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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

Commission File Number: 001-41943

Amer Sports, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

N/A

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

Cayman Islands

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

Cricket Square, Hutchins Drive

P.O. Box 2681

Grand Cayman KY1-1111

Cayman Islands

Tel +1 345 945 3901

(Address of principal executive offices)

Andrew E. Page

Chief Financial Officer

One Prudential Plaza

130 East Randolph Street #600

Chicago, IL 60601

Tel: +1 773 714-6400

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

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

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Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

(Title of Class)

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

None

(Title of Class)

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

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

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If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. ☐ Yes ☐ No

Note – Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.

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

*The registrant became subject to such requirements on January 31, 2024.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

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

Large Accelerated Filer ☐ Accelerated Filer ☐ Non-Accelerated Filer ☒ Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

U.S. GAAP ☐ International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ☒

Other ☐

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. ☐ Item 17 ☐ Item 18

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). ☐ Yes ☒ No

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

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PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL AND OTHER INFORMATION

Certain Definitions

Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, all references in this annual report to “Amer Sports, Inc.,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” “ours,” “us” or similar terms refer to Amer Sports, Inc., together with its subsidiaries. All references to “U.S. dollars,” “dollars” or “$” are to the U.S. dollar and all references to “EUR” or “€” are to the euro. Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, all references to “EMEA” refer to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, all references to “Greater China” refer to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and all references to “Asia Pacific” exclude Greater China.

Financial Statements

Unless otherwise indicated, all financial information contained in this annual report is prepared and presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”).

Our fiscal year ends on December 31 of each year.

Rounding

We have made rounding adjustments to some of the figures included in this annual report. Accordingly, numerical figures shown as totals in some tables may not be an arithmetic aggregation of the figures that preceded them. With respect to financial information set out in this annual report, a dash (“-”) signifies that the relevant figure is not available or not applicable, while a zero (“0.0”) signifies that the relevant figure is available but is or has been rounded to zero.

Trademarks and Trade Names

We own various trademark registrations and applications, and unregistered trademarks, including Arc’teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Peak Performance, Atomic, Armada, ENVE, Louisville Slugger, DeMarini, EvoShield and ATEC, among others, and our other registered and common law trade names, trademarks and service marks, including our corporate logo. Solely for convenience, some of the trademarks, service marks and trade names referred to in this annual report are listed without the ® and ™ symbols, but we will assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, rights to such trademarks, service marks and trade names.

Market and Industry Data

Market data and certain industry forecast data used in this annual report were obtained from internal reports, where appropriate, as well as third-party sources, including independent industry publications, as well as other publicly available information. Data regarding the industries in which we compete and our market position and market share within these industries are inherently imprecise and are subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties beyond our control, but we believe they generally indicate size, position and market share. In addition, assumptions and estimates of our and our industries’ future performance are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors. These and other factors could cause our future performance to differ materially from our assumptions and estimates. As a result, you should be aware that market, ranking and other similar industry data included in this annual report, and estimates and beliefs based on that data, may not be reliable. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements. Many of the forward-looking statements contained in this annual report can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “should,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate” and “potential,” among others.

Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this annual report and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our intent, belief or current expectations. Forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to, those identified under the section titled “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” in this annual report. These risks and uncertainties include factors relating to:

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Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information or future developments or to release publicly any revisions to these statements in order to reflect later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of an unanticipated event.

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We anticipate that, as our business continues to expand into new markets and new product categories, maintaining and enhancing our brands may become difficult and require expending significant resources. If these or similar efforts in the future are not successful, our brands may be adversely impacted. Even if such efforts are commercially successful, they may dilute our image in our brands’ respective core markets, including apparel, footwear, sports equipment, protective gear and accessories. In addition, our brands may be adversely affected if our public image or reputation is tarnished by negative publicity. Our brands currently have significant autonomy within the structure of the Amer group with respect to the implementation of their strategic goals. Decision makers at our respective brands could take actions that harm our overall reputation or lead to the loss of goodwill by wholesale partners and consumers. Likewise, the reputation of our brands could be damaged by adverse publicity regarding Amer Sports and if decision-makers of Amer Sports take actions that would be viewed negatively by our wholesale partners, consumers or the general public. Furthermore, our exposure to social media platforms may accelerate and aggravate such negative publicity. In addition, ineffective marketing, product diversion to unauthorized distribution channels, product defects, counterfeit products and failure or legal limitations to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce the intellectual property rights in our brands may threaten the strength of our brands, and those and other factors could diminish consumer confidence in us. Maintaining and enhancing our brands will depend largely on our ability to remain a leader in premium performance in the sports and outdoor industry and to continue to offer a range of high-quality products to our consumers, which we may not execute successfully. Any of these factors could harm our business, reputation, prospects, financial condition or operating results.

Changes in market trends and consumer preferences could adversely affect our financial results.

We are a consumer products company and the relative popularity of various sports and outdoor activities and changing design trends affect the demand for our products. Consumer preferences and, as a result, the popularity of particular designs and categories of apparel, footwear and accessories, generally change over time. Similarly, consumer preferences may also change as it relates to sporting equipment and protective gear, as interest in certain sports and outdoor activities may wane over time. Our success depends in part on our ability to promptly anticipate, understand and respond to changing apparel, footwear, sports equipment, protective gear and accessories trends, popularity in sports or outdoor activities and consumer preferences in a timely manner. Our efforts to maintain and improve our competitive position by monitoring and timely and appropriately responding to changes in consumer preferences, increasing brand awareness and enhancing the style, comfort, performance and/or perceived value of our products may not be successful. If we are unable to maintain or enhance the images of our brands or if we are unable to timely and appropriately respond to new competition, changing consumer preferences and evolving trends and interests (including due to product lead times which make it difficult to rapidly shift sourcing and manufacturing to align with such changes), consumers may consider our brands’ images to be outdated and associate our brands with styles and activities that are no longer popular, which would decrease demand for our products. In addition, we market our products globally through a diverse spectrum of advertising and promotional programs and campaigns, including social media, mobile applications and online advertising. If we do not successfully market our products or if advertising and promotional costs increase, these factors could have an adverse effect on our business. Such failures could result in loss of market share, reduced sales, excess inventory, trade name impairments, lower gross margin and other adverse impacts on our results of operations.

Our products, services and experiences face intense competition.

The sports and outdoor industry is highly competitive and fragmented both in the United States and worldwide. We compete internationally with a significant number of athletic and leisure apparel and footwear companies and sports equipment companies, including both private labels and large companies that have diversified lines of athletic and leisure apparel, footwear, sports equipment, protective gear and accessories, some of which have more resources or broader products lines. We also compete with other companies for the production capacity of third-party manufacturers that produce certain of our products. In addition, we and our third-party manufacturers compete with other companies and industries for raw materials used in our products. Our DTC brand platforms, both through our e-commerce operations and owned retail stores, also compete with multi-brand retailers, which sell our products through their digital platforms and physical stores. Furthermore, we believe that our wholesale partners face intense competition from other department stores, sporting goods stores, retail specialty stores, and online retailers, among others, which could negatively impact the financial stability of their businesses and their ability to conduct business with us.

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Brand image and recognition, product offerings and quality, marketing expenditures (including expenditures for advertising and endorsements), innovation and design, sustainability, distribution, pricing, costs of production, customer service, e-commerce platforms, digital services and experiences and social media presence are areas of intense competition. These, in addition to ongoing rapid changes in technology, a reduction in barriers to the creation of new apparel and footwear companies and consumer preferences in the markets for apparel, footwear, sports equipment, protective gear and accessories constitute significant risk factors in our operations. In addition, the competitive nature of retail, including shifts in the ways in which consumers shop, and the continued proliferation of e-commerce, constitutes a risk factor impacting our DTC and wholesale operations. Some of our competitors have significant competitive advantages, including longer operating histories, larger and broader consumer bases, more established relationships with a broader set of suppliers, greater brand recognition, and greater financial, research and development, store development, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we do. If we do not adequately and timely anticipate and respond to our competition, our costs may increase, demand for our products may decline, possibly significantly, or we may need to reduce wholesale or suggested retail prices for our products.

Failure to continue to obtain or retain high-quality brand partners and ambassadors of our products could harm our business.

We establish relationships with professional and collegiate sports organizations, athletes, influencers and other brand ambassadors to develop, evaluate and promote our products, as well as establish product authenticity with consumers. However, as competition in the sports and outdoor industry has increased, the costs associated with establishing and retaining such sponsorships, partnerships and other relationships also have increased. If we are unable to maintain our current associations with such organizations or our brand ambassadors or to do so at a reasonable cost, we could lose the high visibility or on-field authenticity associated with our products, and we may be required to modify and substantially increase our marketing investments. Additionally, certain of our agreements with such organizations are subject to renewal in the near term, and there is no assurance we will renew such agreements on the same terms or at all. As a result, our brands, revenue, expenses and profitability could be harmed.

Furthermore, if certain brand ambassadors were to stop using our products contrary to their endorsement agreements, our business could be adversely affected. In addition, actions taken or statements made by athletes, teams or leagues, or other brand ambassadors, associated with our products or brand that harm the reputations of those brand ambassadors, could also seriously harm our brand image with consumers and, as a result, could have an adverse effect on our sales and financial condition. In addition, poor or non-performance by our brand ambassadors, a failure to continue to correctly identify promising athletes, public figures or sports organizations to use and endorse our products and brand, or a failure to enter into cost-effective endorsement arrangements with prominent athletes, public figures and sports organizations could adversely affect our brand, sales and profitability.

Harm to our reputation could adversely impact our ability to attract and retain consumers and wholesale partners, employees, brand ambassadors, partners, and other stakeholders.

Negative publicity or perceptions involving us and our brands, products, vendors, brand ambassadors, principal shareholders or marketing and other partners, or failure to detect, prevent, mitigate or address issues giving rise to reputational risk could adversely impact our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition, and may adversely impact our ability to attract and retain employees, brand ambassadors, consumers and wholesale partners, sponsorships, partnerships, relationships with professional and collegiate sports leagues and other stakeholders. Issues that might pose a reputational risk include:

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Furthermore, the prevalence of social media and a constant, on-demand news cycle may accelerate and in the short-term increase the potential scope of any negative publicity we or others might receive and could increase the negative impact of these issues on our reputation, business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We rely on technical innovation and high-quality products to compete in the market for our products.

Technical innovation and quality management in the design and manufacturing processes of apparel, footwear, sports equipment, protective gear and accessories are essential to the commercial success of our products and development of new products. We must continue to invest in research and development in connection with the innovation and design of our products in order to attract and retain consumers. If we are unable to anticipate consumer preferences or industry changes, or if we are unable to introduce new products or modify our existing products on a timely basis, we may lose wholesale partners and consumers or become subject to greater pricing pressures. Our operating results would also suffer if our innovations and designs do not respond to the needs and demands of our wholesale partners and consumers, are not appropriately timed with market opportunities or are not effectively brought to market. Any failure on our part to innovate and design new products or modify existing products may harm our brand image and consumer demand for our products could decline and could result in a decrease in our revenue and an increase in our inventory levels.

In addition, we believe our wholesale partners and consumers view many of our products as premium quality. If we experience problems with the quality of our products, we may incur substantial expense to remedy the problems along with a loss of consumer confidence and loyalty, and consumers may also be unwilling to pay premium prices for such products. Additionally, if the quality of certain of our brands and/or certain of our brands’ products does not meet expectations, that could negatively impact consumer views about our other brands and/or such brands’ products as well. Any of these factors could negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Economic uncertainty in our key markets may affect consumer purchases of discretionary items, which may adversely affect demand for our products.

Our products may be considered discretionary items for consumers. Factors affecting the level of consumer spending for such discretionary items include general economic conditions and other factors such as consumer confidence in future economic conditions, fears of recession and trade wars, political turmoil, the availability and cost of consumer credit, higher consumer debt levels, levels of unemployment, inflationary pressures, lower corporate earnings and fluctuating interest, foreign currency exchange rates and tax rates.

The uncertain state of the global economy continues to impact businesses around the world, most acutely in emerging markets and developing economies. As global economic conditions continue to be volatile or economic uncertainty remains, including in light of the conflict in Ukraine, and with increasing inflation, trends in consumer discretionary spending also remain unpredictable and subject to reductions as a result of significant increases in employment, financial market instability, and uncertainties about the future. Unfavorable economic conditions may lead consumers to delay or reduce purchases of our products. Consumer demand for our products may decline as a result of store closures, an economic downturn, or economic uncertainty in our key markets, particularly in North America, Europe, and Asia, which in turn may result in reduced orders from wholesale partners and consumers for our products, order cancellations, lower revenue, higher discounts, increased inventories and lower gross margins. Our sensitivity to economic cycles and any related fluctuation in consumer demand may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

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Inflationary pressures have and may continue to hamper our business.

Inflationary pressures, shortages in the labor market, and increased competition within and outside the sports and outdoor industry for talented employees may increase our labor costs, which could negatively impact our profitability. Labor shortages may also negatively impact us from servicing any demand that exists for our products or operating our manufacturing facilities efficiently. Further, inflationary pressures could increase other key costs, such as the cost of raw materials, operational expenses and costs of labor, which would make it harder to operate our business and maintain current profit margins.

Our financial success may be impacted by the strength of our relationships with our wholesale partners.

Our financial success is partially dependent on our wholesale partners continuing to carry our products and the success of these partners. A substantial amount of our sales are made through our wholesale partners, either directly or indirectly, who may decide to emphasize products from our competitors, to redeploy their retail floor space to other product categories, or to take other actions that reduce or discontinue their purchases of our products. Although we believe that our business relationships with our wholesale partners are positive, we cannot assure you that these business relationships will continue to generate satisfactory sales in the future. If any of our major wholesale partners fails to remain committed to our products or brand, then these partners may reduce or discontinue purchases from us, which could adversely impact our business.

If we face supply chain difficulties or other delays in our manufacturing and distribution channels and if we cannot fill our wholesale partners’ orders in a timely manner, the sales of our products and our relationships with those partners may suffer, and this could have a material adverse effect on our ability to grow our product lines and our results of operations. Many of our wholesale partners also compete with each other, and if they perceive that we are offering their competitors better pricing and support, they may reduce or discontinue purchases of our products. In addition, we compete directly with our wholesale partners by selling our products to consumers through our DTC channel. If our wholesale partners believe that our DTC channel diverts sales from their stores, this may weaken our relationships with our partners and cause them to reduce or discontinue purchases of our products. In addition, if we fail to accurately identify the needs of our partners, our partners fail to accept new products or product line expansions or attribute premium value to our new or existing products or product line expansions relative to competing products or if we fail to obtain shelf space from our wholesale partners (whether by our competitors introducing new products or otherwise), our sales, business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely impacted.

We may be adversely affected by the financial health of our wholesale partners and consumers.

We generally do not have long-term contracts with our wholesale partners, and sales to our wholesale partners are generally on a per-purchase basis. To assist in the scheduling of production and the shipping of our products, we offer the majority of our wholesale partners the opportunity to place orders several months ahead of delivery under our pre-order program. Sales to our wholesale partners are generally on an order-by-order basis and these advance orders may be canceled under certain conditions, and the risk of cancellation may increase when dealing with financially unstable retailers or retailers struggling with economic uncertainty. We also extend credit to our wholesale partners based on an assessment of such retailer’s financial condition, generally without requiring collateral. While we do not have significant concentration among our wholesale partners as of December 31, 2023, our largest single customer accounted for 4.0% of total accounts receivable and our 20 largest wholesale partners accounted for 31.7% of total accounts receivable. Some of our retailers have in the past, and may in the future, experience financial difficulties, including bankruptcies, which have had and could have an adverse effect on our sales, our ability to collect on receivables and our financial condition.

In addition, we and our wholesale partners could face risks from a decline in the overall level of consumer retail spending, and a weak retail environment could impact consumer traffic in the stores of our wholesale partners and also adversely affect our revenue. Moreover, traditional brick-and-mortar retail channels have experienced low growth or declines in recent years and recent trends have increased permanent and temporary store closures. Recent years have also seen shifts in consumer preferences and purchasing practices, which may increase the difficulty for us to retain and grow our consumer base through our wholesale partners. If and when the retail economy weakens or as consumer behavior shifts, retailers may be more cautious with orders. A slowing or changing economy in our key markets could adversely affect the financial health of our wholesale partners, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, product sales are dependent in part on high-quality merchandising and an appealing retail environment to attract consumers, which requires continuing investments by retailers. Retailers that experience financial difficulties may fail to make such investments or delay them, resulting in lower sales and orders for our products. These and other risks could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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Our growth strategy involves the continued expansion of our DTC channel, including our owned retail stores and e-commerce platform, which may present risks and challenges.

Our business involves distributing products on a wholesale basis for resale through our wholesale partners and also includes a multi-channel experience, including owned retail stores, which we operate in 24 countries, and e-commerce websites that are owned and operated by us. Growing our e-commerce platforms and the number of physical stores we operate is essential to our growth strategy, as is innovating and expanding our product offerings available through these channels. Sales in our DTC channel continue to grow, which may expose us to other risks, including those relating to continuing to grow brand awareness. This strategy has, and will continue to require significant investment in cross-functional operations and management focus, along with investment in supporting technologies and retail store spaces. If we are unable to provide a convenient and consistent experience for our consumers, our ability to compete and our results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, if our e-commerce platform design does not appeal to our consumers, function reliably and conveniently, or maintain the privacy and security of consumer data, or if we are unable to consistently meet our brand promise to our consumers, we may experience a loss of consumer confidence or sales, including as a result of losing repeat consumers, or be exposed to fraudulent purchases, cyberattacks or other issues which could adversely affect our reputation and results of operations. Our growth in the DTC channel may also negatively impact our relationships with existing wholesale partners.

As of December 31, 2023, we operate our e-commerce digital platforms in approximately 20 countries, where we generally also operate in through our wholesale channel, and we are planning to expand our e-commerce platform to other geographies. Existing and additional countries may impose different and evolving laws governing the operation and marketing of e-commerce websites, as well as the collection, storage and use of information on consumers interacting with those websites. We may incur additional costs and operational challenges in complying with these laws, and differences in these laws may cause us to operate our businesses differently in different territories. If so, we may incur additional costs and may not realize benefits from our investment in our international expansion. We are also exposed to the risk of fraudulent domains or websites pretending to sell our products, when they are in reality phishing websites or imitator domains, and we might be unable to stop those websites from operating in due time, or permanently due to regulatory or factual constraints.

Our revenues depend in part on the success of our retail stores, including related to volume of traffic to its stores and the availability of suitable lease space.

A portion of our revenues are DTC sales through stores operated by our brands. In order to generate consumer traffic, we locate many of our stores in prominent locations generally within successful retail shopping centers or in fashionable shopping districts. Our stores benefit from the ability of the retail center and other attractions in an area to generate consumer traffic in the vicinity of our stores. Part of our future growth is significantly dependent on our ability to operate stores in desirable locations with capital investment and lease costs providing the opportunity to earn a reasonable return. We cannot control the development of new shopping centers or districts; the availability or cost of appropriate locations within existing or new shopping centers or districts; competition with other retailers for prominent locations; or the success of individual shopping centers or districts. As we seek to expand the number of our brands’ retail stores, we may spend significant time and resources exploring locations that are not suitable or that we are unable to secure, whether due to financing, political constraints, or other factors. We may be unable to successfully open new store locations in existing or new geographies in a timely manner, if at all, which could harm our results of operations. Existing store locations may also become unsuitable due to, and our sales volume, consumer traffic and profitability generally may be harmed by, among other things: economic downturns in a particular area, competition from nearby retailers, changing consumer demographics in a particular market, changing lifestyle choices of consumers in a particular market, and the closing or decline in popularity of other businesses located near our stores. Changes in areas around our store locations that result in reductions in consumer foot traffic or otherwise render the locations unsuitable could cause our sales, business and results of operations to be less than expected. Further, if we are unable to renew or replace our existing store leases or enter into leases for new stores on favorable terms, or if we violate the terms of our current leases, our growth and profitability could be harmed.

Additionally, as we grow our retail store footprint, there is a risk that we will increase sales in retail stores at the expense of our wholesale business and/or our e-commerce DTC sales. All of these factors may impact our ability to meet our growth targets and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

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We face risks associated with the acquisition and divesture of businesses.

We have expanded our products and markets in part through strategic acquisitions and may continue to do so in the future, depending on our ability to identify and successfully pursue suitable acquisition candidates. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including risks inherent in entering new markets in which we may not have prior experience; potential loss of significant customers or key personnel of the acquired business; not obtaining the expected benefits of the acquisition on a timely basis or at all; managing operations in new geographies; and potential diversion of management’s attention from other aspects of our business operations. Acquisitions may also cause us to incur debt or result in dilutive issuances of our equity securities, write-offs of goodwill and substantial amortization expenses associated with other intangible assets. We may not be able to obtain financing for future acquisitions on favorable terms, making any such acquisitions more expensive. Any such financing may have terms that restrict our operations. We may not be able to successfully integrate the operations of any acquired businesses into our operations and achieve the expected benefits of any acquisitions, and certain acquisitions or divestitures may not have the desired effect of enhancing the status of our portfolio of brands. Our acquisitions and our divestitures have in the past resulted in, and could in the future result in, exposure to contingent or unexpected liabilities, such as litigation, indemnification claims, regulatory claims and earn-out obligations.

We may not consummate a potential acquisition for a variety of reasons, but still incur material costs in connection with an acquisition that we cannot recover. The failure to successfully integrate newly acquired businesses or achieve the expected benefits of strategic acquisitions in the future, or consummate a potential acquisition after incurring material costs, could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial position.

In addition, we have divested, and may divest in the future, businesses, brands and assets as part of ongoing efforts to refine our portfolio and redefine our strategic priorities. These divestitures may adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition if we are unable to offset the dilutive impacts from the loss of revenue associated with the divested businesses, brands or assets or otherwise achieve the anticipated benefits or cost savings from the divestitures. Furthermore, businesses, brands or assets under consideration for, or otherwise subject to, divestiture may be adversely impacted prior to completion of the divestiture, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our plans to innovate, expand our product offerings and successfully implement our growth strategies may not be successful, and implementation of these plans may divert our operational, managerial and administrative resources, which could harm our competitive position and reduce our revenue and profitability.

Our future success depends, in large part, on our ability to implement our growth strategies, including expanding our brands’ product offerings to capture additional market share, continuing to engage in consumer acquisition and retention efforts that drive long-term consumer and wholesale partner relationships and continuing to grow our business. Our ability to implement these growth strategies depends, among other things, on our ability to:

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The principal risks to our ability to successfully carry out our plans to expand our product offering include:

Moreover, our ability to successfully implement our growth strategies and carry out our plans to expand our product offerings may be affected by economic and competitive conditions, changes in consumer spending patterns and changes in consumer preferences and styles. We may invest in technology, infrastructure, new businesses, product offerings and manufacturing innovation and expansion of existing business, such as our DTC operations, and such significant investments are subject to typical risks and uncertainties inherent in developing a new business or expanding an existing business. These plans could be abandoned, could cost more than anticipated, could impact the quality of our products and could divert resources from other areas of our business, any of which could negatively impact our competitive position and reduce our revenue and profitability.

Expanding our product offerings may also require that we develop additional in-house manufacturing capability, either by expanding our existing manufacturing facilities or building new facilities. There is a risk that we will be unable to develop and maintain the capacity or other capabilities necessary for us to implement our business plan. Additionally, we may need to hire additional employees as we scale our operations or increase the size of our retail footprint and otherwise pursue our growth strategies. We may face difficulties and added expenses increasing the number of employees in the current market, due to factors such as wage inflation and a limited labor market, among others. If we are unable to scale our manufacturing capability and increase the number of employees to meet our expected growth, we may be unable to provide for appropriate supply of products in a timely manner and on a cost-effective basis and meet consumer demand for customer service, and as a result, our revenue and results of operations would be affected adversely.

Counterfeit or “knock-off” products may siphon off demand we have created for our brands’ products, and may result in consumer confusion, harm to our brands, a loss of our market share, and/or a decrease in our results of operations.

We face competition from counterfeit or “knock-off” products manufactured and sold by third parties that infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate our intellectual property rights, as well as from products that are inspired by our brands’ products in terms of design and style, including private label offerings by retailers. In the past, third parties have established websites to target users on social media platforms with “look alike” websites intended to trick users into believing that they were purchasing our brands’ products at a steep discount. Some individuals who actually made purchases from such “look alike” websites believed they had purchased from our actual website and subsequently submitted complaints to us.

These activities of third parties may result in consumer confusion, require us to incur additional administrative costs to manage consumer complaints related to counterfeit goods, divert consumers from us, cause us to miss out on sales opportunities, and result in a loss of our market share. We could also be required to increase our marketing and advertising spend. If consumers are confused by these other products and believe them to be actual products sold by our brands, we could be forced to deal with dissatisfied consumers who mistakenly blame us for poor service or poor-quality goods.

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In addressing these or similar issues in the future, we may also be required to incur substantial expense to protect our brands and enforce our intellectual property rights, including through legal action in the United States or in foreign countries, which could negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.

These and similar “counterfeit” issues could reoccur and could again result in consumer confusion, harm to our brands, a loss of our market share, and/or a decrease in our results of operations.

Certain of our brands’ products carry warranties, which may result in an increase to our expenses in the event of warranty claims.

Many of our brands’ products are generally used in outdoor activities, sometimes in severe conditions. Product recalls or product liability claims resulting from the failure, or alleged failure, of our brands’ products could have a material adverse effect on the reputation of our brands and result in additional expenses. Many of our brands’ products also carry warranties for defects in quality or workmanship. The Company provides product warranties on many products. Many of these product warranties are limited in time to one to two years, but certain of our brands issue longer warranties on specific products. For example, Arc’teryx provides warranties on its packs, accessories and apparel for the “Practical Product Lifespan” which can be an extended period, such that warranty claims for such products may be brought many years after the product was sold. We maintain a warranty reserve for estimated future warranty claims, but the actual costs of servicing future warranty claims may exceed the reserve which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our international operations involve inherent risks which could result in harm to our business.

The majority of our products are sourced from a network of suppliers, predominantly in the Asia Pacific region, including Greater China, with the remaining from EMEA, and the Americas, and our products are sold around the world. Accordingly, we are subject to the risks generally associated with global trade and doing business abroad, which include foreign laws and regulations, varying consumer preferences across geographic regions, political unrest, disruptions or delays in cross-border shipments and changes in economic conditions in countries in which our products are manufactured or where we sell products. This includes, for example, the changes to the legal and regulatory framework that apply to the United Kingdom (the “UK”) and its relationship with the European Union (the “EU”), as well as new and proposed changes affecting tax laws and trade policy in the United States and elsewhere, as further described below under “—Risks Related to Our Financial, Accounting and Tax Matters—We could be subject to changes in tax laws, tax regulations and tax treaties, including their interpretation and application, in the Cayman Islands, Finland, Germany, the United States, the PRC, or any other country in which we operate, which could result in additional tax liabilities or increased volatility in our effective tax rate” and “—Risks Related to Litigation and Regulation—Changes to trade policies, tariffs, import/export regulations and anti-competition regulations in the United States, EU, PRC and other jurisdictions, or our failure to comply with such regulations, may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.” We also generate a significant portion of our revenue from sales in the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC” and only in the context of describing PRC laws, regulations and other legal or tax matters in this annual report, excludes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan). See “—We face risks associated with our business in the PRC.” There could be legislative actions limiting outsourcing manufacturing and production activities to foreign jurisdictions, including through tariffs or penalties on goods manufactured outside the United States, which may require us to change the way we conduct business and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our ability to sell products in certain markets, demand for our products in certain markets, our ability to collect accounts receivable, our or our third-party manufacturers’ ability to procure raw materials or manufacture products, distribution and logistics providers’ ability to operate, our ability to operate brick and mortar stores, our workforce, and our cost of doing business (including the cost of freight and logistics) may be impacted by these events should they occur and changing laws and regulations. Our exposure to these risks is heightened in the PRC, where a significant portion of our third-party manufacturing is located. Should certain of these events occur in the PRC, they could cause a substantial disruption to our business and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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In addition, disease outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or future pandemics and public health crises, terrorist acts and political or military conflict, such as the conflict in Ukraine, have increased the risks of doing business abroad. Such political and economic instability, and any resulting negative sentiment toward the countries where we operate, sell or have our products manufactured, could interrupt our ability to operate internationally. These factors, among others, could affect our ability to manufacture products or procure materials, our ability to import finished products, our ability to move and store products, our ability to sell products in international markets and our cost of doing business.

We face risks associated with our business in the PRC.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, 18.2% of our revenue was derived from sales in the PRC. In addition to our sales activity, we have key suppliers and manufacturing facilities in the PRC, and approximately 29.5% of our products sourced from third-party suppliers were manufactured in the PRC in 2023. Additionally, ANTA Sports, our largest shareholder, has significant operations in the PRC and has a principal place of business in the PRC, as well as management and directors that are PRC citizens or domiciled in the PRC. As a result, our business is subject to risks associated with doing business in the PRC, including but not limited to, a general climate of economic, political and social conditions, including with respect to future regulatory, policy and legislative developments, increased costs and uncertainties associated with enforcing contractual obligations in the PRC and increasingly strengthening intellectual property protection system in the PRC, each of which could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The PRC government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, and such measures and policies relating to such measures are evolving and subject to change. The PRC government has significant authority to exert influence on the ability of companies with Chinese operations to conduct their business. The PRC government has recently published new policies that significantly affected certain industries and we cannot rule out the possibility that it will in the future release additional regulations or policies that directly or indirectly affect the sports and outdoor industry or require us to seek additional permission to continue our operations, which could result in a material adverse change in our operation.

The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes, where prior court decisions have limited precedential value. The PRC legal system is evolving rapidly, and the interpretations and enforcement of many laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy but may have a negative effect on our suppliers and manufacturing operations. Any changes in policies in the PRC governing the regulation of our products, tariffs, imports and exports, taxation, inflation, environmental regulations, foreign currency exchange rates, the labor market, property or financial regulation may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

More broadly, while the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. Any adverse changes in economic conditions in the PRC, in the policies of the PRC government or in the laws and regulations in the PRC could have an adverse effect on the overall economic growth of the PRC. Such changes could also adversely affect our business and operating results, lead to reduction in demand for our products and adversely affect our competitive position. In addition, changes in the political climate or trade policy of any other countries or regions, such as increased duties or tariffs on imports from the PRC, may adversely affect our business. For more discussion of the risks related to our Chinese operations, see “—Risks Related to Litigation and Regulation—There remain some uncertainties as to whether we will be required to obtain approvals from PRC authorities to list or remain listed on the U.S. exchanges and offer securities in the future, and if required, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain such approval.”

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Risks Related to Our Distribution Network and Suppliers

Our business or our results of operations could be harmed if we or our wholesale partners are unable to accurately forecast demand for our products or if we are unsuccessful at managing product manufacturing decisions.

To ensure adequate inventory supply, we and our wholesale partners forecast inventory demand, which is subject to many factors, including seasonal and quarterly variations, changing consumer preferences or product trends, product introductions by competitors, unanticipated changes in general market conditions, declines in overall consumer spending, and weakening of economic conditions or consumer confidence in future economic conditions. Like our competitors, we have an extended design, development, manufacturing and logistics process, which involves the initial design and development of our products, the purchase of raw materials, the production of finished goods, the accumulation and subsequent sale of inventories, and the collection of the resulting accounts receivable. This production cycle requires us to incur significant expenses relating to the design, development, manufacturing, distributing and marketing of our products, including product development costs for new products, in advance of the realization of any revenue from the sale of our products, and results in significant liquidity requirements and working capital fluctuations throughout our fiscal year. Because the production cycle typically involves long lead times, which requires us to make manufacturing decisions several months in advance of an anticipated purchasing decision by the consumer, it is challenging for us to estimate and manage our inventory and working capital requirements, and as such challenges have been, and could in the future be, exacerbated by global supply chain issues. If we fail to accurately forecast demand or our inventory and working capital requirements, we may experience excess inventory levels or a shortage of product to deliver through our DTC channel and to our wholesale partners. In addition, our wholesale partners may fail to accurately forecast the demand for our products and may purchase an insufficient amount of our products or may accumulate excess inventory, each of which could negatively impact our business, brand and results of operations.

If we underestimate the demand for our products, we may not allocate sufficient budgetary resources and may not be able to produce or source products to meet our wholesale partner requirements, and this could result in delays in the shipment of our products and our failure to satisfy demand, as well as damage to our reputation and wholesale partner relationships. If our wholesale partners underestimate the demand for our products, they may not have enough products on hand to satisfy demand in a timely fashion and sales opportunities may be lost. If we or our wholesale partners overestimate the demand for our products, we or our wholesale partners could face inventory levels in excess of demand, which could result in inventory write-downs or write-offs and the sale of excess inventory at discounted prices, which would harm our gross margins and our brand management efforts. The difficulty in forecasting demand also makes it difficult to estimate future revenue, costs and cash flows from period to period, which could result in the misallocation of our resources. In addition, these and other factors, including failures to accurately predict the level of demand for our products and future revenue, costs and cash flows, could cause a decline in revenue and harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

The operations of our suppliers and third-party manufacturers are subject to additional risks that are beyond our control, including those that may result in significant disruptions in supply, and that could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on our suppliers and, while we have multiple suppliers available for the majority of our product components, certain of our suppliers are the sole source for specific components of our apparel, footwear, sports equipment, protective gear and accessories. For example, Gore-Tex is used in certain Arc’teryx, Salomon, Peak Performance and Atomic products. We have in the past experienced significant disruptions as a result of global supply chain issues and there can be no assurance that there will not be a further disruption in the supply of raw materials or other products from current suppliers or, in the event of a disruption, that we would be able to locate alternative suppliers of materials or products of comparable quality at an acceptable price, in a timely manner or at all. Identifying a suitable supplier is a resource-intensive process that requires us to become satisfied with their technical capabilities, quality control, responsiveness and service, financial stability, regulatory compliance and labor and other ethical practices. Even if we are able to expand existing or find new manufacturing or component sources, we may encounter delays in production and added costs as a result of the time it takes to train our suppliers and manufacturers in our methods, products, and quality control standards. Delays related to supplier changes could also arise due to an increase in shipping times if new suppliers are located farther away from our markets or from other participants in our supply chain. In addition, freight capacity issues continue to persist worldwide as there is much greater demand for shipping and reduced capacity and equipment.

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The majority of our manufacturing and finished goods as well as raw material suppliers are located outside the United States. In addition, we work with select third-party distributors, especially in the initial stages of expansion for highly complicated products and in new markets, and because we ultimately do not control those third parties, we are subject to additional risks as a result of such relationships. Moreover, in 2023 approximately 29.5% of our apparel, footwear, sports equipment, protective gear and accessories products sourced from third-party suppliers were manufactured in the PRC, with the remainder being produced in other Asian countries, North America and Europe. We experienced disruptions to our footwear business due to COVID-19 lockdowns adversely affecting certain of our suppliers in Asia. Many of our products are manufactured by third-party manufacturers. As a result of our international suppliers and third-party manufacturers, we are subject to risks associated with doing business in multiple jurisdictions, including:

In particular, compliance with the sanctions and customs trade orders could affect the sourcing and availability of raw materials used by our suppliers in the manufacturing of certain of our products. Our ability to successfully import such materials may be adversely affected by changes in jurisdictions’ laws. See “—Increasing restrictions or additional requirements on products from certain areas, such as the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, may require us to incur additional costs, disrupt our value chain, or otherwise adversely impact our operations and financial condition.” There are also increasing expectations in various jurisdictions that companies proactively monitor the environmental and social performance of their value chain, including compliance with a variety of labor practices and human rights considerations, as well as consideration of a wider range of potential environmental and social matters, including the end-of-life considerations for products. For example, various jurisdictions have adopted, or are considering adopting, regulations that would require organizations to, among other things, conduct due diligence to identify certain environmental and human rights risks in their supply chains and take steps to mitigate any such risks identified. We have been and may continue to be subject to costs associated with such regulations, as well as any future regulations on the provenance of products or their component parts or materials, including for the diligence pertaining to these matters and the cost of remediation and other changes to products, processes, or sources of supply as a consequence of such verification activities. The impact of such regulations may result in a limited pool of acceptable suppliers, and we cannot be assured that we will be able to obtain products in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. Additionally, because our supply chain is complex, we may face regulatory challenges in complying with applicable sanctions and trade regulations and reputational challenges with our consumers and other stakeholders if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins for the materials used in the products we sell. Even if we comply with applicable regulations, we may be subject to additional expectations and scrutiny from investors, business partners, wholesale partners, consumers or other stakeholders on our environmental and human rights practices. These expectations are evolving quickly, and their application can involve substantial subjective determinations based on the context of specific circumstances. As such, certain of our actions or decisions, either currently or in the future, may be perceived to not align with best practices or stakeholder expectations, which could damage our reputation or otherwise adversely impact our business.

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We also face risks from potential employment shortages for our supply operations as potential employees in certain geographies pursue opportunities outside of our and our suppliers’ industries. Any potential employment shortages may increase costs for our supplier and manufacturing partners and may limit our ability to scale our warehouse and factory operations efficiently. Increased costs in production may limit our profitability and may adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

These and other factors beyond our control could interrupt our suppliers’ production in offshore facilities, influence the ability of our suppliers to export our products cost-effectively or at all and inhibit our suppliers’ ability to procure certain materials, along with delays, interruptions or increased costs in supply or manufacturing of our goods, could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Increasing restrictions or additional requirements on products from certain areas, such as the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, may require us to incur additional costs, disrupt our value chain, or otherwise adversely impact our operations and financial condition.

Various jurisdictions where we import or sell our products have imposed restrictions on, or additional requirements for, products based on their provenance or the origins of certain of their component parts. For example, in December 2021, the U.S. Congress passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (the “UFLPA”), which act imposes a presumptive ban on the import of goods to the United States that are made, wholly or in part, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (the “XUAR”) or by certain other designated persons and entities. The XUAR is the source of large amounts of cotton and textiles for the global apparel and footwear supply chain. Although our policy is to prohibit the use of forced labor in our supply chain, we have previously been and may in the future be subject to allegations that our products contain components or raw materials from the XUAR and we cannot assure you that our affiliates may not also be subject to similar allegations. Furthermore, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (the “CBP”) issued a region-wide withhold release order (“WRO”) in January 2021, imposing import restrictions on cotton products produced in the XUAR. As a result of the UFLPA and WRO, materials we import into the United States have in the past been, and could in the future be, held by the CBP based on a suspicion that they originated from the XUAR or that they may have been produced by suppliers accused of participating in forced labor, pending our providing clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. While the UFLPA has not had a material impact on our results of operations, overcoming the presumptive ban in the UFLPA can be a time- and information-intensive process, which may require additional costs and can ultimately be unsuccessful. Even if such costs are incurred, we may not always be able to obtain sufficient information. Such a process could result in a delay or complete inability to import such materials (including potentially non-cotton materials), which could result in inventory shortages or greater supply chain compliance costs. We could also be subject to penalties or fines if our imports are found to have been in violation of the UFLPA or other customs-related laws and regulations. Even if we are not subject to any fines or penalties, any perceived link between our or our principal shareholder’s products and the XUAR, designated entities, or labor practices not in keeping with industry expectations may result in increased costs, affect our business and damage our reputation. Moreover, compliance with the UFLPA or other similar current or proposed requirements, including the European Union Forced Labor Ban Proposal, may have other effects on the global supply chain, the price and scarcity of traceable cotton or other materials of focus, and could lead to increases in our cost of goods sold, which may adversely impact our profitability.

The cost of raw materials could increase our cost of goods sold and cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer.

The raw materials used in our supply chain include synthetic fabrics and natural products, including blend fabrics, nylon, polyester, down and cotton, as well as plastics, rubber, carbon and metals. Significant price fluctuations, including as a result of inflation, or shortages or the cost of these raw materials may increase our cost of goods sold and cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer.

Additionally, increasing costs of labor, freight and energy could increase our and our suppliers’ cost of goods. If our suppliers are affected by increases in their costs of labor, freight and energy (for example, because of rising global energy prices, increased global worker shortages impacting shipping and ports, truck driver shortages, increased congestion or other disruptions affecting the global distribution chain), they may attempt to pass these cost increases on to us. If we pay such increases, we may not be able to offset them through increases in our pricing, which could adversely affect our results of operation and financial condition.

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Our business is subject to risks due to our reliance on third-party manufacturers.

We rely upon third-party manufacturers, which we do not own or operate, for the sourcing of certain of our products, including apparel, footwear, sports equipment, protective gear and accessories including helmets, goggles, poles, tennis rackets, baseball bats, boots and balls, among others. Our ability to meet our wholesale partners’ and our consumers’ needs depends on our ability to maintain a steady supply of products from our third-party manufacturers. While our agreements with our suppliers are generally fixed price arrangements on a purchase order basis that renew annually, if one or more of our significant suppliers were to sever their relationship with us or significantly alter the terms of our relationship, including due to changes in applicable trade policies, or be unable to perform, we may not be able to obtain replacement products in a timely manner, which could have an adverse effect on our business operations, sales, financial condition or results of operations. Additionally, if any of our third-party manufacturers fail to make timely shipments, do not meet our quality standards or otherwise fail to deliver us product in accordance with our plans, it could result in lost sales, added costs and distribution delays that could harm our business and wholesale partner and consumer relationships.

Certain of our third-party manufacturers are highly specialized and only produce a specific type of product. Such third-party manufacturers may go out of business if consumer preferences or market conditions change such that there is no longer sufficient demand for the types of products they produce. If, in the future, the relevant products are again in demand and the specialized third-party manufacturers no longer exist, we may not be able to locate replacement facilities to manufacture certain products in a timely manner or at all, which could have an adverse effect on our sales, financial condition or results of operations.

If we encounter problems with our distribution system, our ability to deliver our brands’ products to the market could be adversely affected.

We rely on leased and owned Amer Sports-operated distribution facilities, as well as an ANTA Sports distribution facility in the PRC and certain third-party facilities, to warehouse and ship product to our wholesale partners and consumers. Our distribution system includes computer-controlled and automated equipment, which may be subject to a number of risks related to security or computer viruses, the proper operation of software and hardware, power interruptions or other system failures. Because substantially all of our brands’ products are distributed from a relatively small number of locations, our operations could also be interrupted by earthquakes, floods, fires or other natural disasters or other events outside our control affecting our warehouses or distribution centers, including political or labor instability. Additionally, since we share distribution warehouses among brands, a disruption at one distribution center may impact deliveries and shipments for numerous brands. We maintain business interruption insurance under our property insurance policies, but it may not adequately protect us from the adverse effects that could be caused by significant disruptions in our distribution facilities. In addition, our distribution capacity is dependent on the timely performance of services by third parties, including the transportation of product to and from its distribution facilities. If we encounter problems with our distribution system, our ability to meet consumer expectations, manage inventory, complete sales and achieve operating efficiencies could be materially adversely affected.

We distribute our products to our wholesale partners and consumers directly from the factory and through distribution centers located throughout the world. Our ability to meet consumer expectations, manage inventory, complete sales and achieve objectives for operating efficiencies and growth, depends on the proper operation of our distribution facilities, the development or expansion of additional distribution capabilities and the timely performance of services by third parties, including those involved in shipping product to and from our distribution facilities. In addition, our property damage, business interruption and other insurance policies may not adequately protect us from adverse effects caused by significant disruptions to our distribution facilities. Any negative impacts to our distribution facilities could result in an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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The success of our business depends, in part, on competent employees including key personnel as well as our ability to maintain our workplace culture and values.

Our success depends in part on the continued service of competent employees, including key executive officers and personnel. The loss of the services of key individuals, or any negative perception with respect to these individuals, or our workplace culture or values, could harm our business. Our success also depends on our ability to recruit, retain and engage our personnel sufficiently, both to maintain our current business and to execute our strategic initiatives. Competition for employees in the sports and outdoor industry is intense and we may not be successful in attracting and retaining such personnel. Changes to our current and future office environments or adoption of a new work model that expects employees to work on-site for a specified number of days with some flexibility to work remotely on other days, may not meet the needs or expectations of our employees or may not be perceived as favorable compared to other companies’ policies, which could negatively impact our ability to attract, hire and retain our employees. We also believe that our corporate culture has been a key driver of our success, and we have invested substantial time and resources in building, maintaining and evolving our culture. Any failure to preserve and evolve our culture could negatively affect our future success, including our ability to retain and recruit employees.

Some employees at our own manufacturing facilities and distribution centers are subject to collective bargaining agreements. For example, the employees at our Wilson brand Ohio manufacturing facility as well as the employees at our facilities in Austria, France and Germany, are subject to a collective bargaining agreement. Labor disputes with these employees may have a material adverse effect on our business, potentially resulting in canceled orders by wholesale partners or consumers, inability to fulfill potential e-commerce demand, unanticipated inventory accumulation and reduced revenue and net income. In addition, if we fail to mitigate labor disputes, fail to properly hire and dismiss employees as needed or fail to comply with labor laws, which differ by location and jurisdiction and are rapidly changing, our risk of litigation may increase, which would cause us to incur additional costs.

We have not obtained key person life insurance policies on any members of our senior management team. As a result, we would not be protected against the associated financial loss if we were to lose the services of members of our senior management team.

Climate change, or legal, regulatory or market responses thereto, may have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

A significant majority of the scientific community has concluded that increased levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have caused, and are expected to continue to cause, potentially at a growing rate, increases in global temperatures, changes in weather (including precipitation and temperature) patterns and increasingly frequent, prolonged, and/or more intense extreme weather and climate events. For more information, see “—Extreme weather conditions and natural disasters could negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.” Climate change may also exacerbate challenges relating to the availability and quality of water and raw materials, including those used in the production of our products, and may result in changes in regulations or consumer preferences, or changes in the availability and/or cost of capital and insurance, which could in turn affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, governmental authorities in various countries have proposed, and are likely to continue to propose, legislation and regulation to reduce or mitigate the impacts of climate change. Various countries and regions are following different approaches to the regulation of climate change, which could increase the complexity of, and potential cost related to complying with, such regulations. Failure to monitor, adapt, build resilience and develop solutions against the physical and transitional impacts from climate change, including any differences between what climate impacts we believe may occur and ultimately come to pass (including the timeframes associated with same), may negatively impact our brand and reputation, sales of our products and our results of operations.

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Sustainability- or ESG-related matters, climate change, or legal, regulatory or market responses thereto, may have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

There has been increased focus by governmental and non-governmental organizations, wholesale partners and consumers, employees and other stakeholders on products that are sustainably made and other sustainability- and ESG-related matters, including climate change, responsible sourcing, animal welfare, deforestation, the use of plastic, energy and water, biodiversity and other natural capital impacts, human rights, ethics, the recyclability or recoverability of packaging, circular economy and pollution prevention considerations, materials transparency and banning of certain chemicals and product subcomponents, and employee and director diversity, any of which may require us to incur increased costs for additional transparency, due diligence, recruiting and reporting. Further, some investor advocacy groups, certain institutional investors, investment funds, other market participants, shareholders, current and prospective employees, and consumers have focused increasingly on sustainability- and ESG-related practices. These parties have placed increased importance on the implications of the environmental and social cost and related risks of their investments. Certain of these parties also use certain ESG ratings in their assessment of organizations, and unfavorable ESG ratings could lead to negative sentiment towards us. If our ESG practices do not meet investor or other industry stakeholder expectations and standards, which continue to evolve, our brand, reputation, share price, access to and cost of capital, and employee, wholesale partner, consumer, and/or business partner retention may be negatively impacted.

In addition, federal, state or local governmental authorities in various countries have proposed, and are likely to continue to propose, legislative and regulatory initiatives regarding the management of sustainability- or ESG-related topics, or disclosures on such matters. Various countries and regions are following different approaches to the regulation of climate change and other ESG matters and disclosure of related information, which could increase the complexity of, and potential cost related to complying with, such regulations. For example, we may be subject to the disclosure requirements of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (and its implementing laws and regulations) and other EU directives or EU and EU member state regulations, the International Sustainability Standards Board’s sustainability and climate disclosure standards, various disclosure requirements (such as greenhouse gas metrics, climate risks, use of offsets, and emissions reduction claims) from the State of California as well as the SEC’s climate disclosure proposal, if finalized, among other regulations or requirements; these regulations and requirements may not entirely align and thus require us to duplicate certain or make different efforts or use different reporting methodologies in order to comply with each jurisdictions’ requirements. Separately, various regulators have adopted, or are considering adopting, regulations on environmental marketing claims, including but not limited to the use of “sustainable,” “eco-friendly,” “organic,” “recyclable” or similar language in product marketing. Any of the foregoing may require us to make additional investments in facilities and equipment, may require us to incur additional costs for the collection of data and/or preparation of disclosures and associated internal controls for same, may impact the availability and cost of key raw materials used in the production of our products or the demand for our products, and, in turn, may adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition.

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We also may at times engage in certain voluntary initiatives or commitments (such as voluntary disclosures, certifications, or targets, among others) to improve the ESG profile of our company and/or products. However, such initiatives or commitments may be costly and may not have the desired effect. For example, execution of these strategies and achievement of our goals is subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to set relevant, achievable and credible goals, execute our strategies and achieve our goals within the currently projected costs and the expected timeframes; the availability and cost of raw materials and renewable energy; unforeseen production, design, operational and technological difficulties; the outcome of research efforts and future technology developments, including the ability to scale projects and technologies on a commercially competitive basis such as carbon sequestration and/or other related processes; compliance with, and changes or additions to, global and regional regulations, taxes, charges, mandates or requirements relating to greenhouse gas emissions, carbon costs or climate-related goals, or to other sustainability or ESG matters; adapting products to consumer preferences and consumer acceptance of sustainable supply chain solutions; and the actions of competitors and competitive pressures. As a result, there is no assurance that we will be able to successfully execute our strategies and achieve our sustainability and ESG-related goals, which could damage our reputation and wholesale partner, consumer and other stakeholder relationships and have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, actions or statements that we may take based on expectations, assumptions, other methodological considerations, or third-party information that we currently believe to be reasonable may subsequently be determined to be erroneous or be subject to misinterpretation. Additionally, there can be no assurance that our stakeholders will agree with our strategies, and any perception, whether or not valid, that we have failed to achieve, or to act responsibly with respect to, such matters or to effectively respond to new or additional legal or regulatory requirements regarding climate change, sustainability or ESG matters could result in adverse publicity or potential regulatory/investor engagement or litigation and adversely affect our business and reputation. For example, there have been increasing allegations of greenwashing against companies making significant ESG claims due to, among other things, allegations of incomplete disclosures, as well as to variety of perceived deficiencies in performance, including as stakeholder perceptions of sustainability continue to evolve. Additionally, many of our wholesale partners, consumers, business parties, and suppliers may be subject to similar expectations, which may augment or create additional risks, including risks that may not be known to us.

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Extreme weather conditions and natural disasters could negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.

Given the broad and global scope of our operations, we are particularly vulnerable to the physical risks of climate change, such as shifts in weather patterns. Extreme weather conditions in the areas in which our retail stores, suppliers, manufacturers, factories, wholesale partners, consumers, distribution centers, offices, headquarters and vendors are located could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition. Moreover, natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires and tsunamis, whether occurring in the United States or abroad, and their related consequences and effects, including energy shortages and public health issues, have in the past temporarily disrupted, and could in the future disrupt, our operations, the operations of our vendors, manufacturers, wholesale partners and other suppliers or have in the past resulted in, and in the future could result in, economic instability that may negatively impact our operating results and financial condition. In particular, if a natural disaster or severe weather event were to occur in an area in which we or our suppliers, manufacturers, employees, wholesale partners, consumers, distribution centers and vendors are located, our continued success would depend, in part, on the safety and availability of the relevant personnel, raw materials, and facilities and proper functioning of our or third parties’ computer, network, telecommunication and other systems and operations. In addition, a natural disaster or severe weather event could negatively impact retail traffic to our stores or stores that carry our products and could have an adverse impact on consumer spending, any of which could in turn result in negative point-of-sale trends for our merchandise. Further, climate change may increase both the frequency and severity of extreme weather conditions and natural disasters, which may affect our business operations, either in a particular region or globally, as well as the activities of our third-party vendors and other suppliers, manufacturers, wholesale partners and consumers. In particular, our brands and products that cater to winter sports may be impacted by climate change, including due to seasonal shifts and rising temperatures. We believe the diversity of locations in which we operate, our operational size, disaster recovery and business continuity planning and our information technology systems and networks (“IT Systems”), including the Internet and third-party services position us well, but may not be sufficient for all or for concurrent eventualities. If we were to experience a local or regional disaster or other business continuity event or concurrent events, we could still experience operational challenges, in particular depending upon how a local or regional event may affect our human capital across our operations or with regard to particular aspects of our operations, such as key executive officers or personnel. Further, if we are unable to find alternative suppliers, replace capacity at key manufacturing or distribution locations or quickly repair damage to our IT Systems or supply systems, we could be late in delivering, or be unable to deliver, products to our wholesale partners and consumers. For more information regarding risks related to our IT Systems, see “—Risks Related to our Intellectual Property and Information Technology—We rely on a large number of complex IT Systems. Any failure to operate, maintain and upgrade our IT Systems may materially and adversely affect our operations.” These events could result in reputational damage, lost sales, cancellation charges or markdowns, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, to the extent catastrophic events become more frequent or intense, it may adversely impact the availability or cost of insurance.

Political uncertainty or geopolitical tensions could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation and financial condition.

As a multinational company, geopolitical events could have an impact on our business. Changes, potential changes or uncertainties in regulatory and economic conditions or laws and policies governing foreign trade, manufacturing, and development and investment in the territories and countries where we operate or sell our products could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

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For example, the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine has significantly amplified existing geopolitical tensions among Russia, Ukraine, Europe, the PRC and the United States. We cannot predict how the conflict in Ukraine will evolve, but any escalation or expansion into other countries, particularly in Europe, would exacerbate geopolitical tensions and could lead to political and/or economic response from the United States, the EU and other countries, which may adversely impact economic conditions. While we suspended all significant commercial activities in Russia by the end of 2022, and our revenue in Russia represented less than 0.2% of our revenue in 2023, respectively, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the resulting sanctions could adversely affect global energy and financial markets and thus could adversely impact our operations. In addition, any escalation or expansion into neighboring countries where we have significant operations could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. Additional sanctions or other measures may be imposed by the global community, and counteractive measures may be taken by the Russian government, other entities in Russia or governments or other entities outside of Russia. There have been, and we expect there will continue to be, an increased risk of information security or cybersecurity incidents, including cyberattacks perpetrated by Russia or others at its direction. Although, to date, our IT Systems have not been compromised by these incidents, it is possible that future information security or cybersecurity incidents involving our wholesale partners, consumers, manufacturers, suppliers or other third-party partners could successfully compromise our IT Systems, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

In addition, actions by the United States and other governments, including the Russian government, may limit or prevent our ability to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce any patent, trademark or other intellectual property rights in Russia. These actions could result in partial or complete loss of such intellectual property rights in Russia. For example, in March 2022, the Russian government adopted a decree allowing Russian companies and individuals to exploit inventions owned by patent holders from the United States and many other countries without consent or compensation. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from using our patented inventions in Russia or from selling or importing products made using our patented inventions in and into Russia. It is possible that the Russian government will adopt similar measures with regard to other types of intellectual property, including trademarks, or that Russian courts, even absent any additional decrees, will refuse to enforce existing intellectual property rights. Moreover, any prolonged non-use of our trademarks in Russia could result in the cancellation of such trademarks. Any counterfeit activity, grey imports, intellectual property infringement, misappropriation, dilution or other violation or the sale of unauthorized versions of our products that emerge in response to these actions could damage our reputation and our brands and otherwise adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. For more information regarding risks related to our intellectual property, see “—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Information Technology.”

The extent and duration of the military action, the response thereto, including resulting sanctions, and resulting future market disruptions, are impossible to predict, but could be significant. Additionally, any such disruptions, resulting sanctions or other actions (including cyberattacks) may magnify the impact of other risks factors discussed in this annual report.

Risks Related to Litigation and Regulation

Changes to trade policies, tariffs, import/export regulations and anti-competition regulations in the United States, EU, PRC and other jurisdictions, or our failure to comply with such regulations, may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our businesses must be conducted in compliance with applicable economic and trade sanctions laws and regulations, including those administered and enforced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the United Nations Security Council, and other relevant sanctions authorities. Any country in which our products are produced or sold may eliminate, adjust or impose new quotas, duties, tariffs, safeguard measures, anti-dumping duties, cargo restrictions to prevent terrorism, restrictions on the transfer of currency, climate change and other environmental legislation, product safety regulations or other charges or restrictions, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, our selling practices are regulated by competition law authorities in the United States, the EU and around the world, violations of the regulations of which could also result in claims for civil penalties or administrative remedies. The global nature operations expose us to the potential for inadvertent violations in cross border transactions and could result in sanctions or fines if such violations were to occur.

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Further, changes in laws and policies governing foreign trade, manufacturing, development and investment in the territories or countries where we currently sell our products or conduct our business could adversely affect our business. Tariffs and other changes in United States and other trade policies have in the past and could in the future trigger retaliatory actions by affected countries, and certain foreign governments have instituted or are considering imposing retaliatory measures on certain U.S. goods. Further, any emerging protectionist or nationalist trends either in the United States, the PRC, the EU or any of its member states or in other countries could affect the trade environment. Trade tensions have escalated in recent years between the United States and the PRC, with each country imposing significant, additional tariffs on a wide range of goods imported from the other country. It may be time-consuming and expensive for us to alter our business operations in order to adapt to or comply with any such changes. We, similar to many other multinational corporations, do a significant amount of business that would be impacted by changes to the trade policies of the United States and other countries (including governmental action related to tariffs, international trade agreements, or economic sanctions). Such changes have the potential to adversely impact the U.S. economy or certain sectors thereof or the economy of another country in which we conduct operations, the sports and outdoor industry and the global demand for our products, and as a result, could have negative impact on our reputation business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

Failure to comply with applicable anti-corruption laws could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”), as well as the anti-corruption laws of other countries in which we operate. Although we implement policies and procedures designed to promote compliance with these laws, our directors, officers, employees, agents or other partners or representatives, as well as those companies to which we outsource certain of our business operations, may take actions in violation of our policies or such laws. We face significant risks if we or any of our directors, officers, employees, agents or other partners or representatives fail to comply with these laws and governmental authorities in the United States or elsewhere could seek to impose substantial civil and/or criminal fines and penalties which could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, operating results and financial condition.

Any actual or alleged violation of the FCPA or other applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws could result in whistleblower complaints, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, enforcement actions, fines, damages, adverse media coverage, investigations, severe criminal or civil sanctions. Responding to any investigation or action would likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees. In addition, the U.S. government may seek to hold us liable for successor liability for FCPA violations committed by companies in which we invest or that we acquire. Any of these consequences could have a materially adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

We may become involved in legal or regulatory proceedings and audits.

Our business requires compliance with many laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, labor and employment, product safety, labelling, sales and other taxes, customs, and consumer protection laws and ordinances that regulate the sports and outdoor industry generally or govern the production, importation, promotion and sale of merchandise, and the operation of warehouse facilities. For example, various jurisdictions worldwide have laws and regulations that aim to protect consumers, including by prohibiting advertising or marketing practices that may be deemed misleading or deceptive. Failure to comply with any laws or regulations could subject us to lawsuits and other proceedings, and could also lead to damage awards, fines and penalties. From time to time, we may become involved in a number of legal proceedings and audits, including, but not limited to, government and agency investigations, and consumer, employment, tort and other litigation. In addition, we could become subject to potential antitrust claims, which may relate to anti-competitive behavior, pricing pressures on our distribution partners or other allegations, as well as regulatory actions related to anti-competition regulatory authorities in the United States, the EU and in other countries where we operate. The outcome of some of these legal proceedings, audits and other contingencies could require us to take, or refrain from taking, actions that could harm our operations or require us to pay substantial amounts of money, harming our financial condition. Additionally, defending against these lawsuits and proceedings may be necessary, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, harming our financial condition. There can be no assurance that any pending or future legal or regulatory proceedings and audits will not harm our business, financial condition, reputation and results of operations.

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If any of our brands’ products have manufacturing or design defects or are otherwise unacceptable to us or our wholesale partners and/or consumers, our business could be harmed.

We have occasionally received, and may in the future receive, shipments of products that fail to comply with our technical specifications or that fail to conform to our quality control standards. We have also received, and may in the future receive, products that are otherwise unacceptable to us or our wholesale partners and/or consumers. Under these circumstances, unless we are able to obtain replacement products in a timely manner, we risk the loss of revenue resulting from the inability to sell those products and related increased administrative and shipping costs. Additionally, if the unacceptability of our products is not discovered until after such products are sold, our wholesale partners and/or consumers could lose confidence in our brands’ products or we could face a product recall and our results of operations could suffer and our business, reputation and brands could be harmed.

Defects may also exist in components and products that we source from third parties. Any defects could make our brands’ products unsafe and create a risk of environmental or property damage or personal injury, in particular with respect to our sporting goods and equipment products, and we may become subject to the hazards and uncertainties of product liability claims and related litigation. The occurrence of real or perceived defects in any of our brands’ products, now or in the future, could result in additional negative publicity, regulatory investigations or lawsuits filed against us, particularly if consumers or others who use our brands’ products are injured. Even if injuries are not the result of any defects, if they are perceived to be, we may incur expenses to defend or settle any claims and our brand and reputation may be harmed.

We face safety risks related to the manufacture of our sporting goods and equipment.

The production of sporting good and equipment involves working with metal, glue and other potentially dangerous inputs. In connection with our sporting goods and equipment brands, we face risks related to the manufacturing of products, and in particular we face risks related to fire due to the flammable nature of glue used in the production process. If there were to be a fire at any of our manufacturing plants, we would face risks related to employee safety, destruction of property and delays in our ability to fulfill orders, all of which could adversely affect our results of operations.

We could face risks arising out of compliance with, or liabilities under, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations.

We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations that, among other matters, (i) regulate certain activities and operations that may have environmental or health and safety effects, such as the use of regulated materials in the manufacture of our products or emissions or disposal of certain materials, substances or wastes, (ii) impose liability for costs of cleaning up, and damages to natural resources from, spills at our current and former facilities, waste disposal at third-party sites, or other releases of hazardous materials or regulated substances, and (iii) regulate workplace safety. Compliance with these laws and regulations could increase our and our third-party manufacturers’ costs and impact the availability of materials required to manufacture our products. Violation of these laws and regulations may subject us to significant fines, penalties or disposal costs, which could negatively impact our results of operations. We could be responsible for the investigation and remediation of environmental conditions at currently or formerly owned, operated or leased sites, including at certain legacy sites in the United States and France where we are engaged in remediation, as well as for associated liabilities, including liabilities for natural resource damages, third-party property damage or personal injury. Such liabilities could result from lawsuits that could be brought by the government or private litigants, relating to our operations, the operations of facilities or the land on which our facilities are located. In addition, such remediation liabilities can arise in connection with facility expansions, such as the expansion of our facility in Romania, where we are investigating and remediating lead contamination in soil. In addition, liability for contamination under certain environmental laws and regulations can be imposed on current or past owners or operators of a site without regard to fault. As such, we may be subject to these liabilities regardless of whether we lease or own the facility, and regardless of whether such environmental conditions were created by us or by a prior owner or tenant, or by a third party or a neighboring facility whose operations may have affected such facility or land. We cannot assure you that environmental conditions relating to our prior, existing or future or expanded sites or those of predecessor companies whose liabilities we may have assumed or acquired will not have a material adverse effect on our business.

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Our employees may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements.

We are exposed to the risk that our employees may engage in fraudulent conduct or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct or disclosure of unauthorized activities to us that violate the regulations of regulatory authorities, including those laws requiring the reporting of true, complete, and accurate information to such authorities; or laws that require the reporting of financial information or data accurately. We are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices.

We have a code of conduct applicable to all of our employees, but it is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. Our operations also involve third-party manufacturers, suppliers, wholesale partners and others, and if any of these third-party actors fail to comply with applicable laws, they may subject us to litigation or other reputational risks. See “—Risks Related to Our Distribution Network and Suppliers—The operations of our suppliers and third-party manufacturers are subject to additional risks that are beyond our control, including those that may result in significant disruptions in supply, and that could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.” Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

There remain some uncertainties as to whether we will be required to obtain approvals from PRC authorities to list or remain listed on the U.S. exchanges and offer securities in the future, and if required, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain such approval.

Recently, the PRC government initiated a series of regulatory actions and statements to regulate business operations in certain areas, including increasing enforcement against illegal activities in the securities market, enhancing supervision over China-based companies listed overseas using variable interest entity structures, adopting new measures to conduct cybersecurity reviews, and expanding the efforts in anti-monopoly enforcement. For example, on December 28, 2021, the CAC and other PRC authorities promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which took effect on February 15, 2022. The Cybersecurity Review Measures provide that “a network platform operator” that possesses personal information of more than one million users and seeks a listing in a foreign country must apply for a cybersecurity review. Further, the relevant PRC governmental authorities may initiate a cybersecurity review against any company if they determine certain network products, services, or data processing activities of such company affect or may affect national security. As a network platform operator who possesses personal information of more than one million users for purposes of the Cybersecurity Review Measures, we have applied for and completed a cybersecurity review with respect to our initial public offering (“IPO”) pursuant to the Cybersecurity Review Measures.

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On February 17, 2023, the CSRC promulgated the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (the “Trial Administrative Measures”) and five supporting guidelines (collectively, the “CSRC Filing Rules”), which came into effect on March 31, 2023. According to the CSRC Filing Rules, an issuer will be required to go through the filing procedures under the CSRC Filing Rules if the following criteria are met at the same time: (a) 50% or more of the issuer’s operating revenue, total profits, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent accounting year are accounted for by PRC domestic companies, and (b) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main places of business are located in mainland China, or the senior managers in charge of its business operation and management are mostly Chinese citizens or domiciled in mainland China. The CSRC Filing Rules also stated that the determination of whether it is applicable to the issuer will be done in accordance with the principle of “substance over form,” and that for issuers incorporated outside the PRC that do not meet criteria (a) and/or (b) in the preceding sentence, if the offering document includes major risk factors relating to mainland China, the lead underwriters and the issuer’s PRC counsel will be required to consider and analyze, in accordance with the principle of “substance over form,” whether the CSRC Filing Rules should apply. Furthermore, the CSRC Filing Rules provide a negative list of types of issuers banned from listing overseas, the issuers’ obligation to comply with national security measures and the personal data protection laws, and certain other matters such as the requirements that an issuer (i) file with the CSRC within three business days after it submits an application for initial public offering to the competent overseas regulator and (ii) file subsequent reports with the CSRC on material events, including change of control and voluntary or forced delisting, after its overseas offering and listing.

As advised by our PRC counsel, we are not required to obtain regulatory approval from the CSRC or go through the filing procedures under the CSRC Filing Rules before our ordinary shares can be listed or offered in the United States because (i) the main parts of our business activities are conducted outside mainland China, and our main places of business are located outside mainland China, and (ii) our senior managers in charge of our business operation and management are predominantly non-PRC citizens or not domiciled in mainland China. Nevertheless, as the CSRC Filing Rules are newly issued, there remains uncertainty as to how it will be interpreted or implemented. If the CSRC disagrees with our view on the applicability of the CSRC Filing Rules to our IPO in January 2024, we may face sanctions by the CSRC that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and prospects, as well as the trading price of our ordinary shares. Additionally, we cannot assure you that whether we will be subject to such filing requirements for our securities offering in the future, and if we do, we will be able to get clearance from the CSRC in a timely manner, or at all.

Since these rules, statements and regulatory actions are new, it is highly uncertain how soon the legislative or administrative regulation making bodies will respond and what existing or new laws or regulations or detailed implementations and interpretations will be modified or promulgated, if any. Changing regulatory requirements and any failure of us to fully comply with new regulatory requirements may significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer the ordinary shares, cause significant disruption to our business operations, severely damage our reputation, materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations, and cause the ordinary shares to significantly decline in value or become worthless.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Information Technology

If we are unable to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights for the products we develop, or if the scope of our intellectual property protection is not sufficiently broad, others may be able to develop and commercialize products substantially similar to ours, and our business may be adversely affected.

Our intellectual property is an essential asset of our business. We rely on a combination of intellectual property laws, including patent, trademark, copyright, design and trade secret laws, in addition to confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions, to maintain, protect and enforce our rights in our brands, technologies, proprietary information and processes. Failure to adequately obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could result in our competitors offering similar products, potentially resulting in the loss of our competitive advantage and a decrease in our revenue, which would adversely affect our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

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We rely on our trademarks, trade names and brand names to distinguish our products from those of our competitors, to market our brands, and to build and maintain brand loyalty and recognition, and we have registered or applied to register many of these trademarks. We cannot assure you that our trademark applications will be approved, and effective trademark protection may not be available or may not be sought in every country in which our products are marketed and sold. Similarly, not every variation of a domain name that incorporates one or more of our trademarks or trade names may be available to be registered, or may be registered by us, even if available. Our trademarks and trade names, whether or not registered, may be infringed, diluted, misappropriated, declared generic, determined to be dilutive or otherwise violated. The validity and enforceability of our trademarks may be challenged, and our trademark registrations could be cancelled or may lapse. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our products, which could result in loss of brand recognition and could require us to devote significant resources in advertising and marketing new brands. Further, competitors may adopt trademarks or trade names similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be trade name or trademark infringement, misappropriation, dilution or violation claims brought against us by owners of other trademarks, including trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. We have in the past entered into, and may in the future enter into, trademark co-existence agreements to settle such claims. Such agreements may restrict the ways in which we are permitted to obtain, maintain, protect, enforce and use the relevant trademarks. Without adequate protection for our trademarks and trade names, we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.

Additionally, we rely on patent laws for the protection of our technologies and product designs. We plan to apply for, and expect to continue to apply for, additional patent protection for proprietary aspects of existing and new products and technologies. We cannot guarantee that our patent applications will be successful and result in issued patents. Even if issued, the patents may not be of sufficient scope to provide us with competitive advantages or may be of limited territorial reach. Furthermore, the issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and third parties may challenge the validity or enforceability of our patents. Such proceedings could include supplemental examination or contested post-grant proceedings such as review, reexamination, interference or derivation proceedings challenging our patent rights. If such challenges are successful, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize current or future products, and we may also face increased competition to our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Certain of our patents are due to expire in the near future, which may reduce or eliminate our competitive advantage in the jurisdictions in which these patents are expiring. Additionally, obtaining and maintaining patents can be time-consuming and expensive, and accordingly we do not seek patent protection in every jurisdiction in the world, and may not obtain certain of our patents in all of our key markets. As a result, our patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours. It is also possible that third parties, including our competitors, may obtain patents relating to products or technologies that overlap or compete with our technology. If third parties obtain patent protection with respect to such products or technologies, they may assert that our technology infringes their patents and seek to charge us a licensing fee or otherwise preclude the use of certain of our designs or technologies.

We also rely on agreements under which we contract to own, or license the rights to use, intellectual property developed by employees, contractors and other third parties, and to maintain the confidentiality of, and control access to and the use and disclosure of, certain trade secrets and other proprietary information to preserve our position in the market. We employ various methods to protect such intellectual property, such as entering into intellectual property assignment agreements, confidentiality agreements and non-compete agreements, as applicable, with certain employees, contractors, consultants, advisors and collaborators. However, we may fail to enter into such agreements with all relevant parties or such agreements may not be self-executing, and we may be subject to claims that such parties have misappropriated the trade secrets or other intellectual property or proprietary information of their former employers or other third parties. In addition, such agreements may be breached or rendered unenforceable by changes in applicable law. Thus, our efforts may not be effective in controlling access to our proprietary information, and we may not be able to prevent all unauthorized use and disclosure of our trade secrets and other proprietary information, and under trade secret law, we have no protection against third parties who independently develop the same or similar technology. Depending on the parties involved in a breach of any such agreement, the available remedies may not provide adequate compensation for the value of the proprietary information disclosed to a third party. If we are unable to maintain the proprietary nature of our technologies, we could be materially adversely impacted in our ability to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in the market. Furthermore, even if we successfully maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets and other proprietary information, competitors may independently develop products or technologies that are substantially similar or superior to our own.

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Intellectual property rights in certain elements of our products and manufacturing technology are owned or controlled by our suppliers and are generally not unique to us. As a result, our current and future competitors may be able to manufacture and sell products with performance characteristics, designs and styling similar to our products. If our competitors sell products similar to ours at lower prices, our financial results could suffer. In addition, if any third party copies or imitates our products in a manner that affects our wholesale partners’ or consumer perception of the quality of our products, our reputation and sales could suffer whether or not they violate our intellectual property rights.

We also may be forced to bring claims against third parties to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property or to enforce our intellectual property against its infringement, misappropriation, dilution or other violations by third parties. However, the measures we take to protect our intellectual property from unauthorized use by others may not be effective and there can be no assurance that our intellectual property rights will be sufficient to protect against others offering products that are substantially similar or superior to ours and that compete with our business. If we bring a claim to enforce our intellectual property, the defendant could claim that our asserted intellectual property is invalid or unenforceable and, if that defense is successful, we could lose valuable intellectual property rights. The outcomes of such intellectual property-related proceedings are often unpredictable. In addition, even if we are successful in enforcing our intellectual property against third parties, the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Regardless of whether any such proceedings are resolved in our favor, such proceedings could cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, if the strength of our intellectual property portfolio is threatened, regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade others from collaborating with us to license intellectual property, or develop or commercialize current or future products. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.

Effective intellectual property protection is expensive to develop and maintain, both in terms of initial and ongoing prosecution and maintenance requirements and the costs of defending our rights. Furthermore, monitoring the unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly. From time to time, we seek to analyze our competitors’ products, and may in the future seek to enforce our rights against potential infringement, misappropriation, dilution or other violation. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property rights may not be adequate to prevent the infringement, misappropriation, dilution or other violation of our intellectual property. We may not be able to detect the unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights, or pursue all counterfeiters who may seek to benefit from our brand. Any inability to meaningfully protect our intellectual property rights could result in harm to our ability to compete and reduce demand for our products. Moreover, our failure to develop and properly manage new intellectual property could adversely affect our market positions and business opportunities.

The global footprint of our product offerings exposes us to additional intellectual property challenges. Patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property laws vary significantly throughout the world. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as they are protected in the United States. Proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our intellectual property rights at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our intellectual property applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. It may therefore be difficult for us to successfully challenge the infringement, misappropriation, dilution or other violation of our intellectual property by other parties in these other countries, which could diminish the value of our brand and cause our competitive position and growth to suffer.

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Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Companies, organizations or individuals, including our competitors, may currently hold, or obtain in the future, patents, trademarks or other intellectual property rights that could prevent or limit our ability to make, use, develop, sell or market certain of our products, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. As we face increasing competition, the possibility of claims of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation, dilution or other violation made by third parties against us grows. While we try to avoid infringing the rights of others, we may unknowingly do so. For example, we may not be aware of existing patents or patent applications that could be pertinent to our business. Any claim or litigation alleging that we have infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated intellectual property rights of third parties, with or without merit, and whether or not settled out of court or determined in our favor, could be time-consuming and costly to defend and resolve, and could divert the time and attention of our management and technical personnel. While some claims may be made by third parties seeking to obtain a competitive advantage, other claims may be brought for the sole purpose of revenue generation, including by non-practicing entities or individuals with no relevant product sales. It may be more difficult to defend against such claims, as we cannot deter such claims by threatening to assert our own intellectual property portfolio in response. Additionally, some third parties have substantially greater human and financial resources than we do and are able to sustain the costs and workload of complex intellectual property litigation to a greater degree and for longer periods of time than we could. The outcome of any litigation is inherently uncertain, and there can be no assurances that favorable final outcomes will be obtained in all cases. In addition, third parties may seek, and we may become subject to, preliminary or provisional rulings in the course of any such litigation, including potential preliminary injunctions requiring us to change our products or even cease the commercialization of our products entirely.

We may decide to settle such lawsuits and disputes on terms that are unfavorable to us. The terms of such a settlement or judgment may require us to cease some or all of our operations or pay substantial amounts to the other party. Similarly, if any litigation to which we are a party is resolved adversely, we may be subject to an unfavorable judgment, including being subject to an injunction and being required to pay substantial monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if we are found to have willfully infringed a party’s intellectual property rights. Even if we have an agreement to indemnify us against such costs, the indemnifying party may be unable or unwilling to uphold its contractual obligations. Further, our liability insurance may not cover potential claims of this type adequately or at all. In addition, we may have to seek a license to continue practices found to be in violation of a third party’s rights. If we are required or choose to enter into royalty or licensing arrangements, such arrangements may not be available on reasonable terms, or at all, and may significantly increase our operating costs and expenses. Such arrangements may also only be available on a non-exclusive basis, such that third parties, including our competitors, could have access to use the same intellectual property to compete with us. We may also have to redesign our products so they do not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate third-party intellectual property rights, which may not be possible or may require substantial monetary expenditures and time, during which our products may not be available for commercialization or use. If we cannot redesign our products in a non-infringing manner or obtain a license for any allegedly infringing aspect of our business, we would be forced to limit our products and may be unable to compete effectively.

In addition, in any intellectual property proceeding against us or that we assert against a third party, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our ordinary shares. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our expenses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. Any of the foregoing, and any unfavorable resolution of such disputes and litigation, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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We license certain of our intellectual property rights to others. If we fail to adequately monitor our licensees’ compliance with our license agreements, our intellectual property rights may be subject to cancellation, loss of rights, or diminution in value, and we may be subject to third-party claims of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation, dilution and other violation with respect to products designed and manufactured by our licensees.

We license certain of our intellectual property rights to others, including on an exclusive basis or pursuant to certain franchise arrangements. Such agreements provide our licensees with rights to our intellectual property and contain provisions requiring our licensees to comply with certain standards to be monitored by us. Our failure to adequately monitor our licensees’ compliance with these standards, or to take appropriate corrective action when necessary, may subject our intellectual property to cancellation, loss of rights, or diminution in value. In addition, the licensing of any of our intellectual property could result in a potential misuse of such intellectual property. There can be no assurance that third parties will comply with their contractual requirements or that they will use our licensed intellectual property in an appropriate manner. Any misuse by a third party of intellectual property related to our trademarks or brands could lead to a negative perception of our brands by current and potential licensees, joint venture partners or consumers, and could adversely affect our ability to develop our brands and meet our strategic goals, which, in turn, could decrease our potential revenue.

As a licensor of intellectual property, we may be named as a defendant in lawsuits related to products designed or manufactured by our licensees. In most cases, our licensees are obligated to defend and indemnify us and our affiliates with respect to such litigation, but such indemnifying parties may be unable or unwilling to uphold their contractual obligations. We also may be required to indemnify certain of our licensees or wholesale partners for claims of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation, dilution or other violation brought against them. While we maintain insurance for certain risks, it is not possible to obtain insurance to protect against all possible liabilities, and we have no assurances that such insurance will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or that our insurer will not deny coverage of a claim. Any litigation has an element of uncertainty and if any such litigation were to be adversely determined, if a licensee were to fail to properly indemnify us, if we must indemnify a licensee or wholesale partner, and/or if we did not have appropriate insurance coverage or if our insurer denied coverage, such litigation could affect our financial position and liquidity. Further, any adverse determination could damage our reputation or otherwise adversely impact the value of or goodwill associated with our relevant brands.

We license intellectual property rights from third parties, including our brand ambassadors and league partners. If we fail to comply with our obligations in any current or future agreements under which we license intellectual property rights from third parties or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our licensors, we could lose licensed rights that are important to our business.

We are, and may become, party to license agreements, including endorsement agreements, with third parties to obtain the rights to certain intellectual property, technologies and products, or to allow commercialization or promotion of our own products. Such agreements may impose numerous obligations, such as development, payment, royalty, sublicensing, insurance, enforcement and other obligations on us in order to maintain the licenses. In spite of our best efforts, our licensors might conclude that we have materially breached such license agreements and might therefore terminate such license agreements, thereby removing or limiting our ability to use certain brands or develop and commercialize products covered by such license agreements. For example, we license certain intellectual property rights from the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, the National Collegiate Athletics Association, other sports leagues and organizations, universities, athletes and influencers, among others, for use in connection with our products. If our license agreements or endorsement agreements with any one of these organizations, athletes or influencers were to terminate for any reason, we would be required to cease the development, advertisement, promotion and sale of certain of our products bearing such licensed intellectual property or modify the affected products or marketing materials to remove such licensed intellectual property. The foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our sales, profitability or financial condition.

Disputes also may arise between us and our licensors regarding the intellectual property licensed to us under any license agreement, including disputes related to:

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If we do not prevail in such disputes, we may lose any or all of our rights under such license agreements, experience significant delays in the development and commercialization of our products and technologies or incur liability for damages, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business may suffer if our licensors fail to abide by the terms of our license agreements, if our licensors fail to enforce licensed intellectual property against infringing third parties, if the intellectual property rights licensed to us are found to be invalid or unenforceable, or if we are generally unable to enter into necessary licenses on acceptable terms or at all. In addition, we may seek to obtain additional licenses from our licensors, and, in connection with obtaining such licenses, we may agree to amend our existing licenses in a manner that may be more favorable to the applicable licensor, including by agreeing to terms that could enable third parties, including our competitors, to receive licenses to a portion of the intellectual property that is subject to our existing licenses and to compete with our products. Our licensors may be free to exploit any rights that are licensed to us on a non-exclusive basis for themselves or to license such intellectual property to third parties, including our competitors, on terms that may be superior to those offered to us, which could place us at a competitive disadvantage. Furthermore, the agreements under which we may license intellectual property from third parties are likely to be complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreements, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our sales, business, financial condition or results of operations.

A security breach or other disruption to our IT Systems could result in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of wholesale partner, consumer, supplier, or sensitive company information or could disrupt our operations, which could damage our relationships with wholesale partners, consumers, suppliers or employees, expose us to litigation or regulatory proceedings, or harm our reputation, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our business involves the storage and transmission of a significant amount of personal, confidential, and sensitive information, including the personal information of our consumers and employees, information relating to consumer preferences, and our proprietary financial, operational and strategic information. The protection of this information is vitally important to us as the loss, theft, misuse or unauthorized disclosure of, access to or other processing of such information could lead to significant reputational or competitive harm, result in litigation involving us or our business partners, expose us to regulatory proceedings, and cause us to incur substantial liabilities, fines, penalties, or expenses. As a result, we believe our future success and growth depends, in part, on the ability of our key business processes and systems, including our IT and global communication systems, to prevent the theft, loss, misuse or unauthorized disclosure of, access to or other processing of this personal, confidential, and sensitive information, and to respond quickly and effectively if any such security incidents do occur.

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The frequency, intensity, and sophistication of cyberattacks, ransomware attacks, and other security incidents, including personal information breaches, has significantly increased in recent years and it is expected that these trends will continue. As with many other businesses, we have experienced, and are continually at risk of being subject to, such attacks and incidents. Due to the increased risk of these types of attacks and incidents, we expend significant resources on IT Systems and security tools, measures, and processes designed to protect our IT Systems, as well as the personal, confidential, or sensitive information stored on or transmitted through those systems, and to ensure an effective response to any cyberattack or security incident. Despite the implementation of preventative and detective security controls, our IT Systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from a variety of sources, including telecommunications or network failures or interruptions, system malfunction, natural disasters, epidemics, malicious human acts, terrorism and war. Our IT Systems are also vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, security breaches from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, third-party service providers, contractors, consultants, business partners, and/or other third parties, from cyberattacks by malicious third parties (including the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering, password spraying, credential stuffing, phishing, and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information), or other security incidents. These risks may be exacerbated in the remote work environment. Additionally, due to the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict, there have been publicized threats to increase hacking activity against the critical infrastructure of any nation or organization that is supportive of Ukraine. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to IT Systems are constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated (including by threat actors’ increasing use of artificial intelligence), may not be recognized until launched, and can originate from a wide variety of sources, including outside groups such as external service providers, organized crime affiliates, terrorist organizations, hostile foreign governments or agencies, or state-sponsored actors, we may be unable to anticipate all types of security threats or implement adequate preventive measures in response. Our ability to effectively manage and maintain our inventory and to ship products to wholesale partners and consumers on a timely basis depends significantly on the reliability of our IT Systems. We also use these systems to process financial information and results of operations for internal reporting purposes and to comply with regulatory financial reporting, legal and tax requirements. As such, any of the foregoing could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.

Cyberattacks or security incidents could remain undetected for an extended period, which could potentially result in significant harm to our IT Systems, as well as unauthorized access to the information stored on and transmitted by our IT Systems. Even when a security breach is detected, the full extent of the breach may not be determined immediately. The costs to us to mitigate cyberattacks and security incidents could be significant and, while we have implemented security measures to protect our IT Systems, our efforts to address these problems may not be successful. Further, despite our security efforts and training, our employees may purposefully or inadvertently cause security breaches that could harm our IT Systems or result in the unauthorized disclosure of or access to information. Any measures we do take to prevent security breaches, whether caused by employees or third parties, have the potential to limit our ability to complete sales or ship products to our wholesale partners and consumers, harm relationships with our suppliers, or restrict our ability to meet our consumers’ expectations with respect to their online or retail shopping experience. A cyberattack or other security incident could result in the significant and protracted disruption of our business such that:

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If any of these events were to occur, it could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations and result in harm to our reputation. Furthermore, although we currently maintain disaster recovery and business continuity plans to address such disruptions, we may not be able to adequately continue our business or return to operability within a reasonable period of time in the case of such an occurrence. Recovery of our IT Systems may be additionally hampered where we have outsourced the operation of IT Systems and information storage to third parties.

A security breach that results in the unauthorized disclosure of personal information could also expose us to liability under various laws and regulations across jurisdictions and increase the risk of litigation and governmental or regulatory investigation. Due to concerns about information security and integrity, a growing number of legislative and regulatory bodies have adopted breach notification and other requirements in the event that information subject to such laws is accessed by unauthorized persons and additional regulations regarding security of such information are possible. We are subject to an increasing number of reporting obligations, including, in some jurisdictions, an obligation to disclose our processes for assessing, identifying and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats, and we have had to, and may in the future need to, notify governmental authorities, affected individuals and other third parties with respect to cybersecurity incidents. For example, laws in the European Economic Area (the “EEA”), the UK and all 50 U.S. states may require businesses to provide notice to individuals whose personal information has been disclosed as a result of an information security breach. Some laws impose specific data breach reporting obligations if special categories of personal information that we process, such as health data, is disclosed as a result of an information security breach. Complying with such numerous and complex regulations in the event of an information security breach would be expensive and difficult, and failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to regulatory scrutiny, sanctions and additional liability. We may also be contractually required to notify business partners of a security incident. Regardless of our contractual protections, any actual or perceived security incident, or breach of our legal or contractual obligations, could harm our reputation and brand, expose us to potential liability or require us to expend significant resources on information security and in responding to any such actual or perceived incident.

In addition, if a cyberattack or other security incident results in the loss, theft, misuse, or unauthorized disclosure of, access to or other processing of personal, confidential, or sensitive information belonging to our wholesale partners, consumers, suppliers, or employees, it could put us at a competitive disadvantage, result in the deterioration of our wholesale partners’ and consumers’ confidence in our brand, cause our suppliers to reconsider their relationship with our company or impose more onerous contractual provisions on us and subject us to potential litigation (including class action), liability, fines and penalties. For more information regarding risks related to data privacy and security, see “—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Information Technology—We are subject to various laws, rules, regulations and guidelines relating to data privacy and security governing the use and processing of personal information. Changes in such laws, rules, regulations and guidelines, or any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws, rules, regulations, guidelines or contractual or other obligations relating to data privacy and security, could lead to government enforcement actions (which could include administrative fines, civil or criminal penalties, suspension of processing activities and audits), private litigation or adverse publicity, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.”

We are also reliant on the security practices of our third-party service providers, which may be outside of our direct control. These third parties, and the services provided by these third parties, which may include cloud-based services, are subject to the same risk of experiencing, and have experienced, outages, other failures and security breaches described above. IT Systems provided by third parties on which we rely also may be difficult to integrate with other tools due to their complexity, resulting in high data inconsistency and incompatibility. If these third parties fail to adhere to adequate security practices, or experience a breach of their systems, the information of our employees, wholesale partners, consumers and business associates may be improperly accessed, used, disclosed or otherwise processed, and we may potentially be held liable, or alleged to be liable, under certain laws or contractual obligations for the acts or omissions of our third-party providers. In addition, our providers may have broad discretion to change and interpret the terms of service and other policies with respect to us, and those actions may be unfavorable to our business operations. Our providers also may take actions beyond our control that could harm our business, including discontinuing or limiting our access to one or more services, increasing pricing terms, terminating or seeking to terminate our contractual relationship altogether, or altering how we are able to process information in a way that is unfavorable or costly to us. Although we expect that we could obtain similar services from other third parties, if our arrangements with our current providers were terminated, we could experience interruptions in our business, as well as delays and additional expenses in arranging for alternative services. Any loss or interruption to our IT Systems or the services provided by third parties could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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We do not currently maintain cybersecurity insurance, and therefore the successful assertion of one or more large claims against us in connection with a breach or other cybersecurity-related matter could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We rely on a large number of complex IT Systems. Any failure to operate, maintain and upgrade our IT Systems may materially and adversely affect our operations.

It is critical to our success that wholesale partners and consumers and potential new consumers within the countries we operate in are able to access our online services at all times. We operate on a combination of shared and individual, central or local IT Systems, including cloud-based infrastructure, and related solutions. Any failure of either central or local IT Systems and functions may disrupt the efficiency and functioning of all our operations. Updates or changes in the software or hardware technology may lead to failures of communication between our platforms and consumers in the course of the order transmission or other processes. We therefore rely on a large number of IT Systems, as well as local network and internet coverage, to manage the entire process, from the placing of and payment for orders online by consumers to the receipt of and confirmation of those orders by our backend systems, which creates significant complexity and negatively affects our ability to scale our business and realize cost savings.

We have made substantial investments into the development of our IT Systems, which form the backbone of our business operations. Due to the complexity of these IT Systems, we cannot rule out that they may cause or contribute to failures in the order transmission process or may prove less efficient than anticipated. In addition, a failure of any individual network carrier, IT System or IT provider would impact our ability to accurately predict the level of demand for our products, receive and transmit orders or to accept payment for orders. The efficient operation and scalability of our own IT Systems and the third-party IT Systems on which we rely is therefore critical to maintain operations and decision-making processes. We are currently in the process of upgrading our global SAP enterprise resource planning system across all our brands and may face risks related thereto, including an increased risk of cyberattacks or other security breaches. Furthermore, the continued operation and development of our IT Systems depends in part on the continued service of high-quality employees. The loss of the services of such key individuals could harm our ability to maintain our IT Systems, which could materially and adversely affect our operations.

It may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve the availability of our platform, especially during peak usage times and as consumer traffic increases. If our online marketplace is unavailable when users attempt to access it or does not load as quickly as consumers expect, they may seek other services, and may not return to our online marketplace as often in the future, or at all. This would harm our ability to attract consumers and decrease the frequency with which consumers use our online marketplace. We expect to continue to make significant investments to maintain and improve the availability of our online marketplace and to enable rapid releases of new products. To the extent that we do not effectively address capacity constraints, respond adequately to service disruptions, upgrade our systems as needed or continually develop our technology and network architecture to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology, our business and results of operations would be harmed. We have previously experienced service disruptions, and in the future, we may experience further service disruptions, outages, or other performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors and capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of users accessing our platform simultaneously. In some instances, we may not be able to identify the cause or causes of these performance problems within an acceptable period of time. For more information regarding risks related to our IT Systems, see “—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Information Technology—A security breach or other disruption to our IT Systems could result in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of wholesale partner, consumer, supplier, or sensitive company information or could disrupt our operations, which could damage our relationships with wholesale partners, consumers, suppliers or employees, expose us to litigation or regulatory proceedings, or harm our reputation, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.”

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We are subject to various laws, rules, regulations and guidelines relating to data privacy and security governing the use and processing of personal information. Changes in such laws, rules, regulations and guidelines, or any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws, rules, regulations, guidelines or contractual or other obligations relating to data privacy and security, could lead to government enforcement actions (which could include administrative fines, civil or criminal penalties, suspension of processing activities and audits), private litigation or adverse publicity, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We are, and may increasingly become, subject to various laws, directives, industry standards, rules and regulations, as well as contractual obligations, related to data privacy and security in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We collect, maintain, use and otherwise process information, including personal information, available to us through online activities and other consumer interactions in our business as well as from individuals in other circumstances, such as employee and business contacts, and certain of our marketing practices rely upon e-mail, cookies, tracking technologies and other e-marketing technologies to communicate with consumers. Our current and future marketing programs may depend on our ability to collect, maintain, use and otherwise process this information, and our ability to do so is subject to evolving U.S. and other international laws and enforcement trends, including in the EEA and UK where European court and regulatory decisions are driving increased attention to cookies and tracking technologies.

The regulatory environment related to data privacy and security is increasingly rigorous, with new and constantly changing requirements applicable to our business, and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. These laws, rules and regulations may be interpreted and applied differently over time and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and it is possible that they will be interpreted and applied in ways that may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. If applicable data privacy and marketing laws become more restrictive at the international, federal or state levels, our compliance and other costs may increase, our ability to effectively engage consumers through personalized marketing may decrease and the effectiveness of our marketing may be limited, our investment in our e-commerce platform may not be fully realized or our systems may require significant changes, our opportunities for growth may be curtailed by our compliance burden, our margins may be adversely affected and our potential reputational harm or liability for security breaches or compliance violations may increase. Moreover, in light of the complex and evolving nature of privacy laws, including relating to certain categories of data (e.g., biometric and health data) and cookies and tracking technologies (including those in the EEA and the UK), there can be no assurances that we will be successful in our efforts to comply with such laws and associated regulatory expectations. Violations of such laws and associated regulatory expectations could result in regulatory investigations, fines, orders to cease or change our use of such technologies, as well as civil claims including class actions, and reputational damage.

In the United States, various federal and state regulators, including governmental agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, have adopted, or are considering adopting, laws, rules and regulations concerning personal information and information security and have prioritized privacy and information security violations for enforcement actions. Certain state laws may be more stringent or broader in scope, or offer greater individual rights, with respect to personal information than federal, international or other state laws, and such laws may differ from each other, all of which may complicate compliance efforts. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA,” and collectively, “CCPA”), and several other state laws, which introduce new data protection and privacy rights, require covered companies to provide new disclosures, and in some cases introduce a private right of action for certain data breaches. State laws are changing rapidly and there is discussion in Congress of a new comprehensive federal data protection law to which we would become subject if it is enacted, which may add additional complexity, variation in requirements, restrictions and potential legal risks, require additional investment of resources in compliance programs, impact strategies and the availability of previously useful data, and could result in increased compliance costs or changes in business practices and policies.

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We are also subject to international laws, rules, regulations and standards in many jurisdictions, which apply broadly to the collection, use, retention, security, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal information. For example, in the EEA, we are subject to the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“EU GDPR”), and, following the UK’s exit from the EU, we are subject in the UK to the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 (“UK GDPR”), which currently imposes the same obligations as the EU GDPR in most material respects. However, the UK GDPR will not automatically incorporate future changes to be made to the EU GDPR (such changes would need to be specifically incorporated by the UK government), which creates a risk of divergent parallel regimes and related uncertainty. The EU GDPR and UK GDPR also impose strict rules on the transfer of personal information to countries outside of the EEA and the UK. As the enforcement landscape develops, and supervisory authorities issue further guidance on international data transfers, we could suffer additional costs, complaints and/or regulatory investigations or fines, we may have to make certain operational changes, we have had to and will have to implement revised transfer mechanisms for intragroup, customer and vendor arrangements within required time frames, the manner in which we provide our products could be affected, and it could adversely affect our business, operations and financial condition.

We are subject to evolving data privacy and security laws, rules and regulations in the PRC, particularly the Cybersecurity Law (“CSL”), the Data Security Law (“DSL”), and the Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”), along with their implementing regulations and standards. These laws require that any collection, use, transfer, and storage of personal information follow the three principles of legitimacy, justification, and necessity. Consent from the data subject is required, unless there are other legal bases for processing. Furthermore, operators of critical information infrastructure (“CIIOs”) and personal information handlers must locally store personal information and important data generated within the PRC, if it exceeds a certain threshold defined by relevant authorities. The CSL, DSL, and PIPL also specify rules for transferring personal information and important data outside the PRC. Compliance with security assessments or certifications by designated agencies or entering into approved standard contracts with overseas recipients are among the requirements for such transfers.

In addition to the CSL, the DSL and the PIPL, the relevant government authorities of the PRC promulgated several regulations or released a number of draft regulations for public comments which are designed to provide further implemental guidance in accordance with the laws mentioned above. We cannot predict what impact the new laws and regulations or the increased costs of compliance, if any, will have on our operations in the PRC, in particular the CSL, DSL or PIPL, or the increased costs of compliance, if any, will have on our operations in the PRC due to their recent enactment and the limited guidance available, particularly on PIPL, which entities are awaiting further guidance on, particularly on the scope of data localization requirement. It is also generally unclear how the laws will be interpreted and enforced in practice by the relevant government authorities as often, the abovementioned laws are drafted broadly and thus leave great discretion to the relevant government authorities to exercise.

We post our privacy policy and practices concerning our collection, use, retention, security, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal information on our websites and provide similar policies to our employees. Although we endeavor to comply with legal obligations and our public statements and documentation, we may at times fail to do so or be alleged to have failed to do so. The publication of our privacy policies and other statements that provide promises and assurances about privacy and information security can subject us to potential government or legal action if they are found to be deceptive, unfair or misrepresentative of our actual practices.

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In addition, we are subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI DSS”). PCI DSS is a specific set of comprehensive security standards imposed by payment card networks on companies that process credit card information, related to enhancing payment account information security, including, but not limited to, requirements for security management, policies, procedures and standards related to network architecture, software design and certification requirements. PCI DSS compliance is required in order to maintain credit card processing services and to provide our payment facilitation services. Additionally, we are also required to comply with payment card network operating rules, which are set and interpreted by the payment card networks. Payment card networks could adopt new operating rules or interpret or reinterpret existing rules in ways that might prohibit us from providing certain services to some consumers, be costly to implement, or difficult to follow. Moreover, compliance with PCI DSS does not guarantee a completely secure environment and, notwithstanding the results of a compliance assessment, there can be no assurance that payment card networks will not request further compliance assessments or set forth additional requirements binding on us to maintain access to credit card processing services. Compliance is an ongoing effort and the requirements evolve as new threats are identified. In the event that we were to lose PCI DSS compliance status (or fail to renew compliance under a future version of the PCI DSS), or if our information security systems are breached or compromised, we may be liable for card-issuing banks’ and our third-party payments processors’ costs, subject to fines and higher transaction fees, and lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from our consumers, process electronic funds transfers or facilitate other types of online payments, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

All of these evolving compliance and operational requirements impose significant costs on us, such as costs related to organizational changes, implementing additional protection technologies, training associates and engaging consultants, which are likely to increase over time. Such requirements may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies, distract management or divert resources from other initiatives and projects, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with any applicable federal, state or similar foreign laws, rules, regulations and guidelines relating to data privacy and security could result in damage to our reputation and our relationship with our wholesale partners and consumers, as well as proceedings or litigation by governmental agencies, wholesale partners or consumers, including class action privacy litigation in certain jurisdictions, which could subject us to significant fines, sanctions, awards, penalties, corrective measures or judgments, any of which could result in costly investigations and litigation, civil or criminal penalties (including against officers), operational changes, and negative publicity that could adversely affect our reputation, as well as our results of operations and financial condition.

Risks Related to Financial, Accounting and Tax Matters

We plan to primarily use cash from operations to finance our growth strategy, but may need to raise additional capital that may be required to grow our business, which we may not be able to raise on terms acceptable to us or at all.

While we intend to primarily finance our growth through the cash flows generated by our operations, we may need to seek additional capital, potentially through debt or equity financings, to fund our growth. Our ability to obtain additional capital, if and when required, will depend on our business plans, investor demand, our operating performance, market conditions, our credit rating and other factors. We cannot assure you that we will be able to raise needed cash on terms acceptable to us or at all. Failure to secure any necessary financing, including any refinancing of existing indebtedness, in a timely manner in our preferred currency, or on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy. Financings may be on terms that are dilutive or potentially dilutive to our shareholders, and the prices at which new investors would be willing to purchase our securities may be lower than the price per share of our ordinary shares. The holders of any new securities may also have rights, preferences or privileges which are senior to those of existing holders of ordinary shares. If we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, you and our existing shareholders may experience substantial dilution, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a holder of our ordinary shares. If new sources of financing are required, but are insufficient or unavailable, we may be required to modify our growth and operating plans based on available funding, if any, which would harm our profitability, business, results of operation and financial condition.

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Our existing and any future indebtedness could adversely affect our ability to operate our business.

As of February 29, 2024, we had $2.1 billion aggregate principal amount of outstanding indebtedness. In February 2024, we entered into a new credit agreement, under which we established a new $500 million USD term loan facility, a new €700 million EURO term loan facility, and a $710 million new revolving credit facility (together, the “New Senior Secured Credit Facilities”) and issued $800 million of 6.750% new senior secured notes. We used the proceeds of such offering, together with the New Senior Secured Credit Facilities, to fund the repayment in full of our outstanding borrowings under our existing Senior Credit Facilities, which were subsequently terminated. Our New Senior Secured Credit Facilities are secured by liens on our and certain of our subsidiaries’ assets. We may incur additional long-term debt and working capital lines of credit to meet future financing needs, subject to certain restrictions and prohibitions under the agreements governing our indebtedness which would increase our total debt. This additional debt may be substantial and some of this indebtedness may be secured.

Our existing indebtedness has had, and any future indebtedness could have, important consequences, including financial covenants and restrictions on:

The New Senior Secured Credit Facilities contain certain financial covenants that require the Company to, if, as of the last day of each fiscal quarter of the Company, commencing with the last day of the first full fiscal quarter after the Issue Date for so long as any indebtedness under the New Revolving Credit Facility remains outstanding, maintain (i) a maximum first lien net leverage ratio of not greater than 5.00:1.00 and (ii) a minimum interest coverage ratio of not less than 2.00:1.00, which shall increase to 2.25:1.00 as of the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2025 and shall further increase to 2.50:1.00 as of the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2026. The financial covenant contains a customary term loan facility standstill and customary cure rights.

In addition, our borrowings under our New Senior Secured Credit Facilities have Euro Interbank Offered Rate (“EURIBOR”)-based and/or Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”)-based interest rates. SOFR is a relatively new reference rate, has a very limited history and is based on short-term repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities. Changes in SOFR and EURIBOR can be volatile and difficult to predict. As a result, the amount of interest we may pay on our New Senior Secured Credit Facilities is difficult to predict. If the market rate of interest increases substantially, we will have to pay additional interest on this indebtedness, which would reduce cash available for our other business needs.

We may not have sufficient funds, and may be unable to generate sufficient cash flows from operations, to pay the amounts due under our existing debt instruments. Failure to make payments or comply with other covenants under our existing or future debt instruments could result in an event of default. If an event of default occurs and the lender accelerates the amounts due, we may need to seek additional financing, which may not be available on acceptable terms, in a timely manner or at all. In such event, we may not be able to make accelerated payments, and the lender could seek to enforce security interests, if any, in the collateral securing such indebtedness, which includes or could include substantially all of our assets. In addition, the covenants under our existing or future debt instruments, any pledge of our assets as collateral and any negative pledge with respect to our intellectual property could limit our ability to obtain additional debt financing. Any of these events could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, cash flows, and prospects. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—B. Liquidity and Capital Resources—Indebtedness—Senior Facilities Agreement.”

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Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could harm our results of operations.

We report our consolidated financial results in U.S. dollars but have significant non-U.S. operations. The functional currency of Amer Sports, Inc. is the euro. A large portion of our business is conducted in currencies other than U.S. dollars, in particular the euro, the Canadian dollar and Renminbi (“RMB”), and generally the applicable local currency is our functional currency in that locality. Our sales are generally made in local currencies, while the majority of our costs are paid in U.S. dollars or the euro. As a result, we face foreign currency exposure on the translation of net income, assets and liabilities of our operations in numerous jurisdictions into U.S. dollars, including on our outstanding indebtedness denominated in euro. Given the strength of the U.S. dollar against our key foreign currencies, including the euro, the Canadian dollar and RMB, translation into U.S. dollars for the periods presented results in lower profitability. In the future, if the U.S. dollar continues to be strong against local currencies, we will continue to see lower profitability; however, if the U.S. dollar were to weaken against the euro or RMB, translation into U.S. dollars could result in increased profitability.

Where possible, we manage foreign currency exposure through a variety of methods, including by financing each business unit in its functional currency and concentrating cash flows through centralized entities to limit the number of foreign currencies being utilized for purchases. Additionally, we enter into hedging arrangements to limit our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations for a significant portion of our cash flows, in particular with our most commonly used foreign currencies, including euros, Canadian dollars and RMB. The majority of our hedging arrangements are short-term and are usually rolled forward within the standard business cycle. Nonetheless, it is not practical for us to mitigate all of our foreign currency exposure, nor are we able to accurately predict the possible impact of future foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on our results of operations, due to our constantly changing exposure to various foreign currencies, difficulty in predicting fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar and the significant number of foreign currencies involved. As we continue to expand our global operations, our exposure to foreign currency risk could become more significant and could have a significant and potentially adverse, effect on our results of operations.

Foreign exchange variations have been significant in the past and current foreign exchange rates may not be indicative of future exchange rates, and may be further impacted by the efforts of central banks to curb inflation, in the United States as well as in the other jurisdictions in which we operate and recognize sales and incur costs. Significant variations in foreign exchange rates may also make hedging contracts ineffective for hedge accounting purposes in future periods.

Our revenue and other operating income fluctuate on a seasonal basis.

We experience limited seasonal fluctuations in our revenue and other operating income, with a slightly higher portion of our revenue and earnings in the fourth fiscal quarter due to our higher share of fall and winter collections. Any decrease in revenue or margins during this period could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Seasonal fluctuations also affect our cash and inventory levels, since we usually manufacture and produce products, including for our wholesale partners in advance of our and their peak selling periods. We manufacture a significant amount of inventory before the winter seasons. As such, working capital requirements typically increase throughout our second and third fiscal quarters as inventory builds to support our peak shipping and selling period which typically occurs from August to December. If we are not successful in selling inventory, they may have to sell the inventory at significantly reduced prices or may not be able to sell the inventory at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies prove to be incorrect, our operating results could be adversely affected.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with IFRS accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on a set of underlying data that may include our historical experience, knowledge of current events and conditions and on other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances at the time of the estimate, as provided in “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—E. Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates.” The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities and equity, and the amount of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant assumptions and estimates used in preparing our consolidated financial statements include those related to revenue, inventory, impairment of goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite useful lives and share-based payments. Our operating results may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our operating results to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors.

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We could incur goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges, which could harm our profitability.

We have goodwill and other intangible assets held on our balance sheet. We periodically review the carrying values of goodwill and other intangible assets to determine whether such carrying values exceed their recoverable amount, which is the higher of the asset or cash generating unit’s (“CGU”) fair value less costs of disposal and value in use. Declines in the profitability of individual reporting units due to economic or market conditions or otherwise, as well as adverse changes in financial, competitive and other conditions, including declines in the operating performance of our CGUs or other adverse changes in the key valuation assumptions contributing to the estimated fair value of our CGUs, could adversely affect the estimated fair values of the related reportable segments, which could result in an impairment of the recorded balances of goodwill or other intangible assets.

We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate the material weakness or if we identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to develop and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect our business.

In connection with the preparation of our consolidated financial statements, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, the material weakness related to (i) lack of consistent and proper application of accounting processes and procedures, defined control processes, including defined review and supervision roles in those control processes, and segregation of duties and (ii) insufficient resources with an appropriate level of technical accounting and SEC reporting expertise. We have implemented and are in the process of implementing measures designed to improve our internal control over financial reporting and remediate the material weakness, including: implementing new information technology and systems for the preparation and review of financial statements, including a financial close and reconciliation management software; implementing additional review procedures within our accounting and finance department; enhancing our accounting and finance leadership and supporting resources, including hiring a Chief Accounting Officer; and engaging external accounting experts to support improving our accounting controls and procedures and supplement our internal resources in our computation processes. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, and actions we may take in the future, will be sufficient to remediate the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting or that they will prevent or avoid potential future material weaknesses.

In addition, neither our management nor an independent registered public accounting firm has performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) because no such evaluation has been required. As a public company, we will be required to certify our compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which will require us to furnish annually a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting commencing with our second annual report on Form 20-F. Moreover, beginning with our second annual report on Form 20-F, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis. Had we or our independent registered public accounting firm performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, additional material weaknesses may have been identified. If we identify any additional material weaknesses, or we are unable to successfully remediate our existing material weakness or any future material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, or if we cannot comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner or attest that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm cannot express an unqualified opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting when required, the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting may be adversely affected, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reporting and our share price may decline as a result, and we could become subject to investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.

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If we are a “passive foreign investment company” (a “PFIC”), a U.S. shareholder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), we will be a PFIC for any taxable year in which, after the application of certain look-through rules with respect to our subsidiaries, either (i) 75% or more of our gross income consists of passive income or (ii) 50% or more of the average quarterly value of our assets consists of assets that produce, or are held for the production of, passive income (including cash). Passive income includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain non-active rents and royalties, and capital gains. Based on our current operations and the composition of our income and assets, we believe we were not a PFIC for our 2023 taxable year. However, the determination of whether we are a PFIC is a fact-intensive determination that must be made on an annual basis applying principles and methodologies that are in some circumstances unclear, and whether we were a PFIC in 2023 is uncertain in several respects. Moreover, our PFIC status for any taxable year will depend on the composition of our income and assets and the value of our assets from time to time (which may be determined, in part, by reference to the market price of our ordinary shares, which may fluctuate substantially over time). Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for any taxable year.

Certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences could apply to U.S. investors if we are treated as a PFIC for any taxable year during which such investors hold our ordinary shares. For further discussion, see “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations for U.S. Holders.”

Adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We are subject to the examination of our tax returns by tax authorities in Finland, Germany, the United States, the PRC and the numerous other jurisdictions in which we have operations. We regularly assess the likelihood of an adverse outcome resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of its provision for income taxes. Although we believe our tax provisions are adequate, the final determination of tax audits and any related disputes could be materially different from our historical income tax provisions and accruals. In addition, we and our subsidiaries, as part of our ongoing operations, regularly engage in intercompany transactions and arrangements based on transfer pricing policies that we have implemented. Although we believe that our transfer pricing policies comply with applicable law, tax authorities in the jurisdictions in which we operate have in the past challenged and could in the future challenge our transfer pricing policies with respect to these transactions and arrangements. The results of audits, challenges or related disputes could have an adverse effect on our cash tax liabilities, effective tax rate, and financial statements for the period or periods for which the applicable final determinations are made.

We could be subject to changes in tax laws, tax regulations and tax treaties, including their interpretation and application, in the Cayman Islands, Finland, Germany, the United States, the PRC, or any other country in which we operate, which could result in additional tax liabilities or increased volatility in our effective tax rate.

We are subject to the tax laws in the Cayman Islands, Finland, Germany, the United States, Canada, the PRC and numerous other jurisdictions. Current economic and political conditions make tax laws, tax regulations and tax treaties, including their interpretation and application, in any jurisdiction subject to significant change. We earn a substantial portion of our income in countries around the world and are subject to the tax laws of those jurisdictions. A number of the jurisdictions in which we operate have recently reformed or changed their tax laws, regulations and tax treaties, such as the anti-tax avoidance directive adopted by the member states of the EU and the Inflation Reduction Act adopted by the United States which, among other changes, introduced a 15% corporate minimum tax on certain corporations, and many jurisdictions are considering other proposals to reform or change their tax laws, regulations and tax treaties, including minimum tax and tax-avoidance proposals being considered in connection with the OECD’s project on base erosion and profit shifting, and proposals in the United States. The adoption or implementation of these proposals could significantly impact how we are taxed on our earnings from operations in these jurisdictions. Although we cannot predict whether or in what form these proposals will be adopted, several of the proposals considered, if enacted into law, could have an adverse impact on our income tax expense and cash flows. Portions of our operations are subject to a reduced tax rate or are free of tax under various tax holidays and rulings. We also utilize tax rulings and other agreements to obtain certainty in treatment of certain tax matters. These tax holidays, rulings and agreements expire in whole or in part from time to time and may be extended when certain conditions are met or terminated if certain conditions are not met. The expiration or termination of any tax holidays, rulings or agreements, or changes in the conditions governing such tax holidays, rulings or agreements, could have an adverse effect on our effective income tax rate.

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We could be required to collect additional sales taxes or be subject to other tax liabilities that may increase the costs our consumers would have to pay for our products and adversely affect our operating results.

In general, we have not historically collected state or local sales, use or other similar taxes in any jurisdictions in which we do not have a tax nexus, in reliance on court decisions or applicable exemptions that restrict or preclude the imposition of obligations to collect such taxes with respect to online sales of our products. In addition, we have not historically collected state or local sales, use or other similar taxes in certain jurisdictions in which we do have a physical presence, in reliance on applicable exemptions. On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., that state and local jurisdictions may, at least in certain circumstances, enforce a sales and use tax collection obligation on remote vendors that have no physical presence in such jurisdiction. A number of states have already begun, or have positioned themselves to begin, requiring sales and use tax collection by remote vendors and/or by online marketplaces. The details and effective dates of these collection requirements vary from state to state. While we now collect, remit and report sales tax in all states that impose a sales tax, it is still possible that one or more jurisdictions may assert that we have liability for previous periods for which we did not collect sales, use or other similar taxes, and if such an assertion or assertions were successful it could result in substantial tax liabilities, including for past sales taxes and penalties and interest, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Risks Related to Our Relationship with ANTA Sports

ANTA Sports may fail to perform under the business services agreement (“BSA”), or we may fail to have replacement systems and services in place when the BSA expires.

ANTA Sports provides us with services related to certain shared functions in Greater China pursuant to a BSA we entered into in connection with the consummation of our IPO. See “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions—Transactions with ANTA Sports.” These services will be provided for terms of varying duration. We will rely on ANTA Sports to satisfy its obligations during the term of the BSA. Failure by ANTA Sports to perform these obligations, or any delay in or disruption to ANTA Sports’ ability to perform these obligations, could increase our costs of procuring these services, result in system or service interruptions, divert our management’s focus or otherwise adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition, potentially for an extended period of time. Furthermore, pursuant to the BSA, ANTA Sports will agree to perform the services for us in a manner consistent with the past practice of our business. As a result, our operational flexibility to implement changes with respect to these services or the amounts we pay for them will be limited, and we may not be able to implement changes in a manner desirable to us. In addition, we have historically received informal support from ANTA Sports, which may not be addressed in the BSA. The level of this informal support may diminish following the completion of our IPO.

The services that ANTA Sports will provide to us pursuant to the BSA are subject to change over time. Upon the termination of the BSA in accordance with the terms thereof, or to the degree it is not renewed according to its terms, we will be required to create our own, or engage alternative third-party sources to provide, systems and services to replicate or replace many of the systems and services that ANTA Sports currently provides to us. However, we may not be able to successfully replicate or replace these services or obtain the services at the same or better quality, at the same or lower costs or otherwise on the same or more favorable terms and conditions from third parties. If we do not have our own systems and services, or comparable agreements with alternative third-party sources, in place when the BSA expires, our business, results of operations or financial condition could be adversely affected, including in the manner described in the preceding paragraph. For more information regarding risks related to cybersecurity, see “—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Information Technology.”

We potentially could have received better terms from unaffiliated third parties than the terms in our agreements with ANTA Sports.

The agreements we have entered into in connection with our IPO, with ANTA Sports, including the BSA and the procurement and sourcing of products, sharing of certain middle to back-office services, retail platform related transactions and licensing, have been negotiated by us during periods in which we did not have a board of directors or a management team independent of ANTA Sports. See “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions—Transactions with ANTA Sports.” Arm’s-length negotiations for similar products and services with an unaffiliated third party may have resulted in more favorable terms to the unaffiliated third party.

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Some of our directors and officers may have actual or potential conflicts of interest because of their equity ownership in ANTA Sports, and service as directors and/or officers of ANTA Sports.

Because of their current or former positions with ANTA Sports, some of our directors and executive officers may own shares of ANTA Sports or have options to acquire shares of ANTA Sports, and the individual holdings may be significant for some of these individuals compared to their total assets. Prior to the completion of our IPO, our Chief Executive Officer was an officer of ANTA Sports. In addition, certain of our directors continue to serve as officers or directors of ANTA Sports. Pursuant to our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, ANTA Sports will have the right to nominate a number of directors to our board of directors, to be designated by such shareholder. For so long as ANTA Sports and its affiliates together continue to beneficially hold (i) at least 30% of our then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares, it shall have the right to nominate a total of five (5) candidates to serve as directors; (ii) at least 25% (but less than 30%) of our then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares, it shall have the right to nominate a total of four (4) candidates to serve as directors; (iii) at least 20% (but less than 25%) of our then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares, it shall have the right to nominate a total of three (3) candidates to serve as directors; (iv) at least 15% (but less than 20%) of our then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares, it shall have the right to nominate a total of two (2) candidates to serve as directors; and (v) at least 10% (but less than 15%) of our then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares, it shall have the right to nominate a total of one (1) candidate to serve as director. At the time ANTA Sports and its affiliates together beneficially hold less than 10% of our then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares, it shall no longer have the right to nominate for election any candidates to serve as directors.

A director who has a material interest in a matter before our board of directors or any committee on which he or she serves is required to disclose such interest as soon as the director becomes aware of it in accordance with applicable law. In situations where a director has a material interest in a matter to be considered by our board of directors or any committee on which he or she serves, such director may be required to excuse himself or herself from the meeting while discussions and voting with respect to the matter are taking place. Although all transactions with related parties will be approved by independent members of our board of directors that may meet in the absence of senior executive officers and non-independent directors, the ownership of ANTA Sports equity or service to ANTA Sports may create the appearance of conflicts of interest when the ANTA Sports-affiliated directors and officers are faced with decisions that could have different implications for ANTA Sports or us. For example, potential conflicts of interest could arise in connection with the resolution of any dispute that may arise between ANTA Sports and us regarding the terms of the BSA and the relationship thereafter between the companies. Potential conflicts of interest could also arise if we enter into commercial arrangements with ANTA Sports in the future. As a result of these actual or apparent conflicts, we may be precluded from pursuing certain growth initiatives.

While the board of directors believes that, given its size and structure, such actual or potential conflicts of interest can be managed adequately, including that the independent members of our board of directors may meet in the absence of senior executive officers and non-independent directors in respect of the relevant matter, the actual or perceived conflicts of interest that may arise could cause reputational or other harm.

In addition, given these relationships, consumers as well as other third parties may confuse our business with that of our principal shareholder as well as any perceived link between our or our principal shareholder’s products, each of which could affect our business, competitive position and market perception.

Risks Related to Our Ordinary Shares

If securities analysts cease publishing research or reports or publish misleading, inaccurate or unfavorable research about us, our business or our market, or if they publish negative evaluations of our ordinary shares, the price and trading volume of our ordinary shares could decline.

The trading market for our ordinary shares is expected to be influenced, in part, by the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us, our business, our market and our competitors. If one or more of the analysts covering our business downgrade their evaluations of our ordinary shares or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our ordinary shares could decline. If one or more industry or financial analysts fail to regularly publish reports on us or if one or more of these analysts cease to cover our business, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause the price or trading volume of our ordinary shares to decline.

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The market price of our ordinary shares may be volatile and fluctuate substantially, which could result in substantial losses for purchasers of our ordinary shares.

The market price of our ordinary shares could be subject to significant fluctuations. In addition, securities markets worldwide have experienced, and are likely to continue to experience, extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. The market price for our ordinary shares may be influenced by many factors, including the other factors described in this section.

In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against that company. Any lawsuit to which we are a party, with or without merit, may result in an unfavorable judgment. We also may decide to settle lawsuits on unfavorable terms. Any such negative outcome could result in payments of substantial damages or fines, damage to our reputation or adverse changes to our offerings or business practices. Such litigation may also cause us to incur other substantial costs to defend such claims and divert management’s attention and resources.

We are a foreign private issuer and, as a result, we will not be subject to the U.S. proxy rules and will be subject to Exchange Act reporting obligations that, to some extent, are more lenient and less frequent than those of a U.S. domestic public company.

We report under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) as a non-U.S. company with foreign private issuer status. Because we qualify as a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act and although we are subject to Cayman laws and regulations with regard to such matters and intend to furnish quarterly financial information to the SEC, we are exempt from certain provisions of the Exchange Act that are applicable to U.S. domestic public companies, including (1) the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act, (2) the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their share ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time and (3) the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing with the SEC of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q containing unaudited financial and other specified information, although we intend to provide quarterly information on Form 6-K. In addition, foreign private issuers are not required to file their annual report on Form 20-F until 120 days after the end of each fiscal year, while U.S. domestic issuers that are accelerated filers are required to file their annual report on Form 10-K within 75 days after the end of each fiscal year and U.S. domestic issuers that are large accelerated filers are required to file their annual report on Form 10-K within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year. Foreign private issuers are also exempt from Regulation FD, which is intended to prevent issuers from making selective disclosures of material information. As a result of all of the above, you may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of a company that is not a foreign private issuer.

As a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance rules, we are permitted to rely on exemptions from certain of the NYSE corporate governance standards, including the requirement that a majority of our board of directors consist of independent directors. Our reliance on such exemptions may afford less protection to holders of our ordinary shares.

The corporate governance rules of the NYSE require listed companies to have, among other things, a majority of independent directors and independent director oversight of executive compensation, nomination of directors and corporate governance matters. As a foreign private issuer, we are permitted to follow home country practice in lieu of the above requirements. For as long as we choose to rely on the foreign private issuer exemption to certain of the NYSE corporate governance standards, our board of directors’ approach to governance may be different from that of a board of directors of a U.S. domestic company, and, as a result, the management oversight of our company may be more limited than if we were subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance standards. While a majority of the directors on our board of directors are independent directors, as long as we rely on the foreign private issuer exemption to certain of the NYSE corporate governance standards, a majority of the directors on our board of directors may not be required to be independent directors. Additionally, we currently intend to follow Cayman Islands corporate governance practices in lieu of the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE in respect of the following:

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Accordingly, our shareholders will not have the same protection afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance standards, and the ability of our independent directors to influence our business policies and affairs may be reduced.

Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.

Our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association permits us to pay dividends. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to fund the development and expansion of our business, and, therefore, we do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our ordinary shares but our board of directors may choose to do so at any point if it is in the best interests of the Company and our shareholders. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable laws, and will depend on our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Under Cayman Islands law, a Cayman Islands company may pay a dividend out of either a profit or share premium account, provided that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if it would result in the company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. In addition, we are governed by the laws of the Cayman Islands and our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, under which there is no minimum mandatory dividend payable to our shareholders and no established periodicity for the distribution of dividends. We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our ordinary shares will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.

A significant portion of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares is restricted from immediate resale but may be sold into the market in the near future, which could cause the market price of our ordinary shares to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.

Sales of a substantial number of our ordinary shares in the public market, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our ordinary shares and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. As of the date of this annual report, we have 505,249,607 ordinary shares outstanding. 384,499,607 ordinary shares are currently restricted as a result of securities laws or lock-up agreements but will become eligible to be sold on or after July 30, 2024. The lock-up agreements include customary exceptions, and the representatives of the underwriters of our IPO may release some or all of the ordinary shares subject to lock-up agreements at any time and without notice, which would allow for earlier sales of shares in the public market.

Moreover, beginning on July 30, 2024 or earlier waiver or release of the lockup, holders of an aggregate of 377,494,994 of our ordinary shares, will have rights, subject to specified conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other shareholders. We have also registered all ordinary shares that we may issue under our equity compensation plans. As a result, they can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to volume limitations applicable to affiliates and the lock-up agreements.

In the future, we may also issue additional securities if we need to raise capital or make acquisitions, which could constitute a material portion of our then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares.

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We will incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.

As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of the NYSE and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs, particularly as we hire additional financial and accounting employees to meet public company internal control and financial reporting requirements and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly.

We cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. These rules and regulations are often subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to comply with new laws, regulations and standards, regulatory authorities could initiate legal proceedings against us, and our business could be harmed.

Our disclosure controls and procedures may not prevent or detect all errors or acts of fraud.

Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to reasonably assure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports we file or submit in accordance with U.S. securities laws is accumulated and communicated to management, recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the applicable rules and forms of the SEC. We believe that any disclosure controls and procedures or internal controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by an unauthorized override of the controls. Accordingly, because of the inherent limitations in our control system, misstatements or insufficient disclosures due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

Our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association designates the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands as the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our shareholders, and the federal district court as the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or other securities laws, which could limit our shareholders’ ability to choose the judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action or proceeding asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or any other person, (iii) any action or proceeding arising pursuant to, or seeking to enforce any right, obligation or remedy under, any provision of the Companies Act of the Cayman Islands (the “Companies Act”), our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or any other provision of applicable law, (iv) any action or proceeding seeking to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or (v) any action or proceeding as to which the Companies Act confers jurisdiction on the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands shall be the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, in all cases subject to the court having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants.

Our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association also provides that the federal district courts of the United States are the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), the Exchange Act or other securities laws. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in any of our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to these provisions. However, shareholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

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These exclusive forum provisions may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ organizational documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable. If a court were to find the exclusive forum provisions in our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

We are a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability. The rights of our shareholders, including with respect to fiduciary duties and corporate opportunities, may be different from the rights of shareholders governed by the laws of U.S. jurisdictions.

We are a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability. Our corporate affairs are governed by our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and by the laws of the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the responsibilities of members of our board of directors may be different from the rights of shareholders and responsibilities of directors in companies governed by the laws of U.S. jurisdictions. In particular, as a matter of Cayman Islands law, directors of a Cayman Islands company owe fiduciary duties to the company and separately a duty of care, diligence and skill to the company.

Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties: (1) duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; (2) duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; (3) directors should not properly fetter the exercise of future discretion; (4) duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; (5) duty to exercise independent judgment; and (6) duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests. However, following a declaration being made pursuant to the Articles of Association of the Company, subject to any separate requirement for audit committee approval under applicable law or the rules and regulations of the NYSE, and unless disqualified by the chairman of the relevant board meeting, a director may vote in respect of any contract or proposed contract or arrangement in which such director is interested and may be counted in the quorum at such meeting. Conversely, under Delaware corporate law, a director has a fiduciary duty to the corporation and its shareholders and the director’s duties prohibit self-dealing by a director and mandate that the best interest of the corporation and its shareholders take precedence over any interest possessed by a director, officer or controlling shareholder and not shared by the shareholders generally. See “Item 10. Additional Information—B. Memorandum and Articles of Association.”

Our shareholders may face difficulties in protecting their interests because we are a Cayman Islands exempted company.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, by the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take legal action against our directors and us, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, which has persuasive, but not binding, authority on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under the laws of the Cayman Islands are not as clearly defined as under statutes or judicial precedent in existence in jurisdictions in the United States. Therefore, you may have more difficulty protecting your interests than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States, due to the comparatively less well-developed Cayman Islands law in this area.

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Specifically, subject to limited exceptions, under Cayman Islands’ law, a minority shareholder may not bring a derivative action against the board of directors. Class actions are not recognized in the Cayman Islands, but groups of shareholders with identical interests may bring representative proceedings, which are similar. Further, while Cayman Islands law allows a dissenting shareholder to express the shareholder’s view that a court sanctioned reorganization of a Cayman Islands company would not provide fair value for the shareholder’s shares, Cayman Islands statutory law does not specifically provide for shareholder appraisal rights in connection with a court sanctioned reorganization (by way of a scheme of arrangement). This may make it more difficult for you to assess the value of any consideration you may receive in a corporate reorganization (approved by way of a scheme of arrangement) or to require that the acquirer gives you additional consideration if you believe the consideration offered is insufficient. However, the Companies Act does provide a mechanism for a dissenting shareholder in a statutory merger or consolidation to apply to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands for a determination of the fair value of the dissenter’s shares if it is not possible for the company and the dissenter to agree on the fair value of such shares within the time limits prescribed by the Companies Act.

In addition, shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records and accounts or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders. Our directors have discretion under our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder motion.

U.S. civil liabilities and certain judgments obtained against us by our shareholders may not be enforceable.

We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and the majority of our operations and current assets are conducted and located outside the United States. Most of our directors and executive officers reside outside the United States, and substantially all of their assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult to effect service of process within the United States upon these persons. It may also be difficult to enforce in U.S. courts judgments obtained in U.S. courts based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws against us and our officers and directors who are not resident in the United States and the substantial majority of whose assets are located outside of the United States.

Further, it is unclear if original actions predicated on civil liabilities based solely upon U.S. federal securities laws are enforceable in courts outside the United States, including in the Cayman Islands. Courts of the Cayman Islands may not, in an original action in the Cayman Islands, recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state of the United States on the grounds that such provisions are penal in nature. Although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction if such judgment is final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, provided it is not in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, is not inconsistent with a Cayman Islands’ judgment in respect of the same matters, and was not obtained by fraud or in a manner which is contrary to the public policy of the Cayman Islands. In addition, a Cayman Islands court may stay proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

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In February 2024, Amer Sports, Inc. became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). Our reports filed with or furnished to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are available, free of charge, on our investor relations website at https://investors.amersports.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The SEC maintains a website at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports and other information regarding us and other companies that file materials with the SEC electronically. We use our investor relations website as a means of disclosing material information. Accordingly, investors should monitor our investor relations website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, and public conference calls and webcasts.

See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—B. Liquidity and Capital Resources” for our principal capital expenditures since January 1, 2021 and expected budget for 2024. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—A. Operating Results—Comparability of Our Results of Operations—Discontinued Operations” for our principal divestures since January 1, 2021.

B. Business Overview

Amer Sports is a global group of iconic sports and outdoor brands, including Arc’teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Atomic and Peak Performance. Our brands are known for their detailed craftsmanship, unwavering authenticity, premium market positioning and compelling market shares in their categories. We pride ourselves on cutting-edge innovation, technical performance and ground-breaking designs that allow athletes and everyday consumers to perform better every day. Through partnerships with industry influencers and elite athletes, and in collaboration with the various communities we serve, we develop next-generation products that define winning moments in sports. Our brands are creators of exceptional apparel, footwear, equipment, protective gear and accessories that we believe give our consumers the confidence and comfort to excel.

Select Pinnacle Moments in Sports where Amer Sports’ Brands are Delivering at the Highest Levels

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Our brands are our stars, constantly elevating the consumer experience and creating thriving communities. We empower our brands to pursue market-shaping leadership and set the standard for quality, performance and brand experience globally. While our brands have established heritage and market leadership today, significant runway remains ahead. We are excited about our future and the opportunity to drive growth in each of our three reportable segments: Technical Apparel, Outdoor Performance and Ball & Racquet Sports. Our segments comprise our “brand clusters,” which reflect both how our consumers engage with our products and how we manage our business.

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Each segment is led by one of our core brands: Arc’teryx, Salomon and Wilson. Each of these brands creates high-quality technical products that stand out in their respective categories, and possesses key differentiated attributes.

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See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—A. Operating Results—Key Financial Metrics” for our revenues by geography for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021.

Arc’teryx

Arc’teryx is a technical outdoor apparel brand inspired by the Canadian Coast Mountains and built on the principle of obsessive, precise design and production. Arc’teryx gear pushes the boundaries of performance and enables adventurers to excel in their outdoor pursuits in the mountains, in the backcountry and on some of the world’s most technical climbs. The products are known for their minimalist design, and sleek and streamlined aesthetic, along with new, innovative features that continually advance outdoor activities. Product quality, from the materials to the design, allows Arc’teryx to command premium pricing as evidenced by its best-selling “hardshell” jacket in North America, the Alpha SV. Overall, Arc’teryx combines beautiful, innovative products and an authentic brand experience that extends beyond apparel, fostering communities and bringing people together across all regions of the world who share a passion for the outdoors.

Salomon

Born in the French Alps in 1947, Salomon creates premium innovative footwear, apparel, winter sports equipment and accessories. Since its founding, Salomon has been fueled by a culture of design, craftmanship, continuous innovation, and performance inspired by progress, the outdoors and athletes. The brand first produced metal ski edges and expanded into releasable ski bindings before launching industry changing rear-entry ski boots and monocoque skis. The brand’s leadership in winter sports helped to propel it into a diverse portfolio of sports and products including footwear and apparel. Today, Salomon is a market leader in global trail running footwear and premium hiking footwear, with products recognized for their performance, style, durability and sustainability. Over 65% of Salomon’s revenue in 2023 came from footwear, while also having leading market positions in its legacy winter sports equipment categories (skis, snowboards, boots, bindings, goggles, helmets, etc.), creating a 365-day, year-round brand serving all seasons for mountain sport consumers.

Wilson Sporting Goods

Founded in 1914 in Chicago, Illinois, Wilson Sporting Goods is a leading manufacturer of high-performance sports equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories. The Wilson Sporting Goods portfolio is made up of the iconic Wilson brand, as well as Louisville Slugger, DeMarini, EvoShield and ATEC. Collectively, these brands bring more than three centuries of innovation, history and heritage to a variety of mainstream sports. As a multi-sports platform, Wilson drives innovation and product excellence by leveraging learnings across the brands’ various disciplines, including tennis, baseball and basketball, among other sports. The Wilson brand has a legacy as the top-of-the-line sports equipment and is associated with legendary athletes, including Roger Federer, Russell Wilson and Jamal Murray. In addition, Wilson is the official partner of professional sports leagues, including the NBA, WNBA, NFL, the US Open and Roland Garros Grand Slam Tennis Championships, as well as the NCAA, making Wilson products integral to performance in sport. These athletes and leagues are a testament to the credibility and reputation of Wilson’s track record of innovation and superior products.

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While Arc’teryx, Salomon and Wilson stand tall and lead our three segments, our other brands appropriately fit our sports-oriented portfolio. Brands such as Atomic and Peak Performance enhance our scale, competitive positioning and diversification across sports categories. Together, our brands enable us to lead and compete in various sports segments and drive the continued success of our portfolio.

The Amer Sports Group

We excel at identifying, developing and defining brands that meet our corporate vision. We empower these brands to autonomously connect with consumers and develop products to drive growth. Our platform supports the brands via scaled infrastructure and financial controls to accelerate performance. We believe that the size and diversification of our platform mitigates risks and provides financial flexibility to invest prudently to meet the continuously evolving needs of consumers, to develop competitive advantages and to drive growth across the brands through a relentless focus on innovation. We also believe that our platform enables efficient integration, scaling and optimization of target opportunities that fit within our portfolio, as well as critical insight to inform divestiture decisions.

We govern our brands through management across the finance, supply chain, sustainability, communication, legal and compliance functions, among other areas. At the same time, we enable our brands through our group’s incubator model that provides shared learnings from data analytics across the platform as well as from the economies of scale and synergies of shared resources, including supplier services, distribution and logistics, human resources and enterprise IT infrastructure. We further serve our brands through access to shared, centralized business services, including customer service and treasury management functions. All together, these resources empower our brand leadership teams to focus on serving consumers through brand, product and go-to-market strategies that drive performance, and our global and scaled operating model enables larger, robust brand organizations to independently flourish.

Seasonality

We experience some seasonal fluctuations in our revenue and operating results. Historically, we have realized a slightly higher portion of our revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, primarily due to higher sales through our DTC channel compared to the rest of the year and a higher share of fall and winter collections in our Technical Apparel and Outdoor Performance segments. For example, we generated 30%, 34%, and 33% of our total revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Our Ball & Racquet Sports segment is generally more consistent across fiscal quarters. Working capital requirements typically increase throughout our second and third fiscal quarters as inventory builds to support our peak shipping and selling period which typically occurs from August to December. Cash provided by operating activities is typically highest in our first fiscal quarter due to the significant inflows associated with our peak selling season. We believe our strategy to broaden our assortment within the soft goods categories across all our brands, including for example Arc’teryx’s enhanced focus on spring and summer collections, could lead to increasingly balanced revenue and results of operations throughout the fiscal year.

Our Growth Strategies

We have established comprehensive growth strategies across each of our brands, founded on the pillars of product innovation, geographic expansion, channel mix optimization and increased brand awareness. We intend to leverage both the intrinsic strengths of our brands and the synergistic benefits of our platform to pursue the following growth strategies:

Leverage Innovation Leadership to Strengthen Core Categories and Scale Newer Categories

The foundation of our brands’ success comes from an ability to innovate and create products that appeal to both elite athletes and everyday consumers. We believe our innovation model, which has been institutionalized across brands in each of our three segments, will allow us to expand our market shares within core categories, as well as tactically scale in newer categories.

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Within Technical Apparel, Arc’teryx employs a hands-on, iterative product development process that begins with innovative ideas in the North Vancouver design center. These product innovations come to life via on-site prototyping at the nearby ARC’One facility. Further, the team rigorously tests the product in the Canadian Coast Mountains with world-class mountain athletes. This results in a product that meets our high quality standards and drives continuous innovation. Core innovation enables products like the Alpha SV waterproof breathable “hardshell” jacket to consistently be among Arc’teryx’s top selling products, supporting the brand’s market leadership within outdoor technical apparel and driving continued topline growth. Along with core outdoor category growth, Arc’teryx plans to grow its women’s category, where it has invested in new design leadership, including an expanded assortment, color palette and updated fits, along with rigorous engagement with female athletes to further expand market share with female consumers. For new product development, Arc’teryx recently opened a footwear development office in Portland, Oregon to be able to provide a more comprehensive offering to the outdoor consumer, while also further diversifying product line seasonality. Arc’teryx is also expanding its product portfolio through its popular contemporary urban lifestyle line, Veilance. These new categories are supplemented by sustainability programs, including ReCare™, ReCut™ and ReGear™. ReCare™ provides consumers with information on home care and field repair for their products, while the ReCut™ program diverts rescued textiles that are repurposed into original and coveted pieces and the ReGear™ program accepts used gear and refurbishes it for sale on the ReGear™ platform.

Within Outdoor Performance, Salomon is deeply committed to innovation in footwear, reflected by its world-class design center in Annecy, France, along with a professional athlete collaboration program to design next-generation products. Through trail running, Salomon has been influential in shaping the modern outdoor footwear industry, rich in heritage of the French Alps. These innovations fuel the future of the sport, recently being worn by Courtney Dauwalter as she set back-to-back records at the Western States Endurance Race 100-mile run, and three weeks later, in the Hardrock 100 with the same pair of S/LAB Genesis shoes. S/LAB is the brand’s halo collection of specialty running and Nordic ski systems which have won races from the UTMB in Chamonix France to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. The brand’s ADDIKT PRO on-piste ski line is made with recycled ABS sidewalls, demonstrating Salomon’s leading innovation.

Historically, innovation has supported the evolution of Salomon’s iconic products like the XT-6, which was launched in 2013 and originally designed for ultra-distance trail runners under harsh conditions. This silhouette now creates the foundation of Salomon’s rapidly growing Sportstyle line, which creates a blend between function and fashion that is loved by athletes and consumers alike and represents a significant opportunity for the brand. Salomon Sportstyle footwear has become so culturally relevant that the MM6 Maison Margiela x Salomon Cross Low shoes have been worn by global superstars, including during the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, which was viewed by more than 115 million people globally. Sportstyle is the fastest growing collection in the Salomon brand with revenue over €219 million in 2023.

Salomon also demonstrates an unwavering commitment to producing high-quality equipment for winter sports. During the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, athletes using Salomon products went on to win 28 Olympic medals, showcasing the technical excellence of the brand’s winter sports equipment from skis, ski boots, ski bindings, snowboards, snowboard boots and bindings. Two-time World Cup Overall Alpine ski racer Marco Odermatt has relied exclusively on Salomon ski boots and bindings in his wins. Salomon intends to continue leveraging its premier innovation capabilities to improve existing product lines as well as develop new products to drive growth and increase market share.

In Ball & Racquet Sports, Wilson’s in-house innovation capabilities, anchored by its innovation center located in Chicago, provide a competitive advantage and an engine for continuous growth. The brand’s significant scale, particularly compared to mono-sport competitors, allows Wilson to make significant investments in research and development. The innovation process leverages key insights from technical scientists, engineers and designers who have a deep understanding of sports and the technical needs of athletes who use Wilson products.

Other recent innovation examples include a Louisville Slugger baseball bat that uses simulation software combined with artificial intelligence, first utilized in the golf space and then expanded to baseball, to enhance the contact sweet spot, or the Evo NXT basketball that redistributes the weight of the ball with an advanced internal construction, making the ball easier to shoot from long range. New product introductions accounted for approximately 15% of revenue in 2023 for Wilson. These product innovations drive market share growth in core sports as well as adjacent categories such as the increasingly popular games of padel in Europe and pickleball in the United States.

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As a new growth lever, Wilson is expanding its reach in soft goods categories in addition to sports equipment. Wilson is already experiencing success with its Tennis 360 Softgoods strategy, which involves launching tennis footwear and increasing exposure to apparel and represented 5.0% of total Wilson sales during the year ended December 31, 2023. We believe this category will continue to grow as a larger contributor to the Wilson business and help fuel broader brand engagement.

Across segments, our plans to innovate, expand our product offering and successfully implement our growth strategy may not be successful, and implementation of these plans may divert our operational, managerial and administrative resources, which could harm our competitive position and reduce our revenue and profitability.

Further Penetrate Key Markets and Strategically Broaden Our Geographic Footprint

While our brands across each of our three segments have achieved global recognition, there are specific markets where they enjoy greater prominence: Arc’teryx in North America and Greater China, Salomon in Europe and Wilson in North America. By capitalizing on our existing global presence and leveraging our brands’ strengths, we have a significant opportunity to strategically increase our presence in existing and new geographies by cultivating new customer bases where there is promising market demand and ample room for growth.

Within Technical Apparel, Arc’teryx’s future geographic growth will be grounded in its historical momentum in North America and Greater China, with considerable opportunity in Europe and the rest of Asia Pacific. In North America and Greater China, the brand operates 51 and 64 owned retail stores, including seven and 21 factory outlets, respectively, as of December 31, 2023. During the period from 2019 to December 31, 2023, the brand has opened a net total of 30 new stores in Greater China, as well as a net total of 23 new stores in North America. In Europe and in the rest of Asia Pacific, Arc’teryx operates six and 21 owned retail stores, including two and five factory outlets, respectively, as of December 31, 2023. The brand intends to continue developing its retail real estate portfolio in these markets to drive brand awareness and growth. In Europe, there are retail opportunities in large metro areas such as Paris, as well as iconic, outdoor locations across the Alps, including Chamonix, France, Zermatt, Switzerland and St. Anton, Austria, where important community-building “mountain stores” are targeted to create authentic brand positioning.

Within Outdoor Performance, while Salomon is relatively well known in Europe, we believe brand awareness is significantly lower in Greater China and the United States. These markets represent strong growth opportunities as the technical performance, innovative design and premium nature of the brand’s products, especially within footwear, align well with consumer preferences in these markets. In Greater China, Salomon has successfully opened 37 owned retail stores as of December 31, 2023 and has plans to accelerate its retail rollout in this market. Despite still emerging brand awareness, Salomon enjoys specialty niche market positioning in the United States, including being well known for its winter sports equipment.

Within Ball & Racquet Sports, Wilson has a compelling opportunity to leverage its reputation for technical excellence in various sports activities, stemming from its historical success in the North American market. Wilson plans to expand its market leadership in North America while driving growth in both Greater China and Europe. In these newer markets, Wilson plans to leverage its partnership with the NBA as well as capitalize on increasing participation in sports and outdoor activities such as tennis. In Greater China, we believe that higher levels of participation in sports by children, young adults and women provide an opportunity to leverage the Tennis 360 Softgoods strategy to drive apparel and footwear growth while also developing a strong brand relationship with a large and dynamic consumer base. In Europe, Wilson plans to leverage its product authority in racquet sports to drive market share gains in padel, which is a popular fast-growing sport in the region. Fast growing sports like padel and pickleball are also fragmented and provide Wilson an opportunity to innovate on currently relatively standardized equipment.

Optimize Go-to-market Strategies to Conveniently Engage Consumers

Each of our brands employs a customized go-to-market strategy that is tailored specifically to the brand’s attributes and designed to effectively reach and captivate consumers. We remain committed to further refining and enhancing our go-to-market strategies with the goal of expanding our market presence, fostering customer loyalty and driving growth. Our DTC strategy will continue to require significant investment and management focus and may present risks and challenges, while our wholesale strategy may be impacted by the strength of our relationships with our wholesale partners.

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Within Technical Apparel, for Arc’teryx, the DTC channel is the primary vehicle to engage consumers and drives both online and offline conversions. The DTC channel allows Arc’teryx to seamlessly leverage grassroots community marketing strategies and provides for a more agile inventory management model focused on consistent flow of fresh product. While Arc’teryx has a selective wholesale footprint that will remain an important element in its distribution strategy, we expect owned retail and e-commerce to continue to enable DTC to be the brand’s fastest growing channel.

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Within Outdoor Performance, we have optimized Salomon’s go-to-market strategy from a traditional wholesale model to a modern and balanced consumer-centric retail strategy. The strategy is designed to elevate the brand by selectively choosing premium wholesale partners, curating and segmenting the inventory assortment with them, while also reaching more consumers on a direct basis through owned retail and e-commerce and providing engaging consumer experiences. While the channel mix remains primarily wholesale, DTC has grown from 15% of segment revenue in 2020 to 20.3% in 2023 in an effort to drive penetration globally.

Many of the brand’s specialty retailer partners focus directly on Salomon’s core competencies, including product expertise in hiking and trail running. Within outdoor and trail running shoes, Salomon is focused on consolidating the number of accounts and improving productivity. Within the Sportstyle category, Salomon is similarly focused on improving productivity while expanding the number of retail partners carrying the brand’s products. Salomon intends to further increase its number of strategic wholesale accounts in Europe, especially in underpenetrated areas of Western Europe, as well as the United States where Salomon seeks to target top-tier sporting goods retailers.

Within Ball & Racquet Sports, Wilson Sporting Goods’s go-to-market strategy revolves around highly productive wholesale relationships complemented by owned retail stores and an e-commerce platform that create excitement around Wilson’s categories and elevate Wilson’s brand. The wholesale channel is pivotal for Wilson as we believe many consumers prefer to shop in stores where expert recommendations are available and can be critical to driving the point-of-sale for sporting goods. Approximately 50% of Wilson’s wholesale revenue in 2023 came from differentiated specialty retailers. Through strong wholesale relationships and a complementary DTC strategy, Wilson aims to continue increasing consumer engagement in the appropriate channels. Importantly, while Wilson’s owned store footprint is expected to remain relatively small and targeted, these stores serve as important consumer touchpoints to build engagement with the brand in high-quality, immersive retail environments.

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Grow Brand Awareness, Expand Our Communities and Increase Customer Loyalty

We believe efforts to drive higher levels of brand awareness and increased customer loyalty across key markets are critical for each of our brands to achieve their commercial potential. As such, each brand has developed robust global marketing programs that build on the authenticity of each brand through strategies ranging from “grass roots” local community activities, to large scale global on-mountain events, to sophisticated original content and social media campaigns that leverage digital marketing.

Within Technical Apparel, Arc’teryx has created a reputation of authenticity and an uncompromising standard of excellence. The result has created a passionate, loyal following for the brand. However, Arc’teryx global brand awareness levels are relatively low when compared to more established premium outerwear brands. The brand plans to tactically increase brand awareness and curate more passionate communities through the following global strategies:

Within Outdoor Performance, while the Salomon brand has existed for more than 75 years, we believe there is an opportunity to grow brand awareness globally, particularly in North America and Greater China. To drive brand awareness, Salomon plans to use the following integrated, brand-first marketing strategy to communicate key product stories:

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Within Ball & Racquet Sports, Wilson has recently elevated its brand through consistent, cohesive brand messaging across sports categories. Today Wilson is thoughtfully balancing product marketing and brand marketing to engage consumers, and it intends to continue growing its brand awareness in key global markets through the following strategies:

Leverage the Amer Sports Platform to Scale All of Our Brands

We have laid the foundation and infrastructure to enable premium brands to thrive and scale on the Amer Sports platform. The ability for brands to chart their own consumer-centric strategies while leveraging the global scale and capabilities of our platform provides an opportunity for all our brands across each of our three segments to accelerate their growth in a profitable manner. For example, Atomic and Peak Performance have an opportunity to leverage our platform to increase their presence globally. Atomic is a leading player in winter sports as validated through the use of Atomic equipment by some of the world’s best alpine athletes, including Mikaela Shiffrin. We intend to leverage this professional brand halo to capture additional market share in the global winter sports equipment industry and further extend the Atomic brand to apparel and accessories. Given its Nordic roots, Peak Performance has a strong following within EMEA; however, there is an opportunity to expand the brand globally in the Americas, Greater China and the rest of Asia Pacific.

Our Brands and Products

Our portfolio consists of 11 globally recognized brands in our three segments: Technical Apparel, Outdoor Performance and Ball & Racquet Sports.

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Technical Apparel

Arc’teryx

Founded in 1989 in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Arc’teryx is an outdoor apparel brand built on the principle of obsessive, precise design and construction. Arc’teryx gear pushes the boundaries of performance and enables adventurers to excel in their outdoor pursuits. The products are known for their minimalist design, sleek and streamlined aesthetic, highest-quality craftsmanship with special construction and durability to withstand the rigors of extreme outdoor adventures. Arc’teryx has been shaped by the Canadian Coast Mountains where its headquarters are located, a remote area with challenging terrain that provides the perfect environment for the brand to test products in real-world conditions. We believe this resource allows the team to create some of the best-fitting, longest-lasting, and highest-functioning technical products with unrivaled performance at the point of extreme need.

Arc’teryx’s product offering includes technical outdoor apparel, footwear and accessories, including climbing gear.

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Peak Performance

Peak Performance is an apparel and accessories brand born in the Swedish mountains out of a love for skiing in remote terrain. The brand’s passion for adventure and nature runs deep. Peak Performance is for like-minded souls with an urge to explore wild and beautiful places, both near and far, from the mountains to the city. Together with friends or alone, for clearing heads and reconnecting with nature, commuting to work or simply hanging out, all Peak Performance products have the same purpose: to empower the freedom to be adventurous and live everyday life to the fullest, 365 days a year.

Outdoor Performance

Salomon

Born in the French Alps in 1947, Salomon is the modern mountain sports lifestyle brand. Salomon creates premium footwear, apparel, gear and winter sports equipment that focuses on superior design and function. The brand’s success in winter sports propelled it to diversify into other outdoor sports, namely trail running, road running and hiking. Today, Salomon is one of the global leading trail running brands with athlete success at all levels of the sport. Their footwear is widely recognized for its durability, functionality and performance. Salomon’s products are conceived by highly experienced and expert engineers, designers and athletes in its Annecy Design Center in France.

Salomon’s product offering includes hiking and running footwear, functional apparel, skiing and snowboarding gear and lifestyle footwear.

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Atomic

Founded in 1955 in the heart of the Austrian Alps, Atomic is one of the world’s largest ski-manufacturer by revenue. The brand designs and produces skis used by some of the top competitors in the world across every discipline. From World-Cup racing to the X-Games, Nordic to ski mountaineering to the most demanding backcountry adventures, skiers like Mikaela Shiffrin, Hermann Maier and Chris Benchetler all trust Atomic to bring them to the finish line. In turn, these and many other elite skiers provide feedback from the highest levels of competition and performance to help guide research and development and innovation at Atomic. Through its passion for skiing, with leading quality and technological innovations, the brand drives the sport of skiing forward.

Armada

Armada is an athlete-focused ski brand. Rider-driven, design obsessed, and with technologically superior products, it is the reference for modern skiing and the mountain lifestyle. Armada was founded in 2002 and as of December 31, 2023, distributes products in 29 countries globally.

ENVE

ENVE Composites is dedicated to being the most desired aftermarket brand in the bike industry and delivering performance without compromise. Founded in 2007 in Ogden, Utah, ENVE serves the four key disciplines of cycling including: mountain, road, triathlon and gravel.

Ball & Racquet Sports

Wilson

Founded in 1914 in Chicago, Illinois, the Wilson brand is a leading manufacturer of high-performance sports equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories, with more than a century of innovation, history and heritage in racquet sports, baseball, softball, football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and golf. Wilson has a legacy as the top-of-the-line sports equipment and is associated with legendary athletes, including Roger Federer, Russell Wilson and Jamal Murray, among many others. In addition, professional sports leagues, including the NBA, WNBA, NFL, and two Grand Slam Tennis Championships, as well as the NCAA, use Wilson products for competitions. Wilson has partnered with the NFL for more than 80 years, the NCAA for more than 20 years, and the US Open for 45 years. These athletes and leagues add to the credibility and reputation of Wilson’s superior products, make it one of the world’s most recognized and respected brands and contribute to Wilson’s authenticity and leading market positions across sports. Quality and performance are paramount to Wilson’s products, which undergo rigorous testing to ensure durability, reliability and superior performance. Wilson leverages player insights to create products that push equipment and apparel innovation into new territories, empowering athletes at every level to perform at their best.

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Wilson’s product offering includes sporting equipment for tennis, baseball, American football, basketball, golf, and various other professional and recreational sports, as well as functional athletic apparel.

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Louisville Slugger

Louisville Slugger was founded in 1884 in Louisville, Kentucky and today is one of the most iconic brands in the world of baseball equipment. We believe the name Louisville Slugger is synonymous with high-quality, handcrafted wooden baseball bats that have been used by some of the world’s most legendary players, including Hall of Famers, MVPs and World Series champions. The brand continues to be loved and respected in the world of baseball, representing tradition, craftsmanship and excellence.

DeMarini

DeMarini prioritizes performance and constantly innovates in baseball, fastpitch and slowpitch softball with bats designed and built in the United States. DeMarini was founded in 1989 and has over 60,000 square feet of facilities used purely for R&D and manufacturing. In 2016, DeMarini introduced its online custom bat builder, which we believe was the industry’s first.

EvoShield

EvoShield offers custom-fitting protective gear and apparel with Gel-to-Shell® Technology for baseball, softball, football and lacrosse. EvoShield was founded in 2002 and provides equipment to world class athletes.

ATEC

As the Official Training Equipment Supplier of Major League Baseball, ATEC elevates baseball and softball practice sessions with innovative machines and tools. ATEC was founded in 1971 in Nevada, United States, and offers pitching machines that can fire fly balls over 350 feet from home plate and tops out with fastballs at 100 miles per hour.

Sustainability

Two of the most prominent trends of our time are at the heart of Amer Sports’ business: health and longevity, and sustainable consumption. As a global group of sports and outdoor brands, we believe we can foster more sustainable lifestyles, encourage mindful consumption and promote well-being. While the sports and outdoor industry connects us with nature, we also understand it can consume our planet’s precious resources. Together with our brands, we seek to build a sustainability culture that will encourage us all to think bigger, go further and be better.

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Sustainability is an integral part of our growth strategy. We are determined to pursue growth in a sustainability-conscious manner. We believe we can do this by integrating sustainability into our operations, from design to supply chain to sales. Our updated sustainability strategy guides this commitment and supports our vision to become a global leader in premium sports and outdoor brands. Our management oversees the implementation of our sustainability strategy. Cross-functional operational teams drive our efforts on sustainable business practices, led by the Amer Sports platform with participation across key brands and functions. Working groups plan and execute roadmaps on sustainability initiatives in key areas identified, such as climate change, circular economy, responsible procurement and supply chain, human rights, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. We also perform or commission third-party audits, where applicable, including to monitor sourcing partners in their compliance with industry standards, regulations and our own expectations regarding sustainability.

We strive to continuously improve our reporting and transparency. Our sustainability framework was created in reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and CDP frameworks. In line with guidance provided by the European Union Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), we have identified three key priorities: climate change, circularity and sustainable procurement.

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We are also focused on sustainable business practices at the brand level. For example, Arc’teryx opened five new ReBird™ Service Centers in the United States, Canada, Greater China and Japan. ReBird™ Service Centers offer consumers complementary repair services for their Arc’teryx gear, connecting consumers to the brand’s ongoing focus on improving circularity (which promotes the turning of used products into materials for new/repurposed products or otherwise extending such products’ lifespans, as opposed to a linear consumption model where such original products often end up disposed of and treated as “waste”), including upcycling, resale, care and repair. Arc’teryx’s sustainability program, ReCare™, provides consumers with information on home care and field repair for their products, while the ReCut™ program diverts rescued textiles that are repurposed into original and coveted pieces and the ReGear™ program accepts used gear and refurbishes it for sale on the ReGear™ platform. Salomon and Peak Performance have reduced the need for materials and transport by using 3D product samples for sales purposes and is looking to expand the use of 3D in consumer experience and e-commerce. Peak Performance’s second-hand initiative, WearAgains, offers consumers a platform where they can buy and sell pre-owned Peak Performance products, either in-store or on our online marketplace. Salomon developed the ground-breaking Index 0.1 shoe with a differentiated thermoplastic polyurethane outsole which significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing and is designed to be recyclable into ski boot shells. Salomon has renewed its MTN ski touring range to reduce its impact on the environment-with products now produced also with up to 30% bio-sourced or recycled materials, and the brand’s ADDIKT PRO on-piste ski line is made with recycled ABS sidewalls. In addition, our ski factory in Altenmarkt, Austria drives continued energy efficiency improvements by using local wood chips instead of oil to heat the factory, resulting in a 95% carbon footprint reduction from heating as calculated by a lifecycle assessment using GaBi Databases.

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We intend to further strengthen our organization and improve our processes, the transparency of our communication, and the scope, reliability, and depth of our data disclosure to be able to meet or exceed our targets. While we recognize the challenge of growing the business without growing the environmental and social impacts, we believe that our strategy, actions and measures can support our journey to sustainable growth. We plan to achieve it together with our differentiated portfolio of leading brands and the many talented people across the global Amer Sports community.

Supply Chain

Our supply chain is built on the belief that premium products require thoughtful craftsmanship. Our global supply chain organization is responsible for the operational planning, manufacturing, sourcing and distribution of products to our customers. We pride ourselves on delivering high-quality apparel, footwear, equipment, protective gear and accessories to our global community of consumers, while working to maintain high standards for labor practices and workplace conditions and decrease the environmental impact of our supply chain.

Sourcing and Manufacturing

We believe the combination of our owned and sourced manufacturing across different geographic regions provides a well-balanced, flexible approach to product procurement. Since our ownership transition in 2019, we have adapted our sourcing practices and supply chain to align with our brand-direct operating model, optimizing our supply chain to provide our brands with a higher degree of autonomy over their individual sourcing and supply chain needs. Sourcing, including vendor selection, is now carried out at the brand level, enabling our brands to be more nimble in their supply chain decision-making. In order to maintain the synergistic benefits of the group’s scale and consistency to group strategy and standards, back-office services, sustainability, oversight, compliance and quality control continue to be carried out by the group’s global sourcing team, including relevant human resources, finance and IT services. To further leverage our diversified setup and scale, we develop and facilitate communications across all brands, in the areas of quality control, sustainability, supply chain management and materials sourcing. This dynamic allows us to have oversight over the various brands, promoting and managing adherence to our Code of Conduct and Ethical Policy, while realizing cost savings from both a scale and operational perspective.

In 2023, approximately 83.0% of our products were sourced from a network of third-party strategic suppliers, with approximately 65.9% of such products sourced from Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China), approximately 29.5% from Greater China, approximately 1.9% from EMEA, and approximately 2.7% from the Americas. We have a diversified sourcing network, with no single tier 1 supplier accounting for more than 16.6% of total supply in 2023. Our sourced manufacturing agreements are generally on a fixed price purchase order basis which renew annually.

Several of our hard goods products, such as ski boots and bindings, baseballs bats and baseballs, are produced at owned manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada and Europe. We source the raw materials for our owned manufacturing on generally the same terms as our contracts with sourced manufacturers. We have multiple sources for most of our materials and components of our products, but rely on a small number of sole source suppliers, such as for Gore-Tex, which is used in our Arc’teryx, Salomon, Peak Performance and Atomic products. Key raw materials used in our supply chain include synthetic fabrics and natural products, including blend fabrics, nylon, polyester, down and cotton, as well as plastics, rubber, carbon and metals.

In making decisions about the location of suppliers and manufacturing operations, we consider a number of factors including the raw material source, the final destination, production lead times, transport lead times, labor cost, product complexity, the ability to pursue upside demand, as well as geopolitical risks and developments related to duties, tariffs and quotas. We also seek out alternative suppliers and manufacturers in order to manage concentration risk and develop contingency plans for responding to disruptions. Where possible, we use at least two suppliers for a given product to reduce supply risk and to promote competition among suppliers on the basis of cost and quality.

In peak seasons, our supply chain operations employ approximately 4,400 employees, including approximately 900 contract workers. As many of our brands are shifting quickly to a higher DTC mix, the agility and speed of our supply chain has become an increasingly important competitive factor to our business, as we are more often becoming the final step between our products and the end consumer.

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Distribution

Products are shipped from our owned and sourced manufacturing facilities to distribution centers around the world. Our extensive distribution network, consisting of third-party as well as Amer Sports owned and leased distribution centers, is shared between the brands, allowing each of them to leverage warehouses globally. We directly operate 9 of our 19 distribution centers, and we carefully determine the remaining third-party contracted centers depending on our presence in the region. Our distribution centers are strategically located to provide speed and service to our consumers at efficient costs and supported by a transportation network built on a set of core-carriers for sea, land and air-transport, under defined service-level agreements. We believe that the benefits from operating our supply chain on a group level, as opposed to the brand level, deliver significant cost savings while maintaining high service levels.

Marketing

Our brands’ advertising and marketing functions focus on differentiating their individual positioning and highlighting product qualities, while creating globally unified messaging with appropriate regional nuances in order to maximize brand recognition, and drive demand from initial end consumer awareness to long-term loyalty. Our brands are continuing to develop integrated, multi-channel marketing strategies designed to effectively reach their target consumers. Each brand pursues this strategy through the use of a variety of media channels, including both traditional media channels as well as digital media channels such as display, online video, social media, paid search and influencers, along with engagement with brand ambassadors, including partnerships with professional athletes and professional sports leagues. Our brands also pursue a variety of “grass roots” initiatives to build community engagement leading to interest and word-of-mouth marketing.

In addition, by leveraging insights across product offerings, we seek to understand how consumer behavior and expectations are changing. Our brands employ marketing analytics to optimize the impact of advertising and promotional spending and continuously evolve their brand messaging to ensure that they drive relevance with consumers. Certain brands also participate in cooperative advertising on a shared cost basis with wholesale partners in traditional and digital, including by providing advertising support in the form of point-of-sale fixtures and signage to enhance the presentation and brand image of products. Our brand websites are also designed to enhance consumer understanding of their product offering and help consumers find and buy our products. Each brand employs a support team that is responsible for customer service at the consumer level as well as a sales force that manages our customer relationships.

Technology Infrastructure

We have invested in establishing a shared IT infrastructure and platform architecture, supported by a centrally managed IT organization with teams in all brand locations. This group architecture supports robust and scalable IT operations, is designed to ensure security and compliance and is the foundation for efficient group services including finance, tax, customs and supply chain. This architecture further supports the implementation of brand specific business strategies and processes, allowing brand-dedicated applications and solutions directly managed by brand IT teams to be integrated, while still benefitting from the overall group IT infrastructure. Our enterprise architecture is built around a global SAP ERP system, providing a scalable digital core as a system-of-record for finance, sales, inventory and purchasing. We are currently in the process of upgrading this platform across our segments.

Competition

The markets in the sports and outdoor industry are highly competitive and fragmented. They include increasing competition from established companies who are expanding their production and marketing of performance products, as well as from frequent new entrants to the market. Given the breadth of our portfolio and global footprint, we compete with a broad set of competitors that include Moncler, Canada Goose, Lululemon Athletica, On Running, Hoka, The North Face, and Babolat, in their respective categories.

Competition in the sports and outdoor industry is principally centered on the basis of brand image and recognition, product quality, innovation, design, sustainability, distribution and price. We believe that we successfully compete on the basis of premium products and our clear focus on the consumer, as well as our technical innovation. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors.” for additional information on our competitive risks.

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People and Culture

Amer Sports employees share a passion for sports. We believe our people’s connection to sporting and outdoor activities is a key benefit to our business as we understand the needs of consumers and athletes globally, which in turn helps drive a performance-driven, winning culture.

Our strategy as it relates to human resources and relationships with our employees, which we refer to as our “People Vision,” is to attract and unite some of the best consumer-minded people in the sports and outdoor industry. Our People Vision focuses on three pillars:

Human Resources

Our human resources function follows our brand-direct operating model, whereby the brands have autonomy to drive their individual resource plans in alignment with their brand strategies. The brand-level functions are supported by a group-level human resources function in order to provide technological and capability program scale and efficiency, reporting capabilities and overall governance, such as compensation framework and plans. The brands also benefit from shared human resources services across all regions, which allow them to operate efficiently across the world and ensure compliance with local laws and regulations and with operational activities such as payroll administration.

Capability and Culture

In recent years, Amer Sports has focused on capability building across the group. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Amer Sports began an internal restructuring process that included strategically reallocating existing and hiring new employees to support focus areas, such as our DTC channel and expansion in China. Our capability and resource planning is based on an annual people process called Strategy, Structure and Capability Review (SSCR) where we review and ensure sufficient capabilities across our brands and group functions to execute our short- and long-term strategic plans. We align the development ambition of our people with execution of our growth strategy. We have also sought to strengthen capability throughout the group across levels in our brands and functions with over 2000 new hires in the past two years. In addition, we have made significant efforts to facilitate learning and development across the company, including through a modern learning management system and leadership development programs within our brands, as well as a group-wide Leadership Academy that we expect to be implemented in 2024. We are committed to providing opportunities for the continuous development and learning of all our people.

We believe that engagement needs to be built on a strong understanding and commitment to a shared purpose and values, which we are renewing across our global organization. In 2022, we started utilizing a state-of-the-art employee engagement survey platform that allows us to regularly and flexibly survey engagement and understand gaps to address them in a systematic way based on scientifically tested drivers of engagement, inclusion and well-being. We strive to provide a workplace that is inclusive, engaging and gives opportunities for growth.

We are committed to continuing to promote diversity in the workplace which reflects the global environment in which we operate. Through our ongoing encouragement of a workplace environment where diversity and inclusion are valued, we believe we better serve our consumers and our organization. We continue to believe that different ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds create a stronger and healthier culture and contribute to superior performance.

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We are also committed to creating an ethical workplace and community, and we always strive to improve. All of our employees are trained in and subject to our company Code of Conduct, which describes how we all put our values into practice every day and sets the standard for the conduct expected by all Amer Sports employees. Further, we expect our whole value chain, from our own operations to our sourcing partners, to adhere to international standards for human and labor rights. We have been a member of the internationally recognized FLA since June 2020, and our vendor sustainability team monitors the labor practices of our Tier 1 suppliers seeking to ensure they meet the requirements set out in our Ethical Policy.

Intellectual Property

Our long-term commercial success depends, in part, on our ability to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights in our brands, designs, technologies, proprietary information and processes, preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets, operate our business without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights of third parties and prevent third parties from infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights. We seek to protect our investment in the development of our brands, designs, technologies, proprietary information and processes, and trade secrets by relying on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, design, and trade secret laws, in addition to confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions.

We rely on our trademarks and related domain names and logos to market our brands and to build and maintain brand loyalty and recognition. As of December 31, 2023, we owned approximately 6,217 trademark registrations, and approximately 466 trademark applications, across over 120 different jurisdictions, including the United States, the EU, the PRC, Japan and other major markets. These trademarks include, among others, our principal brands of Arc’teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Peak Performance, Atomic, ENVE, Armada, Louisville Slugger, DeMarini and EvoShield, and their related logos. The current registrations of these trademarks are effective for varying periods of time and may be renewed periodically, provided that we, as the registered owner, comply with all applicable renewal requirements including, where necessary, the continued use of the trademarks in connection with similar goods and services. In addition to our trademarks, as of December 31, 2023, we owned approximately 887 domain name registrations, including Arcteryx.com, Salomon.com, Wilson.com, Peakperformance.com, Atomic.com, Enve.com, Armadaskis.com, Slugger.com, Demarini.com and EvoShield.com. However, despite our efforts to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our trademarks, there can be no assurance that these protections will be available in all cases, and our trademarks may be challenged, infringed, misappropriated, circumvented, otherwise violated, declared generic, determined to be dilutive of or infringing on other trademarks or may lapse. The occurrence of any of these events could result in the erosion of our brands and limit our ability to market our brands, as well as impede our ability to effectively compete against competitors with similar products or technologies.

As of December 31, 2023, we owned approximately 464 issued U.S. patents (including design patents), 122 pending U.S. patent applications (including design applications), 705 issued foreign patents (including design registrations), 176 pending foreign patent applications (including design applications) and 116 pending PCT applications relating to technologies, components, materials, features, functionality, and industrial and aesthetic designs used in and for the manufacture of various of our products.

The term of individual patents and design registrations depends upon the legal term for patents and design registrations in the countries in which they are granted. In most countries, including the United States, the patent term is 20 years from the earliest claimed filing date of a non-provisional patent application in the applicable country. In the United States, the term of a design patent is 15 years from the date of grant of the patent, and the term of a similar design registration in foreign jurisdictions may vary. Additionally, in the United States, a patent’s term may, in certain cases, be lengthened by patent term adjustment, which compensates a patentee for administrative delays by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in examining and granting a patent. It may also be shortened if a patent is terminally disclaimed over a commonly owned patent or a patent naming a common inventor and having an earlier expiration date. We cannot be sure that our pending patent applications that we have filed or may file in the future will result in issued patents in any jurisdiction, and we can give no assurance that any patents that have been issued or might be issued in the future will protect our current or future products, will provide us with any competitive advantage, and will not be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented.

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We seek to control access to and use of our designs, technologies, trade secrets, proprietary information and processes, and other confidential information through the use of internal and external controls, and through the inclusion of contractual protections in agreements with employees, contractors, customers and partners. While we seek to enter into confidentiality, intellectual property assignment and non-compete agreements, as applicable, with our employees, contractors and other third parties, we may fail to enter into such agreements with all relevant parties, such agreements may not be self-executing, may be breached, and might not be completely enforceable. As a result, we may not be able to meaningfully protect our trade secrets. Moreover, we may be subject to claims that such parties have misappropriated the trade secrets or other intellectual property or proprietary rights of their former employers or other third parties.

For more information regarding the risks related to our intellectual property, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Information Technology.”

Government Regulations

In the United States, EU and the other jurisdictions in which we operate, we are subject to, laws governing advertising and product labeling, environmental, health and safety, ESG laws and regulations, data privacy and security laws, rules and regulations, antitrust and competition laws and labor and employment laws, among others. Our products, which are predominantly manufactured in countries other than the United States and which are shipped into over 100 countries across the world, may be subject to tariffs, treaties, and various trade agreements, as well as laws affecting the importation of consumer goods. It is our policy and practice to comply with all government regulations applicable to our business. The process of complying with applicable federal, state and local regulations in the United States and around the world may be complex, time consuming and costly. In addition, the global regulatory landscape is subject to rapid and unexpected changes, some driven by geo-political influences, and there has been a general trend toward increasingly stringent regulation and enforcement around the world in recent years. New or more stringent laws or regulations, more restrictive interpretations of existing laws or regulations, court practices or increased enforcement actions by governmental and regulatory agencies around the world could increase our ongoing costs of compliance, alter the environment in which we do business or otherwise adversely affect our business. If we fail to comply with any new or existing laws or regulations, we may be required to pay damages, cease advertising or promotional activities, alter our products or marketing materials, cease selling certain products and possibly face fines, corrective measures or other types of sanctions. Furthermore, as we continue to expand our global operations, we may be required to comply with market-specific laws and regulations, including by obtaining approvals, licenses or certifications from a particular country’s regulators. Failure to obtain these approvals, licenses or certifications or comply with these laws or regulations could impede our growth prospects and otherwise adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. For additional information about risks associated with government regulations, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Litigation and Regulation.”

Advertising and Labeling

The Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) regulates the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising as well as relationships between us, on the one hand, and advertisers and influencers, on the other hand, pursuant to principles described in the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (the “Endorsement Guides”). The Endorsement Guides provide that an endorsement should reflect the honest opinion of the endorser and cannot be used to make a claim about a product that the product’s marketer could not itself legally make. The Endorsement Guides also stipulate that, if there is a connection between an endorser and the marketer that consumers would not expect and this connection would affect how consumers evaluate the endorsement, then that connection should be disclosed.

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Although the Endorsement Guides are advisory in nature and do not operate directly with the force of law, they provide guidance about what the FTC staff generally believes the Federal Trade Commission Act (the “FTC Act”) requires in the context of using endorsements and testimonials in advertising. Any practices inconsistent with the Endorsement Guides can result in violations of the FTC Act’s proscription against unfair and deceptive practices. If our advertising claims or claims made by our social media influencers or by other endorsers with whom we have a material connection do not comply with the Endorsement Guides or any requirements of the FTC Act or similar state requirements, then the FTC and state authorities could subject us to investigations and enforcement actions, impose penalties, require us to pay monetary consumer redress, require us to revise our marketing materials or require us to accept burdensome injunctions, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. Furthermore, the National Advertising Division (“NAD”) of the Better Business Bureau administers a self-regulatory program of the advertising industry to ensure truth and accuracy in national advertising. NAD monitors national advertising and entertains inquiries and challenges from competitors and consumers.

We may also be subject to various state consumer protection laws, including California’s Proposition 65, which requires a specific warning on any product that contains a substance listed by California as having been found to cause cancer or birth defects, unless the level of such substance in the product is below a safe harbor level.

Many countries and markets outside the United States have similar, and sometimes more stringent, regulations of advertising practices. For example, in the European Union, advertising of products is subject both to general consumer advertising requirements pursuant to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Directive 2005/29/EC), which imposes a general prohibition on misleading and aggressive advertising and in the PRC, the Advertising Law regulates advertising and puts similar restrictions on such activities.

Environmental, Health and Safety

Federal, state and local authorities in the United States, as well as comparable authorities around the world, enforce a broad range of environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we and our third party suppliers manufacture and sell our products or otherwise operate our business. These include requirements governing product content and labeling, worker health and safety, the handling, manufacture, transportation, storage, use and disposal of chemicals and other hazardous materials and wastes, the discharge and emission of pollutants and the cleanup of contamination in the environment. We could incur substantial costs, including civil or criminal fines or penalties, enforcement actions and other third-party claims and cleanup costs as a result of our failure to comply with, or liabilities under, such laws and regulations or permits required thereunder. Under certain environmental laws and regulations, we may be subject to liability for environmental investigations and cleanups, including at properties that we currently or previously owned or operated, or at sites at which waste we generated was disposed, even if the contamination was not caused by us or the relevant conduct was legal at the time it occurred. We are addressing contamination from historical operations in the United States that has been identified at certain of our current or former properties. The ultimate cost at such sites is difficult to accurately predict and we may incur significant additional costs as a result of the discovery of contamination or the imposition of additional obligations (including in connection with expansions or renovations of our facilities) at these or other sites in the future.

We also are subject to extensive and evolving regulations regarding the manufacturing, processing, distribution, importing, exporting and labeling of our products and their raw materials. In the European Union, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (“REACH”) regulations came into effect in 2007, with implementation rolling out over time. Registered chemicals then can be subject to further evaluation and potential restrictions. Since the promulgation of REACH, other countries have enacted or are in the process of implementing similar comprehensive chemical regulations. In addition, California’s Proposition 65 requires companies to place warnings on products sold in California that contain one of approximately 900 chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. The California state attorney general, as well as private citizens, can file lawsuits against companies for alleged failure to comply with Proposition 65; from time to time, we have received such lawsuits regarding certain of our products.

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Our operations are also subject to regulation in the United States under federal, state and local occupational health and safety standards, as well as occupational health and safety standards applicable to our operations in other jurisdictions. These standards establish certain employer responsibilities, including requirements to maintain a workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause serious injury or death, certain medical and hygiene standards, licensing and permitting obligations and various recordkeeping, disclosure and procedural requirements. Our facilities and operations may be subject to periodic inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration representatives and comparable authorities in other jurisdictions. Failure to comply with applicable occupational health and safety standards, even if no work-related serious injury or death occurs, could result in civil or criminal enforcement and substantial penalties, significant capital expenditures or suspension or limitation of our operations.

ESG

Federal, state or local governmental authorities in various countries have adopted or proposed, and are likely to continue to propose, legislative and regulatory initiatives regarding the management of sustainability- or ESG-related topics, or disclosures on such matters. For example, we may be subject to the disclosure requirements of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (and its implementing laws and regulations) and other EU directives or EU and EU member state regulations, the International Sustainability Standards Board’s sustainability and climate disclosure standards, various disclosure requirements (such as greenhouse gas metrics, climate risks, use of offsets, and emissions reduction claims) from the State of California as well as the SEC’s climate disclosure proposal, if finalized, among other regulations or requirements; these regulations and requirements may not entirely align and thus require us to duplicate certain or make different efforts or use different reporting methodologies in order to comply with each jurisdictions’ requirements. Separately, various regulators have adopted, or are considering adopting, regulations on environmental marketing claims, including but not limited to the use of “sustainable,” “eco-friendly,” “organic,” “recyclable” or similar language in product marketing. There are also increasing regulations on the provenance, composition, or production methods of products to reflect environmental and/or social concerns, which may require us to change our suppliers, disrupt our business operations, incur additional compliance costs or otherwise impact our reputation, operations or financial condition.

Data Privacy and Security

We are subject to increasingly complex and changing laws, directives, industry standards, rules and regulations, as well as contractual obligations, related to data privacy and security in the United States and around the world that impose broad compliance obligations on the collection, transmission, dissemination, use, privacy, confidentiality, security, retention, availability, integrity and other processing of personal information.

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In the United States, various federal and state regulators, including governmental agencies like the FTC, have adopted, or are considering adopting, laws, rules and regulations concerning personal information and information security and have prioritized privacy and information security violations for enforcement actions. Certain state laws may be more stringent or broader in scope, or offer greater individual rights, with respect to personal information than federal, international or other state laws, and such laws may differ from each other, all of which may complicate compliance efforts. For example, we are subject to the CCPA, which imposes obligations on covered companies that process the personal information of California residents. Among other things, the CCPA requires covered companies to provide certain disclosures to California residents regarding data privacy and security, and provides California residents with data protection and privacy rights, including the ability to opt out of the sale or certain sharing of their personal information, and to request the deletion of their personal information (subject to certain exceptions). The CCPA provides a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information as well as for civil penalties with enforcement capabilities for both the California Attorney General and a new state agency created under the CPRA. The enactment of the CCPA and other state privacy, data protection and cybersecurity laws, rules and regulations is prompting a wave of similar legislative developments in other states in the United States, which creates the potential for a patchwork of overlapping but different state laws. For example, Virginia enacted the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”), which became effective on January 1, 2023, Colorado enacted the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”), which became effective on July 1, 2023, and Connecticut enacted the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (“CTDPA”), which became effective on July 1, 2023. The VCDPA, the CPA and the CTDPA have some similarities to the CCPA and introduced new data privacy rights for residents of such states and new operational requirements for covered companies, including consent requirements for the collection of sensitive personal information. Numerous other states also have enacted, are in the process of enacting or are considering comprehensive state-level data privacy and security laws and regulations that share similarities with the CCPA. In addition, laws in all 50 states in the United States require businesses to provide notice to consumers (and, in some cases, to regulators) whose personal information has been accessed or acquired as a result of a data breach. State laws are changing rapidly and there is discussion in Congress of a new comprehensive federal data protection law to which we would become subject if it is enacted.

We are also subject to international laws, rules, regulations and standards in many jurisdictions, which apply broadly to the collection, use, retention, security, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal information. For example, in the EEA, we are subject to the EU GDPR and, following the UK’s exit from the EU, we are subject in the UK to the UK GDPR. The EU GDPR and UK GDPR impose strict compliance obligations with respect to our ability to collect, use, retain, protect, disclose, transfer and otherwise process personal information, including a principal of accountability, the obligation to demonstrate compliance through policies, procedures, training and audits, and the requirement to appoint data protection officers when special categories of personal information, such as health data, are processed on a large scale. Non-compliance with the EU GDPR and UK GDPR may lead to fines for certain violations of up to €20 million or £17.5 million, respectively, or 4% of total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is higher. However, the UK GDPR will not automatically incorporate future changes to be made to the EU GDPR (such changes would need to be specifically incorporated by the UK government), which creates a risk of divergent parallel regimes and related uncertainty. On June 28, 2021, the European Commission announced an adequacy decision concluding that the UK ensures an equivalent level of data protection to the EU GDPR, which provides some relief regarding the legality of continued personal information flows from the EEA to the UK. This adequacy determination will automatically expire in June 2025 unless the European Commission renews or extends it and it may be modified or revoked in the interim. We cannot predict how the UK GDPR and other UK privacy and information security laws, rules or regulations may develop, including as compared to the EU GDPR, nor can we predict the effects of divergent laws and related guidance. Moreover, the UK is currently in the process of reforming its data protection framework. This may lead to future divergence and variance between the two regimes.

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The EU GDPR and UK GDPR also impose strict rules on the transfer of personal information to countries outside of the EEA and the UK. Legal developments in Europe have created further complexity and uncertainty regarding such transfers, in particular in relation to transfers to the United States. On July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework, or Privacy Shield, under which personal information could be transferred from the EEA (and the UK) to relevant self-certified United States entities. The CJEU further noted that reliance on the standard contractual clauses (a standard form of contract approved by the European Commission as an adequate personal information transfer mechanism and potential alternative to the Privacy Shield) alone for transfers of personal information outside the EEA (and the UK) may not necessarily be sufficient in all circumstances, and that transfers must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. On July 10, 2023, the European Commission adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (the “EU-US DPF”) (a new framework for transferring personal information from the EEA to the United States), having determined that the EU-US DPF ensures that the protection of personal information transferred from the EEA to the United States will be comparable to the protection offered in the EU. However, this decision will likely face legal challenges and ultimately may be invalidated by the CJEU just as the Privacy Shield was. In addition, on October 12, 2023, the UK-US Data Bridge went into effect to operate as an extension of the EU-US DPF to enable the transfer of personal data between the UK and certified entities in the United States. Such Data Bridge could not only be challenged, but also may be affected by any challenges to the EU-US DPF. As a result of changes in the laws, rules and regulations governing cross-border transfers of personal information, we have had to make, and continue to make, certain operational changes, conduct assessments of our data transfer policies and procedures, and update and implement revised standard contractual clauses and other relevant documentation and measures for intragroup, customer and vendor arrangements requiring transfers of personal information outside the EEA and the UK, including to the United States, within required time frames. We may be adversely impacted as the enforcement landscape further develops, and supervisory authorities issue further guidance on international data transfers.

Moreover, in the EEA and the UK, national laws transposing the ePrivacy Directive require opt-in consent to place non-essential cookies or tracking technologies on an individual’s device and for direct electronic marketing. In the EEA and the UK, consent must be obtained in accordance with the requirements of the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR, respectively. These requirements include a prohibition on using pre-checked boxes and a requirement to ensure separate consents are sought for each type of non-essential cookie or tracking technology. Recent EEA court and regulatory decisions are driving increased attention on cookies and tracking technologies. For example, regulators and courts are increasingly active as a result of actions by NOYB (a not-for-profit privacy activist group), that has issued over 700 draft complaints to European website operators regarding their cookie banners and subsequently referred over 650 complaints to relevant national regulators, noting it aims to seek enforcement on up to 10,000 websites in Europe.

In addition to the data protection laws in the United States, the EEA, the UK and various other jurisdictions in which operate, we are also subject to the PRC’s data protection laws. Under the PRC’s Cybersecurity Law, any collection, use, transfer or storage of personal information of an individual through a network by the network operator should be based on the three principles of legitimacy, justification and necessity and requires the consent of the data subject. The rules, purposes, methods and ranges of such collection should also be disclosed to the data subject. The PRC’s Cybersecurity Law requires operators of CIIOs to store personal information and important data collected and generated from the critical information infrastructure within the PRC. On September 14, 2022, CAC, the PRC’s top cybersecurity regulator, released new amendments to the PRC’s Cybersecurity Law for public consultation and if the amendments are passed, the amended law will increase the penalties for violations of cybersecurity obligations under the Cybersecurity Law, in line with those under the Data Security Law and PIPL.

Building on this, the PRC’s Data Security Law became effective on September 1, 2021. The primary purpose of the Data Security Law is to regulate data activities, safeguard data security, promote data development and usage, protect individuals and entities’ legitimate rights and interests, and safeguard state sovereignty, state security and development interests. The Data Security Law applies extraterritorially, and to a broad range of activities that involve “data” (not only personal or sensitive data). Under the Data Security Law, entities and individuals carrying out data activities must abide by various data security obligations. For example, the Data Security Law proposes to classify and protect data based on the importance of data to the state’s economic development, as well as the degree of harm it will cause to national security, public interests, or legitimate rights and interests of individuals or organizations when such data is tampered with, destroyed, leaked, or illegally acquired or used. The appropriate level of protective measures is required to be taken for each respective class of data. The Data Security Law also echoes the data localization requirement in the Cybersecurity Law and requires important data to be stored locally in the PRC. Such important data may only be transferred outside of the PRC subject to compliance with certain data transfer restrictions, such as passing a security assessment organized by the relevant authorities.

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Additionally, on August 20, 2021, the PRC announced the PIPL, which took effect on November 1, 2021. The PIPL is intended to clarify the scope of application, the definitions of personal information and sensitive personal information, the legality of personal information processing and the basic requirements of notice and consent, among other things. The PIPL also sets out data localization requirements for CIIOs and personal information handlers who process personal information above a certain threshold prescribed by the relevant authorities. The PIPL also includes a list of rules which must be complied with prior to the transfer of personal information outside of the PRC, such as compliance with a security assessment or certification by an agency designated by the relevant authorities or entering into standard form model contracts approved by the relevant authorities with the overseas recipient. Notably, the PIPL, similar to the EU GDPR, applies extraterritorially.

On July 7, 2022, the CAC issued Security Assessment Measures for Outbound Data Transfers, which became effective on September 1, 2022. The Security Assessment Measures for Outbound Data Transfers clarifies the security assessment requirement under the PIPL and requires a data handler to apply for the security assessment organized by the CAC under any of the following circumstances before the information is transferred outbound: (i) where a data handler provides important data overseas, (ii) critical information infrastructure operator and personal information handlers who process more than 1 million individuals’ personal information; (iii) where a data handler has cumulatively provided personal information of over 100,000 individuals or sensitive personal information of over 10,000 individuals in total abroad since January 1 of the previous year. Additionally, on November 18, 2022, the CAC and the State Administration of Market Regulation issued the Implementation Rules for Personal Information Protection Certification which apply with immediate effect and which provide important guidance on obtaining a personal information certification for lawful cross-border transfer of personal information under the PIPL. The CAC published the Measures on Standard Contract for Cross-border Transfer of Personal Information, which became effective on June 1, 2023, and the Guidelines on Filing the Standard Contract for the Export of Personal Information on February 24, 2023 and May 30, 2023, respectively. These provide important guidance on relying on the standard contract for transferring personal information out of the PRC and on its filing requirement. As a result of changes in the cross-border data transfer landscape, we have had to and continue to review our existing data protection compliance framework, conduct data mapping exercises, obtain relevant separate consents from individuals, apply for a security assessment with the CAC and enter into standard contracts with our overseas affiliates for transfers of personal information outside of the PRC.

In addition to the PRC’s Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law and the PIPL, the relevant government authorities of the PRC promulgated several regulations or released a number of draft regulations for public comments which are designed to provide further implemental guidance in accordance with the laws mentioned above. We cannot predict what impact the new laws and regulations or the increased costs of compliance, if any, will have on our operations in the PRC, in particular the Data Security Law or PIPL, or the increased costs of compliance, if any, will have on our operations in the PRC due to their recent enactment and the limited guidance available, particularly on PIPL, which entities are awaiting further guidance on, particularly on the scope of data localization requirement. It is also generally unclear how the laws will be interpreted and enforced in practice by the relevant government authorities.

Failure to comply with these laws, rules and regulations can result in the imposition of significant civil and/or criminal penalties and private litigation. Data privacy and security laws, rules, regulations, and other obligations are constantly evolving, may conflict with each other to make compliance efforts more challenging, and can result in investigations, proceedings, or actions that lead to significant penalties and restrictions on our ability to process data. For additional information about the risks to our business associated with data privacy and security matters, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Information Technology—We are subject to various laws, rules, regulations and guidelines relating to data privacy and security governing the use and processing of personal information. Changes in such laws, rules, regulations and guidelines, or any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws, rules, regulations, guidelines or contractual or other obligations relating to data privacy and security, could lead to government enforcement actions (which could include administrative fines, civil or criminal penalties, suspension of processing activities and audits), private litigation or adverse publicity, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.”

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Anti-Corruption

We are subject to the FCPA and other anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws in countries outside of the United States in which we operate, including the UK Bribery Act and PRC anti-corruption laws. These laws and regulations are aimed at preventing and penalizing corrupt behavior. Anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws have been enforced aggressively in recent years and are interpreted broadly to generally prohibit companies, their employees, and their third-party intermediaries from corruptly promising, offering, authorizing, or providing, directly or indirectly, anything of value to government officials, political parties, and private sector recipients for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business, directing business to any person, or securing any other improper business advantage. The FCPA also requires U.S. issuers to make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect the transactions of the corporation and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Litigation and Regulation—Failure to comply with applicable anti-corruption laws could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, and results of operations.”

Other Regulations

We are also subject to a variety of other laws and regulations in the United States and around the world. For example, we must comply with an increasing number of laws designed to combat abuses of human rights in supply chain operations, such as the UFLPA. In addition, our selling practices are regulated by competition law authorities in the United States and around the world. We are also subject to laws and sanctions imposed by the United States (including those imposed by OFAC) and other authorities that may prohibit us or our affiliates from doing business in certain countries or restrict the type of business that may be conducted by us or our affiliates. For example, actions taken in response to the Russia-Ukraine War have included the imposition of export controls and broad financial and economic sanctions against Russia, Belarus and specific areas of Ukraine. Enforcement activities under these laws and regulations could subject us to additional administrative and legal proceedings and actions, which could include claims for civil penalties, criminal sanctions and administrative remedies.

C. Organizational Structure

We were incorporated under the name of “Amer Sports Management Holding (Cayman) Limited” as an exempted company with limited liability under the laws of the Cayman Islands on January 3, 2020. On August 4, 2023, we changed our name to Amer Sports, Inc. Our registered offices are located at Cricket Square, Hutchins Drive, P.O. Box 2681, Grand Cayman, KY1-1111, Cayman Islands. Our telephone number at this address is +1 345 945 3901. Our corporate offices are located at Konepajankuja 6, 00511 Helsinki, Finland. Our telephone number at this address is +358 (0)20 712 2500. Our principal website is www.amersports.com. The information on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated into, this annual report. We have included our website address only as an inactive textual reference and do not intend it to be an active link to our website.

See Exhibit 8.1 for a list of our subsidiaries.

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In addition to the principal properties listed above, we own and lease 64 offices worldwide for sales and administrative purposes. We operate a total of 9 distribution centers globally and over 360 owned retail stores across the Americas, EMEA, Greater China and the rest of Asia Pacific regions, as of December 31, 2023. Owned retail stores are generally leased under operating leases and include renewal options.

We consider the facilities that we use in our business to be suitable and adequate for the purposes for which they are used and do not anticipate difficulty in renewing existing leases as they expire or in finding alternative facilities. We are committed to maintaining all of these properties in good operating condition.

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Founded in 1914 in Chicago, Illinois, Wilson Sporting Goods is a leading manufacturer of high-performance sports equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories. The Wilson Sporting Goods portfolio is made up of the iconic Wilson brand, as well as Louisville Slugger, DeMarini, EvoShield and ATEC. Collectively, these brands bring more than three centuries of innovation, history and heritage to a variety of mainstream sports. As a multi-sports platform, Wilson drives innovation and product excellence by leveraging learnings across the brands’ various disciplines, including tennis, baseball and basketball, among other sports. The Wilson brand has a legacy as the top-of-the-line sports equipment and is associated with legendary athletes, including Roger Federer, Russell Wilson and Jamal Murray. In addition, Wilson is the official partner of professional sports leagues, including the NBA, WNBA, NFL, the US Open and Roland Garros Grand Slam Tennis Championships, as well as the NCAA, making Wilson products integral to performance in sport. These athletes and leagues are a testament to the credibility and reputation of Wilson’s track record of innovation and superior products.

While Arc’teryx, Salomon and Wilson stand tall and lead our three segments, our other brands appropriately fit our sports-oriented portfolio. Brands such as Atomic and Peak Performance enhance our scale, competitive positioning and diversification across sports categories. Together, our brands enable us to lead and compete in various sports segments and drive the continued success of our portfolio.

We excel at identifying, developing and defining brands that meet our corporate vision. We empower these brands to autonomously connect with consumers and develop products to drive growth. Our platform supports the brands via scaled infrastructure and financial controls to accelerate performance. We believe that the size and diversification of our platform mitigates risks and provides financial flexibility to invest prudently to meet the continuously evolving needs of consumers, to develop competitive advantages and to drive growth across the brands through a relentless focus on innovation. We also believe that our platform enables efficient integration, scaling and optimization of target opportunities that fit within our portfolio, as well as critical insight to inform divestiture decisions.

We govern our brands through management across the finance, supply chain, sustainability, communication, legal and compliance functions, among other areas. At the same time, we enable our brands through our group’s incubator model that provides shared learnings from data analytics across the platform as well as from the economies of scale and synergies of shared resources, including supplier services, distribution and logistics, human resources and enterprise IT infrastructure. We further serve our brands through access to shared, centralized business services, including customer service and treasury management functions. All together, these resources empower our brand leadership teams to focus on serving consumers through brand, product and go-to-market strategies that drive performance, and our global and scaled operating model enables larger, robust brand organizations to independently flourish.

Our Business Model

Our brands are guided by a consumer-first mindset and meet consumers exactly where they shop. We generate revenue from the sale of our products through direct-to-consumer and wholesale channels:

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Our Segments

We operate our business through the following three reportable business segments, which reflect how we cluster our brands on the basis of similar consumer, product, marketing and operating factors:

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For additional information about our three reportable business segments, see Note 3, “Segment Reporting,” to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report.

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We believe we have the opportunity to significantly increase the number of new stores globally across our brands. Our owned retail stores, particularly Arc’teryx stores, have demonstrated strong productivity levels and our owned retail rollout strategy looks to repeat and improve store productivity in the future. In addition, e-commerce has grown from 14.5% of our revenue in 2022 to 16.4% in 2023, and we believe we have significant runway to expand our digital penetration as we grow our brands’ awareness across geographies. We believe our DTC strategy provides significant benefits including the ability to personalize and control the consumer experience, generate impactful consumer data insights, capture a larger share of the value chain and improve gross margins in certain geographies, and certain brands and channels, highlighted to date by our Arc’teryx retail store rollout. We generally experience higher gross margins in our DTC channel. Effective implementation of our DTC strategy is integral to the continued growth of our business but it also involves continued investment. As we further penetrate the DTC channel, we expect additional capital expenditures to support our ongoing global owned retail store roll-out.

Our Outdoor Performance and Ball & Racquet Sports segments primarily operate through the wholesale channel. The brands within these segments partner with strategic, premium wholesale partners such as well-known sporting goods retailers and specialty retailers dedicated to outdoor activities such as running. These wholesale partners provide access to our target consumers and drive brand awareness. While we expect to further penetrate the DTC channel across all our brands, including those within the Outdoor Performance and Ball & Racquet Sports segments, the wholesale channel will remain an integral part of our go-to-market strategy and overall growth opportunity, and we intend to maintain our relationships with our wholesale partners and continue to provide new and innovative products as well as brand marketing within the channel.

Ability to Grow into New Geographies

Our market expansion strategy has been a key driver of our recent revenue growth and we have identified additional sizable, growing and underpenetrated geographic markets where we plan to continue to execute our expansion strategy, most notably in North America, Europe and Greater China. Across all of our brands’ markets, we plan to focus on increasing brand awareness, deepening DTC penetration, and optimizing our relationships with key wholesale partners as market conditions permit. We have demonstrated that we have the capabilities to drive growth in various geographic markets; however, our ability to successfully expand our business will depend on a number of factors, including our innovation, marketing efforts and consumer acceptance of our products. We expect that selling and marketing expenses to support these initiatives will continue to grow with anticipated revenue growth as we scale.

Ability to Manage a Global Supply Chain

Due to the multi-brand and global nature of Amer Sports, we operate with a complex global supply chain. While each brand manages its individual supply chain, they leverage the global scale and capabilities of the Amer Sports platform to drive efficiency. Our platform allows us to establish strategic partnerships with key suppliers and retail partners across multiple markets and channels, where we further leverage our scale to drive flexible manufacturing capacity and supply chain optimization. We are focused on the continued growth of our brands’ apparel and footwear products, and as a result we expect the portion of our brands’ products being manufactured by third parties will continue to increase. We are focused on diversifying our supplier network, maintaining multiple manufacturing sources and expanding our distribution footprint.

However, as we continue to scale our own manufacturing facilities, third-party sourcing and logistics footprint and distribution centers, we may be impacted by increased costs relating to our expansion efforts, including with respect to raw materials, labor, transportation and sustainability initiatives in an evolving regulatory and public opinion environment. Disruptions in our supply chain operations due to these or other factors could result in product shortages, declining sales, reputational damage or significant costs. Additionally, increasing geopolitical tensions could result in difficulty utilizing our global supply chain, whether due to sanctions, tariffs, or public perceptions of our operations in certain countries. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Distribution Network and Suppliers—Increasing restrictions or additional requirements on products from certain areas, such as the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, may require us to incur additional costs, disrupt our value chain, or otherwise adversely impact our operations and financial condition.”

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Ability to Manage Inventory

Our ability to grow has been, and will continue to be, dependent on the availability of the right inventory at the right time, at the right place. Our global, data-driven approach to demand planning together with an integrative approach between sales, demand, and supply planning has enabled rapid growth while maintaining premium brand positioning. Incorrect inventory levels could result in missed sales opportunities, higher expenses, including higher freight costs due to a higher share of air-freighted product and increased distribution costs, and higher discounts towards wholesale partners and consumers, as well as higher or lower levels of working capital.

Seasonality

We experience some seasonal fluctuations in our revenue and operating results. Historically, we have realized a slightly higher portion of our revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, primarily due to higher sales through our DTC channel compared to the rest of the year and a higher share of fall and winter collections in our Technical Apparel and Outdoor Performance segments. For example, we generated 30%, 34%, and 33% of our total revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Our Ball & Racquet Sports segment is generally more consistent across fiscal quarters. Working capital requirements typically increase throughout our second and third fiscal quarters as inventory builds to support our peak shipping and selling period which typically occurs from August to December. Cash provided by operating activities is typically highest in our first fiscal quarter due to the significant inflows associated with our peak selling season. We believe our strategy to broaden our assortment within the soft goods categories across all our brands, including for example Arc’teryx’s enhanced focus on spring and summer collections, could lead to increasingly balanced revenue and results of operations throughout the fiscal year.

Foreign Currency Exposure

We report our consolidated financial results in U.S. dollars but have significant non-U.S. operations. The functional currency of Amer Sports, Inc. is the euro. A large portion of our business is conducted in currencies other than U.S. dollars, in particular the euro, the Canadian dollar and Renminbi (“RMB”), and generally the applicable local currency is our functional currency in that locality. As a result, we face foreign currency exposure on the translation of net income, assets and liabilities of our operations in numerous jurisdictions into U.S. dollars, including on our outstanding indebtedness denominated in euro. In fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2022, we generated 68.5% and 64.9%, respectively, of our revenue in currencies other than U.S. dollars, which in fiscal year 2023 included 18.7% in euros, 8.4% in Canadian dollars and 18.2% in RMB. In the same respective fiscal years, our total purchased and manufactured goods in currencies other than U.S. dollars were 17.4% and 18.9%, which in fiscal year 2023 included 15.7% in euros and 0.8% in RMB. Given the strength of the U.S. dollar against our key foreign currencies, including the euro, the Canadian dollar and RMB, translation into U.S. dollars, for the periods presented results in lower profitability due to foreign currency exposure. In the future, if the U.S. dollar continues to be strong against our local currencies, we will continue to see lower profitability due to foreign currency exposure; however, if the U.S. dollar were to weaken against the euro or RMB, it could result in increased profitability.

Where possible, we manage foreign currency exposure through a variety of methods, including by financing each business unit in its functional currency and concentrating cash flows through centralized entities to limit the number of foreign currencies being utilized for purchases. Additionally, we enter into hedging arrangements to limit our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations for a significant portion of our cash flows, in particular with our most commonly used foreign currencies, including euros, Canadian dollars and RMB. Such hedging arrangements may include foreign exchange forward contracts and options, interest rate swaps, interest rate options and cross-currency swaps. The majority of our hedging arrangements are short-term and are usually rolled forward within the standard business cycle. Nonetheless, it is not practical for us to mitigate all of our foreign currency exposure, nor are we able to accurately predict the possible impact of future foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on our results of operations, due to our constantly changing exposure to various foreign currencies, difficulty in predicting fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar and the significant number of foreign currencies involved. As we continue to expand our global operations, our exposure to foreign currency risk could become more significant.

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Macroeconomic Trends

Macroeconomic factors affect consumer spending patterns and thereby our results of operations. These factors include general economic conditions, inflation, consumer confidence, employment rates, business conditions, the availability of credit, interest rates, tax rates, fuel, energy and freight costs and impacts of public health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors that impact consumer discretionary spending, which remains volatile globally, continue to create a complex and challenging retail environment for us and our retail partners worldwide. By diversifying our supply chain and consumer geographical concentration, we seek to reduce our exposure to impacts on our business from macroeconomic volatility, including as a result of economic downturns in a single region. We intend to continue to evaluate and adjust our operating strategies to help further mitigate any impacts on our results of operations resulting from broader macroeconomic conditions, while remaining focused on the long-term growth of our business.

In addition, changes, potential changes or uncertainties in regulatory and economic conditions or laws and policies governing foreign trade, manufacturing, and development and investment in the territories and countries where we operate, or sell our products could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. In particular, trade tensions have escalated in recent years between the United States and the PRC. There could be legislative actions limiting outsourcing manufacturing and production activities to jurisdictions outside the United States, including through tariffs or penalties. It may be time-consuming and expensive for us to alter our business operations in order to adapt to or comply with any such changes. Further, the emergence of any such trade barriers could adversely affect our operating margins, which exceeds the margins of the business overall in the region. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Litigation and Regulation—Changes to trade policies, tariffs, import/export regulations and anti-competition regulations in the United States, EU, PRC and other jurisdictions, or our failure to comply with such regulations, may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.”

Comparability of Our Results of Operations

Discontinued Operations

During the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we completed the divestitures of our Suunto and Precor businesses, respectively. All income and expenses of each of the Precor and Suunto businesses have been reported as discontinued operations for the full years 2022 and 2021, while the related assets and liabilities have been classified as assets and liabilities held-for-sale as of December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2021, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized impairment charges on the carrying value of Suunto’s net assets in the amounts of $77.5 million. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recognized a loss on disposal on the sale of our Suunto business in the amount of $5.5 million, offset by a $4.8 million gain relating to a final purchase price adjustment relating to the Precor divestiture. During the year ended December 31, 2021 we recognized a gain on disposal in the amount of $116.0 million upon the sale of our Precor business. See Note 29, “Discontinued Operations and Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale,” to our audited consolidated financial statements, included elsewhere in this annual report.

Public Company Costs

Since the completion of our IPO, we have begun, and will continue, to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. In particular, our accounting, legal and personnel-related expenses and insurance costs have begun, and will continue, to increase as we establish more comprehensive compliance and governance functions, establish, maintain and review internal controls over financial reporting, and prepare and distribute periodic reports in accordance with SEC rules. Our financial statements reflect the impact of these expenses.

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Key Financial Metrics

The following table summarizes certain key financial measures for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021. Management regularly reviews a number of metrics, including the following key financial metrics, to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends in our business, prepare financial projections and make strategic decisions. Management believes the non-IFRS financial measures presented below are useful in evaluating our performance, in addition to our financial results prepared in accordance with IFRS. See “—Results of Operations” for additional information and for the comparison discussion between the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, and “—Non-IFRS Financial Measures” for additional information on the non-IFRS financial measures and a reconciliation to the most comparable IFRS financial measures.

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Constant Currency Revenue

As we are a global company, the comparability of our revenue reported in U.S. dollars is also affected by foreign-currency exchange rate fluctuations because the underlying currencies in which we transact change in value over time compared to the U.S. dollar. These rate fluctuations can have a significant effect on our reported results. As a result, in addition to financial measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, our revenue discussions often contain references to constant currency measures, which are calculated by translating the current period reported amounts using the actual exchange rates in use during the comparative prior period, in place of the exchange rates in use during the current period. For a further discussion of how we utilize, and limitations of, this non-IFRS financial measure, see “—Non-IFRS Financial Measures.”

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EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

We define EBITDA as net loss plus income tax expense, finance cost, depreciation and amortization and minus finance income, from both continuing and discontinued operations. We define Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA with adjustments to exclude results from discontinued operations, restructuring expenses, impairment losses on goodwill and intangible assets, expenses related to transaction activities, expenses related to certain legal proceedings and share-based payments. We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin may not be comparable to similarly titled metrics of other companies due to differences in methods of calculation. We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue. For a reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to net loss and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA Margin to net loss margin and for a further discussion of how we utilize, and limitations of, these non-IFRS measures see “—Non-IFRS Financial Measures.”

Adjusted Net Income

We define Adjusted Net Income as net loss with adjustments for loss from discontinued operations, restructuring expenses, impairment losses on goodwill and intangible assets, expenses related to transaction activities, expenses related to certain legal proceedings, share-based payments and related income tax expense. Adjusted Net Income may not be comparable to similarly titled metrics of other companies due to differences in methods of calculation. For a reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to net loss and for a further discussion of how we utilize, and limitations of, this non-IFRS measure see “—Non-IFRS Financial Measures.”

Segment Adjusted Operating Profit

We define Segment Adjusted Operating Profit as loss before tax for the segment plus finance cost and minus finance income with adjustments for certain purchase price adjustments, restructuring expenses, impairment losses on goodwill and intangible assets, expenses related to transaction activities and expenses related to certain legal proceedings. Segment Adjusted Operating Profit is a measure of operating performance of our reportable segments and may not be comparable to similar measures reported by other companies.

Segment Adjusted Operating Profit is a performance metric utilized by the Company’s Chief Operating Decision Maker to allocate resources to and assess performance of the Company’s segments. See Note 3, “Segment Reporting,” to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report.

Components of Our Results of Operations

Revenue

Revenue primarily consists of sales of our products, but also includes limited services and license fees. Revenue can fluctuate as a result of changes in volume, price, product and channel mix and foreign currency exchange rates. Revenue is recognized at the point in time when control of the products or services are transferred to the customer in accordance with the terms of delivery. Revenue from the sale of products within the DTC channel is generally recognized upon delivery for e-commerce customers or at the point the customer purchases the goods at our owned retail stores. Revenue within the DTC channel is revenue net of any value added tax, discounts, incentives, rebates or estimated returns. Revenue from the sales of products within the wholesale channel is generally recognized when the goods have been delivered to the wholesale partner’s specified location, when we deliver the goods to the carrier or when the wholesale partner obtains the goods from our warehouses. Following delivery, the wholesale partner has the primary responsibility for onward sales and bears the risks of obsolescence and loss. Revenue within the wholesale channel is revenue net of any discounts, incentives or rebates. Revenue from services, which primarily comprise freight services to customers of our goods, is recognized at the point in time upon the delivery of the goods when the control has been transferred to the customer. Revenue from license fees is recognized as a component of our wholesale revenue when the applicable counterparty manufactures or sells products bearing our trademarks. License income based on fixed license agreements is recognized evenly throughout the financial year, while license income determined by sales volumes is recognized during the financial year as the licensee generates sales revenue.

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We generally offer DTC customers of our products the right to return or exchange merchandise purchased within 14–30 days of receipt, while certain of our contracts provide wholesale partners a right to return goods within a specified period. A refund liability is recognized as a reduction of sales and a right of return asset is recognized as a reduction of cost of goods sold, based on both historical experience and anticipated future returns.

Cost of Goods Sold

Cost of goods sold consist primarily of all costs directly related to generating revenue. Cost of goods sold can fluctuate as a result of changes in volume, product mix, foreign currency exchange rates and inflation.

Cost of goods sold for our owned manufactured goods includes all raw materials, labor and related overhead. Cost of goods sold for sourced goods includes the purchase costs and related overhead. Overhead includes all costs related to manufacturing or sourcing goods, including costs of planning, purchasing, quality control, depreciation and amortization of owned manufacturing facilities and equipment, amortization of intangible assets, employee compensation, inbound and outbound freight, duties, non-refundable taxes and shrink and valuation reserves.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling expenses include expenses to support our wholesale partner relationships and consumer support teams and enable the delivery of products to wholesale partners and consumers through our e-commerce platform and owned retail stores. These expenses include: personnel expenses for sales and technical representatives, warehouses, our owned websites, processing fees in the DTC channel and depreciation expenses.

Furthermore, selling expenses include advertising and marketing promotions, both offline and digital campaigns as well as trade marketing and consumer marketing, including sponsorships and endorsements of our products, as well as related overhead costs. We intend to continue to invest in our marketing capabilities in the future and expect this expense to increase in absolute dollars in future periods as we release new products and expand into new geographies. Marketing expense as a percentage of total revenue may fluctuate from period to period based on total revenue and the timing of our investments in marketing functions as these investments may vary in scope and scale over future periods.

General expenses include research and development (“R&D”) expenses, certain non-recurring expenses such as minor losses on sale of assets and unrealized foreign exchange losses related to the revaluation of accounts receivable or accounts payable balances of non-operational currencies in entities dealing with several currencies.

Administrative expenses consist of costs incurred in our corporate offices, primarily related to personnel costs, including salaries, variable incentive compensation, benefits, other professional service costs, corporate facilities costs, costs related to accounting and professional fees as well as IT, depreciation, amortization related to software and patents and other rights. We have invested considerably in this area to support the growing volume and complexity of the business and anticipate continuing to do so in the future. In addition, we incurred certain transaction-related costs in connection with our IPO.

Impairment Losses

Impairment losses consist of impairments on goodwill and certain trademarks of the Peak Performance business, which were recorded in 2022, as well as losses on trade receivables.

Other Operating Income

Other operating income consists of government subsidies (including COVID-19 pandemic-related subsidies and certain other economic subsidies), insurance compensation for general business losses, gains on the sale of non-current assets as well as other non-recurring income, such as patent settlements.

Finance Income

Finance income consists of interest earned on cash and equivalent balances and other financial income.

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Finance Cost

Finance cost consists of interest cost on loans, lease obligations, pensions and derivatives, as well as foreign exchange gains and losses and other finance costs.

Income Tax Expense

Taxation consists primarily of current and deferred income tax and a small component of withholding tax.

Loss from Discontinued Operations, net of tax

Loss from discontinued operations consists of gains and losses on the sale of discontinued operations and operational results until the sale of businesses reported as discontinued operations.

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Revenue for 2023 increased by $819.6 million, or 23.1%, compared to 2022, primarily driven by strong growth in the Technical Apparel segment, which was driven by new store openings, comparable store sales growth, e-commerce expansion, as well as a rebound in Greater China following the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2022. The Outdoor Performance segment also experienced healthy growth driven by footwear, our performance in Greater China, and the benefit of product supply normalizing following the pandemic. Ball & Racquet Sports rose more moderately as growth in basketball and sportswear offset softer baseball and golf sales which led to targeted promotional actions in these categories to clear excess inventory in the fourth quarter. Revenue on a constant currency basis for 2023 increased by $854.8 million, or 24.1%, compared to 2022.

Revenue generated by the wholesale channel for 2023 increased by $306.9 million, or 12.3%, to $2,809.6 million, compared to $2,502.7 million in 2022, primarily driven by increased sales volume due to supply chain recovery which allowed retailers to accelerate re-stocking as supply chains ramped up in Greater China and Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China). Revenue generated by the DTC channel for 2023 increased by $512.7 million, or 49.0%, to $1,558.8 million, compared to $1,046.1 million in 2022, primarily driven by an increase in consumer demand in North America and Greater China and a net opening of 38 owned retail stores, and an increase in total e-commerce sales of $204.6 million, or 39.8%, to $718.4 million in 2023, compared to $513.8 million in 2022. This increase in total e-commerce sales was in turn driven by an 34% increase in the total traffic to our owned e-commerce websites compared to 2022.

Revenue increased in 2023 across all geographic regions, led by Greater China and Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China). The Americas grew by $222.4 million, or 14.8%, driven mainly by Technical Apparel and DTC channel growth. Greater China grew by $317.6 million, or 60.6%, driven by brand’s acceleration plans and an increased consumer demand following the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2022, mainly in the Technical Apparel and Outdoor Performance segments. Revenue in EMEA grew by $179.6 million, or 14.1%, driven by improved sales in the Outdoor Performance segment through the wholesale channel. Revenue in Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China) grew by $100.1 million, or 40.1%, driven by increased sales volume in the Technical Apparel segment, followed by Outdoor Performance.

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Cost of Goods Sold

Cost of goods sold for 2023 increased by $307.1 million, or 17.2%, to $2,092.3 million, compared to $1,785.2 million in 2022, primarily due to volume growth driven by an increase in consumer demand across each of our reportable segments.

Gross Profit

Gross profit for 2023 increased by $512.5 million, or 29.1%, to $2,276.2 million, compared to $1,763.6 million in 2022. Gross margin for 2023 was 52.1%, compared to 49.7% for 2022. The increase was primarily due to channel and geographic mix improvements, which were driven in part by increased sales through our higher gross margin DTC channel. Lower logistics costs, particularly for air and sea freight, improved the gross margin compared to the prior period, but were partially offset by increases in raw material and labor costs and increased discounting to clear inventory.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the fiscal year 2023 increased by $459.8 million, or 30.2%, to $1,982.5 million, compared to $1,522.7 million in 2022. The increase was due to both, higher selling and marketing costs as well as higher administrative expenses. The increase in selling and marketing expenses was primarily due to a higher share of DTC sales, a general growth of total sales, a net increase in total store count, an increase in online and offline marketing expenses, additional operating costs of e-commerce systems, higher warehousing costs with additional need of overflow and higher personnel costs from an increase in headcount. Administrative expenses increased primarily due to transaction costs in connection with the IPO, an increase in personnel costs consisting mainly of expenses relating to share based compensation and an expansion in leadership teams, both at segment and group levels, and expenses for post go-live activities related to the implementation of a new SAP ERP system to facilitate future growth.

Impairment Losses

Impairment losses for 2023 decreased by $199.3 million, to $2.4 million, compared to $201.7 million in 2022. This decrease in 2023 was due to higher impairment losses in 2022 which primarily consisted of a $179.0 million impairment loss on goodwill and a $19.1 million impairment loss on certain trademarks, each recognized by our Peak Performance business unit.

Other Operating Income

Other operating income remained relatively stable for 2023 and decreased slightly by $0.2 million, or 1.8%, to $11.2 million, compared to $11.4 million in 2022.

Operating Profit

Operating profit for 2023 increased by $251.9 million, or 497.7%, to $302.5 million, compared to $50.6 million in 2022. This was driven by all effects analyzed above, primarily by impairment losses of $198.1 million for Peak Performance in 2022, and by an increase in revenue and gross profit in 2023, while the improvements in gross profit margin were partially offset by an increase in operating expenses.

Finance Income

Finance income for 2023 increased by $3.1 million, or 93.9%, to $6.4 million, compared to $3.3 million in 2022. This was primarily driven by increased interest income.

Finance Cost

Finance cost for 2023 increased by $176.9 million, or 74.8%, to $413.4 million, compared to $236.5 million in 2022. This was primarily driven by higher interest expenses related to loans from related parties and other interest-bearing debts as a result of higher interest rates.

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Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense for 2023 increased by $55.9 million, or 115.7%, to $104.2 million, compared to $48.3 million in 2022. Our effective income tax rate was (100)% for 2023, compared to (26)% for 2022. The increase in the effective income tax rate was primarily due to negative earnings before taxes, mainly due to non-deductible interest expenses in certain jurisdictions, while certain other jurisdictions generated high taxable income.

Loss from Discontinued Operations, net of tax

Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax for 2023 decreased by $21.8 million, to nil, compared to $21.8 million in 2022. Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax in 2022, only included losses generated by Suunto for the period until disposal on May 6, 2022, including a loss on disposal of $5.5 million, partially offset by a gain of $4.8 million relating to a final purchase price adjustment paid in 2022 relating to the Precor disposal.

Segment Results of Operations

Our management evaluates operating performance and makes investment and other decisions based on segment revenue and Segment Adjusted Operating Profit. Costs allocated to the segments include certain centralized functions provided and administered by the Amer Sports group, such as costs related to sourcing, warehousing, distribution and transportation, our global business services center and information technology, based on appropriate metrics such as headcount, activity, usage or proportion of revenue.

Unallocated costs include costs related to supply chain management, general executive management, cybersecurity and other group functions such as finance, internal audit, tax, legal and human resources.

The following tables set forth certain financial information for our reportable segments for the periods presented.

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The following table sets forth certain operating data for our Technical Apparel segment.

The following table sets forth our segment revenue disaggregated by channel.

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Total segment revenue for 2023 increased by $497.3 million, or 45.4%, to $1,592.8 million, compared to $1,095.5 million in 2022. This was primarily driven by sales growth of 385.3 million in the DTC channel, or 56.7%, through continued momentum in our retail stores and e-commerce business. We expanded our retail store network with a net increase of 15 owned retail stores, while strong consumer demand drove increased store productivity. Segment revenue from e-commerce increased from $263.8 million in 2022 to $405.0 million in 2023 due to higher traffic to our owned e-commerce websites. By geography, segment revenue in the DTC channel in the Americas grew by 62.9% in 2023 as compared to 2022, and in Greater China by 58.0% in 2023 as compared to 2022, with China experiencing a strong rebound from COVID-19 restrictions in 2022. Revenues from our wholesale channel increased $112.0 million, or 26.9% due to an increase in wholesale shipments for 2023 as compared to 2022. Segment revenue on a constant currency basis for 2023 increased by $547.0 million, or 49.9%, compared to 2022.

Segment Adjusted Operating Profit for 2023 increased by $143.1 million, or 83.5%, to $314.4 million, compared to $171.4 million in 2022. This was primarily driven by gross margin improvement related to favorable channel and geographic mix, with increased sales through the DTC channel together with a slower increase in operating expenses.

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The following table sets forth our segment revenue disaggregated by channel.

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Total segment revenue for 2023 increased by $251.3 million, or 17.7%, to $1,667.8 million, compared to $1,416.5 million in 2022. This was primarily driven by growth in footwear, performance in Greater China, and the benefit of product supply normalizing following the pandemic. Segment revenue on a constant currency basis for 2023 increased by $234.8 million, or 16.6%, compared to 2022.

Segment Adjusted Operating Profit for 2023 increased by $33.6 million, or 28.6%, to $151.3 million, compared to $117.6 million in 2022. This was primarily driven by the increase in revenue and gross margin improvement from shifting channel and product mix, as well as lower logistics costs, partially offset by increased operating expenses.

Total segment revenue for 2023 increased by $71.1 million, or 6.9%, to $1,107.8 million, compared to $1,036.7 million in 2022. The growth was primarily driven by growth in sales of inflatable balls, including basketballs, footballs, volleyballs and soccer balls, which was offset by slower sales in tennis, baseball and golf. Overall difficult market conditions led to targeted promotional actions to clear excess inventory in the fourth quarter. Segment revenue on a constant currency basis for 2022 increased by $72.9 million, or 7.0%, compared to 2022.

Segment Adjusted Operating Profit for 2023 decreased by $30.2 million, or 49.7%, to $30.6 million, compared to $60.9 million in 2022. This was primarily due to operating expense deleverage as operating expenses grew faster than sales. Ball & Racquet Sports also experienced moderate decrease in gross margin due to challenging market conditions and a promotional environment.

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Non-IFRS Financial Measures

Management uses certain non-IFRS financial measures to supplement the financial measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, which include constant currency revenue, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Adjusted Net Income. We use constant currency revenue information to provide a framework to assess how our business segments performed excluding the effects of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Management believes that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin enhance an investor’s understanding of our financial and operating performance from period to period, because they exclude certain material items relating to income tax expense, finance cost and depreciation and amortization which are not reflective of our ongoing operations and performance. Management believes Adjusted Net Income enhances an investor’s understanding of our financial and operating performance because it excludes certain material items relating to discontinued operations and impairment losses on goodwill and intangible assets which are not reflective of our ongoing operations and performance. In addition, management believes constant currency revenue, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Adjusted Net Income are measures commonly used by investors to evaluate companies in the apparel, footwear, sports equipment, protective gear and accessories industries.

However, there are limitations to the use of these non-IFRS financial measures as analytical tools and they should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for other financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS and may not be comparable to similarly titled non-IFRS measures used by other companies. Constant currency revenue is limited as a metric to review the Company’s financial results as it does not reflect impacts of foreign currency on revenue. Some of the limitations of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin include: excluding certain tax payments that may reduce cash available to us; not reflecting any cash capital expenditure requirements for the assets being depreciated and amortized that may have to be replaced in the future; not reflecting changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs; and not reflecting the interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our debt. Some of the limitations of Adjusted Net Income include: excluding the impact of restructuring expenses, expenses related to transaction activities and expenses related to certain legal proceedings.

The tables below reconcile each of the following non-IFRS financial measures to their respective most directly comparable IFRS measure for the periods presented.

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Includes finance cost from discontinued operations of nil and $0.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Includes depreciation and amortization from discontinued operations of nil and $2.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

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To the extent that current and anticipated future sources of liquidity are insufficient to fund our future business activities and requirements, we may be required to seek additional equity or debt financing. The sale of additional equity would result in additional dilution to shareholders. The incurrence of debt financing would result in debt service obligations and the instruments governing such debt could provide for operating and financing covenants that may restrict our operations. We also regularly evaluate market conditions, our liquidity profile, and various financing alternatives for opportunities to enhance our capital structure. If market conditions are favorable, we may refinance our existing debt or issue additional securities. There can be no assurances that we will be able to raise additional capital on terms that are attractive to us or at all. The inability to raise capital may adversely affect our ability to achieve our business objectives.

Operating Activities

Cash inflow from operating activities was $199.0 million in 2023 compared to cash outflow from operating activities of $91.7 million in 2022. The year-over-year increase of $290.7 million in cash inflows from operating activities was primarily due to improved operating profit, partially offset by an increase in inventory and higher interest payments.

Investing Activities

Cash outflow from investing activities was $154.8 million in 2023 compared to cash outflow from investing activities of $118.6 million in 2022. The year-over-year increase of $36.2 million in cash outflows from investing activities was due to increased investments in property, plant and equipment, mainly consisting of the expansion of our retail store network.

Our capital expenditures (which we define herein to refer to the acquisition of property, plant and equipment and the acquisition of intangible assets, as presented in our consolidated statement of cash flows) for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 totaled $136.3 million and $109.8 million, respectively.

Financing Activities

Cash inflow from financing activities was $35.0 million in 2023 compared to cash inflow from financing activities of $81.1 million in 2022. The year-over-year decrease of $46.0 million in cash inflows from financing activities was due to lower proceeds from short-term borrowings from financial institutions, higher repayments of long-term borrowings from related parties, partially offset by lower repayments of short-term borrowings from financial institutions.

Indebtedness

6.750% Senior Secured Notes

On February 16, 2024, Amer Sports Company (the “Issuer”), our wholly owned subsidiary, entered into an indenture (the “Indenture”) with The Bank of New York Mellon, as trustee, Wilmington Trust (London) Limited, as notes collateral agent, and the guarantors party thereto, pursuant to which the Issuer issued $800 million principal amount of 6.750% senior secured notes (the “Notes”). Pursuant to the Indenture, the Notes will mature on February 16, 2031. Interest on the Notes are payable semi-annually in arrears on each March 1 and September 1, beginning on September 1, 2024.

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The Notes are jointly and severally guaranteed by the Company and each of the Company’s subsidiaries (other than the Issuer) that is a borrower or a guarantor under the New Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the “Note Guarantors”). The Notes and the guarantees related thereto are senior obligations and are secured, subject to permitted liens and certain other exceptions, by the same first priority liens that secure the obligations of the Issuer and the Note Guarantors under the New Senior Secured Credit Facilities.

The Notes will be redeemable at the option of the Issuer, in whole or in part, on or after February 16, 2027, at the redemption prices set forth in the Indenture.

In addition, prior to February 16, 2027, the Issuer may, at its option and on one or more occasions, redeem up to 10% of the aggregate principal amount of the Notes under the Indenture (including any additional Notes) during any 12-month period at a redemption price equal to 103% of the principal amount of the Notes being redeemed. Prior to February 16, 2027, the Issuer may on any one or more occasions redeem up to 40% of the aggregate principal amount of Notes issued under the indenture at a redemption price of 106.750% of the principal amount thereof, subject to the limitations set forth in the Indenture.

Upon the occurrence of a Change of Control (as defined in the Indenture), unless the Issuer has exercised its right to redeem all of the Notes, as described above, each holder of the Notes will have a right to repurchase all or any part of that holder’s Notes at a purchase price equal to 101% of the aggregate principal amount of Notes repurchased plus accrued and unpaid interest on the Notes repurchased to, but excluding, the date of purchase.

The Indenture contains covenants that limit the ability of the Company and any of its Restricted Subsidiaries (as such term is defined in the Indenture), to, among other things incur or guarantee additional indebtedness, make certain investments and other restricted payments; create liens, enter into transactions with affiliates, engage in mergers, consolidations or amalgamations; and transfer and sell assets. The Indenture also provides for customary events of default.

New Senior Secured Credit Facilities

On February 16, 2024, the Company entered into a Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) among the Company, certain subsidiaries of the Company as borrowers, the financial institutions party thereto as lenders and issuing banks, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as administrative agent, J.P. Morgan SE, as swingline lender, and Wilmington Trust (London) Limited as collateral agent.

The Credit Agreement provides for a U.S. dollar denominated term loan facility of $500 million with a seven-year term to maturity (the “USD Term Loan Facility”), a Euro denominated term loan facility of €700 million with a seven-year term to maturity (the “EUR Term Loan Facility”, and together with the USD Term Loan Facility, the “New Term Loan Facilities”) and a five-year revolving credit facility of $710 million (the “New Revolving Credit Facility”). The USD Term Loan Facility is denominated in U.S. dollars, the EUR Term Loan Facility is denominated in Euros and borrowings under the New Revolving Credit Facility are available in U.S. dollars or Euros.

Interest and Fees

Borrowings under the New Revolving Credit Facility in: (i) U.S. dollars will bear interest at a rate per annum equal to, at the option of the Company, either (a) a term SOFR-based rate or (b) a U.S. dollar base rate and (ii) Euros will bear interest at a rate per annum equal to EURIBOR (provided, however, that the term SOFR-based rate and EURIBOR shall be no less than 0.00% per annum at any time and the U.S. dollar base rate shall be no less than 1.00% per annum at any time), in each case, plus an applicable margin. Borrowings under the (i) USD Term Loan Facility will bear interest at a rate per annum equal to, at the option of the Company, either (x) a term SOFR-based rate or (y) a U.S. dollar base rate and (ii) EUR Term Loan Facility will bear interest at a rate per annum equal to EURIBOR (provided, however, that the term SOFR-based rate and EURIBOR shall be no less than 0.00% per annum at any time and the U.S. dollar base rate shall be no less than 1.00% per annum at any time), in each case, plus an applicable margin.

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The applicable interest rate margins for borrowings under the New Revolving Credit Facility are between 0.75% to 1.75% with respect to U.S. dollar base rate borrowings and between 1.75% to 2.75% with respect to SOFR or EURIBOR borrowings based on the Company’s first lien net leverage ratio (the “Applicable Rate”). The applicable interest rate margins for borrowings under the USD Term Loan Facility are between 2.00% to 2.25% with respect to U.S. dollar base rate borrowings and between 3.00% to 3.25% with respect to SOFR borrowings based on the Company’s senior unsecured non-credit-enhanced long-term debt rating. The applicable interest rate margins for borrowings under the EUR Term Loan Facility are between 3.25% to 3.50% based on the Company’s senior unsecured non-credit-enhanced long-term debt ratings.

In addition, the Company is required to pay quarterly commitment fees equal to 30% of the Applicable Rate then in effect for SOFR borrowings under the New Revolving Credit Facility, on a per annum basis in respect of the unutilized commitments under the New Revolving Credit Facility, payable quarterly in arrears. The Company will also be required to pay letter of credit fees on the maximum amount available to be drawn under all outstanding letters of credit in an amount equal to the Applicable Rate on SOFR borrowings under the New Revolving Credit Facility on a per annum basis, payable quarterly in arrears, as well as customary fronting fees for the issuance of letters of credit and agency fees.

Amortization

The amortization rate for the USD Term Loan Facility is 1.00% per annum, payable in quarterly installments, and the first installment in respect of the USD Term Loan Facility is payable on June 30, 2024. The EUR Term Loan Facility is not expected to be subject to scheduled amortization payments. The Company may direct that prepayments be applied to such amortization payments in order of maturity.

Collateral and Guarantors

The New Senior Secured Credit Facilities is secured by substantially all of the assets of the Company and certain wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company that are organized in the United States, Austria, Canada, Switzerland, Cayman Islands, Finland, France, Hong Kong and Sweden, subject to certain exceptions and subject to the agreed security principles with respect to any such subsidiaries that are not organized in the United States or Canada.

The obligations of the Company and the obligations of the guarantors under the New Senior Secured Credit Facilities and certain hedging arrangements and cash management arrangements entered into with lenders under the New Senior Secured Credit Facilities (or affiliates thereof) are secured by first-priority security interests in the collateral securing such facilities subject to certain exclusions set forth in the credit documentation governing the New Senior Secured Credit Facilities.

Prepayments

Subject to certain exceptions and customary baskets set forth in the Credit Agreement, the Company is required to make mandatory prepayments of the loans under the New Term Loan Facilities under certain circumstances, including from: (i) 100% of the net cash proceeds of insurance and condemnation proceeds for property or asset losses (subject to reinvestment rights, decreases based on leverage ratios and a net proceeds threshold), (ii) 100% of the net cash proceeds from the incurrence of debt (other than permitted debt under the Credit Agreement), (iii) 50% of excess cash flow subject to decrease based on leverage ratios and subject to a threshold amount and (iv) 100% of net cash proceeds from asset sales (subject to reinvestment rights, decrease based on leverage ratios and net proceeds threshold). These mandatory prepayments may be used to satisfy future amortization.

The Company is permitted to voluntarily reduce the unutilized portion of the revolving commitment amount and repay outstanding loans under the New Revolving Credit Facility at any time without premium or penalty, other than customary “breakage” costs with respect to SOFR and EURIBOR loans. The Company is permitted to voluntarily repay outstanding loans under the New Term Loan Facilities at any time without premium or penalty; provided that that any voluntary prepayment, refinancing or repricing of the New Term Loan Facilities in connection with certain repricing transactions that occur prior to the six-month anniversary of the closing of the New Senior Secured Credit Facilities shall be subject to a prepayment premium of 1.00% of the principal amount of the term loans so prepaid, refinanced or repriced.

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Certain Covenants and Events of Default