Enerpac Tool Group (EPAC) Risk Factors

We are subject to income taxes in the United States and in various foreign jurisdictions. Domestic and international tax liabilities are subject to the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. Our effective tax rate could be adversely affected by changes in tax law (including a potential increase in the U.S. federal income tax rate or increased tariffs on goods imported into the U.S.), the mix of earnings among countries with differing statutory tax rates, or changes in the valuation allowance of deferred tax assets.

We expect sales from and into foreign markets to continue to represent a significant portion of our revenue. In addition, many of our manufacturing operations and suppliers are located outside the United States, including China, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Our sales and operating activities outside of the U.S. are, and will continue to be, subject to a number of risks, including: - unfavorable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;- adverse changes in foreign tax, legal and regulatory requirements;- export and import restrictions and controls on repatriation of cash;- political and economic instability;- difficulty in protecting intellectual property;- government embargoes, tariffs and trade protection measures, such as "anti-dumping" duties applicable to classes of products, and import or export licensing requirements, as well as the imposition of trade sanctions against a class of products imported from or sold and exported to, or the loss of "normal trade relations" status with, countries in which we conduct business, that could significantly increase our cost of products or otherwise reduce our sales and harm our business;- cultural norms and expectations that may sometimes be inconsistent with our Code of Conduct and our requirements about the manner in which our employees, agents and distributors conduct business;- differing labor regulations; and - acts of hostility, terror or war. Our operations outside the United States require us to comply with a number of United States and international regulations. For example, we are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the "FCPA"), which prohibits United States companies or their agents and employees from providing anything of value to a foreign official for the purposes of influencing any act or decision of these individuals in their official capacity to help obtain or retain business, direct business to any person or corporate entity, or obtain any unfair advantage. Our activities in countries outside the United States create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by one of our employees or agents that could be in violation of the FCPA, even though these parties are not always subject to our control. We have internal control policies and procedures and have implemented training and compliance programs with respect to the FCPA. However, we cannot assure that our policies, procedures and programs always will protect us from reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees or agents. In the event that we believe or have reason to believe that our employees or agents have or may have violated applicable anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA, we may be required to investigate or have outside counsel investigate the relevant facts and circumstances. In addition, we are subject to and must comply with all applicable export controls and economic sanctions laws and embargoes imposed by the United States and other various governments. Changes in export control or trade sanctions laws may restrict our business practices, including cessation of business activities in sanctioned countries or with sanctioned entities, and may result in modifications to compliance programs and increase compliance costs, and violations of these laws or regulations may subject us to fines, penalties and other sanctions, such as loss of authorizations needed to conduct aspects of our international business or debarments from export privileges. Violations of the FCPA or export controls or sanctions laws and regulations may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, and we may be subject to other liabilities, which could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We intend to continue to pursue international growth opportunities, which could increase our exposure to risks associated with international sales and operations. As we expand our international operations, we may also encounter new risks that could adversely affect our revenues and profitability. Failure to properly manage these risks could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, United States tax reform has significantly changed how foreign operations are taxed in the United States. Therefore, we continue to review our organizational structure, and changes to where income is generated, which changes may have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and results of operations.

Our ability to develop innovative new products can affect our competitive position and often requires the investment of significant resources. Difficulties or delays in research, development, production or commercialization of new products, or failure to gain market acceptance of new products and technologies, may reduce future sales and adversely affect our competitive position. There can be no assurance that we will have sufficient resources to make such investments, that we will be able to make the technological advances necessary to maintain competitive advantages or that we can recover major research and development expenses. If we fail to make innovations, launch products with quality problems, experience development cost overruns, or the market does not accept our new products, then our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and liquidity could be adversely affected.

Increased global cybersecurity threats, computer viruses and more sophisticated and targeted cyber-related attacks, as well as cybersecurity failures resulting from human error, vulnerabilities and technological errors, including the errors of third-party software providers, pose a risk to our systems, including third-party vendor operated systems, operations and products and potentially those of our business partners. An attack also could result in losses due to an inability to recover lost data, software and key documentation, ransomware payments, security breaches, theft, lost or corrupted data, misappropriation of sensitive, confidential or personal data or information, loss of trade secrets and commercially valuable information, reputational harm, including loss of confidence by our customers, suppliers and employees in our ability to adequately protect their information, fines, production downtimes and operational disruptions. The development and adoption of generative artificial intelligence ("AI") technologies exacerbates these risks and may give rise to new tools for threat actors to attack and disrupt our systems. We attempt to mitigate these risks by employing measures including employee training, network monitoring and testing, maintenance of protective systems, contingency planning, and the engagement of third-party experts, but we remain potentially vulnerable to additional known or unknown threats. We anticipate that meaningful investments in our operating technology infrastructure will be necessary as we continue to evaluate our vulnerabilities and take actions to safeguard our systems. Further, while we currently maintain insurance coverage that, subject to its terms and conditions, is intended to address costs associated with certain aspects of cybersecurity incidents and information systems failures, this insurance coverage may not, depending on the specific facts and circumstances surrounding an incident, cover all losses or all types of claims that arise from an incident, or the damage to our reputation that may result from an incident. There is no assurance the financial or operational impact from such threats or events will not be material.

Our ability to deliver financial results and drive growth and pursue competitive advantages in our business substantially depends on our ability to retain key employees and continually attract new talent to the business. If we experience losses of key employees, such as our executives, or experience significant delays or difficulty in replacing them, our operations, competitive position and financial results may be adversely affected. Competition for highly qualified personnel is intense, and our competitors and other employers may attempt to hire our skilled and key employees. Additionally, we need qualified managers and skilled employees with technical and manufacturing industry experience to operate our businesses successfully. From time to time there may be shortages of skilled labor which may make it more difficult and expensive for us to attract and retain qualified employees or lead to increased labor costs.

We rely on our supply chain for components and raw materials to manufacture our products and provide services to our customers, and this reliance could have an adverse impact on our business and operating results. We may experience a reduction or interruption in supply due to factors beyond our control, including as a result of geopolitical conflicts and the imposition of international sanctions in response thereto, a significant natural disaster, pandemics, or shortages in global freight capacity. Our vendors may be unable or unwilling to meet our demand for raw materials or components, or significantly increase lead times for deliveries, which may be unable to offset through alternate sources of supply, Further, vendors may impose significant increases in the price of critical components and raw materials that we may be unable to pass along to our customers. In addition, a failure by us to appropriately forecast or adjust our requirements for components or raw materials based on our business needs and volatility in demand for our products may impact our ability to timely procure raw materials and components necessary to maintain desired productivity in our operations. These supply chain issues could materially adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition and could materially damage customer relationships. We procure certain components for our products from single or limited suppliers. In the event of supply disruptions from these suppliers, we may not be able to diversify our supply base for such components in a timely manner or may experience quality issues with alternate sources. Further, we procure a significant portion of our components from suppliers located in China, and we are therefore exposed to potential disruptions in deliveries from these suppliers due to political tensions with China, geopolitical risks, government-mandated facility closures in China, energy shortages or other causes. Our growth and ability to meet customer demand depend in large part on our ability to obtain timely deliveries of components and raw materials from our suppliers, and significant disruptions in their supply could materially adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition and could materially damage customer relationships. We have in the recent past experienced supply shortages and inflationary pressures for certain components and raw materials that were important to our manufacturing process due to a number of the factors described above. Growth in the global economy may exacerbate these pressures on us and our suppliers, and we expect these supply chain challenges and cost impacts may continue to impact us in the future. Although we have generally secured additional supply from existing or alternate suppliers or taken other mitigating actions when such disruptions have occurred in past periods, there is no guarantee we can continue to do so in the future, and our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be adversely affected. When facing component supply-related challenges, we may also increase our inventories and purchase commitments to shorten lead times and increase the likelihood of maintaining adequate inventories to meet customer expectations. If the demand for our products is less than our expectations or if we otherwise fail to anticipate customer demand properly, an oversupply of components could result in inventory levels that could also lead to significant excess and obsolete inventory charges and adversely affect our operating and financial results.

Our business generally faces substantial competition, domestically and internationally, in our end markets. We may lose market share in certain businesses or be forced to reduce prices or incur increased costs to maintain existing business. We compete globally on the basis of product design, quality, availability, performance and customer service. Present or future competitors in our markets may have new technologies or more attractive products and services or greater financial, technical or other resources which could put us at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, some of our competitors may be willing to reduce prices and accept lower margins to compete with us.