Allient (ALNT) Risk Factors

Our ability to service our indebtedness depends on our financial performance, which is affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, regulatory and other factors. Some of these factors are beyond our control. Our debt level and related debt service obligations can have negative consequences, including requiring us to dedicate significant cash flow from operations to the payment of principal and interest on our debt, which reduces the funds we have available for other purposes such as acquisitions and capital investment; reducing our flexibility in planning for or reacting to changes in our business and market conditions; and exposing us to interest rate risk since a portion of our debt obligations are at variable rates. In addition, certain of our indebtedness will have significant outstanding principal balances on their maturity dates, commonly known as balloon payments. Therefore, we will likely need to refinance at least a portion of our outstanding debt as it matures. We may incur more debt in the future, particularly to finance acquisitions, and there can be no assurance that our cost of funding will not substantially increase. Our existing credit agreements contain, and any future debt agreements we may enter into may contain, certain financial tests and other covenants that limit our ability to incur indebtedness, pay dividends, acquire other businesses and impose various other restrictions. If we breach any of the covenants and do not obtain a waiver from the lenders, the outstanding indebtedness could be declared immediately due and payable. If we are unable to obtain sufficient capital in the future, we may have to curtail our capital expenditures and other expenses. Any such actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

To date, we have been able to access debt and equity financing that has allowed us to make investments in growth opportunities and fund working capital requirements. In addition, we enter into financial transactions to hedge certain risks, including foreign exchange and interest rate risk. Our continued access to capital markets, the stability of our lenders and their willingness to support our needs, and the stability of the parties to our financial transactions that hedge risks are essential for us to meet our current and long-term obligations, fund operations, and fund our strategic initiatives. An interruption in our access to external financing or financial transactions to hedge risk could affect our business prospects and financial condition.

Natural disasters, pandemics, acts or threats of war or terrorism, international conflicts, political instability, and the actions taken by governments could cause damage to or disrupt our business operations, our suppliers or our customers, and could create economic instability. Although it is not possible to predict such events or their consequences, these events could decrease demand for our products or make it difficult or impossible for us to deliver products.

We rely on patents, trademarks and proprietary knowledge and technology, both internally developed and acquired, in order to maintain a competitive advantage. Our inability to defend against the unauthorized use of these rights and assets could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Litigation may be necessary to protect our intellectual property rights or defend against claims of infringement. This litigation could result in significant costs and divert our management's focus away from operations.

We rely extensively on information technology ("IT") systems for the storage, processing, and transmission of our electronic, business-related information assets used in or necessary to conduct business. We leverage our internal information technology infrastructures, and those of our business partners, to enable, sustain, and support our global business activities. In addition, we rely on networks and services, including internet sites, data hosting and processing facilities and tools and other hardware, software and technical applications and platforms, some of which are managed,hosted, provided and/or used by third-parties or their vendors, to assist in conducting our business. All third parties contracted by the Company have been vetted and have significant reputations in the industry. As such, controls from the third party vendors have been deemed to be adequate prior to any goods or services having been provided. The data we store, and process may include customer payment information, personal information concerning our employees, confidential financial information, and other types of sensitive business-related information. Numerous and evolving cybersecurity threats pose potential risks to the security of our IT systems, networks and services, as well as the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our technology systems and data. In addition, the laws and regulations governing security of data on IT systems are evolving and adding another layer of complexity in the form of new requirements. In the past, we have had cybersecurity incidents and we have made, and continue to make investments, seeking to address these threats, including monitoring of networks and systems, hiring of experts to evaluate and test our systems, employee training and security policies for employees and third-party providers. The frequency and the techniques used in these attacks have increased significantly and may be difficult to detect for periods of time and we may face difficulties in anticipating and implementing adequate preventative measures. While the breaches of our IT systems to date have not been material to our business or results of operations, the costs of attempting to protect our IT systems and data will increase, and there can be no assurance that these added security efforts will prevent all breaches of our IT systems or thefts of our data. If our IT systems are damaged or cease to function properly, the networks or service providers we rely upon fail to function properly, or we or one of our third-party providers suffer a loss or disclosure of our business or stakeholder information due to any number of causes ranging from catastrophic events or power outages to improper data handling or security breaches (including ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, a malicious website, the use of social engineering and other means to affect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our technology systems and data) and our business continuity plans do not effectively address these failures on a timely basis, we may be exposed to potential disruption in operations, loss of customers, reputational, competitive and business harm as well as significant costs from remediation, ransom payments, litigation and regulatory actions. We are also subject to an increasing number of evolving data privacy and security laws and regulations. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in the imposition of fines, penalties and other costs. The European Union ("EU") and United Kingdom's General Data Protection Regulations and the EU's pending ePrivacy Regulation could disrupt our ability to sell products and solutions or use and transfer data because such activities may not be in compliance with applicable laws. Additionally, cybersecurity incidents related to export control technology information of our Aerospace & Defense customers could subject us to additional reporting requirements, could disrupt our ability to sell products to those customers and could subject us to additional costs, penalties, and fines all of which may be material to our operating results. The Board of Directors and Audit Committee are responsible for information security oversight and the Audit Committee is comprised entirely of independent directors. Additionally, two members of the Company's Board of Directors have relevant information security and cybersecurity experience. As part of their oversight, senior leadership meets with the Audit Committee at least annually to discuss information security and cybersecurity matters. Over the last three years, the Company has experienced one known information security breach, in connection with a ransomware incident that occurred in June 2021. Costs incurred related to the information security breach did not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021. However, as cybersecurity incidents continue to increase in scope, complexity, and frequency, we may be unable to prevent a significant incident in the future which may materially impact our results of operations. The Company regularly undertakes audits and evaluations (including to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-171 standards) and enhances its security framework based upon the results of those audits and evaluations. For new associates, and on an annual basis therefore the Company requires associates to take security awareness training and has an on-going phishing recognition training and testing programs.

Our distribution of taxable income is subject to domestic tax and, as a result of our significant manufacturing and sales presence in foreign countries, foreign tax. Our effective tax rate may be affected by shifts in our mix of earnings in countries with varying statutory tax rates, changes in reinvested foreign earnings, alterations to tax rates, regulations or interpretations and outcomes of any audits performed on previous tax returns.

Our worldwide operations are subject to environmental laws and regulations that impose various environmental controls on the manufacturing, transportation, storage, use and disposal of hazardous chemicals and other materials used in, and hazardous waste produced by the manufacturing of our products. Conditions relating to our historical operations may require expenditures for clean-up in the future and changes in environmental laws and regulations may impose costly compliance requirements on us or otherwise subject us to future liabilities. Additional or modified regulations relating to the manufacture, transportation, storage, use and disposal of materials used to manufacture our products or restricting disposal or transportation of our products may be imposed that may result in higher costs or lower operating results. In addition, we cannot predict the affect that additional or modified environmental regulations may have on us or our customers.