot assure you that fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against major currencies, such as the Euro, the Australian dollar, the Canadian dollar, the British pound, or the currencies of large developing countries, would not materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We operate facilities worldwide. Many of our facilities are located in areas that are vulnerable to hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. In the event that a hurricane, earthquake, natural disaster, fire, or other catastrophic event were to interrupt our operations for any extended period of time, it could delay shipment of merchandise to our customers, damage our reputation, or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition, our operations may be interrupted by terrorist attacks or other acts of violence or war. These attacks may directly impact our suppliers’ or customers’ physical facilities. Furthermore, these attacks may make travel and the transportation of our supplies and products more difficult and more expensive and ultimately have a material adverse effect on our business,

We continually review our manufacturing operations.operations to address market changes and to implement efficiencies presented by acquisitions. Effects of periodic manufacturing integrations, realignments and cost savings programs have in the past and could in the future result in a decrease in our short-term earnings and operating efficiency until the expected results are achieved. Such programs may include the consolidation, integration, and upgrading of facilities, functions, systems, and procedures. Such programs involve substantial planning, often require capital investments, and may result in charges for fixed asset impairments or obsolescence and substantial severance costs. We also cannot assure you that we will achieve all of our cost savings. Our ability to achieve cost savings and other benefits within expected time frames is subject to many estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions are subject to significant economic, competitive, and other uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. If these estimates and assumptions are incorrect, if we experience delays, or if other unforeseen events occur, our operations could experience disruption, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our operations depend on our network of information technology systems, which are vulnerable to damage from hardware failure, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, and impacts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other disasters. We rely on our information technology systems to accurately maintain books and records, record transactions, provide information to management and prepare our financial statements. We may not have sufficient redundant operations to cover a loss or failure in a timely manner. Any damage to our information technology systems could cause interruptions to our operations that materially adversely affect our ability to meet customers’ requirements, resulting in an adverse impact to our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Periodically, these systems need to be expanded, updated, or upgraded as our business needs change. We may not be able to successfully implement changes in our information technology systems without experiencing difficulties, which could require significant financial and human resources. Moreover, our increasing dependence on technology may exacerbate this risk.

We are implementing new systems, including our continued implementation of a new ERP system, as part of our ongoing technology and process improvements. This ERP system will provide a standardized method of accounting for, among other things, order entry and inventory and should enhance our ability to implement our strategic initiatives. Any delay in the implementation, or disruption in the upgrade, of this systemthese systems could adversely affect our ability to timely and accurately report financial information, including the filing of our quarterly or annual reports with the SEC. Such delay or disruption could also impact our ability to timely or accurately make payments to our suppliers and employees, and could also inhibit our ability to invoice and collect from our customers. Data integrity problems or other issues may be discovered which could impact our business or financial results. In addition, we may experience periodic or prolonged disruption of our financial functions arising out of this conversion, general use of such systems, other periodic upgrades or updates, or other external factors that are outside of our control. If we encounter unforeseen problems with our financial system or related systems and infrastructure, our business, operations, and financial systems could be adversely affected. We may also need to implement additional systems or transition to other new systems that require further expenditures in order to function effectively as a public company. There can be no assurance that our implementation of additional systems or transition to new systems will be successful, or that such implementation or transition will not present unforeseen costs or demands on our management.

We rely on the accuracy, capacity, and security of our IT systems, some of which are managed or hosted by third parties, and the sale of our products may involve the transmission and/or storage of data, including in certain instances customers’ and employees’ business and personally identifiable information. Maintaining the security of computers, computer networks, and data storage resources is a critical issue for us and our customers, as security breaches could result in vulnerabilities and loss of and/or

We believe we have invested in industry-appropriate protections and monitoring practices for our data and information technology to reduce these risks and continue to monitor our systems on an ongoing basis for compliance with applicable privacy regulations and any current or potential threats. While we have not experienced any material breaches in security in our recent history, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent breakdowns or breaches to databases or systems that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.operations, or that we will be subject to enforcement actions or penalties in connection with a failure or alleged failure to comply with applicable laws.

Our financial performance is affected by the availability of qualified personnel and the cost of labor. As of December 31, 2017,2018, we had approximately 21,00023,000 employees worldwide, including approximately 10,30010,900 employees in the U.S. and Canada. Approximately 1,020,1,120, or 10%, of our employees in the U.S. and Canada are unionized workers, and the majority of our workforce in other countries belong to work councils or are otherwise subject to labor agreements. U.S. and Canada employees represented by these unions are subject to collective bargaining agreements that are subject to periodic negotiation and renewal. If we are unable to enter into new, satisfactory labor agreements with our unionized employees upon expiration of their agreements, we could experience a significant disruption of our operations, which could cause us to be unable to deliver products to customers on a timely basis. Such disruptions could result in a loss of business and an increase in our operating expenses, which could reduce our net revenues and profit margins. In addition, our non-unionized labor force may become subject to labor union organizing efforts, which could cause us to incur additional labor costs and increase the related risks that we now face.

We believe many of our direct and indirect suppliers also have unionized workforces. Strikes, work stoppages, or slowdowns experienced by suppliers could result in slowdowns or closures of facilities where components of our products are manufactured or delivered. Any interruption in the production or delivery of these components could reduce sales, increase costs, and have a material adverse effect on us.

Our products and markets are subject to extensive and complex local, state, federal, and foreign statutes, ordinances, rules, and regulations. These mandates, including building design and safety and construction standards and zoning requirements, affect the cost, selection, and quality requirements of building components like windows and doors.

These regulations often provide broad discretion to governmental authorities as to the types and quality specifications of products used in new residential and non-residential construction and home renovations and improvement projects, and different governmental authorities can impose different standards. Compliance with these standards and changes in such regulations may increase the costs of manufacturing our products or may reduce the demand for certain of our products in the affected geographical areas or product markets. Conversely, a decrease in product safety standards could reduce demand for our more modern products if

In addition, in order for our products to obtain the “ENERGY STAR” certification, they must meet certain requirements set by the EPA. Changes in the energy efficiency requirements established by the EPA for the ENERGY STAR label, such as those announced in August 2018, could increase our costs, and a lapse in our ability to label our products as such or to comply with the new standards, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Many of our products comply with the federal government’s ENERGY STAR program. We believe that marketing our products with the ENERGY STAR label gives us a competitive advantage as compared to competing products that are not labeled as ENERGY STAR products. The current U.S. presidential administration has recently proposed discontinuing or privatizing the use of the ENERGY STAR program. Eliminating or privatizing the ENERGY STAR program could eliminatediminish any competitive advantage for ENERGY STAR compliant products and result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to a variety of regulations from U.S. federal, state, and local governments, as well as foreign governmental authorities relating to wage requirements, employee benefits, and other workplace matters. Changes in local minimum or living wage requirements, rights of employees to unionize, healthcare regulations, and other requirements relating to employee benefits could increase our labor costs, which would in turn increase our cost of doing business. In addition, our international operations are subject to laws applicable to foreign operations, trade protection measures, foreign labor relations, differing intellectual property rights, privacy regulations, other legal and regulatory constraints, and currency regulations of the countries or regions in which we currently operate or where we may operate in the future. These factors may restrict the sales of, or increase costs of, manufacturing and selling our products.

Our past and present operations, assets, and products are subject to extensive environmental laws and regulations at the federal, state, and local level worldwide. These laws regulate, among other things, air emissions, the discharge or release of materials into the environment, the handling and disposal of wastes, remediation of contaminated sites, worker health and safety, and the impact of products on human health and safety and the environment. Under certain of these laws, liability for contaminated property may be imposed on current or former owners or operators of the property or on parties that generated or arranged for waste sent to the property for disposal. Liability under these laws may be joint and several and may be imposed without regard to fault or the legality of the activity giving rise to the contamination. Notwithstanding our compliance efforts we may still face material liability, limitations on our operations, fines, or penalties for violations of environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations, including releases of regulated materials and contamination by us or previous occupants at our current or former properties or at offsite disposal locations we use.

The applicable environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations, and any changes to them or in their enforcement, may require us to make material expenditures with respect to ongoing compliance with or remediation under these laws and regulations or require that we modify our products or processes in a manner that increases our costs and/or reduces our profitability. For example, additional pollution control equipment, process changes, or other environmental control measures may be needed at some of our facilities to meet future requirements. In addition, discovery of currently unknown or unanticipated soil or groundwater conditions at our properties could result in significant liabilities and costs. Accordingly, we are unable to predict the exact future costs of compliance with or liability under environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations.

Increasing regulations to reduce GHG emissions, areas proposed throughout all of our operating regions, would be expected to increase energy costs, increase price volatility for petroleum, and reduce petroleum production levels, which in turn could impact the prices of those raw materials. In addition, laws and regulations relating to forestry practices limit the volume and manner of harvesting timber to mitigate environmental impacts such as deforestation, soil erosion, damage to riparian areas, and GHG levels. The extent of these regulations and related compliance costs has grown in recent years and will increase our materials costs and may increase other aspects of our production costs.

Our markets are also affected by legislative and regulatory policies, such as U.S. tax rules allowing for deductions of mortgage interest and the mandate of government-sponsored entities like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to promote home ownership through mortgage guarantees on certain types of home loans. The Tax Act passed in the U.S. onin December 22, 2017 made significant changes to some of these historical benefits of home ownership. The specific changes which could affect our markets are, among others, (i) a reduction of the maximum amount of home mortgage indebtedness for which a tax deduction for interest paid may be claimed from $1 million to $750,000, (ii) an elimination of the deduction for interest paid on home equity indebtedness, and (iii) a limitation on the amount of state and local taxes which may be deducted annually as itemized deductions which may limit certain individuals’ deduction for local property taxes. These changes to the tax code and any future policy changes may adversely impact demand for our products and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The upcomingrecent midterm congressional elections in the U.S. could result in significant changes in, and uncertainty with respect to, legislation, regulation and government policy. While it is not possible to predict whether and when any such changes will occur, changes at the local, state orand federal level could significantly impact our business. Specific legislative and regulatory proposals discussed during and after the election that could have a material impact on us include, but are not limited to, infrastructure renewal programs; changes to immigration policy; modifications to international trade policy, including withdrawingrenegotiation of or withdrawal from trade agreements; the imposition of tariffs or trade restrictions; and changes to financial legislation and public company reporting requirements.

In addition, U.S. lawmakers have recently made substantial changes to U.S. fiscal and tax policies, including the adoption of the Tax Act. AAct, which introduced a variety of tax reforms that significantly impact U.S. taxation of multi-national corporations have recently taken effect through the passage of the Tax Act.corporations. These include, among others, reductions in the U.S. corporate tax rate, repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax, introduction of immediate cost recovery for capital investments, the limitation of the interest deduction, the limitation of certain deductions for

We operate manufacturing facilities in 1920 countries and sell our products in approximately 81100 countries around the world. As a result of the international nature of our operations, we may enter from time to time into negotiations and contractual arrangements with parties affiliated with foreign governments and their officials in the ordinary course of business. In connection with these activities, we may be subject to anti-corruption laws in various jurisdictions, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the “FCPA”, the U.K. Bribery Act and other anti-bribery laws applicable to jurisdictions where we do business

As we continue to expand our business globally, including through foreign acquisitions, we may have difficulty anticipating and effectively managing these and other risks that our international operations may face, which may adversely impact our business outside of the U.S. and our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any acquisition of businesses with operations outside of the U.S. may exacerbate this risk.

Our products are used in a wide variety of residential, non-residential, and architectural applications. We face the risk of exposure to product liability or other claims, including class action lawsuits, in the event our products are alleged to be defective or have resulted in harm to others or to property. We may in the future incur liability if product liability lawsuits against us are successful. Moreover, any such lawsuits, whether or not successful, could result in adverse publicity to us, which could cause our sales to decline materially. In addition, it may be necessary for us to recall defective products, which would also result in adverse publicity, as well as resulting in costs connected to the recall and loss of sales. We maintain insurance coverage to protect us against product liability claims, but that coverage may not be adequate to cover all claims that may arise or we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance coverage in the future at an acceptable cost. Any liability not covered by insurance could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition, consistent with industry practice, we provide warranties on many of our products and we may experience costs associated with warranty claims if our products have defects in manufacture or design or they do not meet contractual specifications. We estimate our future warranty costs based on historical trends and product sales, but we may fail to accurately estimate those costs and thereby fail to establish adequate warranty reserves for them. If warranty claims exceed our estimates, it may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and other contractual commitments, to protect our intellectual property rights. However, these measures may not be adequate or sufficient, and third parties may not always respect these legal protections even if they are aware of them. In addition, our competitors may develop similar technologies and know-how without violating our intellectual property rights.

Litigation may be necessary to protect our intellectual property rights. Intellectual property litigation can result in substantial costs, could distract our management, and could impinge upon other resources. Our failure to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights may cause us to lose brand recognition and result in a decrease in sales of our products.

Moreover, while we are not aware that any of our products or brands infringes upon the proprietary rights of others, third parties may make such claims in the future. From time to time, third parties may claim that we have infringed upon their intellectual property rights and we may receive notices from such third parties asserting such claims. Any such infringement claims are thoroughly investigated and, regardless of merit, could be time-consuming and result in costly litigation or damages, undermine the exclusivity and value of our brands, decrease sales, or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements that may not be on acceptable terms and that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The success of our business depends upon the skills, experience, and efforts of our key officers and employees. In recent years, we have hired a large number of key executives who have and will continue to be integral in the continuing transformation of our business. The loss of key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We do not maintain key-man life insurance policies on any members of management. Our business also depends on our ability to continue to recruit, train, and retain skilled employees, particularly skilled sales personnel. The loss of the services of any key personnel, or our inability to hire new personnel with the requisite skills, could impair our ability to develop new products or enhance existing products, sell products to our customers or manage our business effectively. Should we lose the services of any member of our senior management team, our board of directors would have to conduct a search for a qualified replacement. This search may be prolonged, and we may not be able to locate and hire a qualified replacement. A significant increase in the wages paid by competing employers could result in a reduction of our qualified labor force, increases in the wage rates that we must pay, or both.

Although we have closed our U.S. pension plan to new participants and have frozen future benefit accruals for current participants, we continue to have unfunded obligations under that plan. The funded levels of our pension plan depend upon many factors, including returns on invested assets, certain market interest rates, and the discount rate used to determine pension obligations. The projected benefit obligation and unfunded liability included in our consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 20172018 for our U.S. pension plan were approximately $435.7$383.9 million and $95.9$81.2 million, respectively. Unfavorable returns on the plan assets or unfavorable changes in applicable laws or regulations could materially change the timing and amount of required plan funding, which would reduce the cash available for our operations. In addition, a decrease in the discount rate used to determine pension obligations could increase the estimated value of our pension obligations, which would affect the reported funding status of our pension plans and would require us to increase the amounts of future contributions. Additionally, we have foreign defined benefit plans, some of which continue to be open to new participants. As of December 31, 2017,2018, our foreign defined benefit plans had unfunded pension liabilities of approximately $22.2$31.6 million and overfunded pension assets of approximately $1.9$1.5 million.

Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or “ERISA”, the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or the “PBGC”, also has the authority to terminate an underfunded tax-qualified U.S. pension plan under certain circumstances. In the event our tax-qualified U.S. pension plans were terminated by the PBGC, we could be liable to the PBGC for an amount that exceeds the underfunding disclosed in our consolidated financial statements. In addition, because our U.S. pension plan has unfunded obligations, if we have a substantial cessation of operations at a U.S. facility and, as a result of such cessation of operations an event under ERISA Section 4062(e) is triggered, additional liabilities that exceed the amounts disclosed in our consolidated financial statements could arise, including an obligation for us to provide additional contributions or alternative security for a period of time after such an event occurs. Any such action could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Generally accepted accounting principles and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to our business, such as revenue recognition, asset impairment, impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets, inventories, lease obligations, self-insurance, tax matters, and litigation, are highly complex and involve many subjective assumptions, estimates, and judgments. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates, or judgments could significantly change our reported results.

Under the terms of the ABL Facility, we will at times be required to comply with a specified fixed charge coverage ratio when the amount of certain unrestricted cash balances of the U.S. and Canadian loan parties plus the amount available for borrowing by the U.S. borrowers and Canadian borrowers is less than a specified amount. The Australia Senior Secured Credit Facility and Euro Revolving

In addition, our ability to borrow under the ABL Facility is limited by the amount of the borrowing base applicable to U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar borrowings. Any negative impact on the elements of our borrowing base, such as eligible accounts receivable and inventory, will reduce our borrowing capacity under the ABL Facility. Moreover, the ABL Facility provides discretion to the agent bank acting on behalf of the lenders to impose additional requirements on what accounts receivable and inventory may be counted toward the borrowing base availability and to impose other reserves, which could materially impair the amount of borrowings that would otherwise be available to us. There can be no assurance that the agent bank will not impose such reserves or, were it to do so, that the resulting impact of this action would not materially and adversely impair our liquidity.

As a result of these covenants and restrictions, we are limited in how we conduct our business, and we may be unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities or engage in other activities that may be in our long-term best interests. The terms of any future indebtedness we may incur could include more

If there were an event of default under the credit agreements governing our Credit Facilities, the indenture governing the Senior Notes, or other indebtedness that we may incur, the holders of the defaulted indebtedness could cause all amounts outstanding with respect to that indebtedness to be immediately due and payable. It is likely that our cash flows would not be sufficient to fully repay borrowings under our Credit Facilities and principal amount of the Senior Notes, if accelerated upon an event of default. If we are unable to repay, refinance, or restructure our secured debt, the holders of such indebtedness may proceed against the collateral securing that indebtedness.

Our liquidity needs vary throughout the year. If our business experiences materially negative unforeseen events, we may be unable to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to fund our needs or maintain sufficient liquidity to operate and remain in compliance with our debt covenants, which could result in reduced or delayed purchases of raw materials, planned capital expenditures and other investments and adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations. Our ability to borrow under the ABL Facility may be limited due to decreases in the borrowing base as described above.

We may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future. Although the covenants under the credit agreements governing our Credit Facilities and indenture governing the Senior Notes provide certain restrictions on our ability to incur additional debt, the terms of such agreements permit us to incur significant additional indebtedness. To the extent that we incur additional indebtedness, the risk associated with our substantial indebtedness described above, including our possible inability to service our indebtedness, will increase.

Our share price may be volatile and, in the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Litigation of this type could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any adverse determination in litigation could also subject us to significant liabilities.

Onex beneficially owns approximately 32.9 million shares of our common stock representing approximately 31.0%32.4% of our outstanding shares. Although we are no longer a controlled company, Onex will continue to be able to influence matters requiring approval by our shareholders and/or our board of directors, including the election of directors and the approval of business combinations or dispositions and other extraordinary transactions. They may also have interests that differ from other shareholders and may vote in a way with which other shareholders disagree and which may be adverse to their interests. The concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying, preventing, or deterring a change of control of our company, could deprive our shareholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their common stock as part of a sale of our company and may materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock. In addition, Onex may in the future own businesses that directly compete with ours. Further, for so long as Onex owns at least 5% of our outstanding shares, Onex has the right to purchase its pro rata portion of the primary shares offered in any future public offering. This right could result in Onex continuing to maintain a substantial ownership of our common stock.

Two of our twelveeleven directors are affiliated with Onex. These persons have fiduciary duties to both us and Onex. As a result, they may have real or apparent conflicts of interest on matters affecting both us and Onex, which in some circumstances may have interests adverse to ours. Onex is in the business of making or advising on investments in companies and may hold, and may from time to time in the future acquire, interests in, or provide advice to, businesses that directly or indirectly compete with certain portions of our business or that are suppliers or customers of ours. In addition, as a result of Onex’ ownership interest, conflicts of

In addition, our restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” will not apply with respect to us, to Onex or certain related parties or any of our directors who are employees of Onex or its affiliates in a manner that would prohibit them from investing in competing businesses or doing business with our customers. To the extent they invest in such other businesses, Onex may have differing interests than our other shareholders.

As a public company, we are required to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We are required to makemade our first annual assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act with our Form 10-Kannual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 20172018 and will be required to includeincluded an auditor attestation on management’s internal controls report in with ourthis Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.10-K. If we fail to abide by the applicable requirements of Section 404, regulatory authorities, such as the SEC, might subject us to sanctions or investigation, and our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to certify as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to an audit of our controls. Even effective internal controls can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements. Accordingly, our internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements because of their inherent limitations, including the possibility of human error, the circumvention or overriding of controls, or fraud.

While we continue to address these material weaknesses and to strengthen our overall internal control over financial reporting, we may discover other material weaknesses going forward that could result in inaccurate reporting of our financial condition or results of operations. In addition, neither our management nor any independent registered public accounting firm has ever performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act because no such evaluation has been required. Had we or our independent registered public accounting firm performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, additional material weaknesses may have been identified. Inadequate internal control over financial reporting may cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. Any loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements or other negative reaction to our failure to develop timely or adequate disclosure controls and procedures or internal controls could result in a decline in the price of our common stock and may restrict access to the capital markets and may adversely affect the price of our common stock.

The sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, including sales by Onex, could materially adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock. As of December 31, 2017,2018, we had 105,990,483101,310,862 shares of common stock outstanding.

Shares held by Onex and certain of our directors, officers and existing shareholders are eligible for resale, subject to volume, manner of sale and other limitations under Rule 144. In addition, pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement (as defined below), each have the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to register the sale of shares owned by such persons under the federal securities laws. By exercising their registration rights, and selling a large number of shares, these holders could cause the prevailing market price of our common stock to decline. In addition, shares issued or issuable upon exercise of options and vested RSUs and PSUs will be eligible for sale from time to time.

Our employees, officers, and directors may elect to sell shares of our common stock in the public market. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could depress the market price of our common stock and impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities.

The ESOP and the JELD-WEN, Inc. KSOP (“KSOP”), are designed as a tax-qualified retirement plans and employee stock ownership plans under the Code. Participants whose employment with us or our subsidiaries is terminated are entitled to receive distributions of accounts held under the ESOP and KSOP at specified times and in specified forms. In addition, each plan permits diversification of our common stock held in participants’ accounts. The ESOP and KSOP may sell shares in the open market to fund hardship distributions and diversifications or participants may sell shares received as part of their distributions. In the year ended December 31, 2017, 709,6702018, 644,054 shares were either sold by the plans to cover cash distributions and diversifications or distributed to participants.

In the future, we may issue securities to raise cash for acquisitions or otherwise. We may also acquire interests in other companies by using a combination of cash and our common stock or just our common stock. 

We may also issue securities convertible into our common stock. Any of these events may dilute your ownership interest in our company and have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock.

The trading market for our common stock can be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts and we cannot provide any assurance that analysts will cover us or provide favorable coverage. If any of the analysts who may cover us adversely change their recommendation regarding our stock, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, our stock price could decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation, and expansion of our business and have no current plans to declare or pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, the terms of our Credit Facilities, Senior Notes and any future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, we expect that only appreciation of the price of our common stock, if any, will provide a return to shareholders for the foreseeable future.

We have also opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL, which, subject to some exceptions, prohibits business combinations between a Delaware corporation and an interested shareholder, which is generally defined as a shareholder who becomes a beneficial owner of 15% or more of a Delaware corporation’s voting stock for a three-year period following the date that the

These anti-takeover defenses could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other shareholders to elect directors of your choosing and cause us to take corporate actions other than those you desire.

Our restated certificate of incorporation provides, unless we consent to an alternative forum, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if such court does not have jurisdiction, the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, or, if such other court does not have jurisdiction, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware) shall be the exclusive forum for any claims, including claims on behalf of JWH, brought by a shareholder (i) that are based upon a violation of a duty by a current or former director or officer or shareholder in such capacity or (ii) as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction upon the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware. This provision may limit a shareholder’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 other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the provision contained in our restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We are a holding company that conducts all of our operations through subsidiaries and the majority of our operating income is derived from JWI, our main operating subsidiary. Consequently, we rely on dividends or advances from our subsidiaries. We have no current plans to declare or pay dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future; however, to the extent that we determine in the future to pay dividends on our common stock, none of our subsidiaries will be obligated to make funds available to us for the payment of dividends. The ability of such subsidiaries to pay dividends to us is subject to applicable local law and may be limited due to terms of other contractual arrangements, including our indebtedness. Such laws and restrictions would restrict our ability to continue operations. In addition, Delaware law may impose requirements that may restrict our ability to pay dividends to holders of our common stock.

The key components of our net revenues include core net revenues (which we define to include the impact of pricing and volume/mix, as discussed further under the heading, “Product Pricing and Volume/Mix” below), contribution from acquisitions made within the prior twelve months, and the impact of foreign exchange. Our core net revenues are impacted by the relative and fluctuating currency values in the geographies in which we operate, which we refer to as the impact of foreign exchange. Throughout this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, percentage changes in pricing are based on management schedules and are not derived directly from our accounting records.

The price and mix of products that we sell are important drivers of our net revenues and net income. Under the heading “-Results“Results of Operations” references to (i) “pricing” refer to the impact of price increases or decreases, as applicable, for particular products between periods and (ii) “volume/mix” refer to the combined impact of both the number of products we sell in a particular period and the types of products sold, in each case, on net revenues and net income.revenues. While we operate in competitive markets, pricing discipline is an important element of our strategy to achieve profitable growth through improved margins. Our strategies also include incentivizing our channel partners to sell our higher margin products, and we believe a renewed focus on innovation and the development of new technologies will increase our sales volumes and the overall profitability of our product mix.

Commodities such as vinyl extrusions, glass, aluminum, wood, steel, plastics, fiberglass, and other composites are major components in the production of our products. Changes in the underlying prices of these commodities have a direct impact on the cost of products sold. While we attempt to pass on a substantial portion of such cost increases to our customers, we may not be successful in doing so. In addition, our results of operations for individual quarters may be negatively impacted by a delay between the time of raw material cost increases and a corresponding price increase. Conversely, our results of operations for individual quarters may be positively impacted by a delay between the time of a raw material price decrease and a corresponding competitive pricing decrease.

Working capital, which is defined as accounts receivable plus inventory less accounts payable, fluctuates throughout the year and is affected by seasonality of sales of our products and of customer payment patterns. The peak season for home construction and remodeling in our North America and Europe segments, which represent the substantial majority of our revenues, generally corresponds with the second and third calendar quarters, and therefore our sales volume is usually higher during those

Following our IPO, we have incurred, and will continue to incur, additional legal, accounting, board compensation, and other expenses that we did not previously incur, including costs associated with SEC, reporting and corporate governance requirements, and other requirements associated with operating as a public company. These requirements include compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, as well as other rules implemented by the SEC and the national securities exchanges. Our financial statements following our IPO reflect the impact of these expenses.

SG&A expenses consist primarily of research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses.

Impairment and restructuring costs consist primarily of all salary-related severance benefits that are accrued and expensed when a restructuring plan has been put into place, the plan has received approval from the appropriate level of management and the benefit is probable and reasonably estimable. In addition to salary-related costs, we incur other restructuring costs when facilities are closed or capacity is realigned within the organization. Upon termination of an employment or commercial contract we record

Other income (expense), net includes profit and losses related to various miscellaneous non-operating expenses including loss on extinguishment of debt and certain foreign currency related gains and losses.

Income taxes are recorded using the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the deferred tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities due to a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the date of enactment. We recognize the effect of income tax positions only if those positions are more likely than not of being sustained. Recognized income tax positions are measured at the largest amount that is greater than 50% likely of being realized. Changes in recognition or measurement are reflected in the period in which the change in judgment occurs. We record interest related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. As of December 31, 2017,2018, our U.S. federal, state, and foreign net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards were $1,450.1$1,477.7 million in the aggregate and $106.5$85.6 million of such NOL carryforwards do not expire.