Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
As confidentially submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 20, 2020
This draft registration statement has not been publicly filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and all information herein remains strictly confidential.
Registration Statement No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
OPEN LENDING CORPORATION
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Delaware | 6141 | 82-3008583 | ||
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
1501 S. MoPac Expressway
Suite 450
Austin, TX
(512) 892-0400
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrants principal executive offices)
Open Lending Corporation
1501 S. MoPac Expressway
Suite 450
Austin, TX 78746
(512) 892-0400
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to:
Jocelyn M. Arel Michael J. Minahan Goodwin Procter LLP 100 Northern Avenue Boston, MA 02210 Tel: (617) 570-1000 |
John J. Flynn Chief Executive Officer Open Lending Corporation 1501 S. MoPac Expressway Austin, TX 78746 Tel: (512) 892-0400 |
Michael Kaplan Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 450 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10017 Tel: 212-450-4000 |
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after this Registration Statement becomes effective.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box: ☐
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | |||
Emerging growth company | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
| ||||||||
Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered |
Amount to be Registered(1) |
Proposed Offering Price |
Proposed Aggregate |
Amount of Registration Fee | ||||
Shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share |
$ | $ | $ | |||||
| ||||||||
|
(1) | Includes shares of common stock which the underwriters have the option to purchase |
(2) | Pursuant to Rule 457(c) under the Securities Act, and solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee, the proposed maximum offering price is $ , which is the average of the high and low prices of shares of our common stock on November [●], 2020 (such date being within five business days of the date that this registration statement was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC)) on The Nasdaq Stock Market. |
The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, or until this Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Information contained herein is subject to completion or amendment. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This prospectus shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED [●], 2020
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
OPEN LENDING CORPORATION
Shares of Common Stock
The selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are offering shares of common stock. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock by the selling stockholders pursuant to this prospectus. However, we will pay the expenses, other than underwriting discounts and commissions and certain expenses incurred by the selling stockholders in disposing of the securities, associated with the sale of securities pursuant to this prospectus.
Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbols LPRO. On , 2020, the closing price of our common stock was $ per share.
We are an emerging growth company, as that term is defined under the federal securities laws and, as such, are subject to certain reduced public company reporting requirements.
Investing in our securities involves risks that are described in the Risk Factors section beginning on page 10 of this prospectus.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of the securities to be issued under this prospectus or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Per share | Total | |||||||
Public offering price |
||||||||
Underwriting discount(1) |
||||||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to the selling stockholders |
(1) | See the section titled Underwriting beginning on page 107 for a description of the compensation payable to the underwriters. |
The selling stockholders have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional shares from the selling stockholders at the price to the public less the underwriting discount, at any time within 30 days of the date of this prospectus.
The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on , 2020.
The date of this prospectus is , 2020.
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Page | ||||
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iii | ||||
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5 | ||||
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10 | ||||
38 | ||||
39 | ||||
MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS |
40 | |||
65 | ||||
76 | ||||
83 | ||||
91 | ||||
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F-1 |
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to Open Lending, the Company, us, we, our and any related terms prior to the closing of the Business Combination are intended to mean Open Lending, LLC, a Texas limited liability company, and its consolidated subsidiaries, and after the closing of the Business Combination, Open Lending Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries.
In addition, in this document:
Active automotive lender means an automotive lender that issued at least one insured loan in the previous quarter.
Blocker means BRP Hold 11, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
Blocker Holder means Bregal Sagemount I, L.P., Blockers sole stockholder.
Business Combination means the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement.
Business Combination Agreement means the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of January 5, 2020, as may be amended, by and among Nebula, Open Lending, Blocker, Blocker Holder, Open Lending Corporation, Merger Sub LLC, Merger Sub Corp, and Shareholder Representative Services LLC.
Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
common stock means the common stock of Open Lending Corporation, par value $0.01 per share.
DGCL means the Delaware General Corporation Law.
Exchange Act means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Founder Shares means the shares of Nebula Class B Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
Founder Support Agreement means the Founder Support Agreement, dated as of January 5, 2020, by and among Nebula, Open Lending Corporation, Open Lending, and the holders of the Founder Shares, a copy of which is included as Exhibit 10.1 to Nebulas Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on January 6, 2020.
GAAP means United States generally accepted accounting principles.
Initial Stockholders means the holders of shares of Founder Shares.
Investor Rights Agreement means the Investor Rights Agreement entered into at the closing of the Business Combination by and among Nebula, Open Lending Corporation, Open Lending, certain persons and entities holding Open Lending Membership Units, and certain persons and entities holding Founder Shares, which is included as Exhibit 10.8 to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on June 16, 2020.
Investor Support Agreement means the Investor Support Agreement, dated as of January 5, 2020, by and among Nebula and certain Nebula stockholders, a form of which is included as Exhibit 10.2 to Nebulas Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on January 6, 2020.
IPO means Nebulas initial public offering of units, consummated on January 12, 2018.
i
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
JOBS Act means the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, as amended.
Merger Sub Corp means NBLA Merger Sub Corp., a Delaware corporation.
Merger Sub LLC means NBLA Merger Sub LLC, a Texas Limited Liability company.
NASDAQ means The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC.
Nebula refers to Nebula Acquisition Corporation, a Delaware corporation.
Nebula Class A Common Stock means Nebulas common stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
Nebula Common Stock means the Nebula Class A Common Stock and the Founder Shares, collectively.
OEM Captives means captive finance companies of Original Equipment Manufacturers.
Open Lending Membership Units means all issued and outstanding interests of Open Lending.
Open Lending Unitholders means the holders of all issued and outstanding interests of Open Lending.
PCAOB means the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Private Placement Warrants means the warrants to purchase Nebula Class A Common Stock purchased in a private placement in connection with the IPO.
prospectus means the prospectus included in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-239619) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
SEC means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Second Merger means the merger of Merger Sub LLC with and into Open Lending, with Open Lending surviving the Second Merger as a direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of ParentCo.
Securities Act means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Sponsor means Nebula Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
Tax Receivable Agreement means the Tax Receivable Agreement that was entered into at the closing of the Business Combination, by and among Nebula, ParentCo, Blocker, Blocker Holder, Open Lending, and each beneficiary, the form of which is included as Exhibit F to the Business Combination Agreement.
ii
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
We, the selling stockholders and the underwriters have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or any free writing prospectus we have prepared. We, the selling stockholders and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the securities offered hereby and only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. No dealer, salesperson or other person is authorized to give any information or to represent anything not contained in this prospectus or any related free writing prospectus. This prospectus is not an offer to sell securities, and it is not soliciting an offer to buy securities, in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front of those documents only, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale of a security. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.
For investors outside the United States: None of us, the selling stockholders nor the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the Class A ordinary shares and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States. See Underwriting.
This prospectus contains summaries of certain provisions contained in some of the documents described herein, but reference is made to the actual documents for complete information. All of the summaries are qualified in their entirety by the actual documents. Copies of some of the documents referred to herein have been filed, will be filed or will be incorporated by reference as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and you may obtain copies of those documents as described below under Where You Can Find More Information.
On June 10, 2020, Nebula Acquisition Corporation, our predecessor company, consummated the previously announced business combination (the Business Combination) with Open Lending, LLC., a Texas limited liability company pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of January 5, 2020 (as amended) and the parties named therein. Immediately upon the completion of the Business Combination and the other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, Open Lending became a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of Nebula Parent Corp., a Delaware corporation, changed its name to Open Lending Corporation (Open Lending Corporation or the Company).
iii
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
This summary highlights selected information from this prospectus and does not contain all of the information that is important to you in making an investment decision. This summary is qualified in its entirety by the more detailed information included elsewhere in this prospectus. Before making your investment decision with respect to our securities, you should carefully read this entire prospectus, including the information under Risk Factors, Open Lending Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and the financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.
The Company
Open Lending is a leading provider of lending enablement and risk analytics to credit unions, regional banks and OEM Captives. Our clients, collectively referred to herein as automotive lenders, make automotive consumer loans to underserved near-prime and non-prime borrowers by harnessing Open Lendings risk-based pricing models, powered by our proprietary data and real-time underwriting of automotive loan default insurance coverage from insurers. Since Open Lendings inception in 2000, we have facilitated over $8.0 billion in automotive loans, accumulating over 20 years of proprietary data and developing over two million unique risk profiles. We currently cater to approximately 340 active automotive lenders.
We specialize in risk-based pricing and modeling and provide automated decision-technology for automotive lenders throughout the United States. We believe that Open Lending addresses the financing needs of near-prime and non-prime borrowers, or borrowers with a credit bureau score between 560 and 699, who are underserved in the automotive finance industry. Traditional lenders focus on prime borrowers, where an efficient market has developed with interest rate competition that benefits borrowers. Independent finance companies focus on sub-prime borrowers. Borrowers that utilize the near-prime and non-prime automotive lending market have fewer lenders focused on loans with longer terms or higher advance rates. As a result, many near-prime and non-prime borrowers turn to sub-prime lenders, resulting in higher interest rate loan offerings than such borrowers credit profile often merits or warrants. Open Lending seeks to make this market more competitive, resulting in more attractive loan terms.
Our flagship product, Lenders Protection Program (LPP), enables automotive lenders to make loans that are largely insured against losses from defaults. We have been developing and advancing the proprietary underwriting models used by LPP for approximately 20 years. LPP provides significant benefits to our growing ecosystem of automotive lenders, automobile dealers and insurers.
A key element of LPP is the ability to facilitate risk-based interest rates that are appropriate for each loan and lender and electronically submitted to our automotive lenders within approximately five seconds after we receive a loan application. Our interest rate pricing is customized to each automotive lender, reflecting the cost of capital, loan servicing costs, loan acquisition costs, expected recovery rates and target return on assets of each automotive lender. Using Open Lendings risk models, we project monthly loan performance results, including expected losses and prepayments for automotive lenders that use LPP. The product of this process is a risk-based interest rate, inclusive of elements to recover all projected costs, program fees and insurance premiums, given the risk of the loan, to return a targeted return on asset goal.
We believe that our market opportunity is significant. The near-prime and non-prime automotive loan market is $250 billion annually, resulting in an approximate $14.6 billion annual revenue opportunity. Open Lending is currently serving less than 1% of this market, providing a significant growth opportunity.
1
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Recent Developments
The recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020 and declared a National Emergency by the President of the United States on March 13, 2020, has led to adverse impacts on the U.S. and global economies and created uncertainty regarding potential impacts on our operating results, financial condition and cash flows. The extent of the impact of COVID 19 on our operational and financial performance will depend on certain developments, including the duration and continued spread of the disease, the impact on our revenues which are generated with automobile lenders and insurance company partners and driven by consumer demand for automobiles and automotive loans, extended closures of businesses, continued high unemployment and the overall impact on our customer behavior, all of which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. We expect to have a short-term reduction in loan applications and certified loans and increased defaults, which will impact our revenues and subsequent recovery as the automotive finance industry and overall economy recover. We continue to closely monitor the current macro environment, particularly the impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on monetary and fiscal policies.
As of October 19, 2020, Open Lending redeemed all of its outstanding public warrants that had not been exercised as of October 13, 2020, which resulted in the exercise of 9,160,776 warrants for proceeds to us of $105.3 million and the redemption of 5,883 public warrants at a redemption price of $0.01 per warrant.
Open Lending facilitated 20,696 and 67,404 certified loans during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to 19,087 and 55,875 certified loans during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. Total revenue was $29.8 million and $69.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to $22.1 million and $66.8 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively.
Background
Open Lending Corporation, a Delaware corporation, was originally known as Nebula Parent Corp., a wholly-owned direct subsidiary of Nebula Acquisition Corporation (Nebula), a blank check company formed in Delaware on October 2, 2017, for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, without limitation as to business, industry or sector. Nebula completed its initial public offering of units on January 12, 2018, and on June 10, 2020, Nebula consummated the Business Combination, as a result of which Open Lending, LLC, a Texas limited liability company, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nebula Parent Corp. Upon the closing of the Business Combination, Nebula Parent Corp. changed its name to Open Lending Corporation.
Our common stock is currently listed on Nasdaq under the symbol LPRO.
The rights of holders of our common stock are governed by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws and the DGCL. See Description of Capital Stock.
Emerging Growth Company
Open Lending Corporation is an emerging growth company as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act). As such, the Company is eligible for and intends to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies for as long as it continues to be an emerging growth company, including (i) the exemption from the auditor attestation requirements with respect to internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) the exemptions from say-on-pay, say-on-frequency and say-on-golden parachute voting requirements and (iii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements.
2
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Open Lending Corporation will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the Company is deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which occurs, among other things, on the last day of the fiscal year in which the market value of the shares of its common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of June 30 of that fiscal year, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which it has total annual gross revenue of $1.07 billion or more during such fiscal year, (iii) the date on which it has issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in the prior three-year period or (iv) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of its common stock in its initial public offering.
Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section titled Risk Factors, that represent challenges that we face in connection with the successful implementation of our strategy and growth of our business.
Summary of the Material and Other Risks Associated with Our Business
| Our results of operations and continued growth depend on our ability to retain existing, and attract new, automotive lenders, OEM Captives and other financial institutions (collectively lending institutions). |
| A large percentage of revenue for Open Lending is concentrated with Open Lendings top ten automotive lenders, and the loss of one or more significant automotive lenders could have a negative impact on operating results. |
| Open Lendings results depend, to a significant extent, on the active and effective adoption of the LPP by automotive lenders. |
| Open Lending has partnered with two major insurance carriers that underwrite and insure the loans generated using the LPP. |
| Open Lendings financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by the impact of the global outbreak of the coronavirus. |
| Open Lending has experienced rapid growth, which may be difficult to sustain and which may place significant demands on its operational, administrative and financial resources. |
| If Open Lending experiences negative publicity, it may lose the confidence of automotive lenders and insurance carriers who use or partner with the LPP and Open Lendings business may suffer. |
| Privacy concerns or security breaches relating to the LPP could result in economic loss, damage Open Lendings reputation, deter users from using Open Lending products, and expose Open Lending to legal penalties and liability. |
| Changes in market interest rates could have an adverse effect on Open Lendings business. |
| The loss of the services of Open Lendings senior management could adversely affect Open Lendings business. |
| Open Lendings projections are subject to significant risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties. As a result, Open Lendings projected revenues, market share, expenses and profitability may differ materially from our expectations. Open Lending is subject to federal and state consumer protection laws. |
| Open Lendings industry is highly regulated and is undergoing regulatory transformation, which results in inherent uncertainty. Changing federal, state, and local laws, as well as changing regulatory enforcement policies and priorities, may negatively impact Open Lendings business. |
3
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
| Open Lendings management has limited experience in operating a public company. |
| We will incur significant increased expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on its business, financial condition and results of operations. |
| We may from time to time be subject to litigation and other claims. |
| Our ability to successfully operate the business will be largely depend upon the efforts of certain of our key personnel. The loss of such key personnel could negatively impact our operations and financial results. |
| Our principal stockholders and management control us and their interests may conflict with yours in the future. |
| We will be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for certain tax benefits we may claim, and the amounts of such payments could be significant. |
Corporate Information
The mailing address for our principal executive office is 1501 S. MoPac Expressway, Suite 450, Austin, TX 78746, and its telephone number is (512) 892-0400.
4
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
The following summary of the offering contains basic information about the offering and our common stock and is not intended to be complete. It does not contain all the information that may be important to you. For a more complete understanding of our common stock, please refer to the section titled Description of Capital Stock.
Sale of Common Stock
Common stock offered by the selling stockholders named herein |
shares of our common stock |
Common stock to be outstanding after this offering |
shares |
Option to purchase additional shares of common stock |
The selling stockholders have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an aggregate of shares of common stock. This option is exercisable, in whole or in part, within 30 days after the date of this prospectus. |
Use of Proceeds |
All of the shares of common stock offered by the selling stockholders pursuant to this prospectus will be sold by the selling stockholders for their respective accounts. We will not receive any of the proceeds from these sales. We will, however, bear the costs associated with the sale of shares by the selling stockholders, other than underwriting discounts and commissions. |
Nasdaq Ticker Symbol |
LPRO |
Risk Factors |
Any investment in the common stock offered hereby is speculative and involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the information set forth under Risk Factors elsewhere in this prospectus |
The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering:
| is based on 128,198,185 shares of common stock outstanding prior to this offering as of November 9, 2020; and |
| excludes 9,693,750 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity compensation plan. |
5
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA OF OPEN LENDING
The information presented below is derived from Open Lendings unaudited interim consolidated financial statements and audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019 and as of September 30, 2020 and the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017 and the balance sheet data as of December 31, 2019 and 2018. The information presented below should be read alongside Open Lendings consolidated financial statements and accompanying footnotes included elsewhere in this prospectus. Factors that materially affect the comparability of the data for 2018 through 2019 are discussed in Note 8, Revenue, in the footnotes to Open Lendings financial statements. You should read the following financial data together with Risks Related to Open Lendings Business, and Open Lending Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following table highlights key measures of Open Lendings financial condition and results of operations (dollars in thousands, except per unit amounts and operating data):
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
For the Years Ended December 31 | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
Summary of Operations |
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Program fees |
$ | 31,592 | $ | 26,407 | $ | 36,667 | $ | 25,044 | $ | 17,064 | ||||||||||
Profit share |
34,482 | 38,089 | 53,038 | 24,835 | 13,735 | |||||||||||||||
Claims administration service fees |
3,185 | 2,275 | 3,142 | 2,313 | 1,581 | |||||||||||||||
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Total revenue(1) |
69,259 | 66,771 | 92,847 | 52,192 | 32,380 | |||||||||||||||
Gross profit |
62,441 | 61,254 | 85,041 | 47,589 | 29,361 | |||||||||||||||
Operating income |
32,431 | 45,260 | 62,615 | 28,474 | 16,152 | |||||||||||||||
Change in fair value of contingent consideration |
(131,932 | ) | | | | | ||||||||||||||
Interest expense |
(7,980 | ) | (238 | ) | (322 | ) | (341 | ) | (418 | ) | ||||||||||
Net income (loss) before tax |
(107,381 | ) | 45,046 | 62,514 | 28,316 | 15,829 | ||||||||||||||
Provisions (benefits) for income tax |
5,385 | (58 | ) | (30 | ) | 37 | 59 | |||||||||||||
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Net income (loss)(2) |
(112,766 | ) | 45,104 | 62,544 | 28,279 | 15,770 | ||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) per common share(3) |
||||||||||||||||||||
Basic net income (loss) per common share |
(1.56 | ) | (1.78 | ) | (5.57 | ) | (2.21 | ) | (0.68 | ) | ||||||||||
Diluted net income (loss) per common share |
(1.56 | ) | (1.78 | ) | (5.57 | ) | (2.21 | ) | (0.68 | ) |
As of September 30, | As of December 31, | |||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | ||||||||||
Balance Sheet Data |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 115,153 | $ | 7,676 | $ | 11,072 | ||||||
Accounts receivable |
3,392 | 3,767 | 1,938 | |||||||||
Contract assets |
72,988 | 62,951 | | |||||||||
Unbilled revenue |
| | 8,468 | |||||||||
Deferred tax asset, net |
85,269 | | | |||||||||
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Total assets |
294,907 | 79,186 | 24,884 | |||||||||
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Total notes payable, net of debt issuance costs(4) |
158,814 | 3,313 | 5,797 | |||||||||
Total liabilities |
260,625 | 9,022 | 17,158 | |||||||||
Redeemable convertible preferred Series C units |
| 304,943 | 141,518 | |||||||||
Distribution to redeemable convertible preferred units |
40,475 | 11,058 | 9,066 | |||||||||
Distribution to preferred units |
52,900 | 14,064 | 10,289 | |||||||||
Distribution to common units |
42,005 | 9,736 | 7,065 |
6
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
(1) | Reflects the impact of Open Lendings adoption of Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (ASC 606) and related cost capitalization guidance, which was adopted by Open Lending on January 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective transition method. The adoption of ASC 606 resulted in an adjustment to retained earnings in Open Lendings consolidated balance sheet for the cumulative effect of applying the standard, which included presentation changes in the balance sheet and revenue impact in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income. As a result of the application of the modified retrospective transition method, Open Lendings prior period results within any future annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q will not be restated to reflect ASC 606. Refer to Note 8, Revenue, in the notes to Open Lendings financial statements. |
(2) | Net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was primarily attributable to a $(131.9) million in change in the estimated fair value of contingent consideration shares awarded as part of the business combination with Nebula on June 10, 2020. Given the share price performance milestones for the contingent consideration shares have all been met as of August 2020, net income beginning in the fourth quarter of 2020 and beyond will not be burdened by any changes to the fair value of the contingent consideration. |
(3) | The net loss per share was due to an adjustment to net income for the preferred dividend and the change in the fair value of the redeemable convertible preferred Series C units. |
(4) | Includes current and noncurrent portions of the term loan debt. For more discussion refer to Open Lending Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsLiquidity and Capital Resources elsewhere in this prospectus. |
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this prospectus may constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management teams expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words anticipate, believe, continue, could, estimate, expect, intends, may, might, plan, possible, potential, predict, project, should, would and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:
| the benefits of the Business Combination; |
| our financial performance; |
| changes in our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans; |
| the impact of the relative strength of the overall economy, including its effect on unemployment, consumer spending and consumer demand for automotive products; |
| the growth in loan volume from OEM Captives relative to that of other automotive lenders, and associated concentration of risks; |
| expansion plans and opportunities |
| compliance with an increasing and inconsistent body of complex laws and regulations, including with respect to data privacy, at the U.S. federal, state and local levels; |
| increased regulatory compliance burden and associated costs associated with the CFPB monitoring the loan origination and servicing sectors, and its recently issued rules; |
| our ability to obtain and maintain the appropriate state licenses; |
| changes in applicable laws or regulations; and |
| the outcome of any known and unknown litigation and regulatory proceedings. |
These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this prospectus, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, our actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. For a discussion of the risks involved in our business and investing in our common stock, see the section entitled Risk Factors.
You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in deciding whether to invest in our securities. As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, our actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include:
| the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted in connection with the Business Combination and transactions contemplated thereby; |
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| the ability to maintain the listing of our common stock on NASDAQ; |
| the risk that the Business Combination disrupts our current plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the transactions described herein; |
| our ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition and our ability to grow and manage growth profitably; |
| costs related to the Business Combination; |
| changes in applicable laws or regulations; |
| the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business; |
| the possibility that we may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and |
| other risks and uncertainties described in this prospectus, including those under the section entitled Risk Factors. |
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
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In addition to the other information contained in this prospectus, including the matters addressed under the heading Forward-Looking Statements, you should carefully consider the following risk factors in deciding whether to invest in our securities. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in these risk factors, alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may have a material adverse effect on the our business, reputation, revenue, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects, in which event the market price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment. Unless otherwise indicated, reference in this section and elsewhere in this prospectus to our business being adversely affected, negatively impacted or harmed will include an adverse effect on, or a negative impact or harm to, the business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations, revenue and our future prospects.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our results of operations and continued growth depend on our ability to retain existing, and attract new, automotive lenders.
A substantial majority of Open Lendings total revenue is generated from the transaction fees that it receives from its automotive lenders and the profit share that it receives from its insurance company partners in connection with loans made by automotive lenders to the owners or purchasers of used and new automobiles (the Consumers) using the LPP. Approximately 5% of the average loan balance on each loan originated is collected by Open Lending as revenue in transaction fees, profit-sharing with insurance companies and administrative fees for claims administration services provided to the insurance companies. If automotive lenders cease to use LPP to make loans, Open Lending will fail to generate future revenues. To attract and retain automotive lenders, Open Lending markets LPP to automotive lenders on the basis of a number of factors, including loan analytics, risk-based pricing, risk modeling and automated decision-technology, as well as integration, customer service, brand and reputation. Automotive lenders are able to leverage the geographic diversity of the loans they can originate through LPP with the simplicity of Open Lendings five-second all-inclusive loan offer generation. Automotive lenders, however, have alternative sources for internal loan generation, and they could elect to originate loans through those alternatives rather than through LPP. There is significant competition for existing automotive lenders. If Open Lending fails to retain any automotive lenders, and does not acquire new automotive lenders of similar size and profitability, it will have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business and future growth. There has been some turnover in automotive lenders, as well as varying activation rates and volatility in usage of the Open Lending platform by automotive lenders, and this may continue or even increase in the future. Agreements with automotive lenders are cancellable on thirty days notice and do not require any minimum monthly level of application submissions. If a significant number of existing automotive lenders were to use other competing platforms, thereby reducing their use of LPP, it would have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business and results of operations.
A large percentage of revenue for Open Lending is concentrated with Open Lendings top ten automotive lenders, and the loss of one or more significant automotive lenders could have a negative impact on operating results.
Open Lendings top ten automotive lenders (including certain groups of affiliated automotive lenders) accounted for 31% of the total loan origination amount over past three years. Open Lending expects to have significant concentration in Open Lendings largest automotive lender relationships for the foreseeable future. In the event that one or more of Open Lendings significant automotive lenders, or groups of automotive lenders terminate their relationships with Open Lending, the number of loans originated through LPP would decline, which would materially adversely affect Open Lendings business and, in turn, Open Lendings revenue.
In 2020 and 2021, Open Lending anticipates that its business will experience significant concentration as OEM Captives fully ramp and deploy LPP nationally across all of their new and used vehicle channels. The size and
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loan volume of OEM Captives is materially higher than any of Open Lendings automotive lenders, which Open Lending believes will result in a high concentration of revenue being derived from a limited number of OEM Captives. As a result, if Open Lending was to lose an OEM Captive as one of its customers, or if an existing or anticipated OEM Captive customer were to delay its adoption or deployment of the LPP, this may have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings future revenues.
Open Lendings results depend, to a significant extent, on the active and effective adoption of the LPP by automotive lenders.
Open Lendings success depends on the active and effective adoption of the LPP by automotive lenders in originating loans to near-prime and non-prime borrowers. Open Lending relies on automotive lenders to utilize LPP within their loan origination systems. Although automotive lenders generally are under no obligation to use LPP in generating their loans, the integrated loan and insurance offering by LPP encourages the use of LPP by automotive lenders. The failure by automotive lenders to effectively adopt LPP would have a material adverse effect on the rate at which they can lend to near-prime and non-prime borrowers and in turn, would have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business, revenues and financial condition.
Open Lending has partnered with two major insurance carriers that underwrite and insure the loans generated using the LPP.
Open Lending primarily relies on AmTrust Financial Services (AmTrust) and CNA Financial Corp. (CNA) to insure the loans generated by the automotive lenders using LPP. Open Lending has entered into separate producer and claims service agreements with each of these carriers. The producer and claims service agreements with AmTrust and CNA generally contain customary termination provisions that allow them to terminate the agreement upon written notice after the occurrence of certain events including, among other things, breach of the producer agreement; changes in regulatory requirements making the agreement unenforceable; or for convenience. If either of these insurance carriers were to terminate their agreements with Open Lending and Open Lending is unable to replace the commitments of the terminating insurance carriers, it would have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business, operations and financial condition.
Open Lendings financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by the impact of the global outbreak of the coronavirus.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus and resulting COVID-19 disease (COVID-19) a global pandemic. This contagious disease outbreak, which has continued to spread, and the related adverse public health developments, including orders to shelter-in-place, travel restrictions, and mandated business closures, have adversely affected workforces, organizations, customers, economies, and financial markets globally. In light of the uncertain and rapidly evolving situation relating to the spread of COVID-19, we have taken precautionary measures, including imposing travel restrictions for our employees, mandating a global work from home policy, and shifting customer events to virtual-only experiences. Although we continue to monitor the situation and may adjust our current policies as more information and public health guidance become available, precautionary measures that have been adopted could negatively affect our customer success efforts, customer retention, sales and marketing efforts, delay and lengthen our sales cycles, affect our revenue growth rate, or create operational or other challenges, any of which could harm our business and results of operations.
Additionally, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused and is likely to continue to cause substantial changes in consumer behavior and has caused restrictions on business and individual activities, which have led to and are likely to continue to lead to reduced economic activity. Extraordinary actions taken by international, federal, state, and local public health and governmental authorities to contain and combat the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 in regions throughout the world, including travel bans, quarantines, stay-at-home orders, and similar mandates for many individuals and businesses to substantially restrict daily activities could continue to have an adverse effect on Open Lendings financial condition and results of operations.
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The economic slowdown attributable to COVID-19 has led to a global decrease in vehicle sales in markets around the world. Any sustained decline in vehicle sales would have a substantial adverse effect on Open Lendings financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow. Moreover, as a result of the restrictions described above and consumers reaction to COVID-19 in general, showroom traffic at car dealers has dropped significantly and many dealers have temporarily ceased operations, thereby reducing the demand for Open Lendings products and leading dealers to purchase fewer vehicles. In the event there are extended closures of businesses, furloughs or the suspension of employees from businesses or other developments that reduce the earnings of workers, these developments may negatively impact the ability of consumers to pay their automotive loans, which may lead to higher loan defaults and increased losses for Open Lendings insurance company partners. Increased losses would result in lower profit share earnings on Open Lendings existing insured loan portfolio.
The extent and duration of the economic slowdown attributable to COVID-19 remains uncertain at this time. A continued significant economic slowdown could have a substantial adverse effect on our financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations. If these conditions persist for an extended term, it could have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings future revenue and net income.
Open Lending has experienced rapid growth, which may be difficult to sustain and which may place significant demands on its operational, administrative and financial resources.
Open Lendings approximately 50% year-over-year growth has caused significant demands on its operational, marketing, compliance and accounting infrastructure, and has resulted in increased expenses, which Open Lending expects to continue as it grows. In addition, Open Lending is required to continuously develop and adapt its systems and infrastructure in response to the increasing sophistication of the consumer finance market and regulatory developments relating to existing and projected business activities and those of automotive lenders. Open Lendings future growth will depend, among other things, on its ability to maintain an operating platform and management system sufficient to address growth and will require Open Lending to incur significant additional expenses and to commit additional senior management and operational resources.
As a result of Open Lendings growth, we face significant challenges in:
| securing commitments from existing and new automotive lenders to provide loans to Consumers; |
| maintaining existing and developing new relationships with additional automotive lenders; |
| maintaining adequate financial, business and risk controls; |
| training, managing and appropriately sizing workforce and other components of business on a timely and cost-effective basis; |
| navigating complex and evolving regulatory and competitive environments; |
| increasing the number of borrowers in, and the volume of loans facilitated through, the LPP; |
| entering into new markets and introducing new solutions; |
| continuing to revise proprietary credit decisioning and scoring models; |
| continuing to develop, maintain and scale platform; |
| effectively using limited personnel and technology resources; |
| maintaining the security of platform and the confidentiality of the information (including personally identifiable information) provided and utilized across platform; and |
| attracting, integrating and retaining an appropriate number of qualified employees. |
Open Lending may not be able to manage expanding operations effectively, and any failure to do so could adversely affect the ability to generate revenue and control expenses.
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If Open Lending experiences negative publicity, it may lose the confidence of automotive lenders and insurance carriers who use or partner with the LPP and Open Lendings business may suffer.
Reputational risk, or the risk to negative publicity or public opinion, is inherent to Open Lendings business. Recently, consumer financial services companies have experienced increased reputational harm as consumers and regulators take issue with certain of their practices and judgments, including, for example, fair lending, credit reporting accuracy, lending to members of the military, state licensing (for lenders, servicers and money transmitters) and debt collection. Given that Open Lendings primary clients are automotive lenders in the customer financial services space, any reputational risk associated with clients is in turn attributable to Open Lending. Maintaining a positive reputation is critical to Open Lendings ability to attract and retain existing and new automotive lenders, insurance carriers, investors and employees. Negative public opinion can arise from many sources, including actual or alleged misconduct, errors or improper business practices by employees, automotive lenders, insurance carriers, automobile dealers, outsourced service providers or other counterparties; litigation or regulatory actions; failure by Open Lending, automotive lenders, or automobile dealers to meet minimum standards of service and quality; inadequate protection of consumer information; failure of automotive lenders to adhere to the terms of their LPP agreements or other contractual arrangements or standards; failure of insurance carriers and Open Lendings subsidiary, Insurance Administrative Services LLC, to satisfactorily administer claims; compliance failures; and media coverage, whether accurate or not. Negative public opinion can diminish the value of the Open Lending brand and adversely affect Open Lendings ability to attract and retain automotive lenders and insurance carriers as a result of which Open Lendings results of operations may be materially harmed and it could be exposed to litigation and regulatory action.
Privacy concerns or security breaches relating to the LPP could result in economic loss, damage Open Lendings reputation, deter users from using Open Lending products, and expose Open Lending to legal penalties and liability.
Through the use of LPP, Open Lending gathers and stores personally identifiable information on Consumers such as social security numbers, names and addresses. A cybersecurity breach where this information was stolen or made public would result in negative publicity and additional costs to mitigate the damage to customers. While Open Lending has taken reasonable steps to protect such data, techniques used to gain unauthorized access to data and systems, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems, are constantly evolving, and Open Lending may be unable to anticipate such techniques or implement adequate preventative measures to avoid unauthorized access or other adverse impacts to such data or Open Lending systems.
The LPP is vulnerable to software bugs, computer viruses, internet worms, break-ins, phishing attacks, attempts to overload servers with denial-of-service, or other attacks or similar disruptions, any of which could lead to system interruptions, delays, or shutdowns, causing loss of critical data or the unauthorized access of data. Computer malware, viruses, and computer hacking and phishing attacks have become more prevalent in Open Lendings industry. Functions that facilitate interactivity with other internet platforms could increase the scope of access of hackers to user accounts. Though it is difficult to determine what, if any, harm may directly result from any specific interruption or attack, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of Open Lending products to the satisfaction of Open Lendings clients and their patients may harm Open Lendings reputation and Open Lendings ability to retain existing clients. Although Open Lending has in place systems and processes that are designed to protect data, prevent data loss, disable undesirable accounts and activities and prevent or detect security breaches, Open Lending cannot assure you that such measures will provide absolute security. If an actual or perceived breach of security occurs to Open Lendings systems or a third partys systems, Open Lending also could be required to expend significant resources to mitigate the breach of security and to address matters related to any such breach, including notifying users or regulators.
Changes in market interest rates could have an adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
The fixed interest rates charged on the loans that automotive lenders originate are calculated based upon market benchmarks at the time of origination. Increases in the market benchmark would result in increases in the interest
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rates on new loans. Increased interest rates may adversely impact the spending levels of Consumers and their ability and willingness to borrow money. Higher interest rates often lead to higher rates charged to the Consumer, which could negatively impact the ability of automotive lenders to generate volume and in turn, Open Lendings ability to generate revenues on loans originated using the LPP. Higher interest rates may also increase the payment obligations of Consumers, which may reduce the ability of Consumers to remain current on their obligations to automotive lenders and, therefore, lead to increased delinquencies, defaults, Consumer bankruptcies and charge-offs, and decreasing recoveries, all of which could have an adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
The loss of the services of Open Lendings senior management could adversely affect Open Lendings business.
The experience of Open Lendings senior management is a valuable asset to Open Lending. Open Lendings management team has significant experience in the consumer loan business, is responsible for many of Open Lendings core competencies and would be difficult to replace. Competition for senior executives in customer lending industry is intense, and Open Lending may not be able to attract and retain qualified personnel to replace or succeed members of Open Lendings senior management team or other key personnel. Failure to retain talented senior leadership could have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
Open Lendings projections are subject to significant risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties. As a result, Open Lendings projected revenues, market share, expenses and profitability may differ materially from our expectations.
Open Lending operates in a rapidly changing and competitive industry and Open Lendings projections will be subject to the risks and assumptions made by management with respect to its industry. Operating results are difficult to forecast because they generally depend on a number of factors, including the competition Open Lending faces, its ability to attract and retain automotive lenders, the active and effective adoption of the LPP by automotive lenders in originating loans to near-prime and non-prime borrowers, Open Lendings profit share assumptions and general industry trends. Additionally, as described under Open Lendings revenue is impacted, to a significant extent, by the general economy and the financial performance of automotive lenders, Open Lendings business may be affected by reductions in consumer spending from time to time as a result of a number of factors which may be difficult to predict. This may result in decreased revenue levels, and Open Lending may be unable to adopt measures in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected shortfall in income. This inability could cause Open Lendings operating results in a given quarter to be higher or lower than expected. If actual results differ from Open Lendings estimates, analysts may negatively react and our stock price could be materially impacted.
Open Lendings vendor relationships subject Open Lending to a variety of risks, and the failure of third parties to comply with legal or regulatory requirements or to provide various services that are important to Open Lendings operations could have an adverse effect on its business.
Open Lending has significant vendors that, among other things, provide Open Lending with financial, technology, insurance and other services to support its loan protection services, including access to credit reports and information. Under various legal theories and contractual requirements, companies may be held responsible for the actions of their subcontractors. Accordingly, Open Lending could be adversely impacted to the extent that Open Lendings vendors fail to comply with the legal requirements applicable to the particular products or services being offered.
In some cases, third-party vendors, including resellers and aggregators, are the sole source, or one of a limited number of sources, of the services they provide to Open Lending. Certain of Open Lendings vendor agreements are terminable on little or no notice, and if current vendors were to stop providing services to Open Lending on acceptable terms, Open Lending may be unable to procure alternatives from other vendors in a timely and
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efficient manner and on acceptable terms (or at all). For example, Open Lending currently utilizes a single vendor to provide all consumer credit reports that insurance carriers use for insurance underwriting. If this vendor were to stop providing consumer credit report services to Open Lending on acceptable terms, Open Lending would need to procure alternative consumer credit reporting services from another third-party provider in a timely and efficient manner and on acceptable terms. If any third-party vendor fails to provide the services Open Lending requires, fails to meet contractual requirements (including compliance with applicable laws and regulations), fails to maintain adequate data privacy and electronic security systems, or suffers a cyber-attack or other security breach, Open Lending could be subject to regulatory enforcement actions and suffer economic and reputational harm that could have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business. Further, Open Lending may incur significant costs to resolve any such disruptions in service, which could adversely affect Open Lendings business.
Litigation, regulatory actions and compliance issues could subject Open Lending to significant fines, penalties, judgments, remediation costs and/or requirements resulting in increased expenses.
Open Lendings business is subject to increased risks of litigation and regulatory actions as a result of a number of factors and from various sources, including as a result of the highly regulated nature of the financial services industry, insurance carriers and the focus of state and federal enforcement agencies on the financial services industry and insurance carriers.
From time to time, Open Lending is also involved in, or the subject of, reviews, requests for information, investigations and proceedings (both formal and informal) by state and federal governmental agencies, including insurance regulators and the Department of Insurance of many states, regarding Open Lendings business activities and Open Lendings qualifications to conduct its business in certain jurisdictions, which could subject Open Lending to significant fines, penalties, obligations to change its business practices and other requirements resulting in increased expenses and diminished earnings. Open Lendings involvement in any such matter also could cause significant harm to its reputation and divert management attention from the operation of its business, even if the matters are ultimately determined in Open Lendings favor. Moreover, any settlement, or any consent order or adverse judgment in connection with any formal or informal proceeding or investigation by a government agency, may prompt litigation or additional investigations or proceedings as other litigants or other government agencies begin independent reviews of the same activities.
In addition, a number of participants in the consumer finance industry have been the subject of putative class action lawsuits; state attorney general actions and other state regulatory actions; federal regulatory enforcement actions, including actions relating to alleged unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices; violations of state licensing and lending laws, including state usury laws; actions alleging discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender or other prohibited bases; and allegations of noncompliance with various state and federal laws and regulations relating to originating and servicing consumer finance loans. The current regulatory environment, increased regulatory compliance efforts and enhanced regulatory enforcement have resulted in significant operational and compliance costs and may prevent Open Lending from providing certain products and services. There is no assurance that these regulatory matters or other factors will not, in the future, affect how Open Lending conducts its business and, in turn, have a material adverse effect on its business. In particular, legal proceedings brought under state consumer protection statutes or under several of the various federal consumer financial services statutes may result in a separate fine for each violation of the statute, which, particularly in the case of class action lawsuits, could result in damages substantially in excess of the amounts Open Lending earned from the underlying activities. Similar risks exist for insurance producing and claims administration services, which are highly regulated.
In addition, from time to time, through Open Lendings operational and compliance controls, Open Lending identifies compliance issues that require it to make operational changes and, depending on the nature of the issue, result in financial remediation to impacted customers. These self-identified issues and voluntary remediation payments could be significant, depending on the issue and the number of customers impacted, and also could generate litigation or regulatory investigations that subject Open Lending to additional risk.
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Fraudulent activity could negatively impact the Open Lending business and could cause automotive lenders to be less willing to originate loans or insurance carriers to be less willing to underwrite policies as part of the Lenders Protection Program.
Fraud is prevalent in the financial services industry and is likely to increase as perpetrators become more sophisticated. Open Lending is subject to the risk of fraudulent activity with respect to the underwriting policies of insurance carriers, automotive lenders, their customers and third parties handling customer information. Open Lendings resources, technologies and fraud prevention tools may be insufficient to accurately detect and prevent fraud. The level of Open Lendings fraud charge-offs could increase and results of operations could be materially adversely affected if fraudulent activity were to significantly increase. High profile fraudulent activity also could negatively impact the Open Lending brand and reputation, which could negatively impact the use of Open Lendings services and products. In addition, significant increases in fraudulent activity could lead to regulatory intervention, which could increase Open Lendings costs and also negatively impact its business.
Cyber-attacks and other security breaches could have an adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
In the normal course of Open Lendings business, Open Lending collects, processes and retains sensitive and confidential information regarding automotive lenders, insurance carriers and Consumers. Open Lending also has arrangements in place with certain third-party service providers that require Open Lending to share Consumer information. Although Open Lending devotes significant resources and management focus to ensuring the integrity of its systems through information security and business continuity programs, the Open Lending facilities and systems, and those of automotive lenders, insurance carriers and third-party service providers, are vulnerable to external or internal security breaches, acts of vandalism, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming or human errors, and other similar events. Open Lending, automotive lenders, insurance carriers and third-party service providers have experienced all of these events in the past and expect to continue to experience them in the future. Open Lending also faces security threats from malicious third parties that could obtain unauthorized access to Open Lending systems and networks, which threats it anticipates will continue to grow in scope and complexity over time. These events could interrupt the Open Lending business or operations, result in significant legal and financial exposure, supervisory liability, damage to its reputation and a loss of confidence in the security of Open Lendings systems, products and services. Although the impact to date from these events has not had a material adverse effect on Open Lending, no assurance is given that this will be the case in the future.
Information security risks in the financial services industry have increased recently, in part because of new technologies, the use of the internet and telecommunications technologies (including mobile devices) to conduct financial and other business transactions and the increased sophistication and activities of organized criminals, perpetrators of fraud, hackers, terrorists and others. In addition to cyber-attacks and other security breaches involving the theft of sensitive and confidential information, hackers recently have engaged in attacks that are designed to disrupt key business services, such as consumer-facing websites. Open Lending and automotive lenders may not be able to anticipate or implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches of these types, especially because the techniques used change frequently and because attacks can originate from a wide variety of sources. Open Lending employs detection and response mechanisms designed to contain and mitigate security incidents. Nonetheless, early detection efforts may be thwarted by sophisticated attacks and malware designed to avoid detection. Open Lending also may fail to detect the existence of a security breach related to the information of automotive lenders, insurance carriers and Consumers that Open Lending retains as part of its business and may be unable to prevent unauthorized access to that information.
Open Lending also faces risks related to cyber-attacks and other security breaches that typically involve the transmission of sensitive information regarding borrowers through various third parties, including automotive lenders, insurance carriers and data processors. Some of these parties have in the past been the target of security breaches and cyber-attacks. Because Open Lending does not control these third parties or oversee the security of their systems, future security breaches or cyber-attacks affecting any of these third parties could impact Open
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Lending through no fault of its own, and in some cases Open Lending may have exposure and suffer losses for breaches or attacks relating to them. While Open Lending regularly conducts security assessments of significant third-party service providers, no assurance is given that Open Lendings third-party information security protocols are sufficient to withstand a cyber-attack or other security breach.
The access by unauthorized persons to, or the improper disclosure by Open Lending of, confidential information regarding LPP customers or Open Lendings proprietary information, software, methodologies and business secrets could interrupt the Open Lending business or operations, result in significant legal and financial exposure, supervisory liability, damage to its reputation or a loss of confidence in the security of Open Lendings systems, products and services, all of which could have a material adverse impact on Open Lendings business. In addition, there recently have been a number of well-publicized attacks or breaches affecting companies in the financial services industry that have heightened concern by consumers, which could also intensify regulatory focus, cause users to lose trust in the security of the industry in general and result in reduced use of Open Lending services and increased costs, all of which could also have a material adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
Disruptions in the operation of Open Lendings computer systems and third-party data centers could have an adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
Open Lendings ability to deliver products and services to automotive lenders, service loans made by automotive lenders and otherwise operate Open Lendings business and comply with applicable laws depends on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of the Open Lending computer systems and third-party data centers, as well as those of automotive lenders and third-party service providers.
These computer systems and third-party data centers may encounter service interruptions at any time due to system or software failure, natural disasters, severe weather conditions, health pandemics, terrorist attacks, cyber-attacks or other events. Any of such catastrophes could have a negative effect on the Open Lending business and technology infrastructure (including its computer network systems), on automotive lenders and insurance carriers and on Consumers. Catastrophic events also could prevent or make it more difficult for Consumers to travel to automobile dealers locations to shop, thereby negatively impacting Consumer spending in the affected regions (or in severe cases, nationally), and could interrupt or disable local or national communications networks, including the payment systems network, which could prevent Consumers from making purchases or payments (temporarily or over an extended period). These events also could impair the ability of third parties to provide critical services to Open Lending. All of these adverse effects of catastrophic events could result in a decrease in the use of Open Lendings solution and payments to Open Lending, which could have a material adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
In addition, the implementation of technology changes and upgrades to maintain current and integrate new systems may cause service interruptions, transaction processing errors or system conversion delays and may cause Open Lending to fail to comply with applicable laws, all of which could have a material adverse effect on the Open Lending business. Open Lending expects that new technologies and business processes applicable to the consumer financial services industry will continue to emerge and that these new technologies and business processes may be better than those Open Lending currently uses. There is no assurance that Open Lending will be able to successfully adopt new technology as critical systems and applications become obsolete and better ones become available. A failure to maintain and/or improve current technology and business processes could cause disruptions in Open Lendings operations or cause its solution to be less competitive, all of which could have a material adverse effect on its business.
If the underwriting models Open Lending uses contain errors or are otherwise ineffective, Open Lendings reputation and relationships with automotive lenders and insurance carriers could be harmed.
Open Lendings ability to attract automotive lenders to LPP is significantly dependent on Open Lendings ability to effectively evaluate a Consumers credit profile and likelihood of default and potential loss in accordance with
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
automotive lenders and insurance carriers underwriting policies. Open Lendings business depends significantly on the accuracy and success of its underwriting model. To conduct this evaluation, Open Lending uses proprietary credit decisioning and scoring models. If any of the credit decisioning and scoring models Open Lending uses contains programming or other errors, is ineffective or the data provided by Consumers or third parties is incorrect or stale, or if Open Lending is unable to obtain accurate data from Consumers or third parties (such as credit reporting agencies), the Open Lending loan pricing and approval process could be negatively affected, resulting in mispriced or misclassified loans or incorrect approvals or denials of loans. This could damage Open Lendings reputation and relationships with automotive lenders and insurance carriers, which could have a material adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
Open Lending depends on the accuracy and completeness of information about Consumers, and any misrepresented information could adversely affect Open Lendings business.
In evaluating loan applicants, Open Lending relies on information furnished to Open Lending by or on behalf of Consumers, including credit, identification, employment and other relevant information. Some of the information regarding Consumers provided to Open Lending is used in its proprietary credit decisioning and scoring models, which Open Lending uses to determine whether an application meets the applicable underwriting criteria. Open Lending relies on the accuracy and completeness of that information.
Not all Consumer information is independently verified. As a result, Open Lending relies on the accuracy and completeness of the information provided by Consumers or indirectly by automotive lenders. If any of the information that is considered in the loan review process is inaccurate, whether intentional or not, and such inaccuracy is not detected prior to loan funding, the loan may have a greater risk of default than expected. Additionally, there is a risk that, following the date of the credit report that Open Lending obtains and reviews, a Consumer may have defaulted on, or become delinquent in the payment of, a pre-existing debt obligation, taken on additional debt, lost his or her job or other sources of income, or experienced other adverse financial events. Any significant increase in inaccuracies or resulting increases in losses would adversely affect Open Lendings business.
Open Lending relies extensively on models in managing many aspects of Open Lending business. Any inaccuracies or errors in Open Lendings models could have an adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
In assisting automotive lenders with the design of the products that are offered on LPP, Open Lending makes assumptions about various matters, including repayment timing and default rates, and then utilizes proprietary underwriting modeling to analyze and forecast the performance and profitability of the loans. Open Lendings assumptions may be inaccurate and models may not be as predictive as expected for many reasons, including that they often involve matters that are inherently difficult to predict and beyond Open Lendings control (e.g., macroeconomic conditions) and that they often involve complex interactions between a number of dependent and independent variables and factors. Any significant inaccuracies or errors in assumptions could impact the profitability of the products to automotive lenders, as well as the profitability of Open Lendings business, and could result in Open Lendings underestimating potential losses and overstating potential automotive lender returns.
If assumptions or estimates Open Lending uses in preparing financial statements are incorrect or are required to change, Open Lendings reported results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
Open Lending is required to make various assumptions and estimates in preparing its financial statements under GAAP, including for purposes of determining finance charge reversals, share-based compensation, asset impairment, reserves related to litigation and other legal matters, and other regulatory exposures and the amounts recorded for certain contractual payments to be paid to, or received from, Open Lendings merchants and others under contractual arrangements. In addition, significant assumptions and estimates are involved in determining certain disclosures required under GAAP, including those involving fair value measurements. If the assumptions
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
or estimates underlying Open Lendings financial statements are incorrect, the actual amounts realized on transactions and balances subject to those estimates will be different, which could have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
The consumer lending industry is highly competitive and is likely to become more competitive, and Open Lendings inability to compete successfully or maintain or improve Open Lendings market share and margins could adversely affect its business.
Open Lendings success depends on Open Lendings ability to generate usage of LPP. The consumer lending industry is highly competitive and increasingly dynamic as emerging technologies continue to enter the marketplace. Technological advances and heightened e-commerce activities have increased consumers accessibility to products and services, which has intensified the desirability of offering loans to consumers through digital-based solutions. Open Lending faces competition in areas such as compliance capabilities, financing terms, promotional offerings, fees, approval rates, speed and simplicity of loan origination, ease-of-use, marketing expertise, service levels, products and services, technological capabilities and integration, customer service, brand and reputation. Open Lendings existing and potential competitors may decide to modify their pricing and business models to compete more directly with Open Lendings model. Any reduction in usage of LPP, or a reduction in the lifetime profitability of loans under LPP in an effort to attract or retain business, could reduce Open Lendings revenues and earnings. If Open Lending is unable to compete effectively for customer usage, its business could be materially adversely affected.
Open Lendings revenue is impacted, to a significant extent, by the general economy and the financial performance of automotive lenders.
Open Lendings business, the consumer financial services industry and automotive lenders businesses are sensitive to macroeconomic conditions. Economic factors such as interest rates, changes in monetary and related policies, market volatility, consumer confidence and unemployment rates are among the most significant factors that impact consumer spending behavior. Weak economic conditions or a significant deterioration in economic conditions reduce the amount of disposable income consumers have, which in turn reduces consumer spending and the willingness of qualified borrowers to take out loans. Such conditions are also likely to affect the ability and willingness of borrowers to pay amounts owed to automotive lenders, each of which would have a material adverse effect on its business.
General economic conditions and the willingness of lenders to deploy capital impacts Open Lendings performance. The generation of new loans through LPP, and the transaction fees and other fee income to Open Lending associated with such loans, is dependent upon sales of automobiles by dealers. Dealers sales may decrease or fail to increase as a result of factors outside of their control, such as the macroeconomic conditions referenced above, or business conditions affecting a particular automobile dealer, industry vertical or region. Weak economic conditions also could extend the length of dealers sales cycle and cause customers to delay making (or not make) purchases of automobiles. The decline of sales by dealers for any reason will generally result in lower credit sales and, therefore, lower loan volume and associated fee income for automotive lenders, and therefore, for us. This risk is particularly acute with respect to the largest automobile dealers associated with automotive lenders that account for a significant amount of Open Lending platform revenue.
In addition, if an automobile dealer or automotive lender closes some or all of its locations or becomes subject to a voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy proceeding (or if there is a perception that it may become subject to a bankruptcy proceeding), LPP borrowers may have less incentive to pay their outstanding balances to automotive lenders, which could result in higher charge-off rates than anticipated.
Weakening economic conditions, in particular increases in unemployment, will lead to increased defaults and insurance claim payments, resulting in higher losses for insurance carriers. Increased claim payments may affect the willingness of insurance carriers to provide default insurance. In the event insurer losses cause one of
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
insurance carriers to cease providing insurance, it would have a material adverse effect on Open Lending operations and financial results.
Because Open Lendings business is heavily concentrated on consumer lending in the U.S. automobile industry, Open Lendings results are more susceptible to fluctuations in that market than the results of a more diversified company would be.
Open Lendings business currently is concentrated on supporting consumer lending in the U.S. automobile industry. As a result, Open Lending is more susceptible to fluctuations and risks particular to U.S. consumer credit than a more diversified company would be as well as to factors that may drive the demand for automobiles, such as sales levels of new automobiles and the aging of existing inventory. Open Lending is also more susceptible to the risks of increased regulations and legal and other regulatory actions that are targeted at consumer credit, the specific consumer credit products that automotive lenders offer (including promotional financing). Open Lendings business concentration could have an adverse effect on its business.
Open Lending is, and intends in the future to continue, expanding into relationships with new lending partners, including the OEM Captive space, and Open Lendings failure to comply with applicable regulations, or accurately predict demand or growth, in those new industries could have an adverse effect on its business.
Open Lending recently expanded into and is penetrating the OEM Captive space. Open Lending believes that all automobile manufacturers have an OEM Captive or related party finance company relationship. One of the primary goals of an OEM Captive is to support automobile sales of the dealers, particularly with respect to new vehicle sales. Open Lending believes that the OEM Captive is generally the preferred lender of the OEM dealer network. Relative to traditional credit union and bank automotive lenders, OEM Captives represent a larger loan volume and therefore, larger revenue opportunity for Open Lending. Open Lending makes no assurance that it will achieve similar levels of success, if any, with OEM Captives as with other credit unions and regional automotive lenders, and may face unanticipated challenges in its ability to offer LPP to OEM Captives. In addition, the OEM Captive space is highly regulated and Open Lending, OEM Captives and other automotive lenders, as applicable, are subject to substantial regulatory requirements, including privacy laws. Open Lending has limited experience in managing these risks and the compliance requirements attendant to such regulatory requirements. The costs of compliance and any failure by Open Lending, OEM Captives or other automotive lenders, as applicable, to comply with such regulatory requirements could have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business. Any failure by Open Lending to grow its relationships with these new lending partners could have a materially adverse impact on its business.
Open Lending may in the future expand to new industry verticals outside of the automotive industry, and failure to comply with applicable regulations, or accurately predict demand or growth, in those new industries could have an adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
Open Lending may in the future further expand into other industry verticals. There is no assurance that Open Lending will be able to successfully develop consumer financing products and services for these new industries. Open Lendings investment of resources to develop consumer financing products and services for the new industries it enters may either be insufficient or result in expenses that are excessive in light of loans actually originated by lenders in those industries. Additionally, Open Lendings nearly 20 years of experience is in the automotive lending industry and therefore, industry participants in new industry verticals may not be receptive to its financing solutions and Open Lending may face competitors with more experience and resources. The borrower profile of Consumers in new verticals may not be as attractive, in terms of average FICO scores or other attributes, as in current verticals, which may lead to higher levels of delinquencies or defaults than Open Lending has historically experienced. Industries change rapidly, and Open Lending makes no assurance that it will be able to accurately forecast demand (or the lack thereof) for a solution or that those industries will be receptive to Open Lendings product offerings. Failure to predict demand or growth accurately in new industries could have a materially adverse impact on Open Lendings business.
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Open Lendings business would suffer if it fails to attract and retain highly skilled employees.
Open Lendings future success will depend on its ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified personnel for all areas of its organization, particularly information technology and sales. Trained and experienced personnel are in high demand and may be in short supply. Many of the companies with which Open Lending competes for experienced employees have greater resources than Open Lending and may be able to offer more attractive terms of employment. In addition, Open Lending invests significant time and expense in training employees, which increases their value to competitors that may seek to recruit them. Open Lending may not be able to attract, develop and maintain the skilled workforce necessary to operate its business, and labor expenses may increase as a result of a shortage in the supply of qualified personnel, which will negatively impact Open Lendings business.
The Credit Agreement that governs Open Lendings term loan contains various covenants that could limit its ability to engage in activities that may be in Open Lendings best long-term interests.
Open Lending has a term loan outstanding in the original principal amount of $170,000,000 (the Term Loan) that was incurred under that certain Credit Agreement, dated as of March 11, 2020, among Open Lending, UBS AG, Stamford Branch, as administrative agent, the lenders from time to time party thereto and the other parties thereto, as amended (the Credit Agreement). A portion of the proceeds of the Term Loan were used to, among other things, finance a distribution to its equity investors prior to the consummation of the Business Combination. The Term Loan bears interest at a variable rate of LIBOR plus 6.50% (subject to a LIBOR floor of 1%) or the base rate plus 5.50%. The obligations of Open Lending under the Credit Agreement are guaranteed by all of its subsidiaries and secured by substantially all of the assets of Open Lending and its subsidiaries, in each case, subject to certain customary exceptions. The Term Loan has a maturity date of March 11, 2027. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Credit Agreement, Open Lending may be required to make certain mandatory prepayments prior to maturity. Voluntary prepayments and certain mandatory prepayments may be subject to certain prepayment premiums in the first 2 years after the date thereof.
The Credit Agreement contains affirmative and negative covenants customarily applicable to senior secured credit facilities, including, among other things, customary limitations on the incurrence of indebtedness and liens; certain intercompany transactions; and other investments, dispositions of assets, issuances and redemptions of certain units, repayment of other indebtedness, and payment of dividends. The Credit Agreement also contains a maximum total net leverage ratio financial covenant that is tested quarterly and calculated based on the ratio of Open Lendings adjusted EBITDA to funded indebtedness. The maximum total net leverage ratio begins at 4.75 to 1 and then gradually decreases from year-to-year down to 2.5 to 1.0 on or after June 30, 2026. The Credit Agreement also contains customary events of default (subject to thresholds and grace periods), including payment default, covenant default, cross default to other material indebtedness, and judgment defaults.
Open Lendings ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond its control, such as market fluctuations impacting net income. Breaches of these covenants will result in a default under the Credit Agreement, subject to any applicable cure rights, in which case the administrative agent may accelerate the outstanding Term Loan.
If such acceleration under the Credit Agreement occurs, Open Lendings ability to fund its operations could be seriously harmed.
Open Lending may be unable to sufficiently protect its proprietary rights and may encounter disputes from time to time relating to its use of the intellectual property of third parties.
Open Lending relies on a combination of trademarks, service marks, copyrights, trade secrets, domain names and agreements with employees and third parties to protect its proprietary rights. Open Lending has service mark registrations in the United States. Open Lending also owns the domain name rights for Openlending.com,
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Openlending.net, Openlending.us, Dev-openlending.com, Lendersprotection.org, Lendersprotection.us, Len-pro.org, Lend-pro.us, Lend-pro.net, Lendpro.net, Lendpro.org, Lendpro.us, Lend-pro.com, Lendersprotection.com, Dynamicdecisioning.com, Dynamicdecisioning.net, Lendersdecision.com, Lendersdecision.net, Lend-analytics.com, Lend-analytics.net, Lendanalytics.com, Lendanalytics.net, Olanalytics.com, Olanalytics.net, Sayyestomoreloans.com, Sayyestomoreloans.net, as well as other words and phrases important to the Open Lending business. Nonetheless, third parties may challenge, invalidate or circumvent Open Lendings intellectual property, and Open Lendings intellectual property may not be sufficient to provide it with a competitive advantage.
Despite Open Lendings efforts to protect these rights, unauthorized third parties may attempt to duplicate or copy the proprietary aspects of its technology and processes. Open Lendings competitors and other third parties independently may design around or develop similar technology or otherwise duplicate Open Lendings services or products such that Open Lending could not assert its intellectual property rights against them. In addition, Open Lendings contractual arrangements may not effectively prevent disclosure of its intellectual property and confidential and proprietary information or provide an adequate remedy in the event of an unauthorized disclosure. Measures in place may not prevent misappropriation or infringement of Open Lendings intellectual property or proprietary information and the resulting loss of competitive advantage, and Open Lending may be required to litigate to protect its intellectual property and proprietary information from misappropriation or infringement by others, which is expensive and could cause a diversion of resources and may not be successful.
Open Lending also may encounter disputes from time to time concerning intellectual property rights of others, and it may not prevail in these disputes. Third parties may raise claims against Open Lending alleging that Open Lending, or consultants or other third parties retained or indemnified by Open Lending, infringe on their intellectual property rights. Some third-party intellectual property rights may be extremely broad, and it may not be possible for Open Lending to conduct its operations in such a way as to avoid all alleged violations of such intellectual property rights. Given the complex, rapidly changing and competitive technological and business environment in which Open Lending operates, and the potential risks and uncertainties of intellectual property-related litigation, an assertion of an infringement claim against Open Lending may cause Open Lending to spend significant amounts to defend the claim (even if Open Lending ultimately prevails), pay significant monetary damages, lose significant revenues, be prohibited from using the relevant systems, processes, technologies or other intellectual property (temporarily or permanently), cease offering certain products or services, or incur significant license, royalty or technology development expenses.
Moreover, it has become common in recent years for individuals and groups to purchase intellectual property assets for the sole purpose of making claims of infringement and attempting to extract settlements from companies such as Open Lendings. Even in instances where Open Lending believes that claims and allegations of intellectual property infringement against it are without merit, defending against such claims is time consuming and expensive and could result in the diversion of time and attention of Open Lendings management and employees. In addition, although in some cases a third party may have agreed to indemnify Open Lending for such costs, such indemnifying party may refuse or be unable to uphold its contractual obligations. In other cases, insurance may not cover potential claims of this type adequately or at all, and Open Lending may be required to pay monetary damages, which may be significant.
Open Lendings risk management processes and procedures may not be effective.
Open Lendings risk management processes and procedures seek to appropriately balance risk and return and mitigate risks. Open Lending has established processes and procedures intended to identify, measure, monitor and control the types of risk to which Open Lending and automotive lenders are subject, including credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, strategic risk and operational risk. Credit risk is the risk of loss that arises when an obligor fails to meet the terms of an obligation. Market risk is the risk of loss due to changes in external market factors such as interest rates. Liquidity risk is the risk that financial conditions or overall safety and soundness are adversely affected by an inability, or perceived inability, to meet obligations and support business growth.
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Strategic risk is the risk from changes in the business environment, improper implementation of decisions or inadequate responsiveness to changes in the business environment. Operational risk is the risk of loss arising from inadequate or failed processes, people or systems, external events (e.g., natural disasters), compliance, reputational or legal matters and includes those risks as they relate directly to Open Lending as well as to third parties with whom Open Lending contracts or otherwise does business.
Management of Open Lending risks depends, in part, upon the use of analytical and forecasting models. If these models are ineffective at predicting future losses or are otherwise inadequate, Open Lending may incur unexpected losses or otherwise be adversely affected. In addition, the information Open Lending uses in managing its credit and other risks may be inaccurate or incomplete as a result of error or fraud, both of which may be difficult to detect and avoid. There also may be risks that exist, or that develop in the future, that Open Lending has not appropriately anticipated, identified or mitigated, including when processes are changed or new products and services are introduced. If Open Lendings risk management framework does not effectively identify and control its risks, Open Lending could suffer unexpected losses or be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on its business.
Some aspects of Open Lendings platform include open source software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more of these open source licenses could negatively affect its business.
Aspects of Open Lendings platform include software covered by open source licenses. The terms of various open source licenses have not been interpreted by United States courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on Open Lendings platform. If portions of Open Lendings proprietary software are determined to be subject to an open source license, Open Lending could be required to publicly release the affected portions of its source code, re-engineer all or a portion of its technologies or otherwise be limited in the licensing of technologies, each of which could reduce or eliminate the value of Open Lendings technologies and loan products. In addition to risks related to license requirements, usage of open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software because open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of the software. Many of the risks associated with the use of open source software cannot be eliminated and could adversely affect the Open Lending business.
To the extent that Open Lending seeks to grow through future acquisitions, or other strategic investments or alliances, Open Lending may not be able to do so effectively.
Open Lending may in the future seek to grow its business by exploring potential acquisitions or other strategic investments or alliances. Open Lending may not be successful in identifying businesses or opportunities that meet its acquisition or expansion criteria. In addition, even if a potential acquisition target or other strategic investment is identified, Open Lending may not be successful in completing such acquisition or integrating such new business or other investment. Open Lending may face significant competition for acquisition and other strategic investment opportunities from other well-capitalized companies, many of which have greater financial resources and greater access to debt and equity capital to secure and complete acquisitions or other strategic investments, than Open Lending. As a result of such competition, Open Lending may be unable to acquire certain assets or businesses, or take advantage of other strategic investment opportunities that Open Lending deems attractive; the purchase price for a given strategic opportunity may be significantly elevated; or certain other terms or circumstances may be substantially more onerous. Any delay or failure on Open Lendings part to identify, negotiate, finance on favorable terms, consummate and integrate any such acquisition, or other strategic investment opportunity could impede Open Lendings growth.
There is no assurance that Open Lending will be able to manage its expanding operations, including from acquisitions, investments or alliances, effectively or that it will be able to continue to grow, and any failure to do so could adversely affect its ability to generate revenue and control its expenses. Furthermore, Open Lending may be responsible for any legacy liabilities of businesses it acquires or be subject to additional liability in
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
connection with other strategic investments. The existence or amount of these liabilities may not be known at the time of acquisition, or other strategic investment, and may have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
The effect of comprehensive U.S. tax reform legislation or challenges to Open Lendings tax positions could adversely affect its business.
Open Lending operates in multiple jurisdictions and is subject to tax laws and regulations of the United States federal, state and local governments. United States federal, state and local tax laws and regulations are complex and subject to varying interpretations. There is no assurance that Open Lendings tax positions will not be successfully challenged by relevant tax authorities.
In addition, on December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the Tax Act). Among a number of significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules, the Tax Act reduces the marginal U.S. corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, limits the deduction for net interest expense, and shifts the United States toward a more territorial tax system. While Open Lendings analysis of the Tax Acts impact on cash tax liability and financial condition has not identified any overall material adverse effect, Open Lending is still evaluating the effects of the Tax Act and there are a number of uncertainties and ambiguities as to the interpretation and application of many of the provisions in the Tax Act. In the absence of guidance on these issues, Open Lending will use what it believes are reasonable interpretations and assumptions in interpreting and applying the Tax Act for purposes of determining its cash tax liabilities and results of operations, which may change as it receives additional clarification and implementation guidance and as the interpretation of the Tax Act evolves over time. It is possible that the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) could issue subsequent guidance or take positions on audit that differ from the interpretations and assumptions that Open Lending previously made, which could have a material adverse effect on its cash tax liabilities, results of operations and financial condition, or an indirect effect on its business through its impact on automotive lenders, merchants and consumers. You are urged to consult your tax adviser regarding the implications of the Tax Act.
Future changes in financial accounting standards may significantly change Open Lendings reported results of operations.
GAAP is subject to standard setting or interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, FASB, the PCAOB, the SEC and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on Open Lendings reported financial results and could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of a change.
Additionally, Open Lendings assumptions, estimates and judgments related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect its financial results. GAAP and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to its business, including revenue recognition, finance charge reversals, and share-based compensation, are highly complex and involve subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by Open Lending. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates or judgments by Open Lending could require Open Lending to make changes to its accounting systems that could increase its operating costs and significantly change its reported or expected financial performance.
Risks Related to Open Lendings Regulatory Environment
Open Lending is subject to federal and state consumer protection laws.
In connection with administration of LPP, Open Lending must comply with various regulatory regimes, including those applicable to consumer credit transactions, various aspects of which are untested as applied to
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Open Lendings business model. Insurance producing and claims administration services subject Open Lending to state regulation on a 50-state basis. The complex regulatory environment of the credit and insurance industries are subject to constant change and modification. While changes to statutes and promulgating new regulations may take a substantial amount of time, issuing regulatory guidance with the force of law in the form of opinions, bulletins, and notices can occur quickly. Also, consumer credit and insurance regulators often initiate inquiries into market participants, which can lead to investigations and, ultimately, enforcement actions. As a result, Open Lending is subject to a constantly evolving regulatory environment that is difficult to predict, which may affect Open Lendings business. The laws to which Open Lending directly or its services by contract are or may be subject directly or indirectly include:
| state laws and regulations that impose requirements related to loan disclosures and terms, credit discrimination, and unfair or deceptive business practices; |
| the Truth-in-Lending Act, and its implementing Regulation Z, and similar state laws, which require certain disclosures to borrowers regarding the terms and conditions of their loans and credit transactions; |
| Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, and Section 1031 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), which prohibits unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP), in connection with any consumer financial product or service; |
| the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and its implementing Regulation B, which prohibit creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, marital status, the fact that all or part of the applicants income derives from any public assistance program or the fact that the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act or any applicable state law; |
| the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and its implementing Regulation V, as amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which promotes the accuracy, fairness and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies; |
| the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and its implementing Regulation F, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as well as state debt collection laws, all of which provide guidelines and limitations concerning the conduct of debt collectors in connection with the collection of consumer debts; |
| the Bankruptcy Code, which limits the extent to which creditors may seek to enforce debts against parties who have filed for bankruptcy protection; |
| the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), and the California Consumer Protection Act, which include limitations on the disclosure of nonpublic personal information by financial institutions about a consumer to nonaffiliated third parties, in certain circumstances requires financial institutions to limit the use and further disclosure of nonpublic personal information by nonaffiliated third parties to whom they disclose such information and requires financial institutions to disclose certain privacy policies and practices with respect to information sharing with affiliated and nonaffiliated entities as well as to safeguard personal customer information, and other privacy laws and regulations; |
| the rules and regulations promulgated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, as well as state banking regulators; |
| the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which allows active duty military members to suspend or postpone certain civil obligations so that the military member can devote his or her full attention to military duties; |
| the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and Regulation E promulgated thereunder, which provide disclosure requirements, guidelines and restrictions on the electronic transfer of funds from consumers bank accounts; |
| the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, and similar state laws, particularly the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which authorize the creation of legally binding and enforceable agreements utilizing electronic records and signatures; and |
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
| the Bank Secrecy Act, which relates to compliance with anti-money laundering, customer due diligence and record-keeping policies and procedures. |
While Open Lending has developed policies and procedures designed to assist in compliance with these laws and regulations, no assurance is given that its compliance policies and procedures will be effective. Failure to comply with these laws and with regulatory requirements applicable to Open Lendings business could subject it to damages, revocation of licenses, class action lawsuits, administrative enforcement actions, and civil and criminal liability, which may harm Open Lendings business.
Open Lendings industry is highly regulated and is undergoing regulatory transformation, which results in inherent uncertainty. Changing federal, state, and local laws, as well as changing regulatory enforcement policies and priorities, may negatively impact Open Lendings business.
In connection with Open Lendings administration of LPP, Open Lending is subject to extensive regulation, supervision and examination under United States federal and state laws and regulations. Open Lending is required to comply with numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations that regulate, among other things, the manner in which Open Lending administers LPP, the terms of the loans that automotive lenders originate, the products of insurance carriers, production of those products, insurance claims administration, and the fees that Open Lending may charge. Any failure to comply with any of these laws or regulations could subject Open Lending to lawsuits or governmental actions and/or damage Open Lendings reputation, which could materially and adversely affect Open Lendings business. Regulators have broad discretion with respect to the interpretation, implementation, and enforcement of these laws and regulations, including through enforcement actions that could subject Open Lending to civil money penalties, customer remediations, increased compliance costs, and limits or prohibitions on Open Lendings ability to offer certain products or services or to engage in certain activities. In addition, to the extent that Open Lending undertakes actions requiring regulatory approval or non-objection, regulators may make their approval or non-objection subject to conditions or restrictions that could have a material adverse effect on its business. Moreover, any competitors subject to different, or in some cases less restrictive, legislative or regulatory regimes may have or obtain a competitive advantage over Open Lending.
Additionally, federal, state, and local governments and regulatory agencies have proposed or enacted numerous new laws, regulations, and rules related to loans. Federal and state consumer credit and insurance regulators are also enforcing existing laws, regulations, and rules more aggressively and enhancing their supervisory expectations regarding the management of legal and regulatory compliance risks. Consumer finance and insurance regulation is constantly changing, and new laws or regulations, or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations, could have a materially adverse impact on Open Lendings ability to operate as currently intended.
These regulatory changes and uncertainties make Open Lendings business planning more difficult and could result in changes to its business model and potentially adversely impact its results of operations. New laws or regulations also require Open Lending to incur significant expenses to ensure compliance. As compared to Open Lendings competitors, Open Lending could be subject to more stringent state or local regulations or could incur marginally greater compliance costs as a result of regulatory changes. In addition, Open Lendings failure to comply (or to ensure that its agents and third-party service providers comply) with these laws or regulations may result in costly litigation or enforcement actions, the penalties for which could include: revocation of licenses; fines and other monetary penalties; civil and criminal liability; substantially reduced payments by borrowers; modification of the original terms of loans, permanent forgiveness of debt, or inability to, directly or indirectly, collect all or a part of the principal of or interest on loans; and increased purchases of receivables underlying loans originated by automotive lenders and indemnification claims.
Proposals to change the statutes affecting financial services companies are frequently introduced in Congress and state legislatures that, if enacted, may affect its operating environment in substantial and unpredictable ways. In
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addition, numerous federal and state regulators have the authority to promulgate or change regulations that could have a similar effect on Open Lendings operating environment. Open Lending cannot determine with any degree of certainty whether any such legislative or regulatory proposals will be enacted and, if enacted, the ultimate impact that any such potential legislation or implementing regulations, or any such potential regulatory actions by federal or state regulators, would have upon Open Lendings business.
With respect to state regulation, although Open Lending seeks to comply with applicable state insurance, insurance brokering, insurance agency regulations, third-party administration company statutes and similar statutes in all U.S. jurisdictions, and with licensing and other requirements that Open Lending believes may be applicable to it, if Open Lending is found to not have complied with applicable laws, Open Lending could lose one or more of its licenses or authorizations or face other sanctions or penalties or be required to obtain a license in one or more such jurisdictions, which may have an adverse effect on Open Lendings ability to make the LPP available to borrowers in particular states and, thus, adversely impact Open Lendings business.
Open Lending is also subject to potential enforcement and other actions that may be brought by state attorneys general or other state enforcement authorities and other governmental agencies. Any such actions could subject Open Lending to civil money penalties and fines, customer remediations, and increased compliance costs, damage its reputation and brand and limit or prohibit Open Lendings ability to offer certain products and services or engage in certain business practices.
New laws, regulations, policy or changes in enforcement of existing laws or regulations applicable to Open Lendings business, or reexamination of current practices, could adversely impact Open Lendings profitability, limit its ability to continue existing or pursue new business activities, require it to change certain of its business practices or alter its relationships with LPP customers, affect retention of key personnel, or expose Open Lending to additional costs (including increased compliance costs and/or customer remediation). These changes also may require Open Lending to invest significant resources, and devote significant management attention, to make any necessary changes and could adversely affect its business.
The highly regulated environment in which automotive lenders and insurance carriers operate could have an adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
Automotive lenders and insurance carriers are subject to federal and/or state supervision and regulation. Federal regulation of the banking or insurance industries, along with tax and accounting laws, regulations, rules, and standards, may limit their operations significantly and control the methods by which they conduct business. In addition, compliance with laws and regulations can be difficult and costly, and changes to laws and regulations can impose additional compliance requirements. For example, the Dodd-Frank Act imposes significant regulatory and compliance obligations on financial institutions. Regulatory requirements affect automotive lenders lending and investment practices and insurance carriers offerings, among other aspects of their businesses, and restrict transactions between Open Lending and its automotive lenders and insurance carriers. These requirements may constrain the operations of automotive lenders and insurance carriers, and the adoption of new laws and changes to, or repeal of, existing laws may have a further impact on Open Lendings business.
In choosing whether and how to conduct business with Open Lending, current and prospective automotive lenders and insurance carriers can be expected to take into account the legal, regulatory, and supervisory regimes that apply to them, including potential changes in the application or interpretation of regulatory standards, licensing requirements, or supervisory expectations. Regulators may elect to alter standards or the interpretation of the standards used to measure regulatory compliance or to determine the adequacy of liquidity, certain risk management or other operational practices for financial services companies in a manner that impacts automotive lenders or insurance carriers. Furthermore, the regulatory agencies have extremely broad discretion in their interpretation of the regulations and laws and their interpretation of the quality of automotive lenders loan portfolios and other assets. If any regulatory agencys assessment of the quality of automotive lenders assets, operations, lending practices, investment practices or other aspects of their business changes, or those with
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respect to insurance carriers, it may materially reduce automotive lenders or insurance carriers earnings, capital ratios and share price in such a way that affects Open Lendings business.
Bank holding companies, credit unions, financial institutions, automobile lenders, and insurance carriers and producers are extensively regulated and currently face an uncertain regulatory environment. Applicable state and federal laws, regulations and interpretations, including licensing laws and regulations, and enforcement policies and accounting principles have been subject to significant changes in recent years, and may be subject to significant future changes. Open Lending cannot predict with any degree of certainty the substance or effect of pending or future legislation or regulation or the application of laws and regulations to automotive lenders and insurance carriers. Future changes may have a material adverse effect on automotive lenders or insurance carriers and, therefore, on Open Lending.
Open Lending is subject to regulatory examinations and investigations and may incur fines, penalties and increased costs that could negatively impact the Open Lending business.
Federal and state agencies have broad enforcement powers over Open Lending, including powers to investigate Open Lending business practices and broad discretion to deem particular practices unfair, deceptive, abusive or otherwise not in accordance with the law. The continued focus of regulators on the consumer financial services industry has resulted, and could continue to result, in new enforcement actions that could, directly or indirectly, affect the manner in which Open Lending conducts its business and increase the costs of defending and settling any such matters, which could negatively impact its business. In some cases, regardless of fault, it may be less time-consuming or costly to settle these matters, which may require Open Lending to implement certain changes to its business practices, provide remediation to certain individuals or make a settlement payment to a given party or regulatory body. There is no assurance that any future settlements will not have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
In addition, the laws and regulations applicable to Open Lending are subject to administrative or judicial interpretation. Some of these laws and regulations have been enacted only recently and may not yet have been interpreted or may be interpreted infrequently. As a result of infrequent or sparse interpretations, ambiguities in these laws and regulations may create uncertainty with respect to what type of conduct is permitted or restricted under such laws and regulations. Any ambiguity under a law or regulation to which Open Lending is subject may lead to regulatory investigations, governmental enforcement actions and private causes of action, such as class action lawsuits, with respect to Open Lendings compliance with such laws or regulations.
The contours of the Dodd-Frank UDAAP standard remain uncertain, and there is a risk that certain features of the Open Lending business could be deemed to be a UDAAP.
The Dodd-Frank Act prohibits UDAAP and authorizes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to enforce that prohibition. The CFPB has filed a large number of UDAAP enforcement actions against consumer lenders for practices that do not appear to violate other consumer finance statutes. There is a risk that the CFPB could determine that certain features of automotive lender loans are unfair, deceptive or abusive, which could have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
Regulations relating to privacy, information security, and data protection could increase Open Lendings costs, affect or limit how Open Lending collects and uses personal information, and adversely affect its business opportunities.
Open Lending is subject to various privacy, information security and data protection laws, including requirements concerning security breach notification, and it could be negatively impacted by them. For example, in connection with Open Lendings administration of LPP, Open Lending is subject to the GLBA and implementing regulations and guidance. Among other things, the GLBA (i) imposes certain limitations on the ability to share consumers nonpublic personal information with nonaffiliated third parties and (ii) requires
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certain disclosures to consumers about their information collection, sharing and security practices and their right to opt out of the institutions disclosure of their personal financial information to nonaffiliated third parties (with certain exceptions).
Furthermore, legislators and/or regulators are increasingly adopting or revising privacy, information security and data protection laws that potentially could have a significant impact on Open Lendings current and planned privacy, data protection and information security-related practices; Open Lendings collection, use, sharing, retention and safeguarding of consumer and/or employee information; and some of Open Lendings current or planned business activities. This also could increase Open Lendings costs of compliance and business operations and could reduce income from certain business initiatives.
Compliance with current or future privacy, information security and data protection laws (including those regarding security breach notification) affecting customer and/or employee data to which Open Lending is subject could result in higher compliance and technology costs and could restrict Open Lendings ability to provide certain products and services (such as products or services that involve sharing information with third parties or storing sensitive credit card information), which could materially and adversely affect Open Lendings profitability. Additionally, there is always a danger that regulators can attempt to assert authority over the Open Lending business in the area of privacy, information security and data protection. If Open Lendings vendors also become subject to laws and regulations in the more stringent and expansive jurisdictions, this could result in increasing costs on Open Lendings business.
Privacy requirements, including notice and opt-out requirements, under the GLBA and FCRA are enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and by the CFPB through UDAAP and are a standard component of CFPB examinations. State entities also may initiate actions for alleged violations of privacy or security requirements under state law. Open Lendings failure to comply with privacy, information security and data protection laws could result in potentially significant regulatory investigations and government actions, litigation, fines or sanctions; consumer, automotive lender or merchant actions; and damage to Open Lendings reputation and brand, all of which could have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
If Open Lending was found to be operating without having obtained necessary state or local licenses, it could adversely affect its business.
Certain states have adopted laws regulating and requiring licensing by parties that engage in certain activity regarding consumer finance and insurance transactions, including facilitating and assisting such transactions in certain circumstances. Furthermore, certain states and localities have also adopted laws requiring licensing for consumer debt collection or servicing. While Open Lending believes it has obtained all necessary licenses, the application of some consumer finance or insurance producer and claims administration licensing laws to LPP is unclear. If Open Lending was found to be in violation of applicable state licensing requirements by a court or a state, federal, or local enforcement agency, it could be subject to fines, damages, injunctive relief (including required modification or discontinuation of Open Lendings business in certain areas), criminal penalties and other penalties or consequences, and the loans originated through LPP could be rendered void or unenforceable in whole or in part, any of which could have a material adverse effect on Open Lendings business.
Open Lending may in the future be subject to federal or state regulatory inquiries regarding its business.
From time to time, in the normal course of its business, Open Lending may receive or be subject to, inquiries or investigations by state and federal regulatory agencies and bodies, such as the CFPB, state Attorneys General, state financial regulatory agencies, and other state or federal agencies or bodies regarding LPP, including the origination and servicing of consumer loans, practices by merchants or other third parties, production of insurance policies, administration of insurance claims and licensing, and registration requirements. For example, in the future, Open Lending may enter into regulatory agreements with state agencies regarding issues including automotive lender conduct and oversight and loan pricing. Open Lending also may receive inquiries from state
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regulatory agencies regarding requirements to obtain licenses from or register with those states, including in states where Open Lending has determined that it is not required to obtain such a license or be registered with the state. Any such inquiries or investigations could involve substantial time and expense to analyze and respond to, could divert managements attention and other resources from running Open Lendings business, and could lead to public enforcement actions or lawsuits and fines, penalties, injunctive relief, and the need to obtain additional licenses that it does not currently possess. Open Lendings involvement in any such matters, whether tangential or otherwise, even if the matters are ultimately determined in Open Lendings favor, could also cause significant harm to its reputation, lead to additional investigations and enforcement actions from other agencies or litigants, and further divert management attention and resources from the operation of Open Lendings business. As a result, the outcome of legal and regulatory actions arising out of any state or federal inquiries Open Lending receives could be material to its business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Related to the Business Combination and Integration of Businesses
Open Lendings management has limited experience in operating a public company.
Open Lendings executive officers and directors have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. Open Lendings management team may not successfully or effectively manage the ongoing transition to a public company, and the Company will be subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of their time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to the management and growth of Open Lending. It is possible that Open Lending will be required to expand its employee base and hire additional employees to support its operations as a public company which will increase our operating costs in future periods.
We will incur significant increased expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on its business, financial condition and results of operations.
As a public company, we will face increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), including the requirements of Section 404, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, the PCAOB and the securities exchanges, impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements will increase costs and make certain activities more time-consuming. A number of those requirements will require us to carry out activities we have not done previously. In addition, additional expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements will be incurred. Furthermore, if any issues in complying with those requirements are identified (for example, if the auditors identify a material weakness or significant deficiency in the internal control over financial reporting), we could incur additional costs rectifying those issues, and the existence of those issues could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions of it. It may also be more expensive to obtain director and officer liability insurance. Risks associated with our status as a public company may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on the board of directors or as executive officers. The additional reporting and other obligations imposed by these rules and regulations will increase legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities. These increased costs will require us to divert a significant amount of money that could otherwise be used to expand the business and achieve strategic objectives. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase costs.
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We qualify as an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, which could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance to the performance of other public companies.
We qualify as an emerging growth company as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible for and intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies for as long as it continues to be an emerging growth company, including (i) the exemption from the auditor attestation requirements with respect to internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) the exemptions from say-on-pay, say-on-frequency and say-on-golden parachute voting requirements and (iii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements. we will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which occurs, among other things, on the last day of the fiscal year in which the market value of the shares of its common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of June 30 of that fiscal year, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1.07 billion or more during such fiscal year, (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in the prior three-year period or (iv) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of our common stock in our initial public offering. In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the exemption from complying with new or revised accounting standards provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act as long as we are an emerging growth company. An emerging growth company can therefore delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We may elect not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we may not be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. Investors may find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions, which may result in a less active trading market for our common stock and its stock price may be more volatile.
We may from time to time be subject to litigation and other claims.
We may from time to time become subject to litigation claims in the operation of our business, including, but not limited to, with respect to employee matters and contract matters. From time to time, we may also face intellectual property infringement, misappropriation, or invalidity/non-infringement claims from third parties, and some of these claims may lead to litigation. We may initiate claims to assert or defend our intellectual property against third parties. Any litigation may be expensive and time-consuming and could divert managements attention from our business and negatively affect its operating results or financial condition. The outcome of any litigation cannot be guaranteed, and adverse outcomes can affect us negatively.
Our ability to successfully operate the business will be largely dependent upon the efforts of certain of our key personnel. The loss of such key personnel could negatively impact our operations and financial results.
Our ability to successfully operate the business is dependent upon the efforts of certain of our key personnel. It is possible that we will lose some key personnel, the loss of which could negatively impact our operations and profitability. Furthermore, certain of our key personnel of may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our principal stockholders and management control us and their interests may conflict with yours in the future.
Our executive officers and directors and significant stockholders own approximately 37.1% of the outstanding voting stock of the Company at the time of the merger. Each share of our common stock initially entitles its
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holders to one vote on all matters presented to stockholders generally. Accordingly, those owners, if voting in the same manner, will be able to control the election and removal of our directors and thereby determine corporate and management policies, including potential mergers or acquisitions, payment of dividends, asset sales, amendments of the certificate of incorporation and bylaws and other significant corporate transactions for so long as they retain significant ownership. This concentration of ownership may delay or deter possible changes in control of Open Lending, which may reduce the value of an investment in our common stock. So long as they continue to own a significant amount of the combined voting power, even if such amount is less than 50%, they will continue to be able to strongly influence or effectively control decisions of the Company.
We will be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for certain tax benefits we may claim, and the amounts of such payments could be significant.
In connection with the closing of the Business Combination, Open Lending entered into the Tax Receivable Agreement with Nebula, the Blocker, the Blocker Holder, and Open Lending. Prior to the closing of the Business Combination, (i) 100% of the interest in Open Lending was held by the Blocker and the Company Unit Sellers, and (ii) 100% of the Blocker was held by the Blocker Holder. The Tax Receivable Agreement generally provides for the payment by Open Lending to the Company Unit Sellers and Blocker Holder, as applicable, of 85% of the net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax that Open Lending actually realizes (or is deemed to realize in certain circumstances) in periods after the closing of the Business Combination as a result of: (i) certain tax attributes of Blocker and/or Open Lending that existed prior to the Business Combination and were attributable to the Blocker; (ii) certain increases in the tax basis of Open Lendings assets resulting from the Second Merger; (iii) imputed interest deemed to be paid by Open Lending as a result of payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement; and (iv) certain increases in tax basis resulting from payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Open Lending will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of these cash savings. The amount of the cash payments that Open Lending may be required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement could be significant and is dependent upon future events and assumptions, including the amount and timing of taxable income Open Lending generates in the future, the U.S. federal income tax rate then applicable and the portion of Open Lendings payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that constitute interest or give rise to depreciable or amortizable tax basis. Moreover, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that Open Lending determines, which tax reporting positions are subject to challenge by taxing authorities. Open Lending will be dependent on distributions from the Blocker to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and we cannot guarantee that such distributions will be made in sufficient amounts or at the times needed to enable Open Lending to make its required payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, or at all. Any payments made by Open Lending to the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder under the Tax Receivable Agreement will generally reduce the amount of overall cash flow that might have otherwise been available to Open Lending. To the extent that Open Lending is unable to make timely payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, the unpaid amounts will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid. Nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a breach of a material obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and therefore, may accelerate payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are also not conditioned upon the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder maintaining a continued ownership interest in us.
In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits, if any, we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
The Tax Receivable Agreement provides that if we breach any of our material obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement, if we undergo a change of control or if, at any time, we elect an early termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement, then the Tax Receivable Agreement will terminate and our obligations, or our successors obligations, to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement would accelerate and become immediately due and payable. The amount due and payable in those circumstances is determined based on certain assumptions, including an assumption that we would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize all potential
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future tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. We may need to incur debt to finance payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the extent our cash resources are insufficient to meet our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement as a result of timing discrepancies or otherwise.
As a result of the foregoing, (i) we could be required to make cash payments to the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder that are greater than the specified percentage of the actual benefits we ultimately realize in respect of the tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement, and (ii) we could be required to make a cash payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future tax benefits that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement, which payment may be made significantly in advance of the actual realization, if any, of such future tax benefits. In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combination, or other changes of control due to the additional transaction costs a potential acquirer may attribute to satisfying such obligations. There can be no assurance that we will be able to finance our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement.
We will not be reimbursed for any payments made to the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits are disallowed.
We will not be reimbursed for any cash payments previously made to the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder pursuant to the Tax Receivable Agreement if any tax benefits initially claimed by us are subsequently challenged by a taxing authority and are ultimately disallowed. Instead, any excess cash payments made by us to a Company Unit Seller or Blocker Holder will be netted against any future cash payments that we might otherwise be required to make under the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. However, a challenge to any tax benefits initially claimed by us may not arise for a number of years following the initial time of such payment or, even if challenged early, such excess cash payment may be greater than the amount of future cash payments that we might otherwise be required to make under the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement and, as a result, there might not be future cash payments from which to net against. The applicable U.S. federal income tax rules are complex and factual in nature, and there can be no assurance that the IRS or a court will not disagree with our tax reporting positions. As a result, it is possible that we could make cash payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are substantially greater than our actual cash tax savings.
Our amended and restated bylaws designate specific courts as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit its stockholders ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Pursuant to our amended and restated bylaws, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for any state law claim for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (2) any action asserting a claim of or based on a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of ours to us or our stockholders; (3) any action asserting a claim pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or (4) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, or the Delaware Forum Provision. The Delaware Forum Provision will not apply to any causes of action arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Our amended and restated bylaws further provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas shall be the sole and exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, or the Federal Forum Provision. In addition, our amended and restated bylaws provide that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our common stock is deemed to have notice of and consented to the Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision; provided, however, that stockholders cannot and will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
We recognize that the Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision in our amended and restated bylaws may impose additional litigation costs on stockholders in pursuing any such claims, particularly if the
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stockholders do not reside in or near the State of Delaware or the State of Texas. Additionally, the forum selection clauses in our amended and restated bylaws may limit our stockholders ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that they find favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage the filing of lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees, even though an action, if successful, might benefit our stockholders. In addition, while the Delaware Supreme Court ruled in March 2020 that federal forum selection provisions purporting to require claims under the Securities Act be brought in federal court were facially valid under Delaware law, there is uncertainty as to whether other courts will enforce our Federal Forum Provision. If the Federal Forum Provision is found to be unenforceable, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters. The Federal Forum Provision may also impose additional litigation costs on stockholders who assert that the provision is not enforceable or invalid. The Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments may be more or less favorable to us than our stockholders.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
An active trading market for our common stock may not be sustained, which may make it difficult to sell the shares of our common stock you purchase.
An active trading market for our common stock may not be sustained, which would make it difficult for you to sell your shares of our common stock at an attractive price (or at all). The market price of our common stock may decline below your purchase price, and you may not be able to sell your shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid for such shares (or at all).
There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of NASDAQ.
If NASDAQ delists our shares of common stock from trading on its exchange for failure to meet Nasdaqs listing standards, we and our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:
| a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| a determination that our common stock is a penny stock which will require brokers trading in our common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The market price of our common stock may be volatile, which could cause the value of your investment to decline.
Even if a trading market develops, the market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations. In addition, the trading volume in our common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. Securities markets worldwide experience significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market and political conditions, could reduce the market price of shares of our common stock in spite of our operating performance. In addition, our results of operations could be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors due to a number of potential factors, including variations in our quarterly or annual results of operations, additions or departures of key management personnel, the loss of key automotive lenders, changes in our earnings estimates (if provided) or failure to meet analysts earnings estimates, publication of research reports about our industry, litigation and
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government investigations, changes or proposed changes in laws or regulations or differing interpretations or enforcement thereof affecting our business, adverse market reaction to any indebtedness we may incur or securities we may issue in the future, changes in market valuations of similar companies or speculation in the press or the investment community with respect to us or our industry, adverse announcements by us or others and developments affecting us, announcements by our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, dispositions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments, actions by institutional stockholders, and increases in market interest rates that may lead investors in our shares to demand a higher yield, and in response the market price of shares of our common stock could decrease significantly.
These broad market and industry factors may decrease the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. The stock market in general has, from time to time, experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a companys securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our managements attention and resources.
Our issuance of additional capital stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our stock incentive plans or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders.
We expect to issue additional capital stock in the future that will result in dilution to all other stockholders. We expect to grant equity awards to employees, directors, and consultants under our stock incentive plans. We may also raise capital through equity financings in the future. As part of our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in complementary companies, products, or technologies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition or investment. Any such issuances of additional capital stock may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the per share value of our common stock to decline.
Sales of a substantial amount of our common stock could cause the price of our securities to fall.
Following this offering, approximately % of the outstanding shares of our common stock is held by entities affiliated with us and our executive officers and directors. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales will occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and make it difficult for us to raise funds through securities offerings in the future. In addition, we, all of our directors, our executive officers and the selling stockholders have each agreed, subject to certain exceptions, to be subject to a 90-day lock-up restriction in connection with this offering. The market price of our common stock may decline when this lock-up restriction lapses.
The exercise of registration rights may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
In connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, Open Lending, LLC, Open Lending Corporation, Nebula, certain persons and entities holding membership units of Open Lending and certain persons and entities holding Shares (collectively, the Holders) entered into the Investor Rights Agreement. Pursuant to the terms of the Investor Rights Agreement, we are obligated to file a registration statement to register the resale of certain of our securities held by the Holders. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Investor Rights Agreement and subject to certain requirements and customary conditions, including with regard to the number of demand rights that may be exercised, the Holders may demand at any time or from time to time, that we file a registration statement on Form S-1, or any similar long-form registration statement, or if available, on Form S-3 to register the shares of our common stock held by such Holders. The Investor Rights Agreement also provides the Holders with piggy-back registration rights, subject to certain requirements and customary conditions. The Investor Rights Agreement further provides for our shares of common stock held by the Holders to be locked-up for 180 days after the closing of the Business Combination. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
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Because we have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.
We have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors. Our board of directors may take into account general and economic conditions, our financial condition and operating results, our available cash, current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions, implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiary to us and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, the terms of our existing financing arrangements restrict or limit our ability to pay cash dividends. Accordingly, we may not pay any dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
Future offerings of debt or equity securities by us may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
In the future, we may attempt to obtain financing or to further increase our capital resources by issuing additional shares of our common stock or offering debt or other equity securities, including commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior or subordinated notes, debt securities convertible into equity or shares of preferred stock. Future acquisitions could require substantial additional capital in excess of cash from operations. We would expect to obtain the capital required for acquisitions through a combination of additional issuances of equity, corporate indebtedness and/or cash from operations.
Issuing additional shares of our common stock or other equity securities or securities convertible into equity may dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our common stock or both. Upon liquidation, holders of such debt securities and preferred shares, if issued, and lenders with respect to other borrowings would receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Debt securities convertible into equity could be subject to adjustments in the conversion ratio pursuant to which certain events may increase the number of equity securities issuable upon conversion. Preferred shares, if issued, could have a preference with respect to liquidating distributions or a preference with respect to dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay dividends to the holders of our common stock. Our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, which may adversely affect the amount, timing and nature of our future offerings.
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could hinder, delay or prevent a change in control of us, which could adversely affect the price of our common stock.
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us without the consent of our board of directors. Among other things, these provisions:
| authorize the issuance of undesignated preferred stock, the terms of which may be established and the shares of which may be issued without stockholder approval, and which may include super voting, special approval, dividend, or other rights or preferences superior to the rights of the holders of our common stock; |
| prohibit stockholder action by written consent, requiring all stockholder actions be taken at a meeting of our stockholders; |
| provide that the board of directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our bylaws; |
| establish advance notice requirements for nominations for elections to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at stockholder meetings; and |
| establish a classified board of directors, as a result of which our board of directors will be divided into three classes, with each class serving for staggered three-year terms, which prevents stockholders from electing an entirely new board of directors at an annual meeting. |
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In addition, these provisions may make it difficult and expensive for a third party to pursue a tender offer, change in control or takeover attempt that is opposed by our management or our board of directors. Stockholders who might desire to participate in these types of transactions may not have an opportunity to do so, even if the transaction is favorable to them. These anti-takeover provisions could substantially impede your ability to benefit from a change in control or change our management and board of directors and, as a result, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and your ability to realize any potential change of control premium.
If securities and industry analysts publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend, in part, on the research and reports that securities and industry analysts publish about us and our business. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, cover the Company. If securities and industry analysts do not commence coverage of the Company, the trading price of our stock would likely be negatively impacted. If one or more of the securities or industry analysts who cover us downgrade our stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of the Company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which might cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
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All of the shares of common stock offered by the selling stockholders pursuant to this prospectus will be sold by the selling stockholders for their respective amounts. We will not receive any of the proceeds from these sales. We will, however, bear the costs associated with the sale of shares by the selling stockholders, other than underwriting discounts and commissions.
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MARKET PRICE, TICKER SYMBOL AND DIVIDEND INFORMATION
Market Price and Ticker Symbol
Our common stock is currently listed on Nasdaq under the symbol LPRO.
The closing price of the common stock on , 2020, was $ .
Holders
As of October 31, 2020, there were 82 holders of record of our common stock. Such numbers do not include beneficial owners holding our securities through nominee names.
Dividend Policy
We have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors. Our board of directors may take into account general and economic conditions, our financial condition and operating results, our available cash, current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions, implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiary to us and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, the terms of our existing financing arrangements restrict or limit our ability to pay cash dividends. Accordingly, we may not pay any dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
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Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
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MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF
OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis provides information which management believes is relevant to an assessment and understanding of Open Lendings consolidated results of operations and financial condition. The discussion should be read in conjunction with Open Lendings consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion contains forward-looking statements and involves numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described under the heading Risk Factors. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.
Business Overview
We are a leading provider of lending enablement and risk analytics to credit unions, regional banks and OEM Captives. Our clients, collectively referred to herein as automotive lenders, make automotive consumer loans to underserved near-prime and non-prime borrowers by harnessing Open Lendings risk-based pricing models, powered by our proprietary data and real-time underwriting of automotive loan default insurance coverage from insurers. Since Open Lendings inception in 2000, we have facilitated over $8.0 billion in automotive loans, accumulating over 20 years of proprietary data and developing over two million unique risk profiles. We currently cater to approximately 340 active automotive lenders.
We specialize in risk-based pricing and modeling and provide automated decision-technology for automotive lenders throughout the United States. We believe that Open Lending addresses the financing needs of near-prime and non-prime borrowers, or borrowers with a credit bureau score between 560 and 699, who are underserved in the automotive finance industry. Traditional lenders focus on prime borrowers, where an efficient market has developed with interest rate competition that benefits borrowers. Independent finance companies focus on sub-prime borrowers. Borrowers that utilize the near-prime and non-prime automotive lending market have fewer lenders focused on loans with longer terms or higher advance rates. As a result, many near-prime and non-prime borrowers turn to sub-prime lenders, resulting in higher interest rate loan offerings than such borrowers credit profile often merits or warrants. Open Lending seeks to make this market more competitive, resulting in more attractive loan terms.
Our flagship product, Lenders Protection Program, enables automotive lenders to make loans that are largely insured against losses from defaults. We have been developing and advancing the proprietary underwriting models used by LPP for approximately 20 years. LPP provides significant benefits to our growing ecosystem of automotive lenders, automobile dealers and insurers.
A key element of LPP is the ability to facilitate risk-based interest rates that are appropriate for each loan and lender and electronically submitted to our automotive lenders within approximately five seconds after we receive a loan application. Our interest rate pricing is customized to each automotive lender, reflecting the cost of capital, loan servicing costs, loan acquisition costs, expected recovery rates and target return on assets of each automotive lender. Using Open Lendings risk models, we project monthly loan performance results, including expected losses and prepayments for automotive lenders that use LPP. The product of this process is a risk-based interest rate, inclusive of elements to recover all projected costs, program fees and insurance premiums, given the risk of the loan, to return a targeted return on asset goal.
We believe that our market opportunity is significant. The near-prime and non-prime automotive loan market is $250 billion annually, resulting in an approximate $14.6 billion annual revenue opportunity. Open Lending is currently serving less than 1% of this market, providing a significant growth opportunity.
Executive Overview
Open Lending believes that it facilitates certified loans and significant total revenue and as a result operating margins and Adjusted EBITDA as a result of executing on Open Lendings strategy of increasing penetration of
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the near-prime and non-prime automotive loan market, diversifying its customer base and refining its data analysis capabilities.
Open Lending facilitated 20,696 and 67,404 certified loans during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to 19,087 and 55,875 certified loans during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. Open Lending facilitated 78,434 certified loans during the year ended December 31, 2019, representing an increase of 38% from 56,688 in the year ended December 31, 2018, which in turn increased by 33% from 42,790 in the year ended December 31, 2017.
Total revenue was $29.8 million and $69.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to $22.1 million and $66.8 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. Total revenue was $92.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, representing an increase of 77.9% from $52.2 million the year ended December 31, 2018, which in turn increased by 61.2% from $32.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2017. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Open Lendings revenue increased by $19.2 million as a result of the adoption of ASC 606. The annual results for prior to 2019 periods have not been restated so this lack of comparability should be considered in reviewing this discussion and analysis.
Operating income was $19.6 million and $32.4 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to $14.8 million and $45.3 million in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. Operating income was $62.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, representing an increase of 120% from $28.5 million the year ended December 31, 2018, which in turn increased by 76.3% from $16.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2017.
Net loss was $(71.1) million and $(112.8) million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to net income of $14.7 million and $45.1 million the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. Net income was $62.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to $28.3 million and $15.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA was $19.8 million and $44.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to $15.3 million and $46.9 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA was $64.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, representing an increase of 107.4% from $31.3 million the year ended December 31, 2018, which in turn increased by 81.3% from $17.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2017.
Information regarding use of Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most comparable GAAP measure, is included in Non-GAAP Financial Measures.
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Highlights
The table below summarizes the total dollar-value of insured loans Open Lending facilitated, the number of new contracts Open Lending signed with automotive lenders and the number of OEM Captive relationships Open Lending entered into for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 and the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.
Three Months Ended September 30, |
Nine Months Ended September 30 |
Years ended December 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Value of Insured Loans facilitated(1) |
$ | 463,377 | $ | 424,806 | $ | 1,500,422 | $ | 1,246,260 | $ | 1,755,175,046 | $ | 1,246,551,455 | $ | 937,552,547 | ||||||||||||||
Number of contracts signed with automotive lenders |
11 | 21 | 39 | 53 | 77 | 58 | 61 |
(1) | Value of insured loans are calculated as the total original loan amount with active institutions as of the end of each reporting period. |
Key Performance Measures
Key Performance Measures
We review several key performance measures, discussed below, to evaluate business and results, measure performance, identify trends, formulate plans and make strategic decisions. We believe that the presentation of such metrics is useful to our investors and counterparties because they are used to measure and model the performance of companies such as Open Lending, with recurring revenue streams.
Automotive Loans
We refer to automotive loans as the number of loans facilitated through LPP during a given period. Additionally, we refer to loans with a one-time upfront payment as single-pay loans and those paid over twelve monthly installments as monthly-pay loans.
Average Program Fee
We define average program fee as the total program fee billed for a period divided by the number of certified loans in that period.
Insurers Aggregate Underwriting Profit
We define insurers aggregate underwriting profit as the total underwriting profit expected to be received by insurers over the expected life of the insured loans.
Insurers Annual Earned Premium
We define insurers annual earned premium as the total insurance premium earned by insurers in a given period.
Insurers Average Earned Premium Per Loan
We define insurers average earned premium per loan as the total single premium equivalent insurance premium written in a period by insurers divided by the number of certified loans in that period.
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Recent Developments
Appointment and Departure of Officers and Directors.
On August 28, 2020, the board of directors appointed Ross M. Jessup as President of the Company, effective immediately. Mr. Jessup will also continue to serve as the Companys Chief Operating Officer. John J. Flynn will remain as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Also, on August 28, 2020, the Board appointed Charles D. Jehl as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Company, effective immediately.
On August 20, 2020, Ryan J. Collins resigned his positions as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer of the Company. On August 28,2020, the Board appointed Sarah Lackey as Chief Technology Officer of the Company, effective immediately.
On August 28, 2020, the Board elected Eric A. Feldstein to serve as a Director of the Company effective immediately. Mr. Feldstein was appointed to serve on the Audit Committee and the Risk Committee.
On August 5, 2020, the Board elected Jessica Snyder and Shubhi Rao to serve as Directors of the Company, effective immediately. Ms. Snyder was appointed to serve on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and as the Chair of the Audit Committee. Ms. Rao was appointed to serve on the Audit Committee.
Business Combination.
Nebula, our predecessor, was originally incorporated in Delaware on October 2, 2017 as a special purpose acquisition company for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Nebula consummated the Business Combination on June 10, 2020.
Immediately upon the Closing, Open Lending, LLC became a direct wholly owned subsidiary of ParentCo, and ParentCo changed its name to Open Lending Corporation. The Company is now listed on NASDAQ under the symbol LPRO.
The aggregate consideration for the Business Combination was $1.0 billion, consisting of $463.8 million in cash and 51,909,655 shares of our common stock valued at $10.00 per share totaling $519.1 million. The terms of the Business Combination Agreement contain customary representations and warranties, covenants, closing conditions, termination fee provisions and other terms relating to the Business Combination and the other transactions contemplated.
New Credit Agreement
On March 11, 2020, we entered into the Credit Agreement. The Term Loan in a principal amount of $170.0 million was funded on March 12, 2020. The proceeds of the Term Loan were used to, among other things, finance a distribution to Open Lendings equity investors prior to the consummation of the Business Combination. The Term Loan bears interest at LIBOR plus 6.50% (subject to a 1% LIBOR floor) or the base rate plus 5.50%. Our obligations under the Credit Agreement are guaranteed by all of its subsidiaries and secured by substantially all of the assets of Open Lending and its subsidiaries, in each case, subject to certain customary exceptions. The Term Loan has a maturity date of March 11, 2027. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Credit Agreement, we may be required to make certain mandatory prepayments prior to maturity. Voluntary prepayments and certain mandatory prepayments may be subject to certain prepayment premiums in the first two years after the date thereof.
The Credit Agreement contains affirmative and negative covenants customarily applicable to senior secured credit facilities, including, among other things, customary limitations on the incurrence of indebtedness and liens,
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certain intercompany transactions and other investments, dispositions of assets, issuance of certain units, repayment of other indebtedness, redemptions of units and payment of dividends. The Credit Agreement also contains a maximum total net leverage ratio financial covenant that is tested quarterly and calculated based on the ratio of our Adjusted EBITDA (as defined in the Credit Agreement) to funded indebtedness. The maximum total net leverage ratio begins at 4.75 to 1.0 and then gradually decreases from year-to-year down to 2.5 to 1.0 on or after June 30, 2026. The Credit Agreement also contains customary events of default, at times subject to thresholds and grace periods (among others), including payment default, covenant default, cross default to other material indebtedness, and judgment defaults.
Non-Liquidating Cash Distribution
On March 24, 2020, Open Lending, LLCs Board of Managers approved a non-liquidating cash distribution to its unitholders in the amount of $135.0 million. See Liquidity and Capital ResourcesUnitholders Distribution.
Coronavirus Outbreak
The recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020 and declared a National Emergency by the President of the United States on March 13, 2020, has led to adverse impacts on the U.S. and global economies and created uncertainty regarding potential impacts on our operating results, financial condition and cash flows. The extent of the impact of COVID 19 on our operational and financial performance will depend on certain developments, including the duration and continued spread of the disease, the impact on our revenues which are generated with automobile lenders and insurance company partners and driven by consumer demand for automobiles and automotive loans, extended closures of businesses, continued high unemployment and the overall impact on our customer behavior, all of which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. We expect to have a short-term reduction in loan applications and certified loans and increased defaults, which will impact our revenues and subsequent recovery as the automotive finance industry and overall economy recover. We continue to closely monitor the current macro environment, particularly the impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on monetary and fiscal policies.
Redemption of Public Warrants
As of October 19, 2020, Open Lending redeemed all of its outstanding public warrants that had not been exercised as of October 13, 2020, which resulted in the exercise of 9,160,776 warrants for proceeds to us of $105.3 million and the redemption of 5,883 public warrants at a redemption price of $0.01 per warrant.
Key Factors Affecting Operating Results
Our future operating results and cash flows are dependent upon a number of opportunities, challenges and other factors, including the growth in the number of financial institutions and transaction volume, competition, profit share assumptions and industry trends and general economic conditions.
Key factors affecting our operating results include the following:
Growth in the Number of Financial Institutions
The growth trend in active automotive lenders using LPP is a critical variable directly affecting revenue and financial results. It influences the number of loans funded on LPP and, therefore, the fees that we earn and the cost of the services that we provide. Growth in our active automotive lender relationships will depend on our ability to retain existing automotive lenders, add new automotive lenders, and expand to new industry verticals.
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Competition
We face competition to acquire and maintain automotive lenders as well as competition to fund near-prime and non-prime auto loans. For LPP, which combines lending enablement, risk analytics, near-prime and non-prime auto loan performance data, real-time loan decisioning, risk-based pricing and auto loan default insurance, we do not believe there are any direct competitors. The emergence of direct competitors, providing risk, analytics and loss mitigation, which are core elements of our business, could materially impact our ability to acquire and maintain automotive lenders customers.
The near-prime and non-prime lending market is highly fragmented and competitive. We face competition from a diverse landscape of consumer lenders, including traditional banks and credit unions, as well as alternative technology-enabled lenders. The emergence of other insurers, in competition with our insurers, could materially impact our business. Increased competition for loans, which reduce the ability of our automotive lenders to source loan application flow and or capture loans, could also materially adversely impact our business.
Profit Share Assumptions
We rely on assumptions to calculate the value of profit share revenue, which is our share of insurance partners underwriting profit. To the extent these assumptions change, our profit share revenue will be adjusted. Please refer to Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates for more information on these assumptions.
Industry Trends and General Economic Conditions
Our results of operations have in the past been fairly resilient to economic downturns but in the future may be impacted by the relative strength of the overall economy and its effect on unemployment, consumer spending and consumer demand for automotive products. As general economic conditions improve or deteriorate, the amount of disposable income consumers tend to fluctuate, which in turn impacts consumer spending levels and the willingness of consumers to take out loans to finance purchases. Specific economic factors such as interest rate levels, changes in monetary and related policies, market volatility, consumer confidence and, particularly, the unemployment rate, also influence consumer spending and borrowing patterns. At the end of first quarter 2020, changes in facts and circumstances and general market conditions from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lower expectations of future operating results, and in response, we lowered our initial anticipated revenue and profit share on historic business. During the most recent quarter, we have adopted a more favorable near-term outlook as a result of better than anticipated performance during the three months ended September 30, 2020.
Concentration
We have not historically had significant concentration risk in our client base, given that our lending clients are distributed across the country with our top ten clients accounting for approximately 31% of total program fees over the last three years. Going forward, however, we expect significant growth in loan volume from OEM Captives relative to that of other automotive lenders. Therefore, we anticipate concentrated risk for some period of time. Additionally, our largest insurance partner accounted for the vast majority of our profit share and claims administration service fee revenue in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020. Termination or disruption of this relationship could materially adversely impact our revenue.
Basis of Presentation
We conduct business through one operating segment, and we operate in one geographic region, the United States. See Note 2 Summary of Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies and Recent Development, of the accompanying consolidated financial statements for more information.
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Components of Results of Operations
Total Revenues
Revenue. Our revenue is generated through three streams: (i) program fees paid to us by lenders, (ii) profit share and (iii) claims administration service fees paid to us by insurance partners.
Program fees. Program fees are paid by automotive lenders for use of Open Lendings LPP and analytics. These fees are based on a percentage of each certified loans original principal balance and are recognized as revenue by us upfront upon receipt of the loan by the consumer. The fee percentage rate varies by type of loan. For loans with a one-time upfront payment, there is a sliding scale of rates representing volume discounts to the lender and with fees generally capped at $600 per loan. This cap may vary for certain large volume lenders. For loans with 12 monthly equal installments, the fee paid by the lender is a flat 3% of the total amount of the loan and is not capped.
Profit share. Profit share represents our participation in the underwriting profit of third-party insurance partners who provide lenders with credit default insurance on loans the lenders make using LPP. We receive a percentage of the aggregate monthly insurance underwriting profit. Monthly insurance underwriting profit is calculated as the monthly earned premium less expenses and losses (including reserves for incurred but not reported losses), with losses accrued and carried forward for future profit share calculations.
Claims administration service fees. Claims administration service fees are paid to us by third- party insurers for credit default insurance claims adjudication services performed by our subsidiary Insurance Administrative Services, LLC on its insured servicing portfolio. The administration fee is equal to 3% of the monthly insurance premium for as long as the loan remains outstanding.
Costs of Services and Operating Expenses
Cost of services. Cost of services primarily consists of fees paid to third party resellers for lead-generation efforts, costs of third-party data and information used in underwriting, compensation and benefits expenses relating to employees engaged in lenders services and claims administration activities, fees paid for actuarial services related to the development of the monthly premium program and fees for integration with loan origination systems of automotive lenders. We generally expect cost of services to increase in absolute dollars as the total number of certified loans continues to grow; however, we expect the costs of the services to remain relatively constant in the near to immediate term as a percentage of our program fee revenue.
General and administrative expenses. General and administrative expenses are comprised primarily of expenses relating to employee compensation and benefits, non-cash share-based compensation, travel, meals and entertainment expenses, IT expenses and professional and consulting fees. In the near term we expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollar terms and as a percentage of revenue as we continue to implement the internal control and compliance procedures required of public companies. In the intermediate term, we expect general and administrative expenses to continue to increase in absolute dollars as the total number of certified loans continue to grow. General and administrative expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 include $9.1 million and $2.2 million, respectively, related to transaction bonuses and non-cash share-based compensation expense as a result of the Business Combination.
Selling and marketing expenses. Selling and marketing expenses consist primarily of compensation and benefits of employees engaged in selling and marketing activities. We generally expect its selling and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as the total number of certified loans continue to grow in the long term; however, we expect selling and marketing expenses to remain constant in the near to immediate term as a percentage of its program fee revenue.
Research and development expenses. Research and development expenses consist of employee compensation and benefits expenses for employees engaged in ongoing development of our software technology platform. We
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generally expect our research and development expenses to increase in absolute dollars as our business continues to grow.
Other Income (Expense)
Change in fair value of contingent consideration: Change in fair value of contingent consideration reflects the non-cash impact of changes in the fair value of Company common stock expected to be issued as contingent consideration in connection with our Business Combination on June 10, 2020. The fair value of contingent consideration is based on a Monte Carlo simulation of the Companys common stock as compared to certain market share price milestones, and is primarily based on our peer group due to our limited history, as well as our future implied volatility, a significant unobservable input. The change in the estimated fair value of contingent consideration in the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was driven by the change in estimated fair value from June 10, 2020 through the date immediately before each tranche of contingent consideration shares vested.
Interest expense. Interest expense includes interest payments and the amortization of debt issuance costs in connection with the Credit Agreement.
Results of Operations
The following table sets forth selected consolidated statements of income data for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 and the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 (in thousands, except percentages):
(Unaudited) | (Unaudited) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Three Months Ended September 30 |
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
Years ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | % change |
2019 | 2020 | % change |
2019 | 2019 | % change |
2018 | % change |
2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Revenue |
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Program fees |
10,087 | 12.7 | % | 8,950 | $ | 31,592 | 19.6 | % | $ | 26,407 | $ | 36,667 | 46.4 | % | $ | 25,044 | 46.8 | % | $ | 17,064 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Profit share |
18,544 | 50.6 | % | 12,310 | 34,482 | -9.5 | % | 38,089 | 53,038 | 113.6 | % | 24,835 | 80.8 | % | 13,735 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Claims administration service fees |
1,131 | 34.0 | % | 844 | 3,185 | 40.0 | % | 2,275 | 3,142 | 35.8 | % | 2,313 | 46.3 | % | 1,581 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Total revenue |
29,762 | 34.7 | % | 22,104 | 69,259 | 3.7 | % | 66,771 | 92,847 | 77.9 | % | 52,192 | 61.2 | % | 32,380 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cost of services |
2,496 | 29.8 | % | 1,923 | 6,818 | 23.6 | % | 5,517 | 7,806 | 69.6 | % | 4,603 | 52.5 | % | 3,019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gross profit |
27,266 | 35.1 | % | 20,181 | 62,441 | 1.9 | % | 61,254 | 85,041 | 78.7 | % | 47,589 | 62.1 | % | 29,361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating expenses |
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General and administrative |
5,015 | 53.7 | % | 3,263 | 23,233 | 140.3 | % | 9,670 | 13,774 | 13.6 | % | 12,125 | 51.8 | % | 7,986 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Selling and marketing |
2,118 | 17.0 | % | 1,810 | 5,491 | 0.7 | % | 5,455 | 7,482 | 20.9 | % | 6,188 | 36.5 | % | 4,532 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Research and development |
579 | 99.0 | % | 291 | 1,286 | 48.0 | % | 869 | 1,170 | 45.9 | % | 802 | 16.1 | % | 691 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Operating income |
19,554 | 32.0 | % | 14,817 | 32,431 | -28.4 | % | 45,260 | 62,615 | 119.9 | % | 28,474 | 76.3 | % | 16,152 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other income/expense |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Change in fair value of contingent consideration |
(83,130 | ) | | | (131,932 | ) | | | | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interest expense |
(3,572 | ) | -5,002.9 | % | (70 | ) | (7,980 | ) | -3,252.9 | % | (238 | ) | (322 | ) | -5.6 | % | (341 | ) | -18.4 | % | (418 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Interest income |
36 | 414.3 | % | 7 | 97 | 546.7 | % | 15 | 24 | 84.6 | % | 13 | 30.0 | % | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other income |
| -100.0 | % | 3 | 3 | -66.7 | % | 9 | 197 | 15.9 | % | 170 | 100.0 | % | 85 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Net income before income tax |
(67,112 | ) | -554.8 | % | 14,757 | (107,381 | ) | -338.4 | % | 45,046 | 62,514 | 120.8 | % | 28,316 | 78.9 | % | 15,829 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Provisions for income tax |
4,021 | 9,707.3 | % | 41 | 5,385 | -9,384.5 | % | (58 | ) | (30 | ) | -181.1 | % | 37 | -37.3 | % | 59 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Net income |
(71,133 | ) | -583.4 | % | 14,716 | $ | (112,766 | ) | -350.0 | % | $ | 45,104 | $ | 62,544 | 121.2 | % | $ | 28,279 | 79.3 | % | $ | 15,770 |
47
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Key Performance Measures
The following table sets forth key performance measures for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 and the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 (earned premium are in thousands):
Three Months Ended September 30, |
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
Year ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | % Change | 2019 | 2020 | % Change | 2019 | 2019 | % Change | 2018 | % Change | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Certified loans |
20,696 | 8.4 | % | 19,087 | 67,404 | 20.6 | % | 55,875 | 78,434 | 38.3 | % | 56,705 | 32.5 | % | 42,790 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Single-pay |
15,500 | 6.0 | % | 14,625 | 53,416 | 25.4 | % | 42,593 | 60,794 | 31.5 | % | 46,223 | 19.0 | % | 38,837 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monthly-pay |
5,196 | 16.5 | % | 4,462 | 13,988 | 5.3 | % | 13,282 | 17,640 | 68.3 | % | 10,482 | 165.2 | % | 3,953 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Average program fees |
487 | 3.9 | % | 469 | 469 | 0.8 | % | 473 | 468 | 5.7 | % | 443 | 10.9 | % | 399 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Single-pay |
442 | 4.2 | % | 424 | 430 | 0.2 | % | 429 | 426 | 5.3 | % | 405 | 7.1 | % | 378 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monthly-pay |
623 | 1.1 | % | 616 | 616 | 0.7 | % | 612 | 612 | 0.4 | % | 609 | 0.0 | % | 609 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Insurance partners earned premium |
34,165 | 24.8 | % | 27,374 | 99,430 | 30.8 | % | 76,021 | 104,720 | 35.8 | % | 77,101 | 46.3 | % | 52,709 |
Three and Nine months ended September 30, 2020 Compared to the Three and Nine months ended September 30, 2019
Revenue
Three Months Ended September 30, |
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
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2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||
(in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||
Program fees |
$ | 10,087 | $ | 8,950 | $ | 31,592 | $ | 26,407 | ||||||||
Profit share |
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New certified loan originations |
14,706 | 11,482 | 43,621 | 32,709 | ||||||||||||
Change in estimated future revenues |
3,838 | 828 | (9,139 | ) | 5,380 | |||||||||||
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Total profit share |
18,544 | 12,310 | 34,482 | 38,089 | ||||||||||||
Claims administration service fees |
1,131 | 844 | 3,185 | 2,275 | ||||||||||||
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Total revenue |
$ | 29,762 | $ | 22,104 | $ | 69,259 | $ | 66,771 | ||||||||
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Total revenue increased by $7.7 million and $2.5 million, or 35% and 4%, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2019, driven by an increase in anticipated profit share, programs fees and claims administrative revenues on new originations. As the expected loan default rate, default severity and prepayment rate improved during the three months ended September 30, 2020, our estimated profit share on historic business increased by $3.8 million. Despite an increase in new business, as well as average earned premiums, our results for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 were negatively impacted by a $9.1 million reduction in estimated future underwriting profit share on historical vintages.
Program fee revenue increased by $1.1 million, or 13%, and $5.2 million, or 20%, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2019. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, certified loan volume was up by 8.4% and 20% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to the prior year.
Profit share revenue increased by $6.2 million, or 51%, and decreased $3.6 million, or 9%, respectively, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, as compared to the same periods in 2019. This increase in profit share revenue was driven primarily by $14.7 million and $43.6 million in anticipated profit share from new originations during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to 2019. Despite this increase in new business, our year to date results were negatively impacted by a $9.1 million
48
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
reduction in estimated future underwriting profit share for claims and premiums associated with business written in historic periods, primarily as a result of the economic slowdown attributable to the COVID-19. This reduction in future profit share is a change in estimated variable consideration in accordance with ASC 606.
Revenue from claims administration service fees, which represents 3% of our insurance partners annual earned premium, increased by $0.3 million, or 34%, and $0.9, or 40%, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 as compared to the previous year, driven by a 31% increase in total earned premium and a 21% increase in new loan certifications on a year to date basis, as compared to the prior year.
Cost of Services, Gross Profit and Gross Margin:
Three Months Ended September 30, |
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
|||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||
(in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||
Revenue |
$ | 29,762 | $ | 22,104 | $ | 69,259 | $ | 66,771 | ||||||||
Cost of services |
2,496 | 1,923 | 6,818 | 5,517 | ||||||||||||
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Gross profit |
$ | 27,266 | $ | 20,181 | $ | 62,441 | $ | 61,254 | ||||||||
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Gross Margin |
92 | % | 91 | % | 90 | % | 92 | % |
Costs of services increased by $0.6 million, or 30%, and $1.3 million, or 24%, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, as compared to the same period in 2019, driven by an increase in fees paid to resellers.
Gross profit increased by $7.1 million, or 35%, and $1.2 million, or 2%, respectively, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, as compared to the same periods in 2019, driven by an increase in anticipated profit share, programs fees and claims administrative revenues on new originations. As the estimated future underwriting profit share on historic placements improved during the three months ended September 30, 2020, our gross margins increased to 92% as compared to 91% during the prior year period.
Operating Expenses, Operating Income and Operating Margin:
Three Months Ended September 30, |
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
|||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||
(in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||
Revenue |
$ | 29,762 | $ | 22,104 | $ | 69,259 | $ | 66,771 | ||||||||
Gross profit |
27,266 | 20,181 | 62,441 | 61,254 | ||||||||||||
Operating expenses: |
||||||||||||||||
General and administrative |
5,015 | 3,263 | 23,233 | 9,670 | ||||||||||||
Selling and marketing |
2,118 | 1,810 | 5,491 | 5,455 | ||||||||||||
Research and development |
579 | 291 | 1,286 | 869 | ||||||||||||
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Operating income |
$ | 19,554 | $ | 14,817 | $ | 32,431 | $ | 45,260 | ||||||||
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Operating Margin |
66 | % | 67 | % | 47 | % | 68 | % |
General and administrative expenses increased by $1.8 million, or 54%, and $13.6 million, or 140%, respectively, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, as compared to the same periods last year. In the first nine months of 2020, General and administrative expenses includes a $9.1 million in transaction bonuses awarded to key employees and directors of Open Lending, LLC and $2.2 million of non-cash charges incurred in connection with the accelerated vesting of share-based awards, which were incurred during the second quarter, as a result of the Business Combination. General and administrative expenses also reflects an
49
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
increase in employee compensation and benefits, as we build out our organization, in addition to professional and consulting fees, as we continue to implement the internal control and compliance procedures required of public companies.
Selling and marketing expenses increased by $0.3 million, or 17%, during the three months ended September 30, 2020 as compared to the prior year period, primarily due to an increase in employee compensation and benefits expense as a result of an increase in commissions, both by sales staff and account managers, driven by increased sales.
Research and development expenses increased by $0.3 million, or 99%, and $0.4, or 48%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to the same periods in prior year, due to an increase in headcount costs driven by an increase in engineering personnel.
Operating income for the three months ended September 30, 2020, increased by $4.7 million, or 32%, as compared to the prior year period, driven by an increase in on gross profit from new originations. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, operating income declined by $12.8 million, or 28%, as compared to the prior year, due to a reduction in estimated future underwriting profits, as a result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and an increase in operating expenses, which include a $9.1 million in transaction bonuses to key employees and directors as a result of the Business Combination and $2.2 million of non-cash charges incurred in connection with the accelerated vesting of employee share-based awards.
During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, we recorded $83.1 million and $131.9 in non-cash charges, respectively, for the change in the estimated fair value of contingent consideration from June 10, 2020 through the vesting of the contingent consideration.
Interest expense during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, increased by $3.5 million and $7.7 million, respectively, as compared the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, as a result of entering into a new term loan agreement in first quarter 2020.
Income Taxes
Our effective tax rate for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was (6.0)%, as compared to an effective tax rate of 0.3% for the three months ended September 30, 2019. Our effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was (5.0)% as compared to an effective tax rate of (0.1)% for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The change in the effective tax rate for both comparative periods is due primarily to the taxable entity structure adopted in conjunction with the Business Combination that was consummated on June 10, 2020. Also, in relation to the Business Combination, the Company incurred significant non-deductible expenses including, but not limited to, the change in estimated fair value of contingent consideration.
Net Income (Loss)
For the reasons discussed above, we recorded a net loss of $(71.1) million and $(112.8) million, respectively, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, as compared to a net income of $14.7 million and $45.1 million, respectively, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively.
Year Ended December 31, 2019 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2018
Revenue
Results presented for the year ended December 31, 2019 reflect the impact of Open Lendings adoption of Accounting Standards Update 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (ASC 606) and related cost capitalization guidance, which was adopted by Open Lending on January 1, 2019, using the modified
50
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
retrospective transition method. The adoption of ASC 606 resulted in Open Lending recognizing as revenue the share of its insurance partners aggregate underwriting profit to which it expects to be entitled in the future. Open Lending therefore makes assumptions about future premiums and claims to be experienced on its insurance partners portfolios. Were these assumptions to differ from actual premium and claims, Open Lending would revise its expectations relating to business underwritten by its insurance partners in historic periods. These revisions, if positive, are also booked as revenue or, if negative, are netted against revenue. In application of the modified retrospective transition method, Open Lendings prior period results have not been restated to reflect the impact of ASC 606. This lack of comparability should be considered in reviewing this discussion and analysis. Refer to Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements and Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates for further information on the impact of the adoption of ASC 606.
The following table provides the components of Open Lendings total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands, except percentages):
For Year Ended December 31, |
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2019 | 2018 | $ Variance | % Change | |||||||||||||
Program fees |
$ | 36,667 | $ | 25,044 | $ | 11,623 | 46.4 | % | ||||||||
Profit share |
53,038 | 24,835 | 28,203 | 113.6 | % | |||||||||||
Claims administration service fees |
3,142 | 2,313 | 829 | 35.8 | % | |||||||||||
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Total revenue |
$ | 92,847 | $ | 52,192 | $ | 40,655 | 77.9 | % | ||||||||
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Total revenue increased by $40.7 million or 77.9% for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 due to a 38.3% increase in certified loans, along with an overall 2.0% increase in average loan amount. Additional revenue is attributable to recognition under ASC 606. The chart below compares total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2019, recognized under ASC 605 and ASC 606, and highlights the $19.2 million increase in profit share revenue and total revenue that results from the adoption of ASC 606. As Open Lendings prior period results have not been restated, the comparability to the year ended December 31, 2018 is impacted.
Total revenue (2019)
The following charts illustrate the key drivers of program fee revenue.
Certified loans and average program fee Single-pay
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Certified loans and average program fee Monthly-pay
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Program fees by type
| ||
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51
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
The following charts provide additional detail regarding certified loan originations:
Weekly Cert Originations February 2 May 3
|
Refinance Certified Loans Originated
| |
![]() |
![]() |
Program fees revenue increased by $11.6 million, or 46.4%, for the year ended December 31, 2019 when compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily driven by a 38.3% increase in certified loans. Program fee revenue for the year ended December 31, 2019 also benefited from higher average program fees earned on single-pay certified loans, which increased by 5.3% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, and a 68.3% increase in monthly-pay certified loans, which have higher average program fees per loan. As a result, program fee revenue from monthly-pay certified loans increased to represent 29.4% of total program fee revenue in the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to 25.5% for the year ended December 31, 2018. In future periods Open Lending expects a significant increase in certified loans from OEM Captives, which would increase the proportion of single-pay certified loans.
The following chart illustrates the key factors driving the change in profit share revenue for the year ended December 31, 2019 when compared to the year ended December 31, 2018.
Profit share revenue:
Years ended December 31, 2018 and 2019
Profit share revenue increased by $28.2 million, or 113.6%, for the year ended December 31, 2019 when compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 due to 38.3% growth in certified loans, which translated into 35.8% growth in Open Lendings insurance partners annual earned premium, and $19.2 million, or 56.9%, due to the adoption of ASC 606. Of the $19.2 million increase resulting from the adoption of ASC 606, $14.3 million relates to the recognition of the share of Open Lendings insurance partners aggregate underwriting profit to which Open Lending expects to be entitled. The remaining $4.9 million relates to the revision of Open Lendings expectations for claims and premiums related to business written in historic periods.
Revenue from claims administration service fees, which represents 3.0% of Open Lendings insurance partners annual earned premium, increased by $0.8 million, or 35.8% for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 due to a 35.8% increase in total earned premium and a 663.5% increase in earned premium from insurance carrier CNA.
52
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Cost of Services, Gross Profit and Gross Margin
The following table shows Open Lendings revenue, cost of services, gross profit and gross margin for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands, except percentages):
For Year Ended December 31, |
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2019 | 2018 | $ Variance | % Change | |||||||||||||
Revenue |
$ | 92,847 | $ | 52,192 | $ | 40,655 | 77.9 | % | ||||||||
Cost of services |
7,806 | 4,603 | 3,203 | 69.6 | % | |||||||||||
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Gross profit |
$ | 85,041 | $ | 47,589 | $ | 37,452 | 78.7 | % | ||||||||
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Gross Margin |
91.6 | % | 91.2 | % |
Costs of services increased by $3.2 million, or 69.6%, for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily driven by a 64.1% increase in fees paid to resellers, first-time costs associated with credit risk evaluation, a 59.3% increase in employee compensation and benefits expense and a 55.0% increase in costs for actuarial services.
Gross profit increased by $37.5 million, or 78.7% for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, due to organic revenue growth and the impact of adopting ASC 606; offset by the 69.6% increase in cost of services. For the same reasons, gross margin increased to 91.6% for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to 91.2% for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Operating Expenses, Operating Income and Operating Margin
The following table shows revenue, the components of Open Lendings operating expenses, operating income and operating margin for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands, except percentages):
For Year Ended December 31, |
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2019 | 2018 | $ Variance | % Change | |||||||||||||
Revenue |
$ | 92,847 | $ | 52,192 | $ | 40,655 | 77.9 | % | ||||||||
Gross profit |
85,041 | 47,589 | 37,452 | 78.7 | % | |||||||||||
Operating expenses: |
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General and administrative |
13,774 | 12,125 | 1,649 | 13.6 | % | |||||||||||
Selling and marketing |
7,482 | 6,188 | 1,294 | 20.9 | % | |||||||||||
Research and development |
1,170 | 802 | 368 | 45.9 | % | |||||||||||
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Operating income |
$ | 62,615 | $ | 28,474 | $ | 34,141 | 119.9 | % | ||||||||
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Operating Margin |
67.4 | % | 54.6 | % |
General and administrative expenses increased by $1.6 million, or 13.6% for the year ended December 31, 2019 when compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily due to a 30.8% increase in employee compensation and benefits expenses, driven by an increase in headcount, a 25.3% increase in travel, meals and entertainment costs, an 18.6% increase in IT costs, and a 20.7% increase in professional and consulting fees. These increases were partially offset by a 21.0% decrease in unit-based compensation expense and a 21.0% decrease in business development expenses. In the short term, Open Lending expects to experience an increase in its general & administrative expenses as it implements the internal control and compliance procedures required of public companies.
Selling and marketing expenses increased by $1.3 million, or 20.9%, for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily due to a 24.9% increase in employee compensation and benefits expense due to increased sales activity, partially offset by a 59.4% decrease in unit-based compensation and a 57.4% decrease in marketing expenses.
53
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Research and development expenses increased by $0.4 million, or 45.9% for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 due to an increase in headcount costs related to a 52.9% increase in engineering personnel.
Operating income for the year ended December 31, 2019, increased by $34.1 million, or 120.0% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily due to the aforementioned 78.7% increase in gross profit, offset primarily by the 13.6% increase in general administrative expenses and the 20.9% increase in selling and marketing expenses. As a result of the above, operating margin increased from 54.6% for the year ended December 31, 2018 to 67.4% for the year ended December 31, 2019.
Net Income
For the reasons discussed above and considering the immaterial impact of other expenses and income tax for the year, Open Lendings net income for the year ended December 31, 2019 increased by $34.3 million or 121.2% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018.
Adjusted EBITDA
For the year ended December 31, 2019, Adjusted EBITDA increased by $33.6 million or 107.4% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, as a result of the 121.2% increase in net income, offset by a smaller adjustment for unit-based compensation, which decreased by 22.9%. For the same reasons, Adjusted EBITDA margin for the year ended December 31, 2019 increased to 69.9% as compared to 60.0% in the year ended December 31, 2018. Please see Non-GAAP Financial Measures for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income.
Year Ended December 31, 2018 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2017
Revenues
The following table provides the components of Open Lendings revenue for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 (in thousands, except percentages):
For Year Ended December 31, |
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2018 | 2017 | $ Variance | % Change | |||||||||||||
Program fees |
$ | 25,044 | $ | 17,064 | $ | 7,980 | 46.8 | % | ||||||||
Profit share |
24,835 | 13,735 | 11,100 | 80.8 | % | |||||||||||
Claims administration service fees |
2,313 | 1,581 | 732 | 46.3 | % | |||||||||||
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Total revenue |
$ | 52,192 | $ | 32,380 | $ | 19,812 | 61.2 | % | ||||||||
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Total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased by $19.8 million or 61.2% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, primarily as result of an increase in certified loans.
The following charts illustrate the key drivers of program fee revenue.
Certified loans and average program fee Single-pay
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Certified loans and average program fee Monthly-pay
|
Program fees by type
| ||
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54
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Program fee revenue increased by $8.0 million, or 46.8%, for the year ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, driven primarily by a 32.5% increase in certified loans. Program fee revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018 also benefited from a 7.1% increase in average program fees earned on single-pay certified loans as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, and a 165.2% increase in monthly-pay certified loans, which have higher average program fees per loan. As a result, program fee revenue from monthly-pay certified loans increased to represent 25.5% of all program fee revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to 14.1% for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Profit Share revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased by $11.1 million, or 80.8%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017 as a result of several factors. These include 46.3% growth in Open Lendings insurance partners annual earned premium for the year ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, which itself was driven by 32.5% growth in certified loans, and a 10.4% increase in Open Lendings insurance partners average earned premium per loan. Additionally, in the year ended December 31, 2018, Open Lending paid lower underwriting fees to its insurance partners and Open Lending was entitled to 72.0% of its insurance partners underwriting profit compared to 67.5% for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Claims administration service fee revenue increased by $0.7 million, or 46.3%, for the year ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, driven by the 46.3% increase in Open Lendings insurance partners annual earned premium.
Cost of Services, Gross Profit and Gross Margin
The following table shows Open Lendings revenue, cost of services, gross profit and gross margin for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 (in thousands, except percentages):
For Year Ended December 31, |
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2018 | 2017 | $ Variance | % Change | |||||||||||||
Revenue |
$ | 52,192 | $ | 32,380 | $ | 19,812 | 61.2 | % | ||||||||
Cost of services |
4,603 | 3,019 | 1,584 | 52.5 | % | |||||||||||
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Gross profit |
$ | 47,589 | $ | 29,361 | $ | 18,228 | 62.1 | % | ||||||||
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Gross Margin |
91.2 | % | 90.7 | % |
Cost of services for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased by $1.6 million, or 52.5%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2017 primarily driven by a 50.5% increase in fees paid to resellers, a 63.3% increase in employee benefits and compensation expense and a $0.4 million increase in fees for integration with loan origination systems of automotive lenders.
Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased by $18.2 million, or 62.1%, driven by the aforementioned 61.2% increase in total revenue, partially offset by the 52.5% increase in cost of services. Gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2018 was 91.2% as compared to 90.6% for the year ended December 31, 2017.
55
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Operating Expenses, Operating Income and Operating Margin
The following table provides revenue, the significant components of Open Lendings operating expenses, operating income and operating margin for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 (in thousands, except percentages):
For Year Ended December 31, |
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2018 | 2017 | $ Variance | % Change | |||||||||||||
Revenue |
$ | 52,192 | $ | 32,380 | $ | 19,812 | 61.2 | % | ||||||||
Gross profit |
47,589 | 29,361 | 18,228 | 62.1 | % | |||||||||||
Operating expenses: |
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General and administrative |
12,125 | 7,986 | 4,139 | 51.8 | % | |||||||||||
Selling and marketing |
6,188 | 4,532 | 1,656 | 36.5 | % | |||||||||||
Research and development |
802 | 691 | 111 | 16.1 | % | |||||||||||
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Operating income |
$ | 28,474 | $ | 16,152 | $ | 12,322 | 76.3 | % | ||||||||
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Operating Margin |
54.6 | % | 49.9 | % |
General and administrative expenses increased by $4.1 million, or 51.8%, for the year ended December 31, 2018 when compared to 2017 primarily due to an 187.5% increase in unit-based compensation expense, a 46.4% increase in employee compensation and benefit expense and a 38.3% increase in travel, meals and entertainment expenses.
Sales and marketing expenses increased by $1.7 million, or 36.5%, for the year ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017 due to a 34.5% increase in employee compensation and benefit expense resulting from an increase in marketing and account management headcount.
Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased by $0.1 million, or 16.1%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017.
Operating income for the year ended December 31, 2018, increased by $12.3 million, or 76.3%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, primarily due to organic revenue growth, partially offset by the 51.8% increase in general administrative expense and the 36.5% increase in sales and marketing expenses. As a result of the above, operating margin increased from 49.9% for the year ended December 31, 2017 to 54.6% for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Net Income
For the reasons discussed above and considering the immaterial impact of other expenses and income tax, Open Lendings net income for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased by $12.5 million or 79.3% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017.
Adjusted EBITDA
For the year ended December 31, 2018, Adjusted EBITDA increased by $14.0 million or 81.3% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, principally as a result of the 81.3% increase in net income and also due to a larger adjustment for unit-based compensation, which increased by 155.8%. For the same reasons, Adjusted EBITDA margin for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased to 60.0% as compared to 53.3% in the year ended December 31, 2017. Please see Non-GAAP Financial Measures for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income.
56
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Cash Flow and Liquidity Analysis
We assess liquidity primarily in terms of our ability to generate cash to fund operating and investing activities. A significant portion of our cash from operating activities are derived from our profit share arrangements with our insurance partners, which are subject to judgements and assumptions and are, therefore, subject to variability. Refer to Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates and Risk Factors for a full description of the related estimates, assumptions, and judgments.
The following table provides a summary of cash flow data (in thousands):
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
Years ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
Net cash provided by operating activities |
$ | 16,375 | $ | 29,138 | $ | 41,762 | $ | 28,601 | $ | 13,092 | ||||||||||
Net cash used in investing activities |
(1,097 | ) | (66 | ) | (99 | ) | (106 | ) | (48 | ) | ||||||||||
Net cash used in financing activities |
92,590 | (32,224 | ) | (44,901 | ) | (21,376 | ) | (14,079 | ) |
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Our cash flows provided by operating activities primarily consists of operating income and adjustments for net changes in operating assets and liabilities, primarily changes in our accounts receivable, prepaid expenses, contract assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses.
Our net cash from operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 was $16.4 million and $29.1 million, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2020, net cash provided by operating activities was primarily attributable to income excluding the impact of fair value adjustment of contingent consideration as well as increased payments collected from customers on account receivables; partially offset by a $10.0 million increase in contract assets. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, net cash provided by operating activities was driven primarily by an increase in net income; partially offset by a $16.9 million increase in contract assets.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, net cash provided by operating activities was $41.8 million. This cash provided was primarily from an increase in net income. Cash provided by operating activities also resulted from changes in $2.0 million from unit-based compensation, which was offset by a $21.7 million change in contract assets due to the ASC 606 adoption, $1.8 million change in accounts receivable, and a $0.8 million change in prepaid expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2018, net cash provided by operating activities was $28.6 million. This cash provided was primarily from an increase in net income. Cash provided by operating activities also resulted from changes in $2.5 million from unit-based compensation, which was offset by a $2.6 million change in unbilled revenue, $0.4 million change in accounts receivable, and a $0.5 million change in prepaid expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash provided by operating activities was $13.1 million. This cash provided was primarily from an increase in net income. Cash provided by operating activities also resulted from changes in $0.9 million from unit-based compensation, which was offset by a $3.4 million change in unbilled revenue and a $0.5 million change in accounts receivable.
Net cash payments on notes payable for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 related to Open Lendings indebtedness totaled $2.5 million, $2.5 million and $2.2 million, respectively. Open Lendings net cash from operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019 was an inflow of $41.8 million, an inflow of $28.6 million and an inflow of $13.0 million, respectively. Accordingly, Open Lendings net cash from operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019 was sufficient to cover these payments.
57
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
For the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019, net cash used in investing activities was $1.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively, in each period cash used primarily consisted of purchases of furniture and equipment
For the year ended December 31, 2019, net cash used in investing activities was $0.1 million. This cash used primarily consisted of purchases of furniture and equipment.
For the year ended December 31, 2018, net cash used in investing activities was $0.1 million. This cash used primarily consisted of consisted of purchases of furniture and equipment.
For the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash used in investing activities was $0.04 million. This cash used primarily consisted of purchases of furniture and equipment.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities.
Our cash flows provided by and used in financing activities primarily consists of increases in debt and repayments of debt, member distributions, proceeds from stock warrant exercise transactions and our equity recapitalization.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2020, net cash provided by financing activities was $92.6 million. The cash inflow includes $160.2 million in net proceeds associated with our new term loan secured through a credit agreement entered into March 11, 2020, and $88.0 million in proceeds received in connection with stock warrant exercise transactions during the three months ended September 30, 2020. The cash used primarily consisted of a $135.4 million distribution to Open Lending, LLCs unitholders, $14.9 million in connection with our recapitalization, net of transaction costs, and $5.4 million of debt principal repayments.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, net cash used in financing activities was $32.2 million. This cash used consisted of a $1.9 million debt principal repayment and a $30.4 million distribution to members.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, net cash used in financing activities was $44.9 million. This cash used primarily consisted of a $2.5 million debt principal repayment and a $42.4 million distribution to members.
For the year ended December 31, 2018, net cash used in financing activities was $21.4 million. This cash used primarily consisted of a $2.5 million debt principal repayment and a $18.9 million distribution to members.
For the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash used in financing activities was $14.1 million. This cash used primarily consisted of a $2.2 million debt principal repayment and a $11.8 million distribution to members.
Long-Term Debt
Our long-term debt consists of a $170.0 million Term Loan under the Credit Agreement that we entered into on March 11, 2020. The Term Loan in a principal amount of $170.0 million was funded on March 12, 2020. The proceeds of the Term Loan, together with cash on hand, was used (i) to make investor loans, (ii) to finance a distribution to equity investors prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, (iii) to pay transaction expenses and (iv) for other general corporate purposes and working capital.
Tax Receivable Agreement
In connection with the Closing, the Company entered into a Tax Receivable Agreement with Nebula, the Blocker, Blockers sole shareholder, and Open Lending LLC. The Tax Receivable Agreement generally provides
58
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
for the payment by the Company to the TRA holders, as applicable, of 85% of the net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax that the Company actually realizes (or are deemed to realize in certain circumstances) in periods after the Closing as a result of: (i) certain tax attributes of Blocker and/or Open Lending LLC that existed prior to the Business Combination and were attributable to the Blocker; (ii) certain increases in the tax basis of Open Lending LLCs assets resulting from the Transactions; (iii) imputed interest deemed to be paid by the Company as a result of payments the Company makes under the Tax Receivable Agreement; and (iv) certain increases in tax basis resulting from payments the Company makes under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The Company will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of these cash savings. The liability recognized for the Tax Receivable Agreement was $88.1 million.
The actual increases in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the amount and timing of the taxable income the Company generates in the future, the U.S. federal income tax rates then applicable and the portion of the payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements that constitute imputed interest or give rise to depreciable or amortizable tax basis. The foregoing amount of expected future payments to TRA holders is merely an estimate and the actual payments could differ materially. It is possible that future transactions or events could increase or decrease the actual tax benefits realized and the corresponding Tax Receivable Agreements payments as compared to the foregoing estimates.
Unitholders Distribution
On March 24, 2020, Open Lending, LLCs Board of Managers approved a non-liquidating cash distribution to its Members in the amount of $135.0 million and retained cash reserves of $35 million in light of recent events, including the uncertainties created by the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cash reserve is in excess of the minimum requirements under the Companys Credit Agreement.
On September 30, 2020, our cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash was $117.8 million. Projected operating cash flows and available cash on hand is expected to support our business operations for the foreseeable future. Given the uncertainty in market and economic conditions related to the COVID-19 outbreak, we will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the impact to its business and financial position.
At December 31, 2019, our cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash was $9.9 million. In March 2020, we closed a $170 million term loan which generated net proceeds of approximately $160 million, after deducting debt issuance costs. The primary use of proceeds was $135 million non-liquidating cash distribution to the Companys members and retaining an additional $25 million in cash reserves. Projected operating cash flows and strong available cash on hand is expected to support our business operations for the foreseeable future. Given the uncertainty in the rapidly changing market and economic conditions related to the COVID-19 outbreak, will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the impact to its business and financial position.
Our liquidity and ability to fund its capital requirements is dependent on our future financial performance, which is subject to general economic, financial and other factors that are beyond our control and many of which are described under Risk Factors. If those factors significantly change or other unexpected factors adversely affect Open Lending, Open Lendings business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations or it may not be able to obtain future financings to meet its liquidity needs.
Other Factors Affecting Liquidity and Capital Resources
Operating Lease Obligations. Our operating lease obligations consist of a lease of real property from third-parties under non-cancellable operating leases, including the lease of our current office space. The operating lease rent expense for our former office space was $0.6 million and $0.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 respectively The operating lease rent expense for our former office space was $0.6 million, $0.6 million and $0.6 million for fiscal years 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The lease for
59
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
our former office space expired on September 30, 2020. On June 17, 2019, we executed a new lease agreement (the G&I Lease), with G&I VII Barton Skyway, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, to lease an office space located at 1501 South MoPac Expressway, Austin, TX 78746 (Suite 450) for a period of 100 months commencing on October 1, 2020. The lease agreement provides an extension option for a period of 60 months beyond the end of the initial term, subject to specific conditions. Under the new G&I Lease, there are $0.6 million of operating lease obligations due within the next twelve months.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure used by management to evaluate its operating performance, generate future operating plans, and make strategic decisions, including those relating to operating expenses and the allocation of internal resources. Accordingly, we believe these measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors. In addition, they provide useful measures for period-to-period comparisons of our business, as they remove the effect of certain non-cash items and certain variable charges. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as GAAP net income (loss) excluding interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization expense, share-based compensation expense, change in fair value of contingent consideration and transaction bonuses as a result of the Business Combination. Adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as Adjusted EBITDA expressed as a percentage of total revenue. The following table presents a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods indicated (in thousands):
Three Months Ended September 30, |
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
Years Ended December 31, |
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Reconciliation of net income (loss) |
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net income (Loss) |
$ | (71,133 | ) | $ | 14,716 | $ | (112,766 | ) | $ | 45,104 | $ | 62,544 | $ | 28,279 | $ | 15,770 | ||||||||||||
Non-GAAP adjustments: |
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Change in fair value of contingent consideration |
83,130 | | 131,932 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||
Transaction bonuses |
| | 9,112 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||
Interest expense |
3,572 | 70 | 7,980 | 238 | 322 | 341 | 418 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Provision (benefit) for income taxes |
4,021 | 41 | 5,385 | (58 | ) | (30 | ) | 37 | 59 | |||||||||||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization |
167 | 26 | 406 | 78 | 105 | 80 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Equity-based compensation |
| 487 | 2,676 | 1,497 | 1,984 | 2,572 | 1,006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Total adjustments |
90,890 | 624 | 157,491 | 1,755 | 2,381 | 3,030 | 1,503 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA |
19,757 | 15,340 | 44,725 | 46,859 | 64,925 | 31,309 | 17,273 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Total net revenue |
$ | 29,762 | $ | 22,104 | $ | 69,259 | $ | 66,771 | $ | 92,847 | $ | 52,192 | $ | 32,380 | ||||||||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA margin |
66 | % | 69 | % | 65 | % | 70 | % | 69.9 | % | 60.0 | % | 53.3 | % | ||||||||||||||
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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
In preparing our Consolidated Financial Statements, we make assumptions, judgments and estimates that can have a significant impact on our revenue, loss from operations and net loss, as well as on the value of certain assets and liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet. We base our assumptions, judgments and estimates on historical experience and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. To prepare these financial statements, we make estimates, assumptions, and judgments that affect what our reports as our assets
60
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
and liabilities, what we disclose as contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the periods presented.
In accordance with our policies, we regularly evaluate our estimates, assumptions, and judgments, including, but not limited to, those concerning revenue recognition, depreciation and amortization, contingencies, share-based compensation, and income taxes. We base our estimates, assumptions, and judgments on our historical experience and on factors we believe reasonable under the circumstances. The results involve judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities not readily apparent from other sources. If our assumptions or conditions change, the actual results we report may differ from these estimates. We believe the following critical accounting policies affect the more significant estimates, assumptions, and judgments we use to prepare these consolidated financial statements. See Note 2 Summary of Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies and Recent Development in the notes accompanying our financial statements for a summary of our significant accounting policies, and discussion of recent accounting pronouncements.
Profit Share Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenues in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board, Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The application of ASC 606 requires us to make judgments and estimates related to the classification, measurement and recognition of revenue. Our revenue primarily consists of program fees derived from contracts with lending institutions, and profit share and claims administration service fees from contracts with insurance carriers and is recognized when the contractual performance obligation is satisfied. See Note 8 Revenue, of the accompanying consolidated financial statements for more information.
The primary judgment relating to the recognition of revenue is the estimation of our profit share with our insurance partners, which relies on market rate assumptions and our proprietary database, which has been accumulated over the last 20 years, and market rate assumptions. To determine the profit share revenue, we use forecasts of loan-level earned premium and insurance claim payments. These forecasts are driven by the projection of loan defaults, prepayments and severity rates. These assumptions are based on our observations of the historical behavior for loans with similar risk characteristics. The assumptions also take consideration of the forecast adjustments under various macroeconomic conditions and the current mix of the underlying portfolio of our insurance partners. To the extent these assumptions change, our profit share revenue will be adjusted.
For profit share revenue recognition purposes, particularly to measure the profit share variable consideration, we update our forecast of loan default, loss severity and prepayment assumptions on a quarterly basis. The loan default rate also incorporates multiple macro-economic scenarios with conservatism embedded in a stressed scenario to ensure a representation of an economic recession.
When we deem it necessary, we back-test the major estimate assumptions to ensure the accuracy of the revenue recognition model. We also benchmark back-testing results of our forecast default rates against those reported by auto lenders. We update our profit-share forecasting model on an annual basis, resulting in a forecasted prepayment rate consistent with actual prepayment rates.
The impact on profit share revenue for the year ended December 31, 2019 resulting from our sensitivity analysis is summarized below (in thousands, except percentages):
Assumptions |
Defaults | Prepayments | Severity | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stress Size |
10 | % | -10 | % | 10 | % | -10 | % | 10 | % | -10 | % | ||||||||||||
Impact on Revenue |
-3.6 | % | 3.7 | % | -3.2 | % | 3.4 | % | -3.8 | % | 3.8 | % |
61
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Income tax and uncertain tax positions
Prior to closing of the Business Combination, Open Lending, LLC, the sole owner of Lenders Protection, LLC and Open Lending Services, Inc., was a treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Therefore, no provision had historically been made for federal income tax purposes prior to the closing.
Subsequent to closing, Open Lending, LLC became a disregarded entity, wholly owned by the Company by and through its wholly owned subsidiaries. As of the close of the Business Combination, the Company has been subject to U.S. federal income tax on a consolidated basis.
Our effective tax rate is based on income at statutory tax rates, adjusted for non-taxable and non-deductible items and tax credits. Managements best estimate of future events and their impact is included in our effective tax rate. Certain changes or future events, such as changes in tax legislation, could have an impact on our estimates and effective tax rate. Audit periods remain open for review until the statute of limitations has passed.
The calculation of income taxes involves estimating the actual current tax liability together with assessing temporary differences in recognition of income (loss) for tax and accounting purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are included in our Consolidated Balance Sheet. We record a valuation allowance when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. In assessing the need for a valuation allowance, we are required to develop estimates of the anticipated timing of the reversal of existing deferred tax liabilities, as well as estimates of future taxable income in some instances. Judgment is inherent in this process and differences between the estimated and actual amounts could result in a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.
We recognize liabilities for uncertain tax positions based on a two-step process. The first step requires us to determine whether the weight of available evidence indicates that the tax position has met the threshold for recognition. Therefore, we must evaluate whether it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of any related appeals or litigation processes. The second step requires us to measure the tax benefit of the tax position taken, or expected to be taken, in an income tax return as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. This measurement step is inherently complex and requires subjective estimations of such amounts to determine the probability of various possible outcomes. We re-evaluate the uncertain tax positions each quarter based on factors including, but not limited to, changes in facts or circumstances, changes in tax law, expirations of statutes of limitation, effectively settled issues under audit, and new audit activity. Such a change in recognition or measurement would result in the recognition of a tax benefit or an additional charge to the tax provision in the period.
Although we believe the Company has no material uncertain tax positions as of September 30, 2020 or December 31, 2019, no assurance can be Share-based compensation awards
We measure and recognize compensation expense for all share-based awards made to employees based on estimated fair values on the date of grant. The compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. Forfeitures are recognized as occurred. To determine the fair value of the share-based awards, we use a waterfall model set-up using the Monte-Carlo simulation framework, with inputs for the share value of Open Lending, expected share volatility, expected term of the awards, risk-free interest rate and expected preferred and common distributions. This determination of fair value is affected by assumptions regarding a number of highly complex and subjective variables. Changes in the subjective assumptions can materially affect the estimate of their fair value. See Note 9 Share-based Compensation, of the accompanying consolidated financial statements for more information.
Share-based compensation awards
We measure and recognize compensation expense for all share-based awards made to employees based on estimated fair values on the date of grant. The compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over
62
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
the requisite service period. Forfeitures are recognized as occurred. To determine the fair value of the share-based awards, we use a waterfall model set-up using the Monte-Carlo simulation framework, with inputs for the share value of Open Lending, expected share volatility, expected term of the awards, risk-free interest rate and expected preferred and common distributions. This determination of fair value is affected by assumptions regarding a number of highly complex and subjective variables. Changes in the subjective assumptions can materially affect the estimate of their fair value. See Note 9 Share-based Compensation, of the accompanying consolidated financial statements for more information.
Emerging Growth Company
Pursuant to the JOBS Act, an emerging growth company may adopt new or revised accounting standards that may be issued by FASB or the SEC either (i) within the same periods as those otherwise applicable to non-emerging growth companies or (ii) within the same time periods as private companies. We intend to take advantage of the exemption for complying with new or revised accounting standards within the same time periods as private companies. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information provided by other public companies.
We also intend to take advantage of some of the reduced regulatory and reporting requirements of emerging growth companies pursuant to the JOBS Act so long as Open Lending qualifies as an emerging growth company, including, but not limited to, an exemption from the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation, and exemptions from the requirements of holding non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation and golden parachute payments.
New Accounting Standards Issued But Not Yet Adopted
See Note 2 Summary of Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies and Recent Development to the consolidated financial statements for our discussion about new accounting pronouncements adopted and those pending.
Off Balance Sheet Arrangements
Open Lending does not engage in off-balance sheet financing arrangements, as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
Related Party Transactions
Open Lending incurred consulting expenses of approximately $0.7 million, $0.6 million and $0.4 million in the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, with entities owned by members of our management team and board of directors. These expenses include consulting fees paid to EWMW, LP, owned by Sandy Watkins, former Chairman of Open Lendings board of directors, fees related to marketing services provided by Objective Advisors, Inc., owned by the wife of John Flynn, CEO of Open Lending, and human resource services rendered by HireBetter, LLC, which is owned by Kurt Wilkin, a member of Open Lendings board of directors. On March 25, 2020, Mr. Jessup borrowed $6.0 million from Open Lending in accordance with the promissory note in place and the loan was paid in full by Mr. Jessup on March 30, 2020, with proceeds received as a result of the non-liquidating distribution paid by Open Lending to its members.
We believe the terms obtained or consideration that we paid, as applicable, in connection with the transactions described above were comparable to terms available or the amounts that would be paid, as applicable, in arms-length transactions.
63
Confidential Treatment Requested by Open Lending Corporation
Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
Contractual Obligations
As of September 30, 2020, our contractual commitments consisted of obligations under the Credit Agreement and operating lease obligations. The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of September 30, 2020 (in thousands):
Payments due by Period | ||||||||||||||||||||
Total | Less than 1 Year |
1 3 Years |
3 5 Years |
More than 5 Years |
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Debt Principal, interest and fees |
$ | 241,250 | $ | 17,315 | $ | 36,025 | $ | 38,091 | $ | 149,000 | ||||||||||
Operating lease obligations |
7,475 | 630 | 1,755 | 1,856 | 3,234 | |||||||||||||||
Other contractual commitments |
186 | 186 | | | ||||||||||||||||
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Total contractual Obligations |
$ | 248,911 | $ | 18,131 | $ | 37,780 | $ | 40,766 | $ | 152,234 | ||||||||||
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Please see Liquidity and Capital Resources for a discussion of Open Lendings debt and operating lease obligations.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Our operations include activities in the United States. These operations expose us to a variety of market risks, including the effects of changes in interest rates and changes in consumer attitudes toward vehicle ownership. We monitor and manage these financial exposures as an integral part of our overall risk management program.
Market Risk
In the normal course of business we are exposed to market risk and have established policies designed to protect against the adverse effects of this exposure. We are exposed to risks associated with general economic conditions and the impact of the economic environment on the willingness of consumers to finance auto purchases. Specifically, economic factors such as interest rate levels, changes in monetary and related policies, market volatility, consumer confidence and, unemployment rates in particular also influence consumer spending and borrowing patterns. We also face risk from competition to acquire, maintain and develop new relationships with auto lenders as well as competition from a wide variety of auto lenders who are (or are affiliated) with financial institutions and have capacity to hold loans on their balance sheets.
Concentration Risk
While, historically, Open Lending has not had significant concentration risk in its client base, for some period of time in the future, Open Lending expects a significant portion of certified loan volume to come from OEM Captives. Additionally, Open Lending relies on its largest insurance partner for a significant portion of its profit share and claims administration service fee revenue. Termination or disruption of this relationship could materially adversely impact its revenue.
Interest Rate Risk
We entered into the Credit Agreement providing for the Term Loan on March 11, 2020, requiring us to make monthly principal and interest payments based on a rate of LIBOR plus 6.50% (subject to a 1% LIBOR floor) or the base rate plus 5.50%. We had $167.9 million of borrowings outstanding under the Term Loan as of September 30, 2020.
Open Lending had $3.3 million of borrowings outstanding under the Note as of December 31, 2019. Open Lending had no borrowings outstanding Term Loan Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2019.
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Company Overview
We are a leading provider of lending enablement and risk analytics to credit unions, regional banks and OEM Captives. Open Lendings clients, collectively referred to herein as automotive lenders, make automotive loans to underserved near-prime and non-prime borrowers by harnessing Open Lendings risk-based pricing models, powered by Open Lendings proprietary data and real-time underwriting of automotive loan default insurance coverage from Insurers. Since Open Lendings inception in 2000, it has facilitated over $8 billion in automotive loans, accumulating 20 years of proprietary data and developed over two million unique risk profiles. Open Lending currently caters to 340 active automotive lenders.
Open Lending specializes in risk-based pricing and modeling and provides automated decision-technology for automotive lenders throughout the United States. We believe that Open Lending addresses the financing needs of near-prime and non-prime borrowers, or borrowers with a credit score between 560 and 699, who are underserved in the automotive finance industry. Traditional lenders focus on prime borrowers, where an efficient market has developed with interest rate competition that benefits borrowers. Independent finance companies focus on sub-prime borrowers. Borrowers that utilize the near-prime and non-prime automotive lending market have fewer lenders focused on loans with longer terms or higher advance rates. As a result, near-prime and non-prime borrowers often turn to sub-prime lenders, resulting in higher interest rate loan offerings than the consumers credit profile often merits or warrants. Open Lending seeks to make this market more competitive, resulting in more attractive loan terms.
We believe that Open Lendings market opportunity is significant. The near-prime and non-prime automotive loan market is $250 billion annually, resulting in an approximate $14.6 billion annual revenue opportunity for Open Lending. Open Lending is currently serving less than 1% of this market, providing a significant opportunity for Open Lending to continue to grow. Open Lending addresses this market through its LPP.
Open Lendings LPP enables automotive lenders to make loans that are insured against losses from defaults. Open Lending has been developing and advancing the proprietary underwriting models used by LPP for approximately 20 years. LPP provides significant benefits to Open Lendings growing ecosystem of automotive lenders, automobile dealers and Insurers.
A key element of LPP is the ability to facilitate risk-based interest rates that are appropriate for each loan and lender. Open Lendings interest rate pricing is customized to each automotive lender, reflecting the cost of capital, loan servicing costs, loan acquisition costs, expected recovery rates and target return on assets of each. Using Open Lendings risk models, Open Lending projects monthly loan performance results, including expected losses and prepayments for automotive lenders that use LPP. The product of this process is a risk-based interest rate, inclusive of elements to recover all projected costs, program fees and insurance premiums, given the risk of the loan, to return a targeted return on asset goal. LPP generates, on average, approximately $1,161 in revenue per loan, inclusive of the program fee, administrative fee and profit share.
Automotive Lenders and Dealers. Open Lendings customers for its LPP are automotive lenders who rely on Open Lending to help them make more loans, by assessing the risk of the loan. Open Lendings customers also rely on Open Lending to assist in insuring against the default of these loans by helping pair these customers with highly-rated insurance companies that mitigate the added risk associated with lending to near-prime and non-prime borrowers. The LPP enables lenders to expand their lending guidelines to offer loans to borrowers with lower credit scores, potentially leading to higher loan advance rates and increased loan volumes. LPP is designed to provide a seamless, real-time experience for automotive lenders that is intuitive and easy to use. We believe LPP integrates directly with lenders existing loan origination systems (LOS), while also allowing the dealers and automotive lenders to electronically receive all-inclusive loan rates in real-time with no manual intervention.
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Open Lendings business model is a B2B2C model. Open Lendings customers are automotive lenders, who serve millions of borrowers, who in turn are the customers of the automotive lenders. Open Lending gets access to loan application information from the automotive lenders. Open Lending supports loans originated through a number of channels, including direct loans where the customer interfaces directly with the lender, indirect loans through networks of auto dealers who work with Open Lendings automotive lenders, and in targeted refinance programs implemented by Open Lendings automotive lenders.
Insurers. Open Lending partners with A rated insurance carriers that provide default insurance to automotive lenders on individual automotive loans made by their lenders and LPP underwrites the risk on each loan application. The insurance carriers issue default insurance to Open Lendings automotive lending customers that cover the loans generated through LPP. The default insurance is first loss insurance with limits on coverage tied to vehicle recovery rates, which encourages Open Lendings automotive lenders to maximize recoveries on repossessed automobiles and creates a strong alignment of interest. As part of the insurance policy, the automotive lender is listed as the name insured under the policy representing a direct contractual relationship between the automotive lender and the insurer.
The insurance carriers are required to maintain an A rating by A.M. Best insurance rating company. The carriers contract with Open Lendings indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Insurance Administrative Services LLC (IAS), to perform claims administration and in turn pay Open Lending administrative fees representing a portion of the insurance premiums paid by the automotive lenders. As Open Lendings subsidiary, IAS provides continuity of customer service and allows for a seamless experience between LPP and the automotive lenders. Open Lending has one-way exclusivity agreements with Amtrust North America, Inc. and CNA Financial Corp. through 2022, which are described below.
LPP is powered by its proprietary technology that delivers speed, scalability and decision-making support for the automotive lenders. It supports the full transaction lifecycle, including credit application, underwriting, real-time insurance approval, settlement, servicing, invoicing of insurance premiums and fees, and advance data analytics of automotive lenders portfolio under the program. Through data derived at loan origination and the data collected by IAS, Open Lending has loan life performance data on each loan in its portfolio insured to date.
Open Lendings ecosystem of lenders and insurance carriers allows Open Lending to generate revenues with minimal customer acquisition, marketing and distribution costs, resulting in attractive unit economics and strong margins. When Open Lending acquires a new automotive lender, the lender brings with them an aggregated consumer customer base and access to indirect auto lending dealer network.
Open Lending believes that it has a strong revenue model built upon repeat and growing usage by automotive lenders. Open Lendings profitability is strongly correlated with transaction volume. In addition, Open Lending collects an administrative fee on the total earned monthly insurance premium on the insurance policies IAS services. The insurance premium for Open Lendings Insurers and its revenue streams are collected monthly by a surplus lines insurance broker, through automated clearing house transfers. Open Lending receives a profit share of the total monthly insurance underwriting profit earned by its Insurers.
AmTrust Agreement
On October 22, 2013 Lenders Protection, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Open Lending (LP), entered into a Producer Agreement (the AmTrust Agreement), as amended on July 1, 2017, with Amtrust North America, Inc., a Delaware corporation (AmTrust), through which LP earns claims administration service fees and profit share revenue. Under the AmTrust Agreement, AmTrust facilitates the issuance of credit default insurance in connection with loans closed through the Lenders Protection Program. The AmTrust Agreement currently terminates on December 31, 2023, and thereafter automatically renews for two-year terms unless either party provides the other with written notice of termination at least 180 days prior to expiration. The AmTrust Agreement contains a non-competition provision in favor of LP.
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Under the AmTrust Agreement, early termination is permitted by either party at any time, upon mutual written consent; by either party upon a delivery of notice of termination in connection with certain specified bankruptcy events with respect to the other party; by AmTrust upon notice to LP in the event that the surplus line broker fails to make payment to AmTrust; by either party upon 30 days written notice in the event of a material breach by the other party that is not cured; by either party immediately upon notice to the other due to any problematic change of control of the other party without prior written approval; by either party immediately if a governmental authority finds the AmTrust Agreement to be unenforceable; by LP immediately in the event any carrier issuing policies fails to maintain an A.M Best rating of at least A-; by LP if AmTrust breaches the non-competition commitment; and by LP within 90 days if AmTrust provides the LP notice of its intent to compete.
Neither party may assign the AmTrust Agreement or any of its rights or delegate any of its duties or obligations thereunder in any transaction that does not constitute a change of control, without the prior written consent of the other party.
A change of control is defined under the AmTrust Agreement as: the sale of all or substantially all the assets of either party; the issuance, sale, or transfer of equity interests of either party following which the equityholders that hold a majority of the economic and voting interests of either party cease to own a majority of the equity interests of such entity; or any dissolution, winding up, cessation of business or liquidation of either party other than in connection with an event of bankruptcy. The Business Combination did not qualify as a change of control under the AmTrust Agreement.
A problematic change of control is defined as any change of control wherein the acquirer engages in a directly competitive business with LP or AmTrust; or the acquiring party maintains, or is generally regarded as maintaining, creditworthiness less than that maintained by the party being acquired.
CNA Agreement
On October 1, 2017 LP entered into a Producer Agreement (the CNA Agreement), as amended on July 1, 2017, with Continental Casualty Company (CNA), an Illinois corporation, through which LP earns claims administration service fees and profit share revenue. Under the agreement, CNA facilitates the issuance of credit default insurance policies to financial institutions that enter into a program agreement with LP for use of its proprietary software platform. The CNA Agreement terminates on December 31, 2023, and automatically renews for one-year terms unless either party provides the other with written notice of termination at least 180 days prior to expiration. The CNA Agreement contains non-competition provision in favor of LP.
Under the CNA Agreement, early termination is permitted by either party at any time, upon mutual written consent; by either party upon a delivery of notice of termination in connection with certain specified bankruptcy events with respect to the other party; by CNA upon notice to LP in the event that the surplus line broker fails to make payment to CNA; by either party upon 30 days written notice and cure-period in the event of a material breach by the other party; by either party immediately upon notice to the other due to any problematic change of control of the other party without prior written approval; by either party immediately if a governmental authority finds the producer agreement to be unenforceable; by LP immediately in the event any carrier issuing policies fails to maintain an A or A.M. Best rating; by LP if CNA breaches the non-competition commitment; by LP if CNA provides notice to LP of its intent to compete; and by either party for fraud or willful misconduct.
Neither party may assign the CNA Agreement or any of its rights or delegate any of its duties or obligations thereunder in any transaction that does not constitute a change of control, without the prior written consent of the other party.
A change of control is defined under the CNA Agreement as: the sale of all or substantially all the assets of either party; the issuance, sale, or transfer of equity interests of either party following which the equityholders
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that hold a majority of the economic and voting interests of either party cease to own a majority of the equity interests of such entity; or any dissolution, winding up, cessation of business or liquidation of either party other than in connection with an event of bankruptcy. The Business Combination did not qualify as a change of control under the CNA Agreement.
A problematic change of control is defined under the producer agreement as any change of control of LP wherein the acquirer is an insurance company engaged in a directly competitive business of CNA.
Open Lendings Market Opportunity
Automotive loans for many near-prime and non-prime borrowers have been historically referred by the automotive lenders and third-party subprime financing companies. Open Lendings proprietary technology enables automotive lenders to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers and mitigate credit risk through Open Lendings unique insurance solution without ceding to such third-party finance companies. This helps Open Lendings automotive lenders maintain their consumer relationships instead of turning their clients over to third-parties.
The automotive industry is still seeking solutions to address the near-prime and non-prime borrower market. The near-prime and non-prime automotive loan market is a large, underserved sector with an approximate $14.6 billion revenue opportunity and an annual $250 billion underlying near-prime and non-prime auto loan market. Open Lending is currently engaged with less than 1% of this market. Open Lending presents a compelling value proposition to the national network of OEM Captives, credit unions, banks and other automotive lenders by expanding the range of credit scores and loan-to-values where lenders can safely and profitably lend. Through the use of LPP, Open Lending believes it allows automotive lenders to increase application flow from near-prime and non-prime borrowers and help them broaden credit appetite with limited incremental risk. The insurance protection against default of these loans increases the ability for the automotive lenders to enter into these lending transactions with little to minimal additional risk. Additionally, Open Lending has solidified its channel partner relationships with fintech online lending partners, who source auto loan applications off the internet and offer refinance opportunities to near-prime and non-prime borrowers who have been mispriced by sub-prime auto lenders. Presently, Open Lending has relationships with two OEM Captives, as described below.
On October 1, 2019, LP entered into an agreement with an auto finance company through which LP provides access to and use of the LPP in exchange for program fees. Under the agreement, the auto finance company utilizes the LPP to make credit available to borrowers. The term of this agreement continues until all insured loans are no longer covered under the program insurance defined in the agreement. For purposes of any future originations, either party may terminate this agreement upon breach by the other party of any of the sections of the agreement. So long as the underlying loans remain outstanding, the agreement will remain in place with respect to those loans.
On July 12, 2019, LP entered into a Master Services Agreement (the MSA) and a Program Agreement (the Program Agreement, and together with the MSA, the FinCo Agreement), with another auto finance company (Auto FinCo), through which LP provides Auto FinCo access to and use of the LPP in exchange for compensation. Under the FinCo Agreement, Auto FinCo uses the LPP to make credit available for purchases of motor vehicles by customers who do not qualify for financing under Auto FinCos standard terms. The term of the Program Agreement continues until July 12, 2021, and automatically renews for one-year periods unless notice of non-renewal is given by either party to the other at least sixty days prior to the expiration date of the Program Agreement. Auto FinCo may terminate the MSA and/or the Program Agreement without cause upon one day prior written notice to LP, and LP may terminate the MSA and/or the Program Agreement without cause upon 180 days prior written notice to Auto FinCo. Either party may terminate the MSA and/or the Program Agreement for default as set forth in the MSA.
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Key Product
Lenders Protection Program, Open Lendings flagship product, is an automotive lending program designed to underwrite default insurance on loans made to near-prime and non-prime borrowers. The program uses proprietary risk-based pricing models combined with loan default insurance provided by highly-rated third-party insurers. LPP links automotive lenders, LOS and insurance companies. LPP enables automotive lenders to assess the credit risk of a potential borrower within five seconds using data driven analysis enabling the lender to generate an all-inclusive, insured, interest rate for a loan for the borrower.
The technology backing LPP is comprised of two primary elements. The first primary element is Open Lendings proprietary, multi-tenant software technology platform, which functions to fulfill the needs of all constituents in Open Lendings eco-system. This software technology delivers underwriting results, loan-life reporting, consultative analyses and invoicing to Open Lendings automotive lenders. This technology also fulfills the invoicing, reporting and collection needs of Open Lendings Insurers. Through electronic system integration, Open Lendings software technology connects Open Lending to all parties in its ecosystem. Open Lending believes that its ability to perform these tasks in various work streams electronically provides it with the ability to rapidly scale at minimum cost.
The second primary element of the LPP is its unique database that drives risk decisioning, with proprietary data accumulated in the last 20 years. At origination when a loan is insured, all attributes of the transaction are stored in the database. Through IAS, Open Lending ultimately gets loan life performance data on each insured loan. Having extremely granular origination and performance data allows Open Lendings data scientists and actuaries to constantly evolve and refine its risk models, based on actual experience and new third-party information sources. Open Lendings dataset is different from most automotive lender data on near-prime and non-prime auto loans: higher loan advance rates in lower credit scores, older model used cars, higher mileage vehicles, longer loan terms with lower credit score and higher loan-to-value borrowers. This allows Open Lendings automotive lenders to make more loans to near-prime and non-prime borrowers that they would otherwise decline.
LPP risk models use a proprietary score in assessing and pricing risk on automotive loan applications. This proprietary score combines credit bureau data and alternative consumer data to more effectively assess risk and determine the appropriate insurance premium for any given loan application.
Open Lending is currently integrated with many third-party LOS, allowing it to electronically accept, underwrite, price, and process loan applications and respond in real-time to the automotive lenders. Some of these third-party LOS also act as resellers for Open Lending, which lowers Open Lendings customer acquisition costs.
Open Lendings Ecosystem
Open Lending has built a robust ecosystem of automotive lenders, Insurers and borrowers. LPP enables automotive lenders directly and borrowers indirectly to benefit from enhanced access to each other and to Open Lendings technology, resulting in increased loan generation and access to the automotive market for a larger population.
Value Proposition to Lenders and Dealers
Increased sales volume. LPP allows automotive lenders to add financing solutions and increase underwriting and credit protection solutions that we believe enable such automotive lenders to make more near-prime and non-prime loans with attractive risk return profiles. We believe LPP also allows dealers to sell more vehicles to near-prime and non-prime borrowers by enabling them to make loans to borrowers with additional risk profiles. LPP also helps automotive lenders and dealers make loans on additional vehicles, including financing on older
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model vehicles, higher mileage used vehicles and on after-market product sales. Used vehicle sales increased in the United States for six consecutive years from 2014-2019.
| Ability to finance older model year vehicles. LPP underwriting allows automotive lenders to advance loans on used vehicles up to 9 model years old, compared to 4 to 7 model years under traditional automotive loan models, helping expand the sales reach of dealers. |
| Ability to finance higher mileage vehicles. Many automotive lenders limit mileage on eligible vehicles to 100,000 miles or less. LPP underwriting guidelines allow automotive lenders to underwrite loans for maximum mileage of 150,000 or less, enabling automotive lenders to finance the purchase of vehicles with higher mileage than is generally available in the market, expanding the sales reach of dealers. |
| Higher allowance for after-market product sales. A material profit center for auto dealers is the profit on sale of after-market products such as Guaranteed Asset Protection insurance, or insurance covering the difference between the loan balance and insurance proceeds when a vehicle is damaged, vehicle warranties and extended service plans. Automotive lenders generally impose a maximum limit on the amount of after-market products that can be included in the loan balance. Based on Open Lendings experience with many automotive lenders, LPP maximum limit on after-market products that can be included in the loan balance is higher, allowing dealers the opportunity to make higher profits. If the automotive lender has a significant flow of direct to consumer auto loans, they also have the ability to sell these products and generate incremental fee income from higher after-market product sales. |
Higher risk-adjusted return on assets. In an effort to manage risk, most automotive lenders concentrate their loan portfolios in super prime and prime auto loans. Automotive lenders appetite for these loans results in a very efficient market where competition is expressed through interest rates. For automotive lenders that do not have size and scale, the result is a compressed return on assets on their super prime and prime loan portfolios. The near-prime and non-prime segment is much less efficient and consumer behavior is driven more by monthly loan payments than interest rates. LPP, therefore, attempts to enable automotive lenders to generate higher return on assets, and return on equity than traditional prime and super prime portfolios with a risk profile buttressed by credit protection from highly rated Insurers. Additionally, many of the loans generated using LPP have already been processed through the automotive lenders LOS. The automotive lenders already incur costs for processing such loans and LPP enables such lenders to convert the loss on a denied loan into an earning asset on its books.
Loss mitigation on near-prime and non-prime loans. Near-prime and non-prime auto loans carry more risk and higher losses than super prime and prime auto loans. The default insurance coverage offered to Open Lendings customers transfers the vast majority of the risk and increased losses to the Insurers.
Higher loan advance rates. LPP may enable higher loan advances relative to vehicle value on auto loans. This allows automotive dealers and lenders to get internal approvals more often on requested loan structures instead of receiving counter-offers at lower loan advance rates.
Seamless integration. Open Lending designs its LPP to be easily integrated into the LOS of the financial institutions and existing automotive lenders to enable its customers to facilitate loans and sales using the LPP. This frictionless onboarding makes consumer point-of-sale financing available for dealers and automotive lenders of all sizes.
Enhanced borrower experience. Utilizing LPP, automotive lenders can serve more borrowers and meet a broader range of their financing needs.
Value Proposition to Insurers
Access to our proprietary technology and merchant network. Over the past two decades, Open Lending has built and refined its technology to deliver significant value to automotive lenders and dealers. Open Lending believes its insurer partners would require significant time and investment to build such a technology solution and lender network themselves.
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No customer acquisition cost and limited operating expenses. LPP alleviates the need for its insurance carriers to bear any marketing, software development or technology infrastructure costs to insure loans. In addition, by providing claims administration services to the carriers, the Insurers have far less administrative burden in servicing the policies.
Unique risk with significant underwriting profitability. Auto loan default coverage is a relatively unique line of insurance for Insurers and, historically, Open Lendings Insurers have experienced significant underwriting profitability. Relative to most property and casualty insurance lines, this coverage is less correlated providing risk diversity for Insurers.
Value Proposition for Borrowers
Lower interest rates. Given the costs and financial goals Open Lendings automotive lenders target and the specific risk posed by each loan, the goal of LPP is to find the lowest interest rate possible for the borrowers. LPP finds the appropriate risk-based interest rate for each loan application.
Lower payments. Near-prime and non-prime borrowers are more sensitive to monthly payment requirements than interest rates. By allowing longer loan terms, LPP may lead to lower monthly payments for consumers. By eliminating or reducing down payments and lower monthly payments, LPP lowers borrowing costs and gives borrowers more disposable income.
Reduction or elimination of loan down payments. Automotive lenders that use LPP typically have higher loan advance rates relative to vehicle value than most other automotive lenders that do not use LPP, which Open Lending believes eliminates or materially reduces the down payment required of borrowers.
Our Business Model
Open Lending generates revenue of approximately 5% of the balance on each loan originated. Revenue is comprised of fees paid by automotive lenders for the use of LPP to underwrite loans; fees paid by Open Lendings Insurers for claim administration services; and, profit-sharing with Insurers providing insurance protection to automotive lenders. Therefore, revenue is comprised of three streams: program fee, administration fee and insurance profit participation. The first two streams provide a fee-based revenue for the loans processed through LPP and the third stream is based on an underwriting profit share over the term of the loan. Nearly 70% of the expected revenue is collected by Open Lending in the first 12 months after loan origination, with the balance comprised of administration fees and underwriting profit share that are realized over the remaining life of the loan.
LPP fees vary as a percentage of the loan amount and average approximately $470 per loan, and are recognized upfront upon receipt of the loan by the consumer. The program fee is either paid in one single payment in the
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month following the month of certification of the loan or in equal monthly payments over the first 12 months following loan certification. Administration fees are collected for claims management performed by Open Lendings subsidiary, IAS. Administration fees are 3% of monthly insurance premium for as long as a loan remains outstanding. The administration fee is recognized monthly as received and decreases over time as the loan amortizes. The profit share represents Open Lendings participation in the underwriting profit of the Lenders Protection Program. Open Lending receives 72% of the aggregate monthly insurance underwriting profit on each insurers portfolio, calculated as the monthly premium earned by the carrier less the carriers expenses and incurred losses. The underwriting profit on each loan is earned over its life with the majority earned in the first twelve months of the loan.
Open Lendings flagship product has been tested through various economic cycles, including the economic downtown in 2008, enabling highly accurate risk pricing and credit decision-making with minimized loss ratios. Open Lending believes it has been highly accurate in predicting loan defaults with an over 99% accuracy rate realized for all loans it has generated since 2010.
In addition, Open Lending has not historically had concentration risk in its client base, given that its lending clients are distributed across the country with Open Lendings top 10 clients consistently accounting for less than 37% of total program fees over the last three years. Open Lendings largest client accounts for only approximately 5% of total program fees earned by Open Lending. With the future certified loan volume Open Lending anticipates from OEM Captives, Open Lending does anticipate concentration risk for some period into the future. Open Lending expects to have significant concentration in its largest automotive lender relationships for the foreseeable future and anticipates that its business will experience significant concentration with OEM Captives throughout 2020.
Open Lendings digital, success-based offering enables an efficient, low-cost distribution model and offers frictionless setup with minimal startup costs to automotive lenders. Open Lending sources credit unions and bank sales leads from a range of partners that account for 62% of its sales pipeline and 60% of new clients. Compensation to Open Lendings distribution partners is based on a percentage of the program fees it actually collects and, therefore, is entirely success based. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the aggregate compensation paid by Open Lending to its distribution partners was $2.8 million, $1.4 million and $1.0 million, respectively. Open Lendings integration with many LOS systems, some of which also act as resellers, further helps drive client generation and recruitment at minimal additional costs. Open Lending focuses on lenders with over $100 million in automotive loan assets and Open Lending has nearly tripled its client base since 2013.
Open Lendings Partners
Open Lendings lending partners include credit unions, regional banks, automotive OEM Captives and non-bank auto finance companies. Open Lending has additional partners that provide auto loan sourcing and loan fulfillment services to its automotive lenders. These companies obtain a substantial proportion of their auto purchase or auto refinance applications from internet-based auto selling, buying or consumer credit management sites. Open Lending is also in discussions with additional banks and OEM Captives, with which Open Lending may partner in the future. Open Lending currently partners with Amtrust Financial Services and CNA Financial Corp. as its two insurance carriers.
Competition
Competition for Open Lending occurs at two levels: (1) competition to acquire and maintain automotive lenders; and (2) competition to fund near-prime and non-prime auto loans.
Competition to acquire and maintain automotive lenders. For LPP, which combines lending enablement, risk analytics, near-prime and non-prime auto loan performance data, real-time loan decisioning, risk-based pricing
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and auto loan default insurance, Open Lending does not believe there are any direct competitors. The credit bureaus provide customized risk models for underwriting and most LOS provide for custom underwriting rules and loan underwriting, while third-party lending-as-a-service companies provide turn-key LOS. Most automotive lenders have some minority portion of their auto loan portfolios in near-prime and non-prime loans, however, these near-prime and non-prime loans are generally at lower loan advance rates, shorter loan terms, limited to newer model years of vehicles and lower mileage maximums. A very limited number of national banks and sub-prime lenders underwrite and originate near-prime and non-prime loans with the characteristics of the LPP portfolio.
Competition to fund near-prime and non-prime auto loans. The near-prime and non-prime lending market is highly fragmented and competitive. Open Lending faces competition from a diverse landscape of consumer lenders, including traditional banks and credit unions, as well as alternative technology-enabled lenders like LendingClub Corporation, Square, Inc., Social Finance, Inc., Avant, LLC, Prosper Funding LLC and Credit Acceptance Corporation, among others. Many of Open Lendings competitors are (or are affiliated with) financial institutions with the capacity to hold loans on their balance sheets. These would include money center banks, super-regional banks, regional banks, OEM Captives, finance companies and sub-prime lenders. Some of these competitors offer a broader suite of products and services than Open Lending does, including retail banking solutions, credit and debit cards and loyalty programs.
Government Regulation
Open Lending operates in a heavily regulated industry that is highly focused on consumer protection. Statutes, regulations and practices that have been in place for many years may be changed, and new laws have been, and may continue to be, introduced to address real and perceived problems in the financial services industry in general and automotive lending in particular. These laws and how they are interpreted continue to evolve.
The regulatory framework to which Open Lending is subject includes U.S. federal, state and local laws, regulations and rules. U.S. federal, state and local governmental authorities, including state financial services and insurance agencies, have broad oversight and supervisory authority over Open Lendings business. Federal and state agencies also have broad enforcement powers over Open Lending, including powers to investigate Open Lending business practices and broad discretion to deem particular practices unfair, deceptive, abusive or otherwise not in accordance with the law.
Open Lendings business requires compliance with several regulatory regimes, including those applicable to consumer lending. In particular, the laws which Open Lending may be subject to directly or indirectly include:
| state laws and regulations that impose requirements related to loan disclosures and terms, credit discrimination, and unfair or deceptive business practices; |
| the Truth-in-Lending Act, and its implementing Regulation Z, and similar state laws, which require certain disclosures to borrowers regarding the terms and conditions of their loans and credit transactions; |
| Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, and Section 1031 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which prohibits UDAAP, in connection with any consumer financial product or service; |
| the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and its implementing Regulation B, which prohibit creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, marital status, the fact that all or part of the applicants income derives from any public assistance program or the fact that the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act or any applicable state law; |
| the FCRA, and its implementing Regulation V, as amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which promotes the accuracy, fairness and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies; |
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| the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and its implementing Regulation F, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as well as state debt collection laws, all of which provide guidelines and limitations concerning the conduct of debt collectors in connection with the collection of consumer debts; |
| the Bankruptcy Code, which limits the extent to which creditors may seek to enforce debts against parties who have filed for bankruptcy protection; |
| the GLBA, and the California Consumer Protection Act, which include limitations on the disclosure of nonpublic personal information by financial institutions about a consumer to nonaffiliated third parties, in certain circumstances requires financial institutions to limit the use and further disclosure of nonpublic personal information by nonaffiliated third parties to whom they disclose such information and requires financial institutions to disclose certain privacy policies and practices with respect to information sharing with affiliated and nonaffiliated entities as well as to safeguard personal customer information, and other privacy laws and regulations; |
| the rules and regulations promulgated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, as well as state banking regulators; |
| the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which allows active duty military members to suspend or postpone certain civil obligations so that the military member can devote his or her full attention to military duties; |
| the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and Regulation E promulgated thereunder, which provide disclosure requirements, guidelines and restrictions on the electronic transfer of funds from consumers bank accounts; |
| the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, and similar state laws, particularly the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which authorize the creation of legally binding and enforceable agreements utilizing electronic records and signatures; and |
| the Bank Secrecy Act, which relates to compliance with anti-money laundering, customer due diligence and record-keeping policies and procedures. |
Open lending is also subject to state insurance, insurance brokering, insurance agency regulations, third-party administration company statutes and similar statutes.
The number and complexity of these laws, and vagaries in their interpretations, present compliance and litigation risks from inadvertent error and omissions which Open Lending may not be able to eliminate from its operation or activities. The laws, regulations and rules described above are subject to legislative, administrative and judicial interpretation, and some of these laws and regulations have been infrequently interpreted or only recently enacted. Infrequent interpretations of these laws and regulations or an insignificant number of interpretations of recently-enacted laws and regulations can result in ambiguity with respect to permitted conduct under these laws and regulations. Any ambiguity under the laws and regulations to which Open Lending is subject may lead to regulatory investigations or enforcement actions and private causes of action, such as class-action lawsuits, with respect to Open Lendings compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Certain states have adopted laws regulating and requiring licensing by parties that engage in certain activity regarding consumer finance and insurance transactions, including facilitating and assisting such transactions in certain circumstances. Furthermore, certain states and localities have also adopted laws requiring licensing for consumer debt collection or servicing. Open lending must comply with state licensing requirements to conduct its business. LPP is licensed as a property and casualty insurance agency and regulated by the insurance regulator in each state in which Open Lending operates. All Lenders Protection sales personnel are individually licensed as property and casualty insurance agents in each state in which they operate. IAS is licensed as a third-party administration agent and is regulated by the insurance regulator in each state in which Open Lending operates.
Open lending is also supervised by regulatory agencies under U.S. law. From time to time, Open Lending receives examination requests that require Open Lending to provide records, documents and information relating
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to its business operations. State attorneys general, state licensing regulators, and state and local consumer protection offices have authority to investigate consumer complaints and to commence investigations and other formal and informal proceedings regarding Open Lendings operations and activities.
Legal Proceedings
As of the date of this prospectus, Open Lending was not a party to any material legal proceedings. In the future, Open Lending may become party to legal matters and claims arising in the ordinary course of business, the resolution of which Open Lending does not anticipate would have a material adverse impact on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Intellectual Property
Open Lending seeks to protect its intellectual property by relying on a combination of federal, state, and common law in the United States, as well as on contractual measures. Open Lending uses a variety of measures, such as trademarks and trade secrets, to protect its intellectual property. Open Lending also places appropriate restrictions on its proprietary information to control access and prevent unauthorized disclosures, a key part of its broader risk management strategy.
Open Lending has registered several trademarks related to its name, Open Lending, including trademarking Lenders Protection as well as Open Lendings logo. Open Lending believes its name and logo are important brand identifiers for consumers and for lenders, dealers and insurance carriers.
Facilities
Open Lending leases its office space, which consists of 25,368 square feet located in 1501 South MoPac Expressway, Austin, TX 78746 (Suite 450). Open Lendings lease runs for a period of 100 months commencing on October 1, 2020. Open Lending believes its current office space is sufficient to meet its needs until the expiration of its lease.
Employees
As of September 30, 2020, Open Lending employed approximately 98 employees, with substantially all located in Texas. None of Open Lendings employees is currently represented by a labor union or has terms of employment that are subject to a collective bargaining agreement. Open Lending considers its relationships with its employees to be good and have not experienced any work stoppages.
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Management and Board of Directors
The following persons serve as our executive officers and directors.
Name |
Age | Position | ||||
Executive Officers: |
||||||
John J. Flynn |
65 | Chairman, Director and Chief Executive Officer | ||||
Ross M. Jessup |
57 | Director, President and Chief Operating Officer | ||||
Charles D. Jehl |
52 | Chief Financial Officer | ||||
Matthew R. Roe |
37 | Chief Revenue Officer | ||||
Kenneth E. Wardle |
46 | Chief Risk Officer | ||||
Non-Employee Directors: |
||||||
Adam H. Clammer |
50 | Director | ||||
Eric A. Feldstein |
61 | Director | ||||
Blair J. Greenberg |
37 | Director | ||||
Shubhi Rao |
54 | Director | ||||
Jessica Snyder |
49 | Director | ||||
Gene Yoon |
45 | Director | ||||
Brandon Van Buren |
37 | Director |
Executive Officers
John Flynn serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Open Lending. Mr. Flynn served as President of Open Lending from April 2000 to August 2020 and as a member of its Board of Managers since 2000. Mr. Flynn also currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Lenders Protection, LLC since 2003 and as President of Insurance Administrative Services, LLC since 2011, each a wholly owned subsidiary of Open Lending. Mr. Flynn previously served as Chief Executive Officer at Washington Gas Light Federal Credit Union in Springfield, VA from 1983 to 1994, and as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Good2cu.com, LLC from 1999 to 2000. In addition, Mr. Flynn formerly led marketing at The Equitable (Equitable Holdings, Inc.) from 1997 to 1999, where he spearheaded the design and execution of the firms national marketing program for the credit union industry. Mr. Flynn is the Co-founder of Objective Advisors, Inc., a registered investment advisory firm dedicated to providing objective financial management services exclusively to credit unions and banks nationwide, where he served as a Board Member from 1995 to 2018; Co-founder of The Finest Federal Credit Union, which serves the police and law enforcement agencies of New York City, where he served as Advisor from 2014 to 2019. Mr. Flynn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Bloomsburg University. We believe Mr. Flynn is qualified to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of our Board of Managers due to his more than forty years of experience working in the credit union, banking and financial services industry.
Ross Jessup serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Open Lending. Mr. Jessup has served as Chief Financial Officer of Open Lending from April 2000 until August 2020 and as a member of its Board of Managers since 2000. Mr. Jessup also serves as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer of Lenders Protection, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Open Lending since April 2000. Prior to Open Lending, Mr. Jessup worked at the Jessup Group from 1998-2000, Montgomery Jessup & Co. from 1991-1998 and in public accounting at Arthur Anderson LLP from 1985-1991. Mr. Jessup is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the state of Texas and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Jessup holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from the University of Mississippi. We believe Mr. Jessup is qualified to serve as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer and a member of our Board of Managers due to his over thirty years of experience in corporate finance, accounting, leadership and operations.
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Charles D. Jehl has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Open Lending since August 28, 2020. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Jehl served as a consultant to the Company since April 2020. From 2015 through 2019, Mr. Jehl served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Forestar Group Inc., a New York Stock Exchange listed company (Forestar Group). Prior that, Mr. Jehl served in other executive positions with Forestar Group, including Chief Accounting Officer from 20052013. Jehl is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the state of Texas and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Concordia University at Austin.
Matt Roe has served as the Chief Revenue Officer of Open Lending since October 2019 and serves as the Chief Revenue Officer of the Company. Mr. Roe has been with Open Lending since 2007, and has worked in a variety of roles across the marketing, implementation, operations, finance and IT systems divisions, including as Marketing Manager from September 2010 to April 2016, National Accounts Manager from January 2013 to December 2016, Regional Vice President of Sales from April 2016 to October 2017 and Senior Vice President from October 2017 to October 2019. Mr. Roe has more than ten years of experience working with the Open Lending marketing, account management, sales and product teams. Mr. Roe holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas State University.
Kenneth Wardle has served as the Chief Risk Officer of Open Lending since July 2019 and serves as the Chief Risk Officer of the Company. Mr. Wardle previously worked as Chief Operating Officer for Horizon Digital Finance Holdings, Inc. from May 2018 to July 2019; Chief Executive Officer of Jet Business Loans, LLC from July 2015 to June 2017; Co-founder and Executive Vice President of Exeter Finance Corporation, a company that specializes in subprime auto financing, from August 2006 to December 2014; and in leadership roles at AmeriCredit Corporation (now GM Financial) from November 2005 to August 2006 and Drive Financial, LP (now Santander Consumer, USA) from October 2004 to November 2005. Mr. Wardles experience spans key functions within the lending industry including portfolio and risk management, financial operations, research analytics, credit analysis, information technology, compliance and corporate reporting. Mr. Wardle holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Texas Wesleyan University and an MBA from Texas Christian University.
Non-Employee Directors
Adam H. Clammer has been Nebulas Co-Chairman, Co-Chief Executive Officer, and a Director since inception. Mr. Clammer is a Founding Partner of True Wind Capital, a private equity fund manager focused on the technology industry, where he serves on the Investment Committee and is responsible for all aspects of managing the firm. Prior to founding True Wind Capital in 2015, Mr. Clammer was with KKR, a global investment manager, which he joined in 1995. At KKR, Mr. Clammer co-founded and led the Global Technology Group from 2004 to 2013, was a senior member of the Healthcare Group, and participated in investments across multiple industries. He served on public company boards as a director of AEP Industries (NASDAQ: AEPI), a manufacturer of flexible plastic packaging films, from 1999 to 2004, a director of Zhone Technologies (NASDAQ: ZHNE), a provider of communications network equipment, from 2002 to 2006, a director of MedCath (NASDAQ: MDTH), a cardiovascular services provider, from 2002 to 2008, a director of Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: JAZZ), a biopharmaceutical company, from 2004 to 2007, a director of Avago, now Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), a designer of analog semiconductors, from 2005 to 2013, a director of NXP (NASDAQ: NXPI), a manufacturer of semiconductor chips, from 2007 to 2010, and a director of Eastman Kodak (NYSE: KODK), a provider of imaging products and services, from 2009 to 2011. Mr. Clammer served on several private company boards including Aricent, GoDaddy, and TASC among others, as well as a member of the operating committee of SunGard Data Systems. Mr. Clammer currently serves as Chairman of the Board of The Switch, a video solutions service provider, since 2016, as Chairman of the Board of ARI Network Services, a sales-focused software and marketing services provider, since 2017 and as a director of Pegasus Transtech (Transflo), a software and solutions provider to the transportation industry, since 2017. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Clammer worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Morgan Stanley in New York and Hong Kong
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from 1992 to 1995. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. We believe Mr. Clammer is qualified to serve as a member of the board of directors because of his experience in the financial sector.
Eric A. Feldstein has served on our board of directors since August 28, 2020. Prior to joining New York Life Insurance Company, Mr. Feldstein served as the Chief Financial Officer of Health Care Service Corporation from 2016 to 2019. From 2010 to 2016, he served as an Executive Vice President with American Express. Mr. Feldstein began his career in finance with General Motors where he held a variety of roles with increasing responsibility. He served as Treasurer from 1997 to 2002, and subsequently served as CEO of GMAC Financial Services from 2002-2008. Mr. Feldstein holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. We believe Mr. Feldstein is qualified to serve as a member of the board of directors because of his extensive public company experience.
Blair Greenberg has served as a member on the Board of Managers of Open Lending since March 2016 until June 2020 and is now a member of our board of directors. Mr. Greenberg is also a partner at Bregal Sagemount (Bregal Investments, Inc.) and has been with the fund since January 2013. Prior to Bregal Sagemount, Mr. Greenberg worked at Technology Crossover Ventures (TCMI, Inc.) (TCV) from July 2006 to January 2013, where he focused on investing in technology and financial services companies. Prior to TCV, Mr. Greenberg worked for UBS Investment Bank (UBS Group AG) (UBS) in the Financial Institutions Group from July 2004 to June 2006. At UBS, Mr. Greenberg focused on mergers & acquisitions and capital raising transactions for financial technology, asset management, and specialty finance companies. Mr. Greenberg received a Bachelor of Sciences in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington, and an MBA with concentrations in Finance, Management & Strategy, and Marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. We believe that Mr. Greenberg is qualified to serve as a member of our Board of Managers based on his extensive experience in the technology and financial services industry.
Shubhi Rao has served on our board of directors since August 5, 2020. She was vice president, treasurer and officer of Alphabet from 2016 to 2018 and group treasurer of Tesco PLC in London from 2014 to 2016. Ms. Rao began her career in finance at Ford Motor Company. She held several leadership roles within the Treasurers office including assistant treasurer of Ford of Europe. Shubhi is a mother, wife, fundraiser and serves on the boards of think tanksInternational Center for Research on Women and Center for Global Development. She is also the honorary member of the executive advisory council for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Shubhi earned her B.S. in Computer Science Engineering from Michigan State University and a MBA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. We believe Ms. Rao is qualified to serve as a member of the board of directors because of her extensive public company experience.
Jessica Snyder has served on our board of directors since August 5, 2020. Ms. Snyder is the president and chief executive officer of GuideOne Insurance Company. Previously, she was senior vice presidentCommercial and Specialty Lines at State Auto Insurance Companies. Jessica held several other positions during her tenure at State Auto, including chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the companys specialty subsidiary, and senior vice president of Specialty. Prior to joining State Auto, Jessica was a member of a three-person team that raised the capital for the formation and start-up operations of Rockhill Holdings, a niche property and casualty business that was purchased by State Auto in 2009. She was also the chief financial officer for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. In 2016, Jessica was named one of Insurance Business Elite Women of the Year. Ms. Snyder earned her bachelors degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin and her Master of Business Administration from the University of Florida. We believe Ms. Snyder is qualified to serve as a member of the board of directors because of her extensive experience in the financial services sector.
Gene Yoon has been the Managing Partner of Bregal Sagemount since 2012 as a member on the Board of Managers of Open Lending since 2016 to June 2020 and is now a member of our board of directors. Prior to founding Bregal Sagemount in 2012, he was the Head of Private Equity for the Americas Special Situations
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Group at Goldman Sachs from 2007 to 2012, where he focused on middle market growth equity investing. Before Goldman Sachs, Mr. Yoon served as a Partner at Great Hill Partners, a private equity firm specializing in the media, communications, technology, and business services sectors from 2001 to 2007. Earlier in his career, Mr. Yoon was Director of Corporate Development at Geocast Network Systems, Inc., a venture-backed technology infrastructure provider from 1999 to 2001. Mr. Yoon began his career at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in investment banking from 1997 to 1999. Mr. Yoon holds both a Bachelors in Economics and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. We believe that Mr. Yoon is qualified to serve as a member of our Board of Managers based on his extensive experience in the financial sector.
Brandon Van Buren is a Partner at True Wind Capital and has been with the fund since October 2017 and has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2020. From August 2014 to September 2017, Mr. Van Buren was a Principal at Google Capital, Alphabet Inc.s private investment arm, where he led growth equity investments within the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors. Prior to joining Google, Mr. Van Buren was with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a global investment manager, from 2010 to 2012 where he executed leveraged buyout transactions within the technology space. Mr. Van Buren has served as a director of Zix Corporation (NASDAQ: ZIXI) since February 2019. Mr. Van Buren holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Accounting from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar. We believe Mr. Van Buren is qualified to serve as a member of the board of directors because of his experience in the financial sector.
Corporate Governance
We have structured our corporate governance in a manner we believe closely aligns our interests with those of our stockholders following the Business Combination. Notable features of this corporate governance include:
| independent director representation on our audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees, and our independent directors will meet regularly in executive sessions without the presence of our corporate officers or non-independent directors; |
| at least one of our directors will qualify as an audit committee financial expert as defined by the SEC. |
Election of Officers
Each executive officer serves at the discretion of our board of directors and holds office until his or her successor is duly appointed or until his or her earlier resignation or removal. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.
Board Composition
Our board of directors consists of six directors. Each of our directors will continue to serve as a director until the election and qualification of his or her successor or until his or her earlier death, resignation or removal. The authorized number of directors may be changed by resolution of our board of directors. Vacancies on our board of directors can be filled by resolution of our board of directors.
Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each serving staggered, three-year terms:
| our Class I directors are Mr. Van Buren, a designee of the Nebula Holdings, LLC, and Mr. Yoon, a designee of the Bregal Sagemount I, L.P., and Eric A. Feldstein with terms expiring at the first annual meeting of stockholders following the date of this prospectus; |
| our Class II directors are Mr. Clammer, a designee of the Nebula Holdings, LLC, and Mr. Greenberg, a designee of the Bregal Sagemount I, L.P., and Shubhi Rao with terms expiring at the second annual meeting of stockholders following the date of this prospectus; and |
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| our Class III directors are Mr. Flynn, Open Lendings Chief Executive Officer, and Ross Jessup, Open Lendings President and Chief Operating Officer, both of whom are designees of Open Lendings founders, and Jessica Snyder with terms expiring at the third annual meeting of stockholders following the date of this prospectus. |
Each of Nebula, Bregal Sagemount I, L.P.and Open Lending are entitled to designate certain number of directors for five years following the Closing subject to certain stock ownership requirements. Open Lending will have the right to appoint one additional director to each of the classes set forth above.
As a result of the staggered board, only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective terms.
Independence of our Board of Directors
Our board of directors has undertaken a review of the independence of each director. Based on information provided by each director concerning his or her background, employment, and affiliations, our board of directors has determined that the board of directors will meet independence standards under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of NASDAQ. In making these determinations, our board of directors considered the current and prior relationships that each non-employee director has with our company and all other facts and circumstances our board of directors deemed relevant in determining their independence, including the beneficial ownership of our capital stock by each non-employee director, and the transactions involving them described in the sections titled Certain Open Lending Relationships and Related Party Transactions and Certain Nebula Relationships and Related Person Transactions.
Board Committees
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee; a compensation committee; and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Each of the committees will report to the board of directors as it deems appropriate and as the board of directors may request. The expected composition, duties and responsibilities of these committees are set forth below. In the future, our board of directors may establish other committees, as it deems appropriate, to assist it with its responsibilities. For so long as Nebula has a right to nominate a director to our board of directors, each of our compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee shall include one of the directors nominated by Nebula.
Audit Committee
Adam H. Clammer, Eric A. Feldstein, Blair J. Greenberg, Shubhi Rao, Jessica Snyder and Brandon Van Buren serve as members of the audit committee, with Ms. Snyder serving as the chair. The audit committee provides assistance to our board of directors in fulfilling its legal and fiduciary obligations in matters involving our accounting, auditing, financial reporting, internal control and legal compliance functions by approving the services performed by our independent registered public accounting firm and reviewing their reports regarding our accounting practices and systems of internal accounting controls. The audit committee also oversees the audit efforts of our independent registered public accounting firm and takes those actions as it deems necessary to satisfy itself that the independent registered public accounting firm is independent of management. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of NASDAQ and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Our audit committee will meet the requirements for independence of audit committee members under applicable SEC and NASDAQ rules. All of the members of our audit committee meet the requirements for financial literacy under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and NASDAQ. In addition, Mr. Greenberg qualifies as our audit committee financial expert, as such term is defined in Item 407 of Regulation S-K.
Our board of directors has adopted a new written charter for the audit committee, which is available on our website. The information on our website is not intended to form a part of or be incorporated by reference into this prospectus.
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Compensation Committee
Adam H. Clammer, Blair J. Greenberg, Brandon Van Buren and Gene Yoon serve on the Companys compensation committee, with Mr. Greenberg serving as the chair. The compensation committee will determine our general compensation policies and the compensation provided to our officers. The compensation committee will also make recommendations to our board of directors regarding director compensation. In addition, the compensation committee will review and determine unit-based compensation for our directors, officers, employees and consultants and will administer our equity incentive plans. Our compensation committee will also oversee our corporate compensation programs. Each member of our compensation committee will be independent, as defined under the NASDAQ listing rules, and satisfies NASDAQs additional independence standards for compensation committee members. Each member of our compensation committee is a non-employee director (within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act).
Our board of directors has adopted a new written charter for the compensation committee, which is available on our website. The information on our website is not intended to form a part of or be incorporated by reference into this prospectus.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Adam H. Clammer, Blair J. Greenberg, Jessica Snyder and Gene Yoon serve on the Companys nominating and corporate governance committee, with Mr. Yoon serving as the chair. The nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for making recommendations to our board of directors regarding candidates for directorships and the size and composition of the board. In addition, the nominating and corporate governance committee will be responsible for overseeing our corporate governance guidelines and reporting and making recommendations to the board of directors concerning corporate governance matters. Each member of our nominating and corporate governance committee will be independent as defined under the NASDAQ listing rules.
Our board of directors has adopted a new written charter for the nominating and corporate governance committee, which is available on our website. The information on our website is not intended to form a part of or be incorporated by reference into this prospectus.
Role of Our Board of Directors in Risk Oversight
One of the key functions of our board of directors is informed oversight of our risk management process. Our board of directors administers this oversight function directly through our board of directors as a whole, as well as through various standing committees of our board of directors that address risks inherent in their respective areas of oversight. In particular, our board of directors is responsible for monitoring and assessing strategic risk exposure, and our audit committee will have the responsibility to consider and discuss our major financial risk exposures and the steps our management has taken to monitor and control these exposures. The audit committee will also have the responsibility to review with management the process by which risk assessment and management is undertaken, monitor compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and review the adequacy and effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. Our nominating and corporate governance committee will be responsible for periodically evaluating our companys corporate governance policies and systems in light of the governance risks that our company faces and the adequacy of our companys policies and procedures designed to address such risks. Our compensation committee will assess and monitor whether any of our compensation policies and programs is reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on our company.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
No interlocking relationship exists between our board of directors or compensation committee and the board of directors or compensation committee of any other entity, nor has any interlocking relationship existed in the past. None of the members of our compensation committee has at any time during the prior three years been one of our officers or employees.
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Code of Ethics
Our board of directors has adopted a code of ethics that applies to all of our employees, officers and directors, including our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and other executive and senior financial officers. The full text of our code of ethics is available on our website.
We intend to disclose future amendments to certain provisions of our code of ethics, or waivers of certain provisions as they relate to our directors and executive officers, at the same location on our website or in public filings. The information on our website is not intended to form a part of or be incorporated by reference into this prospectus.
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As an emerging growth company, we have opted to comply with the executive compensation disclosure rules applicable to smaller reporting companies as such term is defined in the rules promulgated under the Securities Act, which require compensation disclosure for its principal executive officer and its two other most highly compensated executive officers.
This section discusses the material components of the executive compensation program offered to the executive officers of the Company who would have been named executive officers for 2019. Such executive officers consist of the following persons, referred to herein as our named executive officers (the NEOs):
| John J. Flynn, our Chief Executive Officer; |
| Ross M. Jessup, our President and Chief Operating Officer; and |
| Ryan J. Collins, our former Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer. |
This discussion may contain forward-looking statements that are based on our current plans, considerations, expectations and determinations regarding future compensation programs. Actual compensation programs that we adopt could vary significantly from our historical practices and currently planned programs summarized in this discussion.
Summary Compensation Table
The following table presents information regarding the compensation earned or received by certain of Open Lending executive officers for services rendered during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.
Name and Principal Position |
Year | Salary ($) | Bonus ($) (1) |
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation ($) (2) |
All Other Compensation ($) (3) |
Total ($) | ||||||||||||||||||
John Flynn, |
2019 | 400,000 | 141,662 | 220,000 | 25,200 | 786,862 | ||||||||||||||||||
President and Chief Executive Officer |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ross Jessup, |
2019 | 400,000 | 141,662 | 220,000 | 25,200 | 786,862 | ||||||||||||||||||
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ryan Collins(4), |
2019 | 300,000 | 17,465 | 135,000 | 8,400 | 460,865 | ||||||||||||||||||
Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer |
(1) | Amounts reported includes for each of Messrs. Flynn and Jessup an annual discretionary cash bonus of $100,000, and for each of Messrs. Flynn, Jessup, and Collins an aggregate production commission of $41,662 for Messrs. Flynn and Jessup and $17,465 for Mr. Collins. |
(2) | Amounts reported reflect annual cash incentive bonuses, which were awarded based on achievement of corporate performance goals in 2019 and paid in 2020. The 2019 annual cash incentive bonus determinations are described in more detail below under the heading Annual Cash Bonuses. |
(3) | Amounts reported reflect 401(k) matching contributions made by us to each of Messrs. Flynn, Jessup, and Collins and for each of Messrs. Flynn and Jessup a 401(k) profit sharing contribution of $16,800. |
(4) | Mr. Collins resigned from the Open Lending on September 14, 2020. |
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Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table
Executive Offer Letters/Agreements
Employment Agreement with Mr. Flynn
The Company entered into an employment agreement with John J. Flynn (the Flynn Employment Agreement), effective as of August 28, 2020, in which Mr. Flynn will serve as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Flynn will have an initial base salary of $500,000 per year, subject to periodic review and adjustment by the board of directors. Commencing in the fiscal year 2021, Mr. Flynn will also be eligible to receive cash incentive compensation as determined by the board of directors and the compensation committee, subject to the terms of any applicable incentive compensation plan that may be in effect from time to time. Pursuant to the Flynn Amendment, Mr. Flynn received a grant of 38,580 restricted stock units on November 5, 2020 (the Flynn Time-Based Grant). The Flynn Time-Based Grant will vest over three years and nine months from November 5, 2020 and shall be fully vested no later than November 5, 2024. Mr. Flynn will also receive a grant of 38,580 restricted stock units on January 1, 2021 (the Flynn Performance-Based Grant). The Flynn Performance-Based Grant will vest, subject to the completion of certain performance criteria over a three-year performance period beginning November 5, 2020, as determined by the board of directors or the compensation committee of the board of directors in its discretion.
The Flynn Employment Agreement further describes the payments and benefits to which Mr. Flynn would be entitled upon termination of his employment under certain circumstances. Specifically, if Mr. Flynns employment is terminated either by the Company without cause or by Mr. Flynn for good reason (each as defined in the Flynn Employment Agreement), Mr. Flynn will be entitled to receive an amount equal to 24 months of pay at the Flynn Compensation Rate (as defined in the Flynn Employment Agreement), paid out in substantially equal installments in accordance with the Companys payroll practice over 12 months, subject to Mr. Flynns execution of a release of claims in favor of the Company. For a period of up to 18 months, the Company will also pay to the group health plan provider, the COBRA provider or Mr. Flynn a monthly payment equal to the monthly employer contribution that the Company would have made to provide health insurance to Mr. Flynn if he had remained employed by the Company, subject to Mr. Flynns continued copayment of premium amounts at the active employees rate.
The Flynn Employment Agreement also provides for certain payments and benefits following a change in control (as defined in the Flynn Employment Agreement) of the Company. If during the 12-month period following the occurrence of a change in control Mr. Flynns employment is terminated by either the Company without cause or by Mr. Flynn for good reason, Mr. Flynn will be entitled to receive a lump-sum payment equal to one and one-half times the Flynn Compensation Rate plus the greater of Mr. Flynns annual cash bonus for the then-current year or the target annual cash bonus in effect immediately prior to the change of control. The Company will also pay to the group health plan provider, the COBRA provider or Mr. Flynn a monthly payment equal to the monthly employer contribution that the Company would have made to provide health insurance to Mr. Flynn if he had remained employed by the Company for a period of up to 18 months, subject to Mr. Flynns copayment of premium amounts at the active employees rate. If any such payments or benefits would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code, such payments shall be reduced so that the sum of these payments shall be $1.00 less than the amount at which Mr. Flynn becomes subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code; provided that such reduction will only occur if it would result in Mr. Flynn receiving a higher after tax amount than he would receive if such payments were not subject to such reduction.
Employment Agreement with Mr. Jessup
The Company entered into an employment agreement with Ross M. Jessup (the Jessup Employment Agreement), effective as of August 28, 2020, in which Mr. Jessup will serve as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company. Mr. Jessup will have an initial base salary of $500,000 per year, subject to periodic review and adjustment by the board of directors. Commencing in the fiscal year 2021, Mr. Jessup will
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also be eligible to receive cash incentive compensation as determined by the board of directors and the compensation committee of the board of directors, subject to the terms of any applicable incentive compensation plan that may be in effect from time to time. Pursuant to the Jessup Amendment, Mr. Jessup received a grant of 27,557 restricted stock units on November 5, 2020 (the Jessup Time-Based Grant). The Jessup Time-Based Grant will vest over three years and nine months beginning November 5, 2020 and shall be fully vested no later than November 5, 2024. Mr. Jessup will also receive a grant of 27,558 restricted stock units on January 1, 2021 (the Jessup Performance-Based Grant). The Jessup Performance-Based Grant will vest, subject to the completion of certain performance criteria over a three-year performance period beginning November 5, 2020, as determined by the board of directors or the compensation committee of the board of directors in its discretion.
The Jessup Employment Agreement further describes the payments and benefits to which Mr. Jessup would be entitled upon termination of his employment under certain circumstances. Specifically, if Mr. Jessups employment is terminated either by the Company without cause or by Mr. Jessup for good reason (each as defined in the Jessup Employment Agreement), Mr. Jessup will be entitled to receive an amount equal to 24 months of pay at the Jessup Compensation Rate (as defined in the Jessup Employment Agreement), paid out in substantially equal installments in accordance with the Companys payroll practice over 6 months, subject to Mr. Jessups execution of a release of claims in favor of the Company. For a period of up to 18 months, the Company will also pay to the group health plan provider, the COBRA provider or Mr. Jessup a monthly payment equal to the monthly employer contribution that the Company would have made to provide health insurance to Mr. Jessup if he had remained employed by the Company, subject to Mr. Jessups continued copayment of premium amounts at the active employees rate.
The Jessup Employment Agreement also provides for certain payments and benefits following a change in control (as defined in the Jessup Employment Agreement) of the Company. If during the 12-month period following the occurrence of a change in control Mr. Jessups employment is terminated by either the Company without cause or by Mr. Jessup for good reason, Mr. Jessup will be entitled to receive a lump-sum payment equal to one and one-half times the Jessup Compensation Rate plus the greater of Mr. Jessups annual cash bonus for the then-current year or the target annual cash bonus in effect immediately prior to the change of control. The Company will also pay to the group health plan provider, the COBRA provider or Mr. Jessup a monthly payment equal to the monthly employer contribution that the Company would have made to provide health insurance to Mr. Jessup if he had remained employed by the Company for a period of up to 18 months, subject to Mr. Jessups copayment of premium amounts at the active employees rate. If any such payments or benefits would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code, such payments shall be reduced so that the sum of these payments shall be $1.00 less than the amount at which Mr. Jessup becomes subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code; provided that such reduction will only occur if it would result in Mr. Jessup receiving a higher after tax amount than he would receive if such payments were not subject to such reduction.
Employment Agreement with Mr. Jehl
The Company entered into an employment agreement with Charles D. Jehl (the Jehl Employment Agreement), effective as of August 28, 2020, in which Mr. Jehl will serve as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Company. Mr. Jehl will have an initial base salary of $375,000 per year, subject to periodic review and adjustment by the board of directors. Mr. Jehl will be eligible to receive cash incentive compensation as determined by the board of directors and the compensation committee of board of directors, subject to the terms of any applicable incentive compensation plan that may be in effect from time to time. Pursuant to the Jehl Amendment, Mr. Jehl received a grant of 16,534 restricted stock units on November 5, 2020 (the Jehl Time-Based Grant). The Jehl Time-Based Grant will vest over three years and nine months beginning November 5, 2020 and shall be fully vested no later than November 5, 2024. Mr. Jehl will also receive a grant of 16,535 restricted stock units on January 1, 2021 (the Jehl Performance-Based Grant). The Jehl Performance-Based Grant will vest, subject to the completion of certain performance criteria over a three-year performance period beginning November 5, 2020, as determined by the board of directors or the compensation committee of board of directors in its discretion.
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The Jehl Employment Agreement further describes the payments and benefits to which Mr. Jehl would be entitled upon termination of his employment under certain circumstances. Specifically, if Mr. Jehls employment is terminated either by the Company without cause or by Mr. Jehl for good reason (each as defined in the Jehl Employment Agreement), Mr. Jehl will be entitled to receive an amount equal to 24 months of pay at the Jehl Compensation Rate (as defined in the Jehl Employment Agreement), paid out in substantially equal installments in accordance with the Companys payroll practice over 6 months, subject to Mr. Jehls execution of a release of claims in favor of the Company. For a period of up to 12 months, the Company will also pay to the group health plan provider, the COBRA provider or Mr. Jehl a monthly payment equal to the monthly employer contribution that the Company would have made to provide health insurance to Mr. Jehl if he had remained employed by the Company, subject to Mr. Jehls continued copayment of premium amounts at the active employees rate.
The Jehl Employment Agreement also provides for certain payments and benefits following a change in control (as defined in the Jehl Employment Agreement) of the Company. If during the 12-month period following the occurrence of a change in control Mr. Jehls employment is terminated by either the Company without cause or by Mr. Jehl for good reason, Mr. Jehl will be entitled to receive a lump-sum payment equal to the Jehl Compensation Rate plus the greater of Mr. Jehls annual cash bonus for the then-current year or the target annual cash bonus in effect immediately prior to the change of control. The Company will also pay to the group health plan provider, the COBRA provider or Mr. Jehl a monthly payment equal to the monthly employer contribution that the Company would have made to provide health insurance to Mr. Jehl if he had remained employed by the Company for a period of up to 12 months, subject to Mr. Jehls copayment of premium amounts at the active employees rate. If any such payments or benefits would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code, such payments shall be reduced so that the sum of these payments shall be $1.00 less than the amount at which Mr. Jehl becomes subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code; provided that such reduction will only occur if it would result in Mr. Jehl receiving a higher after tax amount than he would receive if such payments were not subject to such reduction.
Annual Cash Bonuses
Each of Open Lendings named executive officers is eligible to earn an annual cash incentive bonus based on company and individual achievement of performance targets established by the Open Lending Board in its discretion. For 2019, each of Messrs. Flynn, Jessup and Collins were eligible to earn a target bonus amount, which reflects a percentage of their annual base salaries, of 55%, 55% and 45%, respectively.
With respect to fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, approximately 40% of each named executive officers bonus was based on achievement of company revenue and EBITDA targets and the remaining approximately 60% of the bonus was based on achievement of individual goals established for and agreed to by the applicable executive. The bonuses paid to each named executive officer for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 are set forth above in the Summary Compensation Table in the column entitled Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation.
The board also has the discretion to grant additional discretionary bonuses to our named executive officers on a case-by-case basis. Any discretionary bonuses awarded to a named executive officer for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 are set forth above in the Summary Compensation Table in the column entitled Bonus.
Equity Compensation
Open Lending sponsors the Class B Unit Incentive Plan (the Class B Plan), which is a form of long-term compensation that provides for the issuance of Class B common units (Class B Units) to eligible service providers for purposes of retaining them and enabling such individuals to participate in the long-term growth and financial success of Open Lending. The Class B Units are a special class of common units structured to qualify as profits interest for tax purposes. Pursuant to the terms of the Class B Plan, the aggregate amount of Class B
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Units available for issuance is limited to 14,241,344, with the aggregate number of Class B Units available for issuance to non-employees not to exceed 995,039. As of December 31, 2019, there are 14,129,157 outstanding Class B Units under the plan. Class B Units covered by awards that are canceled, forfeited, withheld for tax purposes, or repurchased will again be available for grant under the Class B Plan. Open Lending did not grant any Class B Units to its named executive officers during 2019. Outstanding Class B units that were granted to Open Lendings named executive officers in prior years are further described below in the Outstanding equity awards at fiscal 2019 year-end table.
The Class B Plan is administered by the Board of Managers of Open Lending or a committee established and empowered by the Board of Managers. The committee has the discretion to determine the participants in the Class B Plan, the number of Class B Units to be covered by an award, the terms and conditions of any award, and under what circumstances awards may be settled or cancelled. The administrator is authorized to interpret the Class B Plan, to establish, amend and rescind any rules and regulations relating to the Class B Plan, and to make any other determinations that it deems necessary or desirable for the administration of the plan. The Administrator may amend, suspend, or terminate the Class B Plan, or any portion thereof, at any time and for any reason, provided that no amendment or termination is permitted that would adversely affect any rights associated with a previously granted award without the unitholders consent. The Class B Units, and any rights arising thereunder, are not transferable except in certain limited circumstances.
In the event of any change in the capital structure of Open Lending by reason of any reorganization, recapitalization, merger, consolidation, spin-off, reclassification, combination or any transaction similar to any of the foregoing, the administrator may make such substitution or adjustment, if any, as it deems to be equitable, to (i) the number of Class B Units or the number or kind of other equity interest with respect to which awards may be granted under the Class B Plan or which are subject to outstanding Awards and/or (ii) any other affected terms of any outstanding Class B Units.
Class B Units issued under the Class B Plan provide the unitholders with the right to receive a percentage of the Companys future profits and distribution distributions, subject to achievement of certain threshold values as defined in the Companys corporate agreement. The Class B Units issued under the Class B Plan generally vest according to a 3-year or 3.25-year vesting schedule, with 25% of the units vesting on the grant date and equal quarterly vesting installments thereafter, subject to the unitholders continuous service to Open Lending or its subsidiaries. The Class B Units will become fully vested upon (a) a change of control while the unitholder continues to provide services to Open Lending or its subsidiaries; or (b) termination by the Company without cause, death or disability of the unitholder or constructive discharge of the unitholder (collectively, a qualified termination). Any of the Class B Units that are unvested on termination of the service providers continuous service (except qualified termination) will be forfeited. Class B unitholders are entitled to participate in Open Lendings distributions, subject to the return of capital contributions made by the common unitholders and certain other preferred distributions rights upon achieving the threshold values outlined in the respective award.
Employee benefit plans
Our named executive officers are eligible to participate in the Open Lending employee benefit plans, including Open Lendings medical, dental, vision, group life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance plans, in each case, on the same basis as all of our other employees. Open Lending also maintains a 401(k) plan for the benefit of its eligible employees, including the named executive officers, as discussed in the section below entitled 401(k) plan.
401(k) plan
Open Lending maintains a retirement savings plan, or 401(k) plan, that provides eligible U.S. employees with an opportunity to save for retirement on a tax advantaged basis. Under the Lenders Protection, LLC Employee
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401(k) Plan (the 401(k) Plan), eligible employees may defer eligible compensation subject to applicable annual contribution limits imposed by the Code. Open Lendings employees pre-tax contributions are allocated to each participants individual account and participants are immediately and fully vested in their contributions. Under the provisions of the 401(k) Plan, Open Lending will make a safe harbor nonelective contribution equal to 3% of each participants compensation and may make discretionary matching contributions, as well as profit sharing contributions, as determined by management. The 401(k) plan is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code with the 401(k) plans related trust intended to be tax exempt under Section 501(a) of the Code. As a tax-qualified retirement plan, contributions to the 401(k) plan and earnings on those contributions are not taxable to the employees until distributed from the 401(k) plan. The Company made profit sharing contributions of $33,600 and made safe harbor non-elective contributions of $292,204 to the 401(k) Plan during the year ended December 31, 2019.
Pension benefits
Open Lending does not maintain any pension benefit or retirement plans other than the 401(k) Plan.
Nonqualified deferred compensation
Open Lending does not maintain any nonqualified deferred compensation plans.
Outstanding Equity Awards at 2019 Fiscal Year-End
The following table summarizes the number of Open Lending units underlying outstanding equity incentive plan awards for each named executive officer as of December 31, 2019:
Name |
Share Awards | |||||||||||||||
Number of Shares or Units That Have Not Vested (#) |
Market Value of Shares or Units That Have Not Vested ($)(1) |
Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested (#) |
Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Market or Payout Value of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested ($) |
|||||||||||||
John Flynn, |
66,971 | (1) | 753,074 | (3) | | | ||||||||||
Chief Executive Officer |
124,935 | (2) | 976,338 | (4) | | | ||||||||||
Ross Jessup, |
66,971 | (1) | 753,074 | (3) | | | ||||||||||
President and Chief Operating Officer |
124,935 | (2) | 976,338 | (4) | | | ||||||||||
Ryan Collins(5), |
66,971 | (1) | 753,074 | (3) | | | ||||||||||
Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer |
124,935 | (2) | 976,338 | (4) | | |
(1) | On December 1, 2016, each of Messrs. Flynn, Jessup, and Collins received a grant of 1,160,825 Class B-2(A) Units, with 25% of the Units vesting on the grant date and the remaining 75% of the Units vesting in equal whole Unit installments over the next thirteen (13) calendar quarters following the quarter in which the grant occurred. The Class B-2(A) Units have a distribution threshold of $1,300,000. Pursuant to the terms of the applicable award agreement, all unvested Class B-2(A) will fully accelerate upon (i) the executives termination without cause or resignation for good reason or (ii) a change in control (as each such term is defined in the Class B Plan). |
(2) | On August 6, 2018, each of Messrs. Flynn, Jessup and Collins received a grant of 270,692 Class B-2(D) Units, with 25% of the Units vesting on the grant date and the remaining 75% of the Units vesting in equal whole Unit installments over the next thirteen (13) calendar quarters following the quarter in which the |
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grant occurred. The Class B-2(D) Units have a distribution threshold of $342,342,878. Pursuant to the terms of the applicable award agreement, all unvested Class B-2(D) will fully accelerate upon (i) the executives termination without cause or resignation for good reason or (ii) a change in control (as each such term is defined in the Class B Plan). |
(3) | Value based on number of Class B-2(A) units multiplied by $11.24, which was the fair value of the Class B Units as of December 31, 2019. |
(4) | Value based on number of Class B-2(D) units multiplied by $11.24, which was the fair value of the Class B Units as of December 31, 2019. |
(5) | Mr. Collins resigned from the Open Lending on September 14, 2020. |
Additional Narrative Disclosure
Treatment of Equity Incentive Awards in Connection with the Business Combination
In connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, Open Lending (i) amended the Class B Plan, such that the Business Combination would constitute a change in control for purposes of the Class B Plan and all outstanding Class B Units will be fully vested and (ii) to terminate the Class B Plan, following which no further awards will be made thereunder. In connection with the Business Combination, we adopted the 2020 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (described elsewhere in this prospectus) to facilitate the grant of cash and equity incentives to directors, employees (including the named executive officers) and consultants of the Company and to enable it to obtain and retain services of these individuals, which is essential to our long-term success. The 2020 Stock Option and Incentive Plan became effective upon the consummation of the Business Combination.
Director Compensation
The following table presents the total compensation for each person who served as a non-employee member of our board of directors during the year ended December 31, 2019. Other than as set forth in the table and described more fully below, we did not pay any compensation, make any equity awards or non-equity awards to or pay any other compensation to any of the non-employee members of our board of directors in 2019. We reimburse non-employee members of our board of directors for reasonable travel expenses. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, Mr. Flynn, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Jessup, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, were members of our board of directors, as well as employees, and thus received no additional compensation for their service as a director. Messrs. Flynn and Jessups compensation for service as employees is presented in the Summary Compensation Table.
Name |
Stock Awards ($)(1)(2) |
Total ($) |
||||||
Kurt Wilkin |
14,091 | 14,091 | ||||||
Keith Jezek |
14,091 | 14,091 | ||||||
Blair J. Greenberg(3) |
14,091 | 14,091 | ||||||
Gene Yoon(3) |
14,091 | 14,091 |
(1) | Amounts reflect the grant date fair value of stock awards granted or modified in 2019 in accordance with the FASB ASC 718. Such grant date fair value does not take into account any estimated forfeitures related to service-vesting conditions. For information regarding assumptions underlying the valuation of equity awards, see our financial statements and the discussion under Open Lending Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsCritical Accounting Policies and EstimatesUnit-based compensation awards included elsewhere in this prospectus. These amounts do not correspond to the actual value that may be recognized by the named executive officers upon vesting of applicable awards. |
(2) | As of December 31, 2019, each of Messrs. Wilkin and Jezek held 5,769 unvested Class B units, respectively. Neither Messrs. Greenberg nor Yoon hold any unvested Class B units. |
(3) | The amounts reported represent the Class B units that were issued to Bregal Investments, Inc. in connection with Messrs. Greenberg and Yoons service on the board. |
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On November 5, 2020 the board of directors approved the Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy (as amended, the Policy). The Policy is designed to enable the Company to attract and retain, on a long-term basis, high-caliber directors who are not employees or officers of the Company or its subsidiaries (Outside Directors). Members of the board of directors who are employed by or otherwise affiliated with any private equity firm or company which is an investor in the Company are not be eligible to receive any cash retainers or other form of compensation in connection with their service on the Board.
Cash Retainers
Under the Policy, Outside Directors will be eligible to receive cash retainers (which will be pro-rated based on the number of actual days served by the director on the board of directors or applicable committee during such calendar quarter or year) as set forth below:
Annual Retainer for Board Membership |
| |||
Annual service on the board of directors |
$ | 50,000 | ||
Additional Annual Retainer for Committee Membership |
| |||
Audit Committee Chair |
$ | 15,000 | ||
Compensation Committee Chair |
$ | 10,000 | ||
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Chair |
$ | 10,000 |
Committee chair retainers are in addition to retainers for members of the board of directors. No additional compensation will be paid for attending any Board meetings or other individual committee meetings of the Board.
Initial Grants
In addition, the Policy provides for an initial, one-time restricted stock unit award (the Initial Award) with a Value (as defined in the Policy) of $50,000 to each new Outside Director upon his or her election to the Board, which shall vest in full on the first anniversary of the date of grant. All vesting shall cease if the director resigns from the Board or otherwise ceases to serve as a director of the Company and the Initial Award will be forfeited. If a new Outside Director joins the Board on a date other than the date of the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company following November 5, 2020 (the Annual Meeting), then such Outside Director will be granted a pro-rata portion of the Initial Award based on the time between such Outside Directors appointment and the next Annual Meeting (provided, that for any Outside Director who served on the Board during the calendar year the Policy is adopted, no such proration shall apply to the Initial Award). Grants shall occur as soon as administratively practicable following such Outside Directors appointment to the Board.
Annual Grants
Further, on each date of each Annual Meeting following November 5, 2020, each continuing Outside Director, other than a director receiving an Initial Award, will receive an annual restricted stock unit award (the Annual Award) with a Value (as defined in the Policy) of $50,000, which shall vest in full upon the earlier of (i) the first anniversary of the date of grant or (ii) the date of the next Annual Meeting. All vesting shall cease if the director resigns from the Board or otherwise ceases to serve as a director of the Company, unless the Board determines that the circumstances warrant continuation of vesting. All outstanding Initial Awards and Annual Awards held by an Outside Director shall become fully vested and nonforfeitable upon a Sale Event (as defined in the Companys 2020 Stock Option and Incentive Plan).
We will reimburse all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by Outside Directors for their attendance at meetings of the Board or any committee thereof.
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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PERSON TRANSACTIONS
Open Lending
The following is a description of each transaction since January 1, 2017 and each currently proposed transaction in which:
| Open Lending has been or is to be a participant; |
| the amount involved exceeded or exceeds $120,000; and |
| any of Open Lendings directors, executive officers, or holders of more than 5% of Open Lendings capital stock, or any immediate family member of, or person sharing the household with, any of these individuals, had or will have a direct or material interest. |
Agreements with Stockholders
Investor Rights Agreement
In connection with the Business Combination, Open Lending entered into an investor rights agreement with the NAC Investors and Company Investors, as defined in schedule 1 to the investor rights agreement, BRP Hold 11, Inc. and Open Lending Corporation.
Agreement with Bregal Sagemount I, L.P.
Bregal Sagemount I, L.P. is the beneficial owner of units in Open Lending. Bregal Investments, Inc. is the investment advisor to Bregal Sagemount I, L.P.. Mr. Yoon is a Managing Partner and Mr. Greenberg is a partner at Bregal Investments, Inc. and both serve on Open Lendings board of directors on behalf of Bregal Sagemount I, L.P. Pursuant to a Class B Unit Incentive Plan agreement. Bregal Investments, Inc. received 40,000 profit interest units in 2019.
Loans to Executive Officers
On March 25, 2020, Ross Jessup borrowed $6,000,000 from Open Lending in accordance with a specified promissory note. Such promissory note was paid in full by Mr. Jessup on March 30, 2020, with proceeds received as a result of a non-liquidating distribution paid by Open Lending to its unitholders.
Director Relationships
Certain of our directors serve on Open Lendings board of directors as representatives of entities which beneficially hold 5% or more of Open Lendings capital stock.
Open Lending incurred $80,542 in professional and consulting fees related to human resource services provided by HireBetter, LLC (HireBetter). Kurt Wilkin is the owner of HireBetter and is a member of Open Lendings board of members.
Open Lending also incurred $127,176 in professional and consulting fees related to marketing services rendered by Objective Advisors, Inc. (Objective Advisors). The owner of Objective Advisors is the spouse of John Flynn, one of Open Lendings board of members and its Chief Executive Officer.
Open Lending also incurred $461,311 in consulting fees provided by EWMW, LP (EWMW). The owner of EWMW is Sandy Watkins, Open Lendings former Chairman of board of members.
The agreements with HireBetter, Objective Advisors and EWMW can be terminated for convenience at any time (HireBetter) or are on a month-to-month basis (EWMW) or can be terminated with 60-days prior notice prior to the end of the one-year term (ending in August 2020), and if Open Lending does not exercise this right, the agreement renews for another one-year term (Objective Advisors).
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Executive Officer and Director Compensation
Open Lending has granted management incentive units to Open Lendings executive officers and certain of its directors. See the sections titled Executive CompensationOutstanding Equity Awards at 2019 Fiscal Year End and Executive CompensationDirector Compensation for a description of these options.
Limitation of Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
In connection with the Business Combination, Open Lending entered into indemnification agreements with each of Open Lendings directors and executive officers, the form of which is attached as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. The indemnification agreements and Open Lendings amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws require Open Lending to indemnify its directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law.
Policies and Procedures for Related Person Transactions
Our audit committee has the primary responsibility for reviewing and approving or disapproving related party transactions, which are transactions between the Company and related persons in which the aggregate amount involved exceeds or may be expected to exceed $120,000 and in which a related person has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. The written charter of our audit committee provides that our audit committee shall review and approve in advance any related party transaction.
Review and Approval of Review and Approval of Related Person Transactions
In connection with the Business Combination, we adopted a formal written policy for the review and approval of transactions with related persons. Such policy requires, among other things, that:
| The audit committee shall review the material facts of all related person transactions. |
| In reviewing any related person transaction, the committee will take into account, among other factors that it deems appropriate, whether the related person transaction is on terms no less favorable to us than terms generally available in a transaction with an unaffiliated third-party under the same or similar circumstances and the extent of the related persons interest in the transaction. |
| In connection with its review of any related person transaction, we shall provide the committee with all material information regarding such related person transaction, the interest of the related person and any potential disclosure obligations of ours in connection with such related person transaction. |
| If a related person transaction will be ongoing, the committee may establish guidelines for our management to follow in its ongoing dealings with the related person. |
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Your rights as our stockholders are governed by Delaware law and our charter and bylaws. We urge you to read the applicable provisions of Delaware law and our forms of charter and bylaws carefully and in their entirety because they describe your rights as a holder of shares of our common stock.
In connection with the Business Combination, we amended and restated our certificate of incorporation and bylaws. The following is a description of the material terms of, and is qualified in its entirety by, our charter and bylaws, as currently in effect.
Our purpose is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may now or hereafter be organized under the DGCL. Our authorized capital stock consists of 550,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share. No shares of preferred stock are currently issued. Unless our board of directors determines otherwise, we will issue all shares of our capital stock in uncertificated form.
Common Stock
Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders, including the election or removal of directors. The holders of our common stock do not have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up and after payment in full of all amounts required to be paid to creditors and to the holders of preferred stock having liquidation preferences, if any, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive pro rata our remaining assets available for distribution. Holders of our common stock do not have preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights. The common stock will not be subject to further calls or assessment by us. There will be no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. All shares of our common stock that will be outstanding at the time of the completion of the offering will be fully paid and non-assessable. The rights, powers, preferences and privileges of holders of our common stock will be subject to those of the holders of any shares of our preferred stock we may authorize and issue in the future.
We have approximately 128 million shares of common stock outstanding.
Preferred Stock
Our charter authorizes our board of directors to establish one or more series of preferred stock (including convertible preferred stock). Unless required by law or by NASDAQ, the authorized shares of preferred stock will be available for issuance without further action by you. Our board of directors may determine, with respect to any series of preferred stock, the powers including preferences and relative participations, optional or other special rights, and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, of that series, including, without limitation:
| the designation of the series; |
| the number of shares of the series, which our board of directors may, except where otherwise provided in the preferred stock designation, increase (but not above the total number of authorized shares of the class) or decrease (but not below the number of shares then outstanding); |
| whether dividends, if any, will be cumulative or non-cumulative and the dividend rate of the series; |
| the dates at which dividends, if any, will be payable; |
| the redemption rights and price or prices, if any, for shares of the series; |
| the terms and amounts of any sinking fund provided for the purchase or redemption of shares of the series; |
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| the amounts payable on shares of the series in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our affairs; |
| whether the shares of the series will be convertible into shares of any other class or series, or any other security, of us or any other corporation, and, if so, the specification of the other class or series or other security, the conversion price or prices or rate or rates, any rate adjustments, the date or dates as of which the shares will be convertible and all other terms and conditions upon which the conversion may be made; |
| restrictions on the issuance of shares of the same series or of any other class or series; and |
| the voting rights, if any, of the holders of the series. |
We could issue a series of preferred stock that could, depending on the terms of the series, impede or discourage an acquisition attempt or other transaction that some, or a majority, of the holders of our common stock might believe to be in their best interests or in which the holders of our common stock might receive a premium for their common stock over the market price of the common stock. Additionally, the issuance of preferred stock may adversely affect the rights of holders of our common stock by restricting dividends on our common stock, diluting the voting power of our common stock or subordinating the liquidation rights of our common stock. As a result of these or other factors, the issuance of preferred stock could have an adverse impact on the market price of our common stock. We have no current plans to issue any series of preferred stock.
Dividends
The DGCL permits a corporation to declare and pay dividends out of surplus or, if there is no surplus, out of its net profits for the fiscal year in which the dividend is declared and/or the preceding fiscal year. Surplus is defined as the excess of the net assets of the corporation over the amount determined to be the capital of the corporation by the board of directors. The capital of the corporation is typically calculated to be (and cannot be less than) the aggregate par value of all issued shares of capital stock. Net assets equals the fair value of the total assets minus total liabilities. The DGCL also provides that dividends may not be paid out of net profits if, after the payment of the dividend, capital is less than the capital represented by the outstanding stock of all classes having a preference upon the distribution of assets.
Declaration and payment of any dividend is subject to the discretion of our board of directors. The time and amount of dividends will be dependent upon our financial condition, operations, cash requirements and availability, debt repayment obligations, capital expenditure needs and restrictions in our debt instruments, industry trends, the provisions of Delaware law affecting the payment of distributions to stockholders and any other factors our board of directors may consider relevant.
We have no current plans to pay dividends on its common stock. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the sole discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. Because Open Lending Corporation is a holding company and has no direct operations, it will only be able to pay dividends from funds it receive from its subsidiaries. In addition, our ability to pay dividends will be limited by covenants in our existing indebtedness and may be limited by the agreements governing other indebtedness that we or our subsidiaries incur in the future.
Annual Stockholder Meetings
Our bylaws provide that annual stockholder meetings will be held at a date, time and place, if any, as exclusively selected by our board of directors. To the extent permitted under applicable law, we may conduct meetings by remote communications, including by webcast.
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Transfer Agent
The registrar and transfer agent for the shares of our common stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC. We have agreed to indemnify American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC in its roles as transfer agent against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Our Charter and Bylaws and Certain Provisions of Delaware Law
Our charter and bylaws and the DGCL contain provisions, which are summarized in the following paragraphs, that are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of our board of directors. These provisions are intended to avoid costly takeover battles, reduce our vulnerability to a hostile change of control and enhance the ability of our board of directors to maximize stockholder value in connection with any unsolicited offer to acquire us. However, these provisions may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, deter or prevent a merger or acquisition of the Company by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or other takeover attempt that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the prevailing market price for the shares of our common stock held by stockholders.
Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock
Delaware law does not require stockholder approval for any issuance of authorized shares.
However, the listing requirements of NASDAQ, which would apply if and so long as our common stock remains listed on NASDAQ, require stockholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of the then outstanding voting power or then outstanding number of shares of common stock. Additional shares that may be used in the future may be issued for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital or to facilitate acquisitions.
Our board of directors may generally issue preferred shares on terms calculated to discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of the Company or the removal of our management. Moreover, our authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock will be available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, to facilitate acquisitions and employee benefit plans.
One of the effects of the existence of unissued and unreserved common stock or preferred stock may be to enable our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of the Company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, and thereby protect the continuity of our management and possibly deprive our stockholders of opportunities to sell their shares of our common stock at prices higher than prevailing market prices.
Classified Board of Directors
Our charter provides that our board of directors is divided into three classes of directors, with each director serving a three-year term. As a result, approximately one-third of our board of directors is elected each year. The classification of directors will have the effect of making it more difficult for stockholders to change the composition of our board of directors. Our charter and bylaws provide that, subject to any rights of holders of preferred stock to elect additional directors under specified circumstances, alterations to the number and terms of directors requires the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the outstanding shares of capital stock generally entitled to vote, voting together as a single class, and the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the outstanding shares of each class entitled to vote thereon as a class.
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Removal of Directors; Vacancies
Under the DGCL, unless otherwise provided in our charter, a director serving on a classified board may be removed by the stockholders only for cause. Our charter provides that directors may be removed with or without cause only by the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the outstanding shares of capital stock then entitled to vote at an election of directors, voting together as a single class, subject to the rights, if any, of any series of preferred stock then outstanding to elect directors and to remove any director whom the holders of any such series have the right to elect.
No Cumulative Voting
Under Delaware law, the right to vote cumulatively does not exist unless the charter specifically authorizes cumulative voting. Our charter does not authorize cumulative voting.
Special Stockholder Meetings
Except as otherwise required by statute and subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of any series of preferred stock then outstanding, special meetings of the stockholders of the Company may be called only by the board of directors acting pursuant to a resolution approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors then in office, and special meetings of stockholders may not be called by any other person or persons. Only those matters set forth in the notice of the special meeting may be considered or acted upon at a special meeting of stockholders of the Company.
Requirements for Advance Notification of Director Nominations and Stockholder Proposals
Our bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of the board of directors or a committee of the board of directors. In order for any matter to be properly brought before a meeting, a stockholder will have to comply with advance notice requirements and provide us with certain information. Generally, to be timely, a stockholders notice relating to business other than the nomination of a director to our board of directors, must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Our bylaws also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders notice. To be timely, a stockholders notice relating to the nomination of a director to our board of directors shall be received by the secretary of the Company at our principal executive offices not earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to such special meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the day prior to such special meeting or the 10th day following the day on which public announcement is first made of the date of such special meeting and of the person(s) nominated for election by the board of directors. These provisions may also defer, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirers own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of the Company.
Consent of Stockholders in Lieu of Meeting
Pursuant to Section 228 of the DGCL, any action required to be taken at any annual or special meeting of the stockholders may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, is or are signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of our stock entitled to vote thereon were present and voted, unless our charter provides otherwise.
Dissenters Rights of Appraisal and Payment
Under the DGCL, with certain exceptions, our stockholders will have appraisal rights in connection with a merger or consolidation of the Company. Pursuant to the DGCL, stockholders who properly request and perfect
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appraisal rights in connection with such merger or consolidation will have the right to receive payment of the fair value of their shares as determined by the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Stockholders Derivative Actions
Under the DGCL, any of our stockholders may bring an action in our name to procure a judgment in our favor, also known as a derivative action, provided that the stockholder bringing the action is a holder of our shares at the time of the transaction to which the action relates or such stockholders stock thereafter devolved by operation of law.
Exclusive Forum Selection
Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for any state law claim for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (2) any action asserting a claim of or based on a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of ours to us or our stockholders; (3) any action asserting a claim pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or (4) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. In addition, our amended and restated bylaws provide that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our common stock is deemed to have notice of and consented to the Delaware forum provision. The Delaware forum provision will not apply to any causes of action arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas shall be the sole and exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that these provisions are unenforceable, and to the extent they are enforceable, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived its compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Limitations on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
The DGCL authorizes corporations to limit or eliminate the personal liability of directors to corporations and their stockholders for monetary damages for breaches of directors fiduciary duties, subject to certain exceptions. Our charter includes a provision that eliminates the personal liability of directors for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted under the DGCL. The effect of these provisions is to eliminate the rights of the Company and its stockholders, through stockholders derivative suits on our behalf, to recover monetary damages from a director for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, including breaches resulting from grossly negligent behavior. However, exculpation does not apply to any director if the director has acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized illegal dividends or redemptions or derived an improper benefit from his or her actions as a director.
Our bylaws provide that we must indemnify and advance expenses to our directors and officers to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL. We are also expressly authorized to carry directors and officers liability insurance providing indemnification for our directors, officers and certain employees for some liabilities. We believe that these indemnification and advancement provisions and insurance are useful to attract and retain qualified directors and executive officers.
The limitation of liability, advancement and indemnification provisions in our charter and bylaws may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and
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officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. In addition, your investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
There is currently no pending material litigation or proceeding involving any of our directors, officers or employees for which indemnification is sought.
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SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE
The Company currently has 550,000,000 shares of common stock authorized and 128,198,185 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. All of the shares of our common stock that were issued in connection with the Business Combination are freely transferable by persons other than by our affiliates or Nebulas affiliates without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock. Prior to the Business Combination, there was no public market for shares of our common stock.
Rule 144
All of our equity shares that are currently outstanding, other than equity shares that were issued in connection with the Business Combination and the shares sold in this offering, are restricted securities as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act and may be sold publicly in the United States only if they are subject to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirement such as those provided by Rule 144 and Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act. In general, a person (or persons whose shares are aggregated) who, at the time of a sale, is not, and has not been during the three months preceding the sale, an affiliate of the Company and has beneficially owned the Companys restricted securities for at least six months will be entitled to sell the restricted securities without registration under the Securities Act, subject only to the availability of current public information about the Company. Persons who are affiliates of the Company and have beneficially owned the Companys restricted securities for at least six months may sell a number of restricted securities within any three-month period that does not exceed the greater of the following:
| 1% of the then outstanding equity shares of the same class which will equal approximately 1,280,000 shares of our common stock; or |
| the average weekly trading volume of our common stock of the same class during the four calendar weeks preceding the date on which notice of the sale is filed with the SEC. |
Sales by affiliates of our under Rule 144 are also subject to certain requirements relating to manner of sale, notice and the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies
Rule 144 is generally not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
| the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company; |
| the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; |
| the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Form 8-K reports; and |
| at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company. |
While we were formed as a shell company, since the completion of the Business Combination we are no longer a shell company, and so, once the conditions set forth in the exceptions listed above are satisfied, Rule 144 will become available for the resale of the above noted restricted securities.
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Rule 701
In general, under Rule 701 of the Securities Act as currently in effect, each of our employees, consultants or advisors who purchases equity shares from us in connection with a compensatory stock plan or other written agreement that was executed prior to the completion of the Business Combination is eligible to resell those equity shares in reliance on Rule 144, but without compliance with some of the restrictions, including the holding period, contained in Rule 144. However, the Rule 701 shares would remain subject to lock-up arrangements and would only become eligible for sale when the lock-up period expires.
Registration Rights
In connection with the Business Combination, certain persons and entities holding membership units of Open Lending and certain persons and entities holding Founder Shares entered into the Investor Rights Agreement. Pursuant to the terms of the Investor Rights Agreement, the Company is obligated to file, after it becomes eligible to use Form S-3 or its successor form, a shelf registration statement to register the resale by the parties of the shares of our common stock issued in connection with the Business Combination. The Investor Rights Agreement also provides the parties with demand, piggy-back and Form S-3 registration rights, subject to certain minimum requirements and customary conditions.
Form S-8 Registration Statement
On , 2020 we filed a registration statements on Form S-8 under the Securities Act, to register the shares of common stock issued or issuable under the Open Lending Corporation 2020 Stock Option and Incentive Plan. The Form S-8 registration statement became effective automatically upon filing. The shares of registered common stock can be sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to Rule 144 limitations applicable to affiliates and vesting restrictions. See the section titled Executive Compensation for a description of our equity compensation plans.
Lock-up Agreements
We, our directors, our executive officers and the selling stockholders have agreed, subject to certain exceptions, not to offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, or enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any shares of common stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of common stock for a period of 90 days after the date of the final prospectus relating to this offering. See Underwriting for a description of the lock-up agreements applicable to our shares.
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PRINCIPAL AND SELLING STOCKHOLDERS
The following table sets forth information known to the Company regarding the beneficial ownership of Company common stock as of November 9, 2020 by:
| each person known to the Company to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of outstanding Company common stock; |
| each of the Companys executive officers and directors; |
| all executive officers and directors of the Company as a group; and |
| the selling stockholders. |
Beneficial ownership is determined according to the rules of the SEC, which generally provide that a person has beneficial ownership of a security if he, she or it possesses sole or shared voting or investment power over that security, including options and warrants that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days. Company stock issuable upon exercise of options and warrants currently exercisable within 60 days are deemed outstanding solely for purposes of calculating the percentage of total voting power of the beneficial owner thereof.
The beneficial ownership of Company common stock is based on 128,198,185 shares of Company common stock outstanding as of November 9, 2020.
Unless otherwise indicated, the Company believes that each person named in the table below has sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of Company common stock beneficially owned by them.
Except as otherwise noted below, the address for persons listed in the table is c/o Open Lending Corporation, 1501 S. MoPac Expressway, Suite 450, Austin, Texas 78746.
Securities Beneficially Owned Prior to the Offering |
Securities Being Offered in the Offering |
Securities Beneficially Owned After the Offered Shares are Sold |
||||||||||||||
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) |
Shares of Common Stock |
Shares of Common Stock |
Shares of Common Stock |
% | ||||||||||||
Greater than 5% Stockholders: |
||||||||||||||||
Bregal Sagemount I, LP(2) |
20,338,157 | |||||||||||||||
Nebula Holdings, LLC(3) |
16,525,000 | |||||||||||||||
Named Executive Officers and Directors: |
||||||||||||||||
John J. Flynn |
3,857,345 | |||||||||||||||
Ross M. Jessup |
4,393,487 | |||||||||||||||
Charles D. Jehl |
| |||||||||||||||
Adam H. Clammer(3) |
16,525,000 | |||||||||||||||
Eric A. Feldstein |
| |||||||||||||||
Blair J. Greenberg(2) |
20,375,292 | |||||||||||||||
Shubhi Rao |
| |||||||||||||||
Jessica Snyder |
| |||||||||||||||
Gene Yoon(2) |
20,375,292 | |||||||||||||||
Brandon Van Buren(3) |
| |||||||||||||||
All current directors and executive officers as a group (12 persons) |
45,151,124 | |||||||||||||||
Selling stockholders: |
* | Less than 1%. |
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(1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of these shareholders is c/o Open Lending Corporation, 1501 S. MoPac Expressway, Suite 450, Austin, TX 78746. |
(2) | Bregal Sagemount I, L.P., is the record holder of the shares reported herein. Gene Yoon is the managing director, and Blair Greenberg is a director, of Bregal Investments, Inc., which is the registered investment advisor of Bregal Sagemount I, L.P. As such, they may be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of the Class A Common Stock held directly by Bregal Sagemount I, L.P. Each such person disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly. The business address of Bregal Sagemount I, L.P. is c/o Bregal Investments, Inc., 277 Park Avenue, 29th Floor New York, NY 10172. |
(3) | Nebula Holdings, LLC is the record holder of the shares reported herein. True Wind Capital, L.P. is the managing member of Nebula Holdings, LLC. Mr. Greene and Mr. Clammer are the managing members of True Wind Capital GP, LLC, the General Partner of True Wind Capital, L.P. As such, they may be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of the Class B Common Stock held directly by Nebula Holdings, LLC. Each such person disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly. The business address of Nebula Holdings, LLC is Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 2100, San Francisco, CA 94111. |
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MATERIAL UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following is a discussion of certain material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our shares of common stock. This discussion applies only to holders who hold our common stock as capital assets for U.S. federal income tax purposes and who are acquiring our common stock in this offering.
This discussion is a summary only and does not describe all of the tax consequences that may be relevant to you in light of your particular circumstances, including but not limited to the alternative minimum tax, the Medicare tax on certain investment income and the different consequences that may apply if you are subject to special rules that apply to certain types of investors (such as the effects of Section 451 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code)), including but not limited to:
| financial institutions or financial services entities; |
| broker-dealers; |
| governments or agencies or instrumentalities thereof; |
| regulated investment companies; |
| real estate investment trusts; |
| expatriates or former long-term residents of the U.S.; |
| persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of our voting shares; |
| insurance companies; |
| dealers or traders subject to a mark-to-market method of accounting with respect to our common stock; |
| persons holding our common stock as part of a straddle, hedge, integrated transaction or similar transaction; |
| U.S. holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar; |
| partnerships or other pass-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes and any beneficial owners of such entities; and |
| tax-exempt entities. |
This discussion is based on the Code, and administrative pronouncements, judicial decisions and final, temporary and proposed Treasury regulations as of the date hereof, which are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis, and changes to any of which subsequent to the date of this prospectus may affect the tax consequences described herein. This discussion does not address any aspect of state, local or non-U.S. taxation, or any U.S. federal taxes other than income taxes (such as gift and estate taxes).
We have not sought, and will not seek, a ruling from the IRS as to any U.S. federal income tax consequence described herein. The IRS may disagree with the discussion herein, and its determination may be upheld by a court. Moreover, there can be no assurance that future legislation, regulations, administrative rulings or court decisions will not adversely affect the accuracy of the statements in this discussion. You are urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the application of U.S. federal tax laws to your particular situation, as well as any tax consequences arising under the laws of any state, local or foreign jurisdiction.
This discussion does not consider the tax treatment of partnerships or other pass-through entities or persons who hold our common stock through such entities. If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement classified as a partnership or other pass-through entity for United States federal income tax purposes) is the beneficial owner of our common stock, the United States federal income tax treatment of a partner or member in the partnership or
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other pass-through entity generally will depend on the status of the partner or member and the activities of the partnership or other pass-through entity. If you are a partner or member of a partnership or other pass-through entity holding our common stock, we urge you to consult your own tax advisor.
THIS DISCUSSION IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF CERTAIN UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR COMMON STOCK. EACH PROSPECTIVE INVESTOR IN OUR COMMON STOCK IS URGED TO CONSULT ITS OWN TAX ADVISOR WITH RESPECT TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES TO SUCH INVESTOR OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR COMMON STOCK, INCLUDING THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF ANY UNITED STATES FEDERAL NON-INCOME, STATE, LOCAL, AND NON-U.S. TAX LAWS.
U.S. Holders
This section applies to you if you are a U.S. holder. A U.S. holder is a beneficial owner of our shares of common stock who or that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:
| an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; |
| a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation) organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; |
| an estate the income of which is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or |
| a trust, if (i) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons (as defined in the Code) have authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (ii) it has a valid election in effect under Treasury regulations to be treated as a U.S. person. |
Taxation of Distributions. If we pay distributions in cash or other property (other than certain distributions of our stock or rights to acquire our stock) in respect to our common stock to U.S. holders of shares of our common stock, such distributions generally will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. holders adjusted tax basis in our common stock. Any remaining excess will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the common stock and will be treated as described under U.S. HoldersGain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock below.
Dividends we pay to a U.S. holder that is a taxable corporation generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including, but not limited to, dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. holder may constitute qualified dividends that will be subject to tax at the maximum tax rate accorded to long-term capital gains. If the holding period requirements are not satisfied, then a corporation may not be able to qualify for the dividends received deduction and would have taxable income equal to the entire dividend amount, and non-corporate holders may be subject to tax on such dividend at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential rate that applies to qualified dividend income.
Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock. Upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our common stock, a U.S. holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S. holders adjusted tax basis in the common stock. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. holders holding period for the
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common stock so disposed of exceeds one year. If the holding period requirements are not satisfied, any gain on a sale or taxable disposition of the shares would be subject to short-term capital gain treatment and would be taxed at regular ordinary income tax rates. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. holders will be eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.
Generally, the amount of gain or loss recognized by a U.S. holder is an amount equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition and (ii) the U.S. holders adjusted tax basis in its common stock so disposed of. A U.S. holders adjusted tax basis in its common stock generally will equal the U.S. holders acquisition cost for the common stock less, in the case of a share of common stock, any prior distributions treated as a return of capital.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding. In general, information reporting requirements may apply to dividends paid to a U.S. holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our shares of common stock, unless the U.S. holder is an exempt recipient. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number, a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).
Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules generally should be allowed as a refund or a credit against a U.S. holders U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
Non-U.S. Holders
This section applies to you if you are a Non-U.S. holder. As used herein, the term Non-U.S. holder means a beneficial owner of our common stock who or that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes:
| a non-resident alien individual (other than certain former citizens and residents of the U.S. subject to U.S. tax as expatriates); |
| a foreign corporation; or |
| an estate or trust that is not a U.S. holder. |
but does not include an individual who is present in the U.S. for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition. If you are such an individual, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership or sale or other disposition of our common stock.
Taxation of Distributions. In general, any distributions we make to a Non-U.S. holder of shares of our common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and, provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holders conduct of a trade or business within the United States, we will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of such dividends at a rate of 30%, unless such Non-U.S. holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E). Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the Non-U.S. holders adjusted tax basis in its shares of our common stock and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the Non-U.S. holders adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the common stock, which will be treated as described under Non-U.S. HoldersGain on Sale or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock below.
The withholding tax does not apply to dividends paid to a Non-U.S. holder who provides a Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holders conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax
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as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident, subject to an applicable income tax treaty providing otherwise. A Non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to an additional branch profits tax imposed at a rate of 30% (or a lower treaty rate).
Gain on Sale or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock. A Non-U.S. holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of gain recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition of our common stock, unless:
| the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the Non-U.S. holder within the United States (and, under certain income tax treaties, is attributable to a United States permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder); or |
| we are or have been a U.S. real property holding corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the period that the Non-U.S. holder held our common stock, and, in the case where shares of our common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, the Non-U.S. holder has owned, directly or constructively, more than 5% of our common stock at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such Non-U.S. holders holding period for the shares of our common stock. There can be no assurance that our common stock will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose. |
Unless an applicable treaty provides otherwise, gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a Non-U.S. holder that is a foreign corporation may also be subject to an additional branch profits tax at a 30% rate (or lower treaty rate).
If the second bullet point above applies to a Non-U.S. holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our common stock will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. We will be a United States real property holding corporation at any time that the fair market value of our United States real property interests as defined in the Code and applicable Treasury Regulations equals or exceeds 50% of the aggregate fair market value of our worldwide real property interests and our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business. We believe that we are not, and do not anticipate becoming in the foreseeable future, a United States real property holding corporation.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding. Information returns will be filed with the IRS in connection with payments of dividends. A Non-U.S. holder may have to comply with certification procedures to establish that it is not a United States person in order to avoid additional information reporting and backup withholding requirements. The certification procedures required to claim a reduced rate of withholding under a treaty will satisfy the certification requirements necessary to avoid the backup withholding as well. The amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a Non-U.S. holder will be allowed as a credit against such holders U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle such holder to a refund, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
FATCA Withholding Taxes. Provisions commonly referred to as FATCA impose withholding of 30% on payments of dividends (including constructive dividends) on our common stock to foreign financial institutions (which is broadly defined for this purpose and in general includes investment vehicles) and certain other Non-U.S. entities unless various U.S. information reporting and due diligence requirements (generally relating to ownership by U.S. persons of interests in or accounts with those entities) have been satisfied by, or an exemption applies to, the payee (typically certified as to by the delivery of a properly completed IRS Form W-8BEN-E). Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing FATCA may be subject to different rules. Under certain circumstances, a Non-U.S. holder might be eligible for refunds or credits of such withholding taxes, and a Non-U.S. holder might be required to file a U.S. federal income tax return to claim such refunds or credits. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisers regarding the effects of FATCA on their investment in our common stock.
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The company, the selling stockholders and the underwriters named below have entered into an underwriting agreement with respect to the shares being offered. Subject to certain conditions, each underwriter has severally agreed to purchase the number of shares indicated in the following table. are the representatives of the underwriters.
Underwriters |
Number of Shares | |||
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|
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|
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The underwriters are committed to take and pay for all of the shares being offered, if any are taken, other than the shares covered by the option described below unless and until this option is exercised.
The underwriters will have an option to buy up to approximately additional shares from the selling stockholders to cover sales by the underwriters of a greater number of shares than the total number set forth in the table above. They may exercise that option for 30 days. If any shares are purchased pursuant to this option, the underwriters will severally purchase shares in approximately the same proportion as set forth in the table above.
The following table shows the per share and total underwriting discounts and commissions to be paid to the underwriters by the selling stockholders. Such amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters option to purchase additional shares.
Paid by the Selling Stockholders |
No Exercise | Full Exercise | ||||||
Per Share |
$ | $ | ||||||
Total |
$ | $ |
Shares sold by the underwriters to the public will be offered at the public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus. Any shares sold by the underwriters to securities dealers may be sold at a discount of up to $ per share from the public offering price. After the initial offering of the shares, the representatives may change the offering price and the other selling terms. The offering of the shares by the underwriters is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters right to reject any order in whole or in part.
We, our directors and executive officers and the selling stockholders have agreed with the underwriters, subject to certain exceptions, not to dispose of or hedge any of their common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of common stock during the period from the date of this prospectus continuing through the date 90 days after the date of the final prospectus relating to this offering. The lock-up agreements are subject to specified exceptions.
The restrictions described in the paragraph above relating to the Company do not apply to:
| shares to be sold pursuant to the underwriting agreement; and |
| the issuance by the Company of shares of common stock upon the conversion or exchange of convertible or exchangeable securities outstanding as of the date of the underwriting agreement and described herein. |
The restrictions described in the paragraph above relating to officers, directors and the selling stockholders do not apply, subject in certain cases to various conditions to:
| transfers as a bona fide gift or gifts, or charitable contributions; and |
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| transfers to any trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the lock-up party or the immediate family of the lock-up party. |
In connection with the offering, the underwriters may purchase and sell shares of common stock in the open market. These transactions may include short sales, stabilizing transactions and purchases to cover positions created by short sales. Short sales involve the sale by the underwriters of a greater number of shares than they are required to purchase in the offering, and a short position represents the amount of such sales that have not been covered by subsequent purchases. A covered short position is a short position that is not greater than the amount of additional shares for which the underwriters option described above may be exercised. The underwriters may cover any covered short position by either exercising their option to purchase additional shares or purchasing shares in the open market. In determining the source of shares to cover the covered short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of shares available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase additional shares pursuant to the option described above. Naked short sales are any short sales that create a short position greater than the amount of additional shares for which the option described above may be exercised. The underwriters must cover any such naked short position by purchasing shares in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the shares of the Companys common stock in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering. Stabilizing transactions consist of various bids for or purchases of the Companys common stock made by the underwriters in the open market prior to the completion of the offering.
The underwriters may also impose a penalty bid. This occurs when a particular underwriter repays to the underwriters a portion of the underwriting discount received by it because the representatives have repurchased shares sold by or for the account of such underwriter in stabilizing or short covering transactions.
Purchases to cover a short position and stabilizing transactions, as well as other purchases by the underwriters for their own accounts, may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the Companys common stock, and together with the imposition of the penalty bid, may stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the market price of the common stock. As a result, the price of the common stock may be higher than the price that otherwise might exist in the open market. The underwriters are not required to engage in these activities and may end any of these activities at any time. These transactions may be effected on NASDAQ, in the over-the-counter market or otherwise.
The Company and the selling stockholders estimate that our share of the total expenses of the offering, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions, will be approximately $ million. We have also agreed to reimburse the underwriters for certain FINRA-related expenses incurred by them in connection with the offering in an amount up to $ .
We and the selling stockholders have agreed to indemnify the several underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.
The underwriters and their respective affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include sales and trading, commercial and investment banking, advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, market making, brokerage and other financial and non-financial activities and services. Certain of the underwriters and their respective affiliates have provided, and may in the future provide, a variety of these services to us and to persons and entities with relationships with us, for which they received or will receive customary fees and expenses. Certain of the underwriters may sell the common stock offered hereby through their respective affiliates or selling agents.
In the ordinary course of their various business activities, the underwriters and their respective affiliates, officers, directors and employees may purchase, sell or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade securities, derivatives, loans, commodities, currencies, credit default swaps and other financial instruments for
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