As referenced, this Annual Report on Form 10-K includes certain forward-looking statements regarding various matters. The ultimate correctness of those forward-looking statements is dependent upon a number of known and unknown risks and events, and is subject to various uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be different from

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those expressed or implied by those statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on those forward-looking statements. The following important factors, among others, as well as those factors set forth in our other Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings from time to time, could affect future results and events, causing results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements.

Our operating results may fluctuate due to a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control.

Our annual and quarterly operating results are affected by a number of factors, including:

The volume and timing of orders placed by our customers vary due to variation in demand for our customers’ products; our customers’ attempts to manage their inventory; product design changes; changes in our customers’ manufacturing strategies; and acquisitions of or consolidations among our customers. In addition, our sales associated with consumer related products are subject to seasonal influences. We may realize greater revenue during our first fiscal quarter due to higher demand for consumer related products during the holiday selling season. In the past, changes in customer orders that reduce net revenue have had a significant effect on our results of operations as a result of our overhead remaining relatively fixed while our net revenue decreased. Any one or a combination of these factors could adversely affect our annual and quarterly results of operations in the future. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations.”

Because we depend on a limited number of customers, a reduction in sales to any one of those customers could cause a significant decline in our revenue.

During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2015, our five largest customers accounted for approximately 50% of our net revenue and 81 customers accounted for approximately 90% of our net revenue. In some instances, particular manufacturing services we provide for such customers represent a significant portion of the overall revenue we receive from that customer. We currently depend, and expect to continue to depend, upon a relatively small number of customers for a significant percentage of our net revenue and upon their growth, viability and financial stability. We have recently experienced increased dependence and expect this dependence to continue. If any of those customers experiences a decline in the demand (anticipated or unanticipated) for one or more of its products

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due to economic or other forces, it may reduce its purchases from us or terminate its relationship with us. Our customers’ industries have experienced rapid technological change, shortening of product life cycles, consolidation, and pricing and margin pressures. Consolidation among our customers may further reduce the number of customers that generate a significant percentage of our net revenue and exposes us to increased risks relating to dependence on a smaller number of customers. A significant reduction in sales to any of our customers or the exercising by certain customers of pricing and margin pressure on us, which reduction or exercise have occurred in certain instances in the past and which are exacerbated for larger customers, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. In the past, we have incurred certain inventory write-offs and equipment write-offs and some of our customers have terminated their manufacturing arrangements with us or have significantly reduced or delayed the volume of design, production or product management services ordered from us, including moving a portion of their manufacturing from us in order to more fully utilize their excess internal manufacturing capacity, which could happen again in the future. In other cases, we have terminated customer manufacturing arrangements. A terminated customer manufacturing arrangement (whether terminated by the customer or by us) or a reduction in manufacturing services ordered from us can result in one or more of the following adverse effects on our business: a decline in revenue; less revenue to absorb fixed costs and overhead; severance costs; charges for bad debts, inventory write-offs, equipment write-offs and lease write-offs; other potential disengagement costs; a decrease in inventory turns; an increase in days that products remain in inventory and an increase in days that accounts receivable remain outstanding. We often, however, have an indemnification remedy which can mitigate some of these adverse effects if the customer has sufficient funds to satisfy any such indemnification obligation. Some of the risks described above may not only exist with respect to a particular customer, but also with respect to manufacturing services with respect to a particular customer product for larger customers where a significant portion of the overall revenue we receive from such customer relates to such services for such product. Accordingly, if any of our customers’ products experiences a decline in demand (anticipated or unanticipated), the applicable customer may reduce its purchases from us or terminate their relationship with us. This could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

During past economic cycles, our revenue declined as consumers and businesses postponed spending in response to tighter credit, negative financial news, declines in income or asset values or general uncertainty about global economic conditions. These economic conditions had a negative impact on our results of operations and similar conditions may exist in the future. We cannot assure you that present or future customers will not terminate their design, production and product management services arrangements with us or significantly change, reduce or delay the amount of services ordered from us. If they do, such termination, change, reduction or delay could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, if one or more of our customers were to become insolvent or otherwise were unable to pay for the services provided by us on a timely basis, or at all, our operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected. Also, our operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected by the potential recovery by the bankruptcy estate of amounts previously paid to us by a customer that later became insolvent. Such adverse effects could include one or more of the following: a decline in revenue, less revenue to absorb fixed costs and overhead, a charge for bad debts, a charge for inventory write-offs, a charge for equipment write-offs, a charge for lease write-offs, a decrease in inventory turns, an increase in days that products remain in inventory and an increase in days in which accounts receivable remain outstanding.

Certain of the industries to which we provide services have experienced significant financial difficulty during the recent recession, with some of the participants filing for bankruptcy. Such significant financial difficulty has negatively affected our business and, if further experienced by one or more of our customers, may further negatively affect our business due to the decreased demand of these financially distressed customers, the potential inability of these companies to make full payment on amounts owed to us, or both. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors – We face certain risks in collecting our trade accounts receivable.”

Our customers face numerous competitive challenges, such as decreasing demand from their customers, rapid technological change and short life cycles for their products, which may materially adversely affect their business, and also ours.

Factors affecting the industries that utilize our services in general, and our customers specifically, could seriously harm our customers and, as a result, us. These factors include:

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Also, our Diversified Manufacturing Services (“DMS”) segment is highly dependent on the consumer products industry. This business is very competitive (both for us and our customers) and often subject to shorter product lifecycles, shifting end-user preferences, higher revenue volatility and programs that may be shifted among competitors in our industry that may impact customer orders thus reducing net revenue and our ability to cover fixed costs. As a result, these risks heighten our exposure to this end market which could adversely affect our results of operations.

At times our customers have been, and may be in the future, unsuccessful in addressing these competitive challenges, or any others that they may face, and their business has been, and may be in the future, materially adversely affected. As a result, the demand for our services has at times declined and may decline in the future. Even if our customers are successful in responding to these challenges, their responses may have consequences which affect our business relationships with our customers (and possibly our results of operations) by altering our production cycles and inventory management.

The success of our business is dependent on both our ability to independently keep pace with technological changes and competitive conditions in our industry, and also our ability to effectively adapt our services in response to our customers keeping pace with technological changes and competitive conditions in their respective industries.

If we are unable to offer technologically advanced, cost effective, quick response manufacturing services that are differentiated from our competition, demand for our services will decline. In addition, if we are unable to offer services in response to our customers’ changing requirements, then demand for our services will also decline. A substantial portion of our net revenue is derived from our offering of complete service solutions for our customers. For example, if we fail to maintain high-quality design and engineering services, our net revenue may significantly decline.

Consolidation in industries that utilize our services may adversely affect our business.

Consolidation in industries that utilize our services may further increase as companies combine to achieve further economies of scale and other synergies, which could result in an increase in excess manufacturing capacity as companies seek to divest manufacturing operations or eliminate duplicative product lines. Excess manufacturing capacity may increase pricing and competitive pressures for our industry as a whole and for us in particular. Consolidation could also result in an increasing number of very large companies offering products in multiple industries. The significant purchasing power and market power of these large companies could increase pricing and competitive pressures for us. If one of our customers is acquired by another company that does not rely on us to provide services and has its own production facilities or relies on another provider of similar services, we may lose that customer’s business. Such consolidation among our customers may further reduce the number of customers that generate a significant percentage of our net revenue and expose us to increased risks relating to dependence on a small number of customers. Any of the foregoing results of industry consolidation could adversely affect our business.

Most of our customers do not commit to long-term production schedules, which makes it difficult for us to schedule production and capital expenditures, and to maximize the efficiency of our manufacturing capacity.

The volume and timing of sales to our customers may vary due to:

Due in part to these factors, most of our customers do not commit to firm production schedules for more than one quarter. Our inability to forecast the level of customer orders for a customer’s products with certainty makes it difficult to schedule production and maximize utilization of manufacturing capacity. In the past, we have been required to increase staffing and other expenses in order to meet the anticipated demand of our customers or a customer’s specific product. Anticipated orders from many of our customers have, in the past, failed to materialize, delivery schedules have been deferred or production has unexpectedly decreased, slowed down or stopped as a result of changes in our customers’ business needs, thereby adversely affecting our results of operations. On other occasions, our customers have required rapid increases in production, which have placed an excessive burden on our resources. Such customer order fluctuations and deferrals have had a material adverse effect on us in the past and we may experience such effects in the future. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” In addition to our difficulty in forecasting customer orders, we sometimes experience difficulty forecasting the timing of our receipt of revenue and earnings following commencement of providing manufacturing services for an additional product for new or existing customers. The necessary process to begin this commencement of manufacturing can take from several months to more than a year before production begins. Delays in the completion of this process can delay the timing of our sales and related earnings. In addition, because we make capital expenditures during this ramping process and do not typically recognize revenue until after we produce and ship the customer’s

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products, any delays or unanticipated costs in the ramping process may have a significant adverse effect on our cash flows and our results of operations, particularly when our contractual or legal remedies are insufficient to avoid or mitigate such unanticipated costs which can be exacerbated with large customers. These difficulties can be exacerbated when providing services for a specific customer product from which we generate a significant amount of our revenue. An increasing portion of our revenues have come from our largest customer, and servicing that customer requires an increased level of capital expenditures by us. See – “Risk Factors – Because we depend on a limited number of customers, a reduction in sales to any one of those customers could cause a significant decline in our revenue.”

Our customers may cancel their orders, change production quantities, delay production or change their sourcing strategy.

Our industry must provide increasingly rapid product turnaround for its customers. We generally do not obtain firm, long-term purchase commitments from our customers for any of their products and we continue to experience reduced lead-times in customer orders. Customers have previously canceled their orders, changed production quantities, delayed production and changed their sourcing strategy for a number of reasons with respect to one or more of their products, and may take one or more of these actions again in the future. Such changes, delays and cancellations have led to, and may lead in the future to a decline in our production and our possession of excess or obsolete inventory that we may not be able to sell to customers or third parties. This has resulted in, and could result in future additional, write downs of inventories that have become obsolete or exceed anticipated demand or net realizable value. Although we attempt to negotiate contractual language with our customers to avoid or mitigate these risks, they may be exacerbated when the inventory is for a specific product that represents a significant amount of our revenue.

The success of one or more of our customers’ products in the market affects our business. Cancellations, reductions, delays or changes in sourcing strategy with respect to one or more significant products by a significant customer or by a group of customers have negatively impacted, and could further negatively impact in the future, our operating results by reducing the number of products that we sell, delaying the payment to us for inventory that we purchased and reducing the use of our manufacturing facilities which have associated fixed costs not dependent on our level of revenue.

In addition, we make significant decisions, including determining the levels of business that we will seek and accept, production schedules, component procurement commitments, personnel needs and other resource requirements, based on our estimate of customer requirements for one or more of their products. The following factors, among others, reduce our ability to accurately estimate future customer requirements, forecast operating results and make production planning decisions: the short-term nature of our customers’ commitments for us to build their products; their uncertainty about, among other things, future economic conditions and other events, such as natural disasters; and the possibility of rapid changes in demand for one or more of their products.

On occasion, customers may require rapid increases in production for one or more of their products, which can stress our resources and reduce operating margins. In addition, because many of our costs and operating expenses are relatively fixed, a reduction in customer demand, particularly a reduction in demand for any particular customer product that represents a significant amount of our revenue, can harm our gross profit and operating results.

We depend on a limited number of suppliers for components that are critical to our manufacturing processes. A shortage of these components or an increase in their price could interrupt our operations and reduce our profit, increase our inventory carrying costs, increase our risk of exposure to inventory obsolescence and cause us to purchase components of a lesser quality.

Most of our significant long-term customer contracts permit quarterly or other periodic adjustments to pricing based on decreases and increases in component prices and other factors; however, we typically bear the risk of component price increases that occur between any such re-pricings or, if such re-pricing is not permitted, during the balance of the term of the particular customer contract. Accordingly, certain component price increases could adversely affect our gross profit margins.

Almost all of the products we manufacture require one or more components that are only available from a single source. Some of these components are allocated from time to time in response to supply shortages. In some cases, supply shortages will substantially curtail production of all assemblies using a particular component. A supply shortage can also increase our cost of goods sold, as a result of our having to pay higher prices for components in limited supply, and cause us to have to redesign or reconfigure products to accommodate a substitute component. At various times industry-wide shortages of electronic components have occurred, particularly of semiconductor, relay and capacitor products. We believe these past shortages were due to increased economic activity following recessionary conditions. In addition, natural disasters and global events could cause material shortages. In the past, such circumstances have produced insignificant levels of short-term interruption of our operations, but could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the future. Portions of the Dodd-Frank Act require some companies, including ours, to conduct due diligence, make disclosures and file reports regarding the source of certain minerals that may be contained in their products that are originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) and adjoining countries. These requirements may decrease the supply of such minerals, increase their cost and/or disrupt our supply chain if we decide, or are instructed by our customers, to obtain components from different suppliers.

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Our production of a customer’s product could be negatively impacted by any quality or reliability issues with any of our component suppliers. The financial condition of our suppliers could affect their ability to supply us with components and their ability to satisfy any warranty obligations they may have, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

If a component shortage is threatened or we anticipate one, we may purchase such component early to avoid a delay or interruption in our operations. A possible result of such an early purchase is that we may incur additional inventory carrying costs, for which we may not be compensated, and have a heightened risk of exposure to inventory obsolescence, the cost of which may not be recoverable from our customers. Such costs would adversely affect our gross profit and net income. A component shortage may also require us to look to second tier vendors or to procure components through brokers with whom we are not familiar. These components may be of lesser quality than those we have historically purchased and could cause us to incur costs to bring such components up to our typical quality levels or to replace defective ones. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business – Components Procurement.”

Introducing new business models or programs requiring implementation of new competencies, such as new process technologies and our development of new products or services for customers, could affect our operations and financial results.

The introduction of new business models or programs requiring implementation or development of new competencies, such as new process technology within our operations and our independent development of new products or services for customers, presents challenges in addition to opportunities. The success of new business models or programs depends on a number of factors including, but not limited to, a sufficient understanding of the new business or markets, timely and successful product development (by us and/or our customer), market acceptance, our ability to manage the risks associated with new product production ramp-up, the effective management of purchase commitments and inventory levels in line with anticipated product demand, our development or acquisition of appropriate intellectual property, the availability of supplies in adequate quantities and at appropriate costs to meet anticipated demand, and the risk that new products may have quality or other defects in the early stages of introduction. Accordingly, we cannot determine in advance the ultimate result of new business models or programs.

As a result, we must make long-term investments, develop or obtain appropriate intellectual property and commit significant resources before knowing whether our assumptions will accurately reflect customer demand for our services. After the development of a new business model or program, we must be able to manufacture appropriate volumes quickly and at low cost. To accomplish this, we endeavor to accurately forecast volumes, mixes of products and configurations that meet customer requirements; however, we may not succeed at doing so. Any delay in development or production could harm our competitive position. We may not meet our customers’ expectations or otherwise execute properly, timely, or in a cost-efficient manner, which could damage our customer relationships and result in remedial costs or the loss of our invested capital and anticipated revenues and profits. In addition, the early stages of these types of new business models or programs can be less efficient, and less profitable, than those of mature programs and/or programs developed in collaboration with customers who have experience with outsourcing. Also, restrictions imposed by certain customers prevent us from fully pursuing other business in such customers’ industries or other business that would compete with such customers’ products or technologies.

While we attempt to negotiate contractual terms to avoid or mitigate some of these potential costs or losses, we are not always successful. Also, in certain instances, a customer contract does not exist or its language does not cover a particular situation, so we have to rely on non-contractual legal remedies. In these situations, we must negotiate a manner to address the situation as costs or losses occur which carries with it the potential risk to lose customers and/or revenue. In addition, as we have experienced on occasion, there are risks of market acceptance and product performance that could result in less demand than anticipated and our having excess capacity, which could lead to significant unrecovered costs for us. The failure to ensure that our agreed terms appropriately reflect the anticipated costs, risks, and rewards of such an opportunity could adversely affect our profitability.

Customer relationships with emerging companies may present more risks than with established companies.

Customer relationships with emerging companies, an area of increasing activity for us, present special risks because such companies do not have an extensive product history. As a result, there is less demonstration of market acceptance of their products making it harder for us to anticipate needs and requirements than with established customers. In addition, due to their relatively recent entrance into the commercial market, additional funding for such companies may be more difficult to obtain and these customer relationships may not continue or materialize to the extent we planned or we previously experienced. As a result of many start-up customers’ lack of prior operations and unproven product markets, our credit risk, especially in trade accounts receivable and inventories, and the risk that these customers will be unable to fulfill their potentially significant obligation to indemnify us from various liabilities are potentially increased. We sometimes offer these customers extended payment terms, loans, services and other support that may increase our financial exposure. These risks are also heightened by the tightening of financing for start-up customers. Although we perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers and adjust our allowance for doubtful accounts receivable for all customers, including start-up customers, based on the information available for review, these allowances may not be adequate. This risk may exist for any new emerging company customers in the future. Also, as a result of, among other things, these emerging companies tending to be smaller and less financially secure, we have faced and may face in the future increased litigation risk from these companies.

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In addition, we have been investing directly in certain of these emerging company customers which, along with extended payment terms, loans, other financial accommodations such as not requiring customers to cover certain costs that we typically require customers to pay, for services and other support we may provide, may exacerbate the risks described in this Risk Factor. Risks related to these investments may also include one or more of the following: substantial selling, general and administrative expenses; substantial capital expenses or investments; losses or impairments that may be reflected in our net income item of our Statement of Operations; and an inability to recover a partial or full amount of any investments we make in these smaller, emerging companies.

We compete with numerous other diversified manufacturing service providers, electronic manufacturing services and design providers and others.

Our business is highly competitive. We compete against numerous domestic and foreign electronic manufacturing service providers and design providers, including Benchmark Electronics, Inc., Celestica Inc., Flextronics International Ltd., Hon-Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Plexus Corp. and Sanmina Corporation. Our diversified manufacturing services segment competes against numerous domestic and foreign providers, including AptarGroup, Inc., Berry Plastics Group, Inc., Catcher Technology Co., Ltd., Gerresheimer AG, Quanta Computer, Inc. and Zeniya Aluminum Engineering, Ltd. In addition, past consolidation in our industry has resulted in larger and more geographically diverse competitors who have significant combined resources with which to compete against us. Also, we may in the future encounter competition from other large electronic manufacturers, and manufacturers that are focused solely on design and manufacturing services, that are selling, or may begin to sell diversified manufacturing services or electronic manufacturing services. Most of our competitors have international operations and significant financial resources and some have substantially greater manufacturing, research and development (R&D) and marketing resources than we have. These competitors may:

We also face competition from the manufacturing operations of our current and potential customers, who are continually evaluating the merits of manufacturing products internally against the advantages of outsourcing. In the past, some of our customers moved a portion of their manufacturing from us in order to more fully utilize their excess internal manufacturing capacity.

We may be operating at a cost disadvantage compared to competitors who (a) have greater direct buying power from component suppliers, distributors and raw material suppliers, (b) have lower cost structures as a result of their geographic location or the services they provide, (c) are willing to make sales or provide services at lower margins than we do (including relationships where our competitors are willing to accept a lower margin from certain of their customers for whom they perform other higher margin business) or (d) have increased their vertical capabilities, thereby potentially providing them greater cost savings. As a result, competitors may procure a competitive advantage and obtain business from our customers. Our manufacturing processes are generally not subject to significant proprietary protection. In addition, companies with greater resources or a greater market presence may enter our market or increase their competition with us. We also expect our competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current products or services, to reduce the sales prices of their current products or services and to introduce new products or services that may offer greater performance and improved pricing. Any of these developments could cause a decline in our sales, loss of market acceptance of our products or services, compression of our profits or loss of our market share.

The economies of the U.S., Europe and certain countries in Asia are, or have been, in a recession.

There was an erosion of global consumer confidence amidst concerns over declining asset values, inflation, volatility in energy costs, geopolitical issues, the availability and cost of credit, high unemployment, and the stability and solvency of financial institutions, financial markets, businesses, and sovereign nations. These concerns slowed global economic growth and resulted in recessions in many countries, including in the U.S., Europe and certain countries in Asia. Even though we have seen signs of an overall economic recovery in the U.S., Europe and Asia, such recovery may be weak and/or short-lived and recessionary conditions may return, which could significantly affect the U.S. and international debt and capital markets, as well as the demand for the products of certain of our customers.

If any of these potential negative economic conditions occur, a number of negative effects on our business could result, including customers or potential customers reducing or delaying orders, increased pricing pressures, the insolvency of key suppliers, which could result in production delays, the inability of customers to obtain credit, and the insolvency of one or more customers.

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Thus, these economic conditions (1) could negatively impact our ability to (a) forecast customer demand, (b) effectively manage inventory levels, including our ability to limit our possession of excess or obsolete inventory and (c) collect receivables in a timely manner, if at all; (2) could increase our need for cash; and (3) have negatively impacted, and could negatively impact in the future, our net revenue and profitability and the value of certain of our properties and other assets. Depending on the length of time that these conditions exist, they may cause future additional negative effects, including some of those listed above.

The financial markets have experienced significant turmoil, which may adversely affect financial arrangements we may need to enter into, refinance or repay.

Credit market turmoil could negatively impact the counterparties to our forward foreign exchange contracts and trade accounts receivable securitization and sale programs; the lenders under Jabil Circuit, Inc.’s (the “Company’s”) five year unsecured credit facility amended as of July 6, 2015 which provides for a revolving credit (the “Revolving Credit Facility”) and a five year delayed draw term loan facility (the “Term Loan Facility” and, together with the Revolving Credit Facility, the “Credit Facility”); and the lenders under various of our foreign subsidiary credit facilities. These potential negative impacts could potentially limit our ability to borrow under these financing agreements, contracts, facilities and programs. In addition, if we attempt to obtain future additional financing, such as renewing or refinancing our $200.0 million North American asset-backed securitization program expiring on October 20, 2017, our $175.0 million foreign asset-backed securitization program expiring on May 1, 2018, our $450.0 million uncommitted trade accounts receivable sale program expiring on November 1, 2015 (though either party can elect to terminate the agreement upon 15 days prior notice and the agreement will be automatically extended each year through August 31, 2017 unless any party gives no less than 30 days prior notice that the agreement should not be extended), our $150.0 million uncommitted trade accounts receivable sale program subject to expiration on August 31, 2016 (as the agreement was extended on August 31, 2015), or our $100.0 million uncommitted trade accounts receivable program expiring on November 1, 2015 (though either party can elect to cancel the agreement by giving prior written notification to the other party of no less than 15 days and the agreement may be automatically extended each year through November 1, 2018, unless any party gives no less than 30 days prior notice that the agreement should not be extended), the effects of the credit market turmoil could negatively impact our ability to renew or obtain such financing. Finally, credit market turmoil has negatively impacted certain of our customers and certain of their respective customers. These impacts could have several consequences which could have a negative effect on our results of operations, including one or more of the following: a negative impact on our liquidity, including potentially insufficient cash flows to support our operations; a decrease in demand for our services; a decrease in demand for our customers’ products; and bad debt charges or inventory write-offs.

Our business could be adversely affected by any delays, or increased costs, resulting from issues that our common carriers are dealing with in transporting our materials, our products, or both.

We rely on a variety of common carriers to transport our materials from our suppliers to us, and to transport our products from us to our customers. Problems suffered by any of these common carriers, whether due to a natural disaster, labor problem, increased energy prices, criminal activity or some other issue, could result in shipping delays, increased costs, or other supply chain disruptions, and could therefore have a material adverse effect on our operations. For example, the recent West Coast port stoppage resulted in delays in receiving certain components needed for our products, in turn delaying shipments by us.

We derive a majority of our revenue from our international operations, which may be subject to a number of risks and often require more management time and expense to achieve profitability than our domestic operations.

We derived 88.0% of net revenue from international operations during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2015 compared to 84.5% during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2014. At August 31, 2015, we operate outside the U.S. in Vienna, Austria; Hasselt, Belgium; Belo Horizonte and Manaus, Brazil; Ottawa, Canada; Beijing, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Huangpu, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, Wuxi, Yantai and Zhejiang, China; Kankaanpaa and Tampere, Finland; Brest and Chartres, France; Jena and Knittlingen, Germany; Nagyigmand, Szombathely and Tiszaujvaros, Hungary; Mumbai, Pune and Ranjangaon, India; Bray and Waterford, Ireland; Tel Aviv, Israel; Marcianise, Italy; Gotemba and Hachioji, Japan; Penang, Malaysia; Chihuahua, Guadalajara and Tijuana, Mexico; Kwidzyn, Poland; Moscow and Tver, Russia; Ayr and Livingston, Scotland; Tampines, Singapore; Seoul, South Korea; Tortosa, Spain; Changhua, Hsinchu, Taichung City and Taipei, Taiwan; Venray, The Netherlands; Uzhgorod, Ukraine; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We continually consider additional opportunities to make foreign acquisitions and construct and open new foreign facilities. Our international operations are, have been and may be subject to a number of risks, including:

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These factors may harm our results of operations. Also, any measures that we may implement to reduce risks of our international operations may not be effective, may increase our expenses, and may require significant management time and effort. In our experience, entry into new international markets requires considerable management time as well as start-up expenses for market development, hiring and establishing facilities before any significant revenue is generated. As a result, initial operations in a new market may operate at low margins or may be unprofitable.

Another significant legal risk resulting from our international operations is the risk of non-compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) and the United Kingdom Bribery Act (the “ACT”). In many foreign countries, particularly in those with developing economies, it may be a local custom that businesses operating in such countries engage in business practices that are prohibited by the FCPA, the ACT or other U.S. or foreign laws and regulations. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to cause compliance with the FCPA, the ACT and similar laws, there can be no assurance that all of our employees and agents, as well as those companies to which we outsource certain of our business operations, will not take actions in violation of our policies. Any such violation, even if prohibited by our policies, could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

If we do not manage our growth effectively, our profitability could decline.

Areas of our business at times experience periods of rapid growth which can place considerable additional demands upon our management team and our operational, financial and management information systems. Our ability to manage growth effectively requires us to continue to implement and improve these systems; avoid cost overruns; maintain customer, supplier and other favorable business relationships during possible transition periods; efficiently and effectively dedicate resources to existing customers; acquire or construct additional facilities; occasionally transfer operations to different facilities; acquire equipment in anticipation of demand; continue to develop the management skills of our managers and supervisors; adapt relatively quickly to new markets or technologies and continue to train, motivate and manage our employees. Our failure to effectively manage growth could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

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We have on occasion not achieved, and may not in the future achieve, expected profitability from our acquisitions; and some divestitures may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully integrate the operations and management of our recent acquisitions. Similarly, we cannot assure you that we will be able to (1) identify future strategic acquisitions and adequately conduct due diligence, (2) consummate these potential acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all, or (3) if consummated, successfully integrate the operations and management of future acquisitions. Acquisitions involve significant risks, which could have a material adverse effect on us including:

Although we conduct what we believe to be a prudent level of due diligence regarding the businesses we purchase, in light of the circumstances of each transaction, an unavoidable level of risk remains regarding the actual condition of these businesses. Until we actually assume operating control of such businesses and their assets and operations, we may not be able to ascertain the actual value or understand the potential liabilities of the acquired entities and their operations.

In addition, divestitures involve significant risks (some of which were present in the sale of our Aftermarket Services (“AMS”) business on April 1, 2014), which could have a material adverse effect on us including: we may not be able to identify acceptable buyers; we may divest a business at a price or on terms that are different than anticipated; we may lose key employees; divestitures could adversely affect our profitability and, under certain circumstances, require us to record impairment charges or a loss as a result of the transaction; completing divestitures requires expenses and management effort; we may become subject to indemnity obligations and/or remain liable or contingently liable for obligations related to the divested business or operations; a delay or failure to close for any reason, including a failure to obtain the necessary third party consents and regulatory approvals; the retention of certain continuing liabilities under contracts; financing for the transaction not occurring as anticipated; equity consideration proving to have a value substantially less than the stated or expected value or not being transferable to a third party on attractive terms; covenants not to compete (such as we entered into in connection with the sale of our AMS business) could impair our ability to attract and retain customers; business arrangements with the buyers could negatively impact our business with common customers; and we may face difficulties in the separation of the divested operations, services, products and personnel.

Most of our acquisitions involve operations outside of the U.S. which are subject to various risks including those described in “Risk Factors – We derive a majority of our revenue from our international operations, which may be subject to a number of risks and often require more management time and expense to achieve profitability than our domestic operations.”

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We have acquired and may continue to pursue the acquisition of manufacturing and supply chain management operations from our customers (or potential customers). In these acquisitions, the divesting company will typically enter into a supply arrangement with the acquirer. Therefore, our competitors often also pursue these acquisitions. In addition, certain divesting companies may choose not to offer to sell their operations to us because of our current supply arrangements with other companies or may require terms and conditions that may impact our profitability. If we are unable to attract and consummate some of these acquisition opportunities at favorable terms, our growth and profitability could be adversely impacted.

In addition to those risks listed above, arrangements entered into with these divesting companies typically involve certain other risks, including the following:

In addition, when acquiring manufacturing operations, we may receive limited commitments to firm production schedules. Accordingly, in these circumstances, we may spend substantial amounts purchasing these manufacturing facilities and assume significant contractual and other obligations with no or insufficient guaranteed levels of revenue. We may also not achieve expected profitability from these arrangements. As a result of these and other risks, these outsourcing opportunities may not be profitable.

We have expanded the primary scope of our acquisitions strategy beyond focusing on acquisition opportunities presented by companies divesting internal manufacturing operations. The more recent acquisitions focus on pursuing opportunities to acquire businesses that are focused on certain of our key growth areas which include specialized manufacturing, design operations and other acquisition opportunities complementary to our services offerings. The primary goals of our acquisition strategy are to complement our current capabilities, diversify our business into new industry sectors and with new customers and expand the scope of the services we can offer to our customers. The amount and scope of the risks associated with acquisitions of this type extend beyond those that we have traditionally faced in making acquisitions. These extended risks include greater uncertainties in the financial benefits and potential liabilities associated with this expanded base of acquisitions.

We face risks arising from the restructuring of our operations.

Over the past few years, we have undertaken initiatives to restructure our business operations with the intention of improving utilization and realizing cost savings in the future. These initiatives have included changing the number and location of our production facilities, largely to align our capacity and infrastructure with current and anticipated customer demand. This alignment includes transferring programs from higher cost geographies to lower cost geographies. The process of restructuring entails, among other activities, moving production between facilities, closing facilities, reducing the level of staff, realigning our business processes and reorganizing our management.

We continuously evaluate our operations and cost structure relative to general economic conditions, market and customer demands, tax rates, cost competitiveness and our geographic footprint as it relates to our customers’ production requirements. As a result of this ongoing evaluation, we initiated restructuring plans approved by our Board of Directors in fiscal year 2014 (the “2014 Restructuring Plan”) and in fiscal year 2013 (the “2013 Restructuring Plan”). See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations – The Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015 Compared to the Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2014 and Note 14 – “Restructuring and Related Charges” to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further details. In addition, we could initiate future restructuring plans. If we incur restructuring charges related to the 2013 Restructuring Plan, or in connection with any potential future restructuring program, in addition to those charges that we currently expect to incur, our financial condition and results of operations may suffer.

Restructurings present significant potential risks of events occurring that could adversely affect us, including a decrease in employee morale, delays encountered in finalizing the scope of, and implementing, the restructurings (including extensive consultations concerning potential workforce reductions and obtaining agreements from our affected customers for the relocation of our facilities in certain instances), the failure to achieve targeted cost savings, the failure to meet operational targets and customer requirements due to the loss of employees and any work stoppages that might occur and the strain placed on our financial and management control systems and resources. These risks are further complicated by our extensive international operations, which subject us to different legal and regulatory requirements that govern the extent and speed of our ability to reduce our manufacturing capacity and workforce. In addition, the current global economic conditions may change how governments regulate restructuring as the recent global recession has impacted local economies. Finally, we may have to obtain agreements from our affected customers for the relocation of our facilities in certain instances. Obtaining these agreements, along with the volatility in our customers’ demand, can further delay restructuring activities.

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We may not be able to maintain our engineering, technological and manufacturing process expertise.

The markets for our manufacturing and engineering services are characterized by rapidly changing technology and evolving process development. The continued success of our business will depend upon our ability to:

Although we believe that our operations use the assembly and testing technologies, equipment and processes that are currently required by our customers, we cannot be certain that we will develop the capabilities required by our customers in the future. The emergence of new technology, industry standards or customer requirements may render our equipment, inventory or processes obsolete or noncompetitive. In addition, we may have to acquire new assembly and testing technologies and equipment to remain competitive. The acquisition and implementation of new technologies and equipment may require significant expense or capital investment, which could reduce our operating margins and our operating results. In facilities that we establish or acquire, we may not be able to establish and maintain our engineering, technological and manufacturing process expertise. Our failure to anticipate and adapt to our customers’ changing technological needs and requirements or to hire and retain a sufficient number of engineers and maintain our engineering, technological and manufacturing expertise could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

If our manufacturing sites, processes and services do not comply with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, or if we manufacture products containing design or manufacturing defects, demand for our services may decline and we may be subject to liability claims.

We manufacture and design products to our customers’ specifications, and, in some cases, our manufacturing sites, processes or facilities may need to comply with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements as well as certain customer-driven standards. For example, medical devices that we manufacture or design, as well as the facilities and manufacturing processes that we use to produce them, are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and non-U.S. counterparts of this agency. Similarly, items we manufacture for customers in the defense and aerospace industries, as well as the processes we use to produce them, are regulated by the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Authority. If we do not conduct our business at those facilities at which this business is conducted in accordance with applicable laws, we may be subject to civil or criminal penalties and administrative sanctions by either the government, the customer or third parties. Also, we may be subject to standards established by certain customers, industry groups or other third party organizations (e.g., certain standards relating to labor practices). In addition, our customers’ products and the manufacturing processes and design services that we use to produce them often are highly complex. As a result, products that we manufacture or design may at times contain manufacturing or design defects, and our processes may be subject to errors or not be in compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. Defects in the products we manufacture or design, whether caused by a design, manufacturing or component failure or error, or deficiencies in our manufacturing processes, may result in delayed shipments to customers or reduced or canceled customer orders. If these defects or deficiencies are significant, our business reputation may also be damaged. The failure of the products that we manufacture or of our manufacturing processes or facilities to comply with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements may subject us to regulatory enforcement, legal fines or penalties and, in some cases, require us to shut down, temporarily halt operations or incur considerable expense to correct a manufacturing process or facility. In addition, these defects may result in liability claims against us, expose us to liability to pay for the recall or remanufacture of a product or adversely affect product sales or our reputation. The magnitude of such claims may increase as we expand our medical and aerospace and defense manufacturing services, as defects in medical devices and aerospace and defense systems could cause death or seriously harm users of these products and others. Even if our customers are responsible for the defects or defective specifications, they may not, or may not have resources to, assume responsibility for any costs or liabilities arising from these defects, which could expose us to additional liability claims. Any of these actions could increase our expenses, reduce our revenue or damage our reputation as a supplier to these customers.

We may face heightened liability risks specific to our medical device business as a result of additional healthcare regulatory related compliance requirements and the potential severe consequences that could result from manufacturing defects or malfunctions (e.g., death or serious injury) of the medical devices we manufacture or design.

As a manufacturer and designer of medical devices for our customers, we have compliance requirements in addition to those relating to other areas of our business. We are required to register with the FDA and are subject to periodic inspection by the FDA for compliance with the FDA’s Quality System Regulation (“QSR”) and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) requirements, which require manufacturers of medical devices to adhere to certain regulations and to implement design and process manufacturing controls, quality control, labeling, handling and documentation procedures. The FDA, through periodic inspections and product field monitoring, continually reviews and rigorously monitors compliance with these QSR requirements and other applicable regulatory

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requirements. If any FDA inspection reveals noncompliance, and we do not address the FDA’s concerns to its satisfaction, the FDA may take action against us, including issuing a form noting the FDA’s inspection observations, a notice of violation or a warning letter, imposing fines, bringing an action against the Company and its officers, requiring a recall of the products we manufactured for our customers, issuing an import detention on products entering the U.S. from an offshore facility or temporarily halting operations at or shutting down a manufacturing facility. Beyond the FDA, our medical device business is subject to additional state and foreign regulatory requirements which may also impact our ability to continue operations if these entities were to allege noncompliance and take action against us. If any of these were to occur, our reputation and business could suffer.

In addition, any defects or malfunctions in medical devices we manufacture or in our manufacturing processes and facilities may result in liability claims against us, expose us to liability to pay for the recall or remanufacture of a product, or otherwise adversely affect product sales or our reputation. The magnitude of such claims could be particularly severe as defects in medical devices could cause severe harm or injuries, including death, to users of these products and others.

Our manufacturing processes and services may result in exposure to intellectual property infringement and other claims.

Providing manufacturing services can expose us to potential claims that products, designs or manufacturing processes we use infringe third party intellectual property rights. Even though many of our manufacturing services contracts generally require our customers to indemnify us for infringement claims relating to their products, including associated product specifications and designs, a particular customer may not, or may not have the resources to, assume responsibility for such claims. In addition, we may be responsible for claims that our manufacturing processes or components used in manufacturing infringe third party intellectual property rights. Infringement claims could subject us to significant liability for damages, potential injunctive action, or hamper our normal operations such as by interfering with the availability of components and, regardless of merits, could be time-consuming and expensive to resolve, and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position. In the event of such a claim, we may be required to spend a significant amount of money to develop non-infringing alternatives or obtain and maintain licenses. We may not be successful in developing such alternatives or obtaining and maintaining such a license on reasonable terms or at all. Our customers may be required to or decide to discontinue products which are alleged to be infringing rather than face continued costs of defending the infringement claims, and such discontinuance may result in a significant decrease in our business. The risks described in this Risk Factor may be heightened in connection with our customer relationships with emerging companies.

Our design services and turnkey solutions offerings may result in additional exposure to product liability, intellectual property infringement and other claims, in addition to the business risk of being unable to produce the revenues necessary to profit from these services.

We continue our efforts to offer certain design services, primarily relating to products that we manufacture for our customers. We also offer turnkey solutions that include the design and manufacture of end-user products, and product components, as well as related services. Providing such turnkey solutions or other design solutions can expose us to different or greater potential liabilities than those we face when providing just manufacturing services, including an increase in exposure to potential product liability claims resulting from injuries caused by defects in products we design, as well as potential claims that products we design or supply, or materials or components we use, infringe third party intellectual property rights. Such claims could subject us to significant liability for damages, subject the infringing portion of our business to injunction and, regardless of their merits, could be time-consuming and expensive to resolve. We also may have greater potential exposure from warranty claims and from product recalls due to problems caused by product design. Costs associated with possible product liability claims, intellectual property infringement claims and product recalls could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position. In the event of such a claim, we may be required to spend a significant amount of money to develop non-infringing alternatives or obtain and maintain licenses. We may not be successful in developing such alternatives or obtaining and maintaining such a license on reasonable terms or at all. When providing turnkey solutions or other design solutions, we may not be guaranteed revenue needed to recoup or profit from the investment in the resources necessary to design and develop products or provide services. No revenue may be generated from these efforts, particularly if our customers do not approve the designs in a timely manner or at all, or if they do not then purchase anticipated levels of products. Furthermore, contracts may allow the customer to delay or cancel deliveries and may not obligate the customer to any volume of purchases, or may provide for penalties or cancellation of orders if we are late in delivering designs or products. We may also have the responsibility to ensure that products we design or offer satisfy certain standards, like safety and regulatory standards, and to obtain any necessary certifications. Failure to timely obtain the necessary approvals or certifications could prevent us from selling these products, which in turn could harm our sales, profitability and reputation.

In our contracts with turnkey solutions customers, we generally provide them with a warranty against defects in our designs. If a turnkey solutions product or component that we design is found to be defective in its design, this may lead to increased warranty claims. Warranty claims may also extend to defects caused by components or materials used in the products, including components and materials provided to us by our suppliers. Although we have product liability insurance coverage, it may not be adequate or may not continue to be available on acceptable terms, in sufficient amounts, or at all. A successful product liability claim in excess of our insurance coverage or any material claim for which insurance coverage was denied or limited and for which indemnification was not available could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position. Moreover, even if the claim relates to a defect caused by a supplier, we may not be able to get an adequate remedy from the supplier.

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The success of certain aspects of our business depends in part on our ability to obtain, protect and leverage intellectual property rights.

In certain circumstances, we strive to obtain and protect certain intellectual property rights related to solutions, designs, processes and products that we create. We believe that obtaining a significant level of protected proprietary technology may give us a competitive marketing advantage. However, we cannot be certain that the measures that we employ will result in protected intellectual property rights or will result in the prevention of unauthorized use of our technology. If we are unable to obtain and protect intellectual property rights embodied within our solutions, designs, processes and products, this could reduce or eliminate competitive advantages of our proprietary technology, which would harm our business and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position.

In addition to selectively relying on patent rights, we rely on unpatented proprietary know-how and trade secrets, and employ various methods, including non-disclosure agreements with our customers, employees, and suppliers and our internal security systems, policies and procedures to protect our know-how and trade secrets. However, these mechanisms may not afford complete, or sufficient protection, and misappropriation may still occur. Further, there can be no assurance that we will, or will be able to, acquire or enforce our patent or other rights, if any, and that others will not independently develop similar know-how and trade secrets, or develop better production methods than us. We have not historically sought patent protection for many of our proprietary processes, designs or other patentable intellectual property. Further, we may not be able to prevent current and former employees, contractors and other parties from breaching non-disclosure agreements and misappropriating proprietary information and it is possible that third parties may copy or otherwise obtain and use our information and proprietary technology without authorization or otherwise infringe on our intellectual property rights. If any of the foregoing occur, it could impair our ability to compete with others in our industry.

Intellectual property infringement claims against our customers, our suppliers or us could harm our business.

Products we manufacture and/or services we provide may infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties, some of who may hold key intellectual property rights in areas in which we operate. Some of these third parties may compete with us, our suppliers or our customers. Some of these third parties may not actively provide competing products or services. Patent clearance or licensing activities, if any, may be inadequate to anticipate and avoid third party claims. As a result, in addition to the risk that we could become subject to claims of intellectual property infringement, our customers or suppliers could become subject to infringement claims. Additionally, customers for our turnkey solutions or design services in which we have significant technology contributions, typically require that we indemnify them against the risk of intellectual property infringement. If any claims are brought against our customers, our suppliers or us for such infringement, regardless of their merits, we could be required to expend significant resources in the defense or settlement of such claims, or in the defense or settlement of related indemnification claims from our customers. In the event of a claim, we may be required to spend a significant amount of money to develop non-infringing alternatives or obtain and maintain licenses. We may not be successful in developing such alternatives or obtaining or maintaining such licenses on reasonable terms or at all. We, our suppliers or our customers may be required to or decide to discontinue products which are alleged to be infringing rather than face continued costs of defending the infringement claims, and such discontinuance may result in a significant decrease in our business, and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position.

We depend on attracting and retaining officers, managers and skilled personnel and on their compliance with company strategies and confidentiality policies and procedures.

Our success depends to a large extent upon the continued services of our officers, managers and skilled personnel. Generally our employees are not bound by employment or non-competition agreements, and we cannot assure you that we will retain our officers, managers and skilled personnel. We could be seriously harmed by the loss of any of our executive officers or multiple managers or skilled personnel. To aid in managing our growth and strengthening our management and skilled personnel, we will need to internally develop, recruit and retain additional skilled management personnel. If we are not able to do so, our business and our ability to continue to grow could be harmed.

We establish strategic goals and ethical conduct policies. We are subject to risks if our officers and managers act inconsistently with our strategic goals or violate such ethical conduct policies. We are also subject to the risk that current and former officers, managers and skilled personnel could violate the terms of our confidentiality policies and procedures or proprietary information agreements with us which require them to keep confidential and not to use for their benefit information obtained in the course of their employment with us. Should a key current or former employee use or disclose such information, including information concerning our customers, pricing, capabilities or strategy, our ability to obtain new customers and to compete could be adversely impacted.

Any delay in the implementation of our information systems could disrupt our operations and cause unanticipated increases in our costs.

We have completed the installation of an enterprise resource planning system in most of our manufacturing sites and in our corporate location. We are currently in the process of installing this system in certain of our remaining facilities which will replace the existing planning and financial information systems. Any delay in the implementation of these information systems could result in material adverse consequences, including disruption of operations, loss of information and unanticipated increases in costs.

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Disruptions to our information systems, including security breaches, losses of data or outages, and other security issues, could adversely affect our operations.

We rely on information systems, some of which are owned and operated by third parties, to store, process and transmit confidential information, including financial reporting, inventory management, procurement, invoicing and electronic communications, belonging to our customers, our suppliers, our employees and/or us. We attempt to monitor and mitigate our exposure and modify our systems when warranted and we have implemented certain business continuity items including data backups at alternative sites. Nevertheless, these systems are vulnerable to, and at times have suffered from, among other things, damage from power loss or natural disasters, computer system and network failures, loss of telecommunication services, physical and electronic loss of data, terrorist attacks, security breaches and computer viruses. We regularly face attempts by others to access our information systems in an unauthorized manner, to introduce malicious software to such systems or both. The increased use of mobile technologies can heighten these and other operational risks. If we, or the third parties who own and operate certain of our information systems, are unable to prevent such breaches, losses of data and outages, our operations could be disrupted. In addition, any production inefficiencies or delays could negatively affect our ability to fill customer orders, resulting in a delay or reduction in our revenues. Also, the time and funds spent on monitoring and mitigating our exposure and responding to breaches, including the training of employees, the purchase of protective technologies and the hiring of additional employees and consultants to assist in these efforts could adversely affect our financial results. Finally, any theft or misuse of information resulting from a security breach could result in, among other things, loss of significant and/or sensitive information, litigation by affected parties, financial obligations resulting from such theft or misuse, higher insurance premiums, governmental investigations, negative reactions from current and potential future customers (including potential negative financial ramifications under certain customer contract provisions) and poor publicity and any of these could adversely affect our financial results.

Compliance or the failure to comply with current and future environmental, health and safety, product stewardship and producer responsibility laws or regulations could cause us significant expense.

We are subject to a variety of federal, state, local and foreign environmental, health and safety, product stewardship and producer responsibility laws and regulations, including those relating to the use, storage, discharge and disposal of hazardous chemicals used during our manufacturing process, those governing worker health and safety, those requiring design changes, supply chain investigation or conformity assessments or those relating to the recycling or reuse of products we manufacture. If we fail to comply with any present or future regulations, we could become subject to liabilities, and we could face fines or penalties, the suspension of production, or prohibitions on sales of products we manufacture. In addition, such regulations could restrict our ability to expand our facilities or could require us to acquire costly equipment, or to incur other significant expenses, including expenses associated with the recall of any non-compliant product or with changes in our operational, procurement and inventory management activities.

While we have not been required historically to make significant capital expenditures in order to comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations, we cannot predict with any certainty our future capital expenditure requirements because of continually changing compliance standards and environmental technology.

Certain environmental laws impose liability for the costs of investigation, removal and remediation of hazardous or toxic substances on an owner, occupier or operator of real estate, or on parties who arranged for hazardous substance treatment or disposal, even if such person or company was unaware of, or not responsible for, contamination at the affected site. Soil and groundwater contamination may have occurred at or near, or may have arisen from, some of our facilities. From time to time we investigate, remediate and monitor soil and groundwater contamination at certain of our operating sites. In certain instances where contamination existed prior to our ownership or occupation of a site, landlords or former owners have retained some contractual responsibility for contamination and remediation. However, failure of such persons to perform those obligations could result in us being required to address such contamination. As a result, we may incur clean-up costs in such potential removal or remediation efforts. In other instances, we may be responsible for clean-up costs and other liabilities, including the possibility of claims due to health risks by both employees and non-employees, as well as other third-party claims in connection with contaminated sites.

From time to time new regulations are enacted, or existing requirements are changed, and it is difficult to anticipate how such regulations and changes will be implemented and enforced. We continue to evaluate the necessary steps for compliance with regulations as they are enacted.

As an example, under the Dodd-Frank Act, some companies, including ours, are subject to new due diligence, disclosure and reporting requirements for manufacturing products that include components containing certain minerals originating from the DRC or adjoining countries. These regulations may result in a decrease in the supply of such minerals, an increase in their cost and/or a disruption to our supply chain. In addition, if our due diligence process to verify the origin of minerals contained in components of our customers’ products or from our suppliers is not completed timely or results in findings that such minerals are sourced from restricted countries, our reputation may be adversely affected, which in turn may adversely affect our operations and financial results. Compliance with the applicable SEC requirements has been both relatively time consuming and costly.

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Our failure to comply with any applicable regulatory requirements or with related contractual obligations could result in our being directly or indirectly liable for costs (including product recall and/or replacement costs), fines or penalties and third party claims, and could jeopardize our ability to conduct business in the jurisdictions implementing them.

In addition, there is an increasing governmental focus around the world on global warming and environmental impact issues, which may result in new environmental, health and safety regulations that may affect us, our suppliers and our customers. This could cause us to incur additional direct costs for compliance, as well as increased indirect costs resulting from our customers, suppliers or both incurring additional compliance costs that get passed on to us. These costs may adversely impact our operations and financial condition.

We and our customers are increasingly concerned with environmental issues, such as waste management (including recycling) and climate change (including reducing carbon outputs). We expect these concerns to grow and require increased investments of time and resources.

We have limited insurance coverage for potential environmental liabilities associated with current operations and we do not anticipate increasing such coverage in the future.

We are subject to the risk of increased taxes.

We base our tax position upon the anticipated nature and conduct of our business and upon our understanding of the tax laws of the various countries in which we have assets or conduct activities. Our tax position, however, is subject to review and possible challenge by taxing authorities and to possible changes in law (including adverse changes to the manner in which the U.S. and other countries tax multinational companies or interpret their tax laws). We cannot determine in advance the extent to which some jurisdictions may assess additional tax or interest and penalties on such additional taxes. In addition, our effective tax rate may be increased by the generation of higher income in countries with higher tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in our cash management strategies, changes in local tax rates or countries adopting more aggressive interpretations of tax laws.

Refer to Note 5 – “Income Taxes” to the Consolidated Financial Statements for details of the field examination completed by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) of our tax returns for the fiscal years 2009 through 2011 which resulted in proposed adjustments. While we currently believe that the resolution of these issues will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows, an unfavorable resolution, particularly if the IRS successfully asserts similar claims for later years, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Several countries in which we are located allow for tax incentives to attract and retain business. We have obtained incentives where available and practicable. Our taxes could increase if certain tax incentives are retracted (such as occurred with our calendar year 2011 Shanghai tax incentive), which could occur if we are unable to satisfy the conditions on which such incentives are based, if they are not renewed upon expiration, or if tax rates applicable to us in such jurisdictions otherwise increase. It is not anticipated that any tax incentives will expire within the next year. However, due to the possibility of changes in existing tax law and our operations, we are unable to predict how any expirations will impact us in the future. In addition, acquisitions may cause our effective tax rate to increase, depending on the jurisdictions in which the acquired operations are located.

Certain of our subsidiaries provide financing, products and services to, and may undertake certain significant transactions with, other subsidiaries in different jurisdictions. Moreover, several jurisdictions in which we operate have tax laws with detailed transfer pricing rules which require that all transactions with non-resident related parties be priced using arm’s length pricing principles, and that contemporaneous documentation must exist to support such pricing. There is a risk that the taxing authorities may not deem our transfer pricing documentation acceptable.

Energy price increases may negatively impact our results of operations.

Certain of the components that we use in our manufacturing activities are petroleum-based. In addition, we, along with our suppliers and customers, rely on various energy sources (including oil) in our facilities and transportation activities. An increase in energy prices, which have been volatile over the past few years, could cause an increase to our raw material costs and transportation costs. In addition, increased transportation costs of certain of our suppliers and customers could be passed along to us. We may not be able to increase our product prices enough to offset these increased costs. In addition, any increase in our product prices may reduce our future customer orders and profitability.

Our credit rating may be downgraded.

Our credit is rated by credit rating agencies. Our 7.750% Senior Notes, our 8.250% Senior Notes, our 5.625% Senior Notes and our 4.700% Senior Notes are currently rated BBB- by Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) and Standard and Poor’s Ratings Service (“S&P”) and Ba1 by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), and are considered to be below “investment grade” debt by Moody’s and “investment grade” debt by Fitch and S&P. Any potential future negative change in our credit rating may make it more expensive for us to raise additional capital in the future on terms that are acceptable to us, if at all; negatively impact the price of our common stock;

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increase our interest payments under existing debt agreements; and have other negative implications on our business, many of which are beyond our control. In addition, the interest rate payable on the 8.250% Senior Notes and under the Credit Facility is subject to adjustment from time to time if our credit ratings change. Thus, any potential future negative change in our credit rating may increase the interest rate payable on the 8.250% Senior Notes, the Credit Facility and certain of our other borrowings.

Our amount of debt could significantly increase in the future.

As of August 31, 2015, our debt obligations consisted of $312.0 million under our 7.750% Senior Notes, $400.0 million under our 8.250% Senior Notes, $400.0 million under our 5.625% Senior Notes and $500.0 million under our 4.700% Senior Notes. As of August 31, 2015, there was $58.9 million outstanding under various bank loans to certain of our foreign subsidiaries and under various other debt obligations. Refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources” and Note 8 – “Notes Payable, Long-Term Debt and Capital Lease Obligations” to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further details.

We have the ability to borrow up to $1.5 billion under the Revolving Credit Facility. In addition, the Revolving Credit Facility contemplates a potential increase of up to an additional $500.0 million, if we and the lenders later agree to such increase. Also, we have the ability to borrow up to $500.0 million under the Term Loan Facility. We could incur additional indebtedness in the future in the form of bank loans, notes or convertible securities.

Should we desire to consummate significant additional acquisition opportunities, undertake significant additional expansion activities or make substantial investments in our infrastructure, our capital needs would increase and could possibly result in our need to increase available borrowings under our revolving credit facilities or access public or private debt and equity markets. There can be no assurance, however, that we would be successful in raising additional debt or equity on terms that we would consider acceptable. An increase in the level of our indebtedness, among other things, could:

There can be no assurance that we will be able to meet future debt service obligations.

We are subject to risks of currency fluctuations and related hedging operations.

A significant number of our operations are located outside the United States, however the majority of our business is conducted in U.S. dollar. Changes in exchange rates among other currencies and the U.S. dollar will affect our cost of sales, operating margins and net revenue. We cannot predict the impact of future exchange rate fluctuations. We use financial instruments, primarily forward contracts, to economically hedge U.S. dollar and other currency commitments arising from trade accounts receivable, trade accounts payable, fixed purchase obligations and other foreign currency obligations. Based on our calculations and current forecasts, we believe that our hedging activities enable us to largely protect ourselves from future exchange rate fluctuations. If, however, these hedging activities are not successful or if we change or reduce these hedging activities in the future, we may experience significant unexpected expenses from fluctuations in exchange rates.

An adverse change in the interest rates for our borrowings could adversely affect our financial condition.

We pay interest on outstanding borrowings under our revolving credit facilities and certain other long term debt obligations at interest rates that fluctuate based upon changes in various base interest rates. An adverse change in the base rates upon which our interest rates are determined could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. If certain economic or fiscal issues occur, interest rates could rise which would increase our interest costs and reduce our net income. Also, increased interest rates could make any future, fixed interest rate debt obligations more expensive.

We are exposed to intangible asset risk.

We have recorded intangible assets, including goodwill, which are attributable to business acquisitions. We are required to perform goodwill and intangible asset impairment tests at least on an annual basis and whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable from estimated future cash flows. As a result of our annual and other periodic evaluations, we may determine that the intangible asset values need to be written down to their fair values, which could result in material charges that could be adverse to our operating results and financial position.

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We face certain risks in collecting our trade accounts receivable.

Most of our customer sales are paid for after the goods and services have been delivered. If any of our customers has any liquidity issues (the risk of which could be relatively high, relative to historical conditions, due to current economic conditions), then we could encounter delays or defaults in payments owed to us which could have a significant adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. While these risks can be exacerbated in connection with emerging companies, the amount of potential loss can be greater in connection with larger customers.

Our stock price may be volatile.

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”). The market price of our common stock has fluctuated substantially in the past and could fluctuate substantially in the future, based on a variety of factors, including future announcements covering us or our key customers or competitors, government regulations, litigation, changes in earnings estimates by analysts, fluctuations in quarterly operating results, or general conditions in our industry and the automotive, consumer lifestyles and wearable technologies, defense and aerospace, digital home, emerging growth, healthcare, industrial and energy, mobility, networking and telecommunications, packaging, point of sale, printing and storage industries. Furthermore, stock prices for many companies and high technology companies in particular, fluctuate widely for reasons that may be unrelated to their operating results. Those fluctuations and general economic, political and market conditions, such as recessions or international currency fluctuations and demand for our services, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Provisions in our charter documents and state law may make it harder for others to obtain control of us even though some shareholders might consider such a development to be favorable.

Provisions in our amended certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the Delaware General Corporation Law from time to time may delay, inhibit or prevent someone from gaining control of us through a tender offer, business combination, proxy contest or some other method. These provisions may adversely impact our shareholders because they may decrease the possibility of a transaction in which our shareholders receive an amount of consideration in exchange for their shares that is at a significant premium to the then current market price of our shares. These provisions include:

In addition, for ten years we had a “poison pill” shareholder rights plan that our Board of Directors allowed to expire in October 2011 without extension. In doing that, our Board considered various relevant issues, including the fact that if needed and appropriate it can, under the Delaware General Corporation Law, implement a new shareholders rights plan reasonably quickly and without stockholder approval. Our Board regularly considers this topic, even in the absence of specific circumstances or takeover proposals, to facilitate its ability in the future to act expeditiously and appropriately should the need arise.

Changes in the securities laws and regulations have increased, and may continue to increase, our costs; and any future changes would likely increase our costs.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as related rules promulgated by the SEC (including the Dodd-Frank Act) and the NYSE, required changes in some of our corporate governance, securities disclosure and compliance practices. Compliance with these rules increased our legal and financial accounting costs for several years following the announcement and effectiveness of these new rules. While these costs are no longer increasing, they may in fact increase in the future. In addition, due, at least in part, to the turmoil over the past several years in the securities and credit markets, as well as the global economy, many U.S. and international governmental, regulatory and supervisory authorities including, but not limited to, the SEC and the NYSE, have enacted additional changes in their laws, regulations and rules and may be contemplating additional changes. These changes, and any such future changes, may cause our legal and financial accounting costs to increase.

Due to inherent limitations, there can be no assurance that our system of disclosure and internal controls and procedures will be successful in preventing all errors, theft and fraud, or in informing management of all material information in a timely manner.

Our Board management, including our CEO and CFO, do not expect that our disclosure controls and internal controls and procedures will prevent all errors, theft and fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system reflects that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the company have been or will be detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur simply because of error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the control.

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The design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, a control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and may not be detected.

If we receive other than an unqualified opinion on the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting as of August 31, 2016 or any future year-ends, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could result in a decrease in the value of your shares.

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, larger public companies like us are required to include an annual report on internal control over financial reporting in their annual reports on Form 10-K that contains an assessment by management of the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting. Our independent registered certified public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, issued an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of August 31, 2015. While we continuously conduct a rigorous review of our internal control over financial reporting in order to try to assure compliance with the Section 404 requirements, if our independent registered certified public accounting firm interprets the Section 404 requirements and the related rules and regulations differently from us or if our independent registered certified public accounting firm is not satisfied with our internal control over financial reporting or with the level at which it is documented, operated or reviewed, they may issue an adverse opinion. An adverse opinion could result in an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our Consolidated Financial Statements. In addition, we have spent a significant amount of resources, and will likely continue to for the foreseeable future, in complying with Section 404’s requirements, particularly given the changes recently introduced by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (“COSO”) to the manner in which internal controls over financial reporting must be administered.

There are inherent uncertainties involved in estimates, judgments and assumptions used in the preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). Any changes in U.S. GAAP or in estimates, judgments and assumptions could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.

The Consolidated Financial Statements included in the periodic reports we file with the SEC are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP involves making estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets, liabilities and related reserves, revenues, expenses and income. Estimates, judgments and assumptions are inherently subject to change in the future, and any such changes could result in corresponding changes to the amounts of assets, liabilities and related reserves, revenues, expenses and income. Any such changes could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations. In addition, the principles of U.S. GAAP are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the SEC and various bodies formed to create appropriate accounting policies, and interpret such policies. A change in those policies can have a significant effect on our accounting methods. For example, although not yet currently required, the SEC could require us to adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards in the next few years, which could have a significant effect on certain of our accounting methods. As another example, significant changes to the revenue recognition rules have been enacted and will apply to us beginning in fiscal year 2018.

We are subject to risks associated with natural disasters, climate change and global events.

Our operations and those of our customers and suppliers may be subject to natural disasters, climate change related events, or other business disruptions, which could seriously harm our results of operation and increase our costs and expenses. We are susceptible to losses and interruptions caused by hurricanes (including in Florida, where our headquarters are located), earthquakes, power shortages, telecommunications failures, water or other natural resource shortages, tsunamis, floods, typhoons, drought, fire, extreme weather conditions, rising sea level, geopolitical events such as terrorist acts, acts of war, international boycotts, or widespread criminal activities and other natural or manmade disasters. Such events could make it difficult or impossible to manufacture or to deliver products to our customers, receive production materials from our suppliers, or perform critical functions, which could adversely affect our business globally or in certain regions. While we maintain similar manufacturing capacities at different locations and coordinate multi-source supplier programs on many of our materials which would better enable us to respond to these types of events, we cannot be sure that our plans will fully protect us from all such disruptions. Our insurance coverage with respect to natural disasters is limited and is subject to deductibles and coverage limits. Such coverage may not be adequate, or may not continue to be available at commercially reasonable rates and terms.

While we manufacture our products in a large number of diversified facilities and maintain insurance covering our facilities, including business interruption insurance, a catastrophic loss of the use of all or a portion of one of our key manufacturing facilities due to accident, labor issues, weather conditions, natural disaster or otherwise, whether short or long-term, could have a material adverse effect on us.

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We and our customers are subject to increasingly extensive government regulations and industry standards; failure to comply with such regulations and standards could have an adverse effect on our business, customer relationships, reputation and profitability.

We are subject to extensive government regulation and industry standards relating to the products we design and manufacture as well as how we conduct our business, including regulations and standards relating to labor and employment practices, workplace health and safety, the environment, sourcing and import/export practices, the market sectors we support and many other facets of our operations. The regulatory climate in the U.S. and other countries has become increasingly complex and fragmented, and regulatory activity has increased in recent periods. Failure or noncompliance with such regulations or standards could have an adverse effect on our reputation, customer relationships, profitability and results of operations.

Our customers are also required to comply with various government regulations, legal requirements and industry standards, including many of the industry-specific regulations discussed above. Our customers’ failure to comply could affect their businesses, which in turn would affect our sales to them. In addition, if our customers are required by regulation or other requirements to make changes in their product lines, these changes could significantly disrupt particular programs for these customers and create inefficiencies in our business.

In addition to quality management standards, there are several other U.S. regulations that we are also required to follow, including the Federal Acquisition Regulations (“FAR”), which provides uniform policies and procedures for acquisition; the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, a DOD agency supplement to the FAR that provides DOD-specific acquisition regulations that DOD government acquisition officials, and those contractors doing business with DOD, must follow in the procurement process for goods and services; and the Truth in Negotiations Act, which is a law enacted for the purpose of providing for full and fair disclosure by contractors in the conduct of negotiations with the government.

We have addressed several other specific laws and regulations within various risk factors above.