Risks Related to Our Business

We operate in the highly competitive mechanical power transmission industry and if we are not able to compete successfully our business may be significantly harmed.

We operate in highly fragmented and very competitive markets in the MPT industry. Some of our competitors have achieved substantially more market penetration in certain of the markets in which we operate, such as helical gear drives, and some of our competitors are larger than us and have greater financial and other resources. With respect to certain of our products, we compete with divisions of our OEM customers. Competition in our business lines is based on a number of considerations, including quality, reliability, pricing, availability, and design and application engineering support. Our customers increasingly demand a broad product range and we must continue to develop our expertise in order to manufacture and market these products successfully. To remain competitive, regular investment in manufacturing, customer service and support, marketing, sales, research and development and intellectual property protection is required. In the future we may not have sufficient resources to continue to make such investments and may not be able to maintain our competitive position within each of the markets we serve. We may have to adjust the prices of some of our products to stay competitive.

Additionally, some of our larger, more sophisticated customers are attempting to reduce the number of vendors from which they purchase in order to increase their efficiency. If we are not selected to become one of these preferred providers, we may lose market share in some of the markets in which we compete.

There is substantial and continuing pressure on major OEMs and larger distributors to reduce costs, including the cost of products purchased from outside suppliers. As a result of cost pressures from our customers, our ability to compete depends in part on our ability to generate production cost savings and, in turn, to find reliable, cost effective outside suppliers to source components or manufacture our products. If we are unable to generate sufficient cost savings in the future to offset price reductions, then our gross margin could be materially adversely affected.

General economic changes in or the cyclical nature of our markets could harm our operations and financial performance.

Global economic and financial market conditions have been weak and/or volatile in recent years, and those conditions have adversely affected our business operations and are expected to continue to adversely affect our business.  A weakening of current conditions or a future downturn may adversely affect our future results of operations and financial condition. Weak, challenging or volatile economic conditions in the end-markets, businesses or geographic areas in which we sell our products could reduce demand for products and result in a decrease in sales volume for a prolonged period of time, which would have a negative impact on our future results of operations.

Our financial performance depends, in large part, on conditions in the markets that we serve and on the U.S. and global economies in general. Some of the markets we serve are highly cyclical, such as the metals, mining, industrial equipment and energy markets, including oil and gas. In such an environment, expected cyclical activity or sales may not occur or may be delayed and may result in significant quarter-to-quarter variability in our performance. Any sustained weakness in demand, downturn or uncertainty in cyclical markets may reduce our sales and profitability.

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We rely on independent distributors and the loss of these distributors could adversely affect our business.

In addition to our direct sales force and manufacturer sales representatives, we depend on the services of independent distributors to sell our products and provide service and aftermarket support to our customers. We support an extensive distribution network, with over 3,000 distributor locations worldwide. Rather than serving as passive conduits for delivery of product, our independent distributors are active participants in the overall competitive dynamics in the MPT industry. During the year ended December 31, 2016, approximately 30% of our net sales from continuing operations were generated through independent distributors. In particular, sales through our largest distributor accounted for approximately 7% of our net sales for the year ended December 31, 2016. Almost all of the distributors with whom we transact business offer competitive products and services to our customers. In addition, the distribution agreements we have are typically non-exclusive and cancelable by the distributor after a short notice period. The loss of any major distributor or a substantial number of smaller distributors or an increase in the distributors’ sales of our competitors’ products to our customers could materially reduce our sales and profits.

We must continue to invest in new technologies and manufacturing techniques; however, our ability to develop or adapt to changing technology and manufacturing techniques is uncertain and our failure to do so could place us at a competitive disadvantage.

The successful implementation of our business strategy requires us to invest continuously in new technologies and manufacturing techniques to evolve our existing products and introduce new products to meet our customers’ needs in the industries we serve and want to serve. For example, motion control products offer more precise positioning and control compared to industrial clutches and brakes. If manufacturing processes are developed to make motion control products more price competitive and less complicated to operate, our customers may decrease their purchases of MPT products.

Our products are characterized by performance and specification requirements that mandate a high degree of manufacturing and engineering expertise. We believe that our customers rigorously evaluate their suppliers on the basis of a number of factors, including:

Our success depends on our ability to invest in new technologies and manufacturing techniques to continue to meet our customers’ changing demands with respect to the above factors. We may not be able to make required capital expenditures and, even if we do so, we may be unsuccessful in addressing technological advances or introducing new products necessary to remain competitive within our markets. Furthermore, our own technological developments may not be able to produce a sustainable competitive advantage. If we fail to invest successfully in improvements to our technology and manufacturing techniques, our business may be materially adversely affected.

Our operations are subject to international risks that could affect our operating results.

Our net sales outside North America represented approximately 42% of our total net sales for the year ended December 31, 2016. In addition, we sell products to domestic customers for use in their products sold overseas. We also source a significant portion of our products and materials from overseas. Our financial performance has been, and is expected to continue to be, adversely impacted by foreign currency exchange rates. Our business is subject to risks associated with doing business internationally, and our future results could be materially adversely affected by a variety of factors, including:

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In addition, our international operations are governed by various U.S. laws and regulations, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other similar laws that prohibit us and our business partners from making improper payments or offers of payment to foreign governments and their officials and political parties for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Any alleged or actual violations of these regulations may subject us to government scrutiny, severe criminal or civil sanctions and other liabilities.

As we continue to expand our business globally, our success will depend, in large part, on our ability to anticipate and effectively manage these and other risks associated with our international operations. However, any of these factors could materially adversely affect our international operations and, consequently, our operating results.

Our operations depend on commercial activities and production facilities throughout the world, many of which may be located in jurisdictions that are subject to increased risks of disrupted production or commercial activities causing delays in shipments and loss of customers and revenue.

We operate businesses with manufacturing facilities worldwide, many of which are located outside the United States including in Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Russia, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. Serving a global customer base requires that we place production in emerging markets to capitalize on market opportunities and cost efficiencies. Our international production facilities and operations and commercial activities could be disrupted by currency fluctuations and devaluation, capital and currency exchange controls, low or negative economic growth rates, natural disaster, labor strike, military activity or war, political unrest, terrorist activity, or public health concerns, particularly in emerging countries that are not well-equipped to handle such occurrences. Any such disruptions could materially adversely affect our business.

We rely on estimated forecasts of our OEM customers’ needs, and inaccuracies in such forecasts could materially adversely affect our business.

We generally sell our products pursuant to individual purchase orders instead of under long-term purchase commitments. Therefore, we rely on estimated demand forecasts, based upon input from our customers, to determine how much material to purchase and product to manufacture. Because our sales are based on purchase orders, our customers may cancel, delay or otherwise modify their purchase commitments with little or no consequence to them and with little or no notice to us. For these reasons, we generally have limited visibility regarding our customers’ actual product needs. The quantities or timing required by our customers for our products could vary significantly. Whether in response to changes affecting the industry or a customer’s specific business pressures, any cancellation, delay or other modification in our customers’ orders could significantly reduce our revenue, impact our working capital, cause our operating results to fluctuate from period to period and make it more difficult for us to predict our revenue. In the event of a cancellation or reduction of an order, we may not have enough time to reduce operating expenses to minimize the effect of the lost revenue on our business and we may purchase too much inventory and spend more capital than expected, which may materially adversely affect our business.

From time to time, our customers may experience deterioration of their businesses. In addition, during periods of economic difficulty, our customers may not be able to accurately estimate demand forecasts and may scale back orders in an abundance of caution. As a result, existing or potential customers may delay or cancel plans to purchase our products and may not be able to fulfill their obligations to us in a timely fashion. Such cancellations, reductions or inability to fulfill obligations could significantly reduce our revenue, impact our working capital, cause our operating results to fluctuate adversely from period to period and make it more difficult for us to predict our revenue.

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Our inability to efficiently utilize or re-negotiate minimum pur chase requirements in certain supply agreements could decrease our profitability.

Our ability to maintain and expand our business depends, in part, on our ability to continue to obtain raw materials and component parts on favorable terms from various suppliers. Agreements with some of our suppliers contain minimum purchase requirements. We can give no assurance that we will be able to utilize the minimum amount of raw materials or component parts that we are required to purchase under certain supply agreements which contain minimum purchase requirements. If we are required to purchase more raw materials or component parts than we are able to utilize in the operation of our business, the costs of providing our products would likely increase, which could decrease our profitability and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Disruption of our supply chain could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability, including manufacturing or distribution capabilities, and that of our suppliers, business partners and contract manufacturers, to make, move and sell products is critical to our success. Damage or disruption to our or their manufacturing or distribution capabilities due to weather, natural disaster, fire or explosion, terrorism, pandemics, strikes, repairs or enhancements at our facilities, excessive demand, raw material shortages, or other reasons, could impair our ability, and that of our suppliers, to manufacture or sell our products. Failure to take adequate steps to mitigate the likelihood or potential impact of such events, or to effectively manage such events if they occur, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as require additional resources to restore our supply chain.

The materials used to produce our products are subject to price fluctuations that could increase costs of production and adversely affect our profitability.

The materials used to produce our products, especially copper and steel, are sourced on a global or regional basis and the prices of those materials are susceptible to price fluctuations due to supply and demand trends, transportation costs, government regulations and tariffs, changes in currency exchange rates, price controls, the economic climate and other unforeseen circumstances. If we are unable to continue to pass a substantial portion of such price increases on to our customers on a timely basis, our future profitability may be materially adversely affected. In addition, passing through these costs to our customers may also limit our ability to increase our prices in the future.

We face potential product liability claims relating to products we manufacture or distribute, which could result in our having to expend significant time and expense to defend these claims and to pay material damages or settlement amounts.

We face a business risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that the use of our products is alleged to have resulted in injury or other adverse effects. We currently have several product liability claims against us with respect to our products. We may not be able to obtain product liability insurance on acceptable terms in the future, if at all, or obtain insurance that will provide adequate coverage against potential claims. Product liability claims can be expensive to defend and can divert the attention of management and other personnel for long periods of time, regardless of the ultimate outcome. An unsuccessful product liability defense could exceed any insurance that we maintain and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or our ability to make payments under our debt obligations when due. In addition, we believe our business depends on the strong brand reputation we have developed. In the event that our reputation is damaged, we may face difficulty in maintaining our pricing positions with respect to some of our products, which would reduce our sales and profitability.

We also risk exposure to product liability claims in connection with products sold by businesses that we acquire. We cannot assure you that third parties that have retained responsibility for product liabilities relating to products manufactured or sold prior to our acquisition of the relevant business or persons from whom we have acquired a business that are required to indemnify us for certain product liability claims subject to certain caps or limitations on indemnification will in fact satisfy their obligations to us with respect to liabilities retained by them or their indemnification obligations. If those third parties become unable to or otherwise do not comply with their respective obligations including indemnity obligations, or if certain product liability claims for which we are obligated were not retained by third parties or are not subject to these indemnities, we could become subject to significant liabilities or other adverse consequences. Moreover, even in cases where third parties retain responsibility for product liabilities or are required to indemnify us, significant claims arising from products that we have acquired could have a material adverse effect on our ability to realize the benefits from an acquisition, could result in our reducing the value of goodwill that we have recorded in connection with an acquisition, or could otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or operations.

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We may be subject to work stoppages at our facilities, or our customers may be subjected to work stoppages, which could seriously impact our operations and the profitability of our business.

As of December 31, 2016, we had 4,564 full-time employees, of whom approximately 43% were located in North America (primarily U.S.), 43% in Europe, and 14% in Asia and the rest of the world. Approximately 14% of our full-time factory U.S. employees are represented by labor unions. In addition, approximately 1,415 employees or 72% of our European employees are represented by labor unions or works councils. Approximately 53 employees in the Lamiflex production facilities in Brazil are represented by a works council. Additionally, approximately 82 employees in the TB Wood’s production facility in Mexico are unionized under a collective bargaining agreement that is subject to annual renewals.

We are a party to four U.S. collective bargaining agreements. The agreements will expire in June 2017, July 2017, February 2018 and November 2019. We are also party to a collective bargaining agreement with approximately 62 union employees at our Toronto, Canada manufacturing facility. That agreement will expire in July 2018.  We may be unable to renew these agreements on terms that are satisfactory to us, if at all.

One of the four U.S. collective bargaining agreements contains provisions for additional, potentially significant, lump-sum severance payments to all employees covered by that agreement who are terminated as the result of a plant closing and one of our collective bargaining agreements contains provisions restricting our ability to terminate or relocate operations.

Our facilities in Europe and Brazil have employees who are generally represented by local or national social works councils. Social works councils meet with employer industry associations periodically to discuss employee wages and working conditions. Our facilities in Denmark, France, Germany, Slovakia, and Brazil often participate in such discussions and adhere to any agreements reached.

If our unionized workers or those represented by a works council were to engage in a strike, work stoppage or other slowdown in the future, we could experience a significant disruption of our operations. Such disruption could interfere with our ability to deliver products on a timely basis and could have other negative effects, including decreased productivity and increased labor costs. In addition, if a greater percentage of our work force becomes unionized, our business and financial results could be materially adversely affected. Many of our direct and indirect customers have unionized work forces. Strikes, work stoppages or slowdowns experienced by these customers or their suppliers could result in slowdowns or closures of assembly plants where our products are used and could cause cancellation of purchase orders with us or otherwise result in reduced revenues from these customers.

Changes in employment laws could increase our costs and may adversely affect our business.

Various federal, state and international labor laws govern our relationship with employees and affect operating costs. These laws include minimum wage requirements, overtime, unemployment tax rates, workers’ compensation rates paid, leaves of absence, mandated health and other benefits, and citizenship requirements. Significant additional government-imposed increases or new requirements in these areas could materially affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flow.

In the event our employee-related costs rise significantly, we may have to curtail the number of our employees or shut down certain manufacturing facilities. Any such actions would not only be costly but could also materially adversely affect our business.

We depend on the services of key executives, the loss of whom could materially harm our business.

Our senior executives are important to our success because they are instrumental in setting our strategic direction, operating our business, maintaining and expanding relationships with distributors, identifying, recruiting and training key personnel, identifying expansion opportunities and arranging necessary financing. Losing the services of any of these individuals could adversely affect our business until a suitable replacement could be found. We believe that our senior executives could not easily be replaced with executives of equal experience and capabilities. Although we have entered into employment agreements with certain of our key domestic executives, we cannot prevent our key executives from terminating their employment with us. We do not maintain key person life insurance policies on any of our executives.

If we lose certain of our key sales, marketing or engineering personnel, our business may be adversely affected.

Our success depends on our ability to recruit, retain and motivate highly skilled sales, marketing and engineering personnel. Competition for these persons in our industry is intense and we may not be able to successfully recruit, train or retain qualified personnel. If we fail to retain and recruit the necessary personnel, our business and our ability to obtain new customers, develop new products and provide acceptable levels of customer service could suffer. If certain of these key personnel were to terminate their employment with us, we may experience difficulty replacing them, and our business could be harmed.

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We are subject to environmental laws that could impose significant costs on us and the failure to comply with such laws could subject us to sanctions and material fines and expenses.

We are subject to a variety of federal, state, local, foreign and provincial environmental laws and regulations, including those governing the discharge of pollutants into the air or water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes and the responsibility to investigate and cleanup contaminated sites that are or were owned, leased, operated or used by us or our predecessors. Some of these laws and regulations require us to obtain permits, which contain terms and conditions that impose limitations on our ability to emit and discharge hazardous materials into the environment and periodically may be subject to modification, renewal and revocation by issuing authorities. Fines and penalties may be imposed for non-compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations and the failure to have or to comply with the terms and conditions of required permits. From time to time, our operations may not be in full compliance with the terms and conditions of our permits. The operation of manufacturing plants entails risks related to compliance with environmental laws, requirements and permits, and a failure by us to comply with applicable environmental laws, regulations, or permits could result in civil or criminal fines, penalties, enforcement actions, third party claims for property damage and personal injury, requirements to clean up property or to pay for the costs of cleanup, or regulatory or judicial orders enjoining or curtailing operations or requiring corrective measures, including the installation of pollution control equipment or remedial actions. Moreover, if applicable environmental laws and regulations, or the interpretation or enforcement thereof, become more stringent in the future, we could incur capital or operating costs beyond those currently anticipated.

Certain environmental laws in the United States, such as the federal Superfund law and similar state laws, impose liability for the cost of investigation or remediation of contaminated sites upon the current or, in some cases, the former site owners or operators and upon parties who arranged for the disposal of wastes or transported or sent those wastes to an off-site facility for treatment or disposal, regardless of when the release of hazardous substances occurred or the lawfulness of the activities giving rise to the release. Such liability can be imposed without regard to fault and, under certain circumstances, can be joint and several, resulting in one party being held responsible for the entire obligation. As a practical matter, however, the costs of investigation and remediation generally are allocated among the viable responsible parties on some form of equitable basis. Liability also may include damages to natural resources. In addition, from time to time, we are notified that we are a potentially responsible party and may have liability in connection with off-site disposal facilities. There can be no assurance that we will be able to resolve pending and future matters relating to off-site disposal facilities at all or for nominal sums.

There is contamination at some of our current facilities, primarily related to historical operations at those sites, for which we could be liable for the investigation and remediation under certain environmental laws. The potential for contamination also exists at other of our current or former sites, based on historical uses of those sites. Our costs or liability in connection with potential contamination conditions at our facilities cannot be predicted at this time because the potential existence of contamination has not been investigated or not enough is known about the environmental conditions or likely remedial requirements. Currently, with respect to certain of our facilities, other parties with contractual liability are addressing or have plans or obligations to address those contamination conditions that may pose a material risk to human health, safety or the environment. In addition, there may be environmental conditions currently unknown to us relating to our prior, existing or future sites or operations or those of predecessor companies whose liabilities we may have assumed or acquired which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are being indemnified, or expect to be indemnified by third parties subject to certain caps or limitations on the indemnification, for certain environmental costs and liabilities associated with certain owned or operated sites. We cannot assure you, that third parties who indemnify or who are expected to indemnify us for certain environmental costs and liabilities associated with certain owned or operated sites will in fact satisfy their indemnification obligations. If those third parties become unable to, or otherwise do not, comply with their respective indemnity obligations, or if certain contamination or other liability for which we are obligated is not subject to these indemnities, we could become subject to significant liabilities.

Our future success depends on our ability to integrate acquired companies and manage our growth effectively.

As part of our growth strategy, we have made and expect to continue to make, acquisitions. Our continued growth may depend on our ability to identify and acquire companies that complement or enhance our business on acceptable terms. We may not be able to identify or complete future acquisitions. In addition, our growth through acquisitions has placed, and will continue to place, significant demands on our management, operational and financial resources. Realization of the benefits of acquisitions often requires integration of some or all of the acquired companies’ sales and marketing, distribution, manufacturing, engineering, finance and administrative organizations. Integration of companies demands substantial attention from senior management and the management of the acquired companies. We may not be able to integrate successfully our recent acquisitions, or any future acquisitions, operate these acquired companies profitably, or realize the potential benefits from these acquisitions.

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The difficulties of integrating the operations of acquired businesses include, among others:

The market price of our common stock may decline as a result of acquisitions if, among other things, we are unable to achieve the expected growth in earnings, or if the operational cost savings estimates in connection with the integration of the acquired businesses are not realized, or if the transaction costs related to the acquisitions are greater than expected. The market price of our common stock also may decline if we do not achieve the perceived benefits of the acquisitions as rapidly or to the extent anticipated by financial or industry analysts or if the effect of the acquisitions on our financial results is not consistent with the expectations of financial or industry analysts.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights, brands or technology effectively, which could allow competitors to duplicate or replicate our technology and could adversely affect our ability to compete.

We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret laws in the United States and other jurisdictions, as well as on license, non-disclosure, employee and consultant assignment and other agreements and domain names registrations in order to protect our proprietary technology and rights. Applications for protection of our intellectual property rights may not be allowed, and the rights, if granted, may not be maintained. In addition, third parties may infringe or challenge our intellectual property rights. In some cases, we rely on unpatented proprietary technology. It is possible that others will independently develop the same or similar technology or otherwise obtain access to our unpatented technology. In addition, in the ordinary course of our operations, we pursue potential claims from time to time relating to the protection of certain products and intellectual property rights, including with respect to some of our more profitable products. Such claims could be time consuming, expensive and divert resources. If we are unable to maintain the proprietary nature of our technologies or proprietary protection of our brands, our ability to market or be competitive with respect to some or all of our products may be affected, which could reduce our sales and profitability.

We or our products could infringe on the intellectual property of others, which may cause us to engage in costly litigation and, if we are not successful, could cause us to pay substantial damages and prohibit us from selling our products.

Third parties may assert infringement or other intellectual property claims against us based on their patents or other intellectual property claims, and we may have to pay substantial damages, possibly including treble damages, if it is ultimately determined that our products infringe. We may have to obtain a license to sell our products if it is determined that our products infringe upon another party’s intellectual property. We might be prohibited from selling our products before we obtain a license, which, if available at all, may require us to pay substantial royalties. Even if infringement claims against us are without merit, defending these types of lawsuits takes significant time, may be expensive and may divert management attention from other business concerns.

Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles comprises a significant portion of our total assets, and if we determine that goodwill or indefinite-lived intangibles become impaired in the future, net income in such years may be materially and adversely affected.

Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair market value of net assets acquired in business combinations. Due to the acquisitions we have completed historically, goodwill comprises a significant portion of our total assets. We review goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles annually for impairment and any excess in carrying value over the estimated fair value is charged to the results of operations. Our prior review of indefinite-lived intangibles resulted in a $6.6 million reduction to the value of such assets in our financial statements in 2016. Future reviews of goodwill and indefinite lived intangibles could result in future reductions. Any reduction in net income resulting from the write down or impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles could adversely affect our financial results. If economic conditions deteriorate we may be required to impair goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles in future periods.

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Unplanned repairs or equipment outages could interrupt production and reduce income or cash flow.

Unplanned repairs or equipment outages, including those due to natural disasters, could result in the disruption of our manufacturing processes. Any interruption in our manufacturing processes would interrupt our production of products, reduce our income and cash flow and could result in a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

Our operations are highly dependent on information technology infrastructure and failures could significantly affect our business.

We depend heavily on our information technology, or IT, infrastructure in order to achieve our business objectives. If we experience a problem that impairs this infrastructure, such as a computer virus, a problem with the functioning of an important IT application, or an intentional disruption of our IT systems by a third party, the resulting disruptions could impede our ability to record or process orders, manufacture and ship in a timely manner, or otherwise carry on our business in the ordinary course. Any such events could cause us to lose customers or revenue and could require us to incur significant expense to eliminate these problems and address related security concerns.

Computer viruses, malware, and other “hacking” programs and devices (“hacking events”) expose us to risk of theft of assets including cash. Any such event could require us to incur significant expense to eliminate these problems and address related security concerns.

Hacking events may also cause significant damage, delays or interruptions to our systems and operations or to certain of the products that we sell resulting in damage to our reputation and brand names.

Additionally, hacking events may attack our infrastructure, industrial machinery, software, or hardware causing significant damage, delays or other service interruptions to our systems and operations. “Hacking” involves efforts to gain unauthorized access to information or systems or to cause intentional malfunctions, loss or corruption of data, software, hardware, or other computer equipment. In addition, increasingly sophisticated malware may target real-world infrastructure or product components, including certain of the products that we currently or may in the future sell by attacking, disrupting, reconfiguring and/or reprogramming industrial control software. Hacking events could result in significant damage to our infrastructure, industrial machinery, systems, or databases. We may incur significant costs to protect our systems and equipment against the threat of, and to repair any damage caused by, computer viruses and hacking events. Moreover, if hacking events affect our systems or products, our reputation and brand names could be materially damaged and use of our products may decrease.

If we are unable to successfully implement our new ERP system across the Company or such implementation is delayed, our operations may be disrupted or become less efficient.

We are in the process of implementing a new Enterprise Resource Planning system entitled “SAP” worldwide, with the aim of enabling management to achieve better control over the Company through: improved quality, reliability and timeliness of information; improved integration and visibility of information stemming from different management functions and countries; and optimization and global management of corporate processes. The adoption of the new SAP system, which replaces the existing accounting and management systems, poses several challenges relating to, among other things, training of personnel, communication of new rules and procedures, changes in corporate culture, migration of data, and the potential instability of the new system. In order to mitigate the impact of such critical issues, the Company decided to implement the new SAP system on a step-by-step basis, both geographically and in terms of processes. If the remaining implementation of the SAP system is delayed, in whole or in part, we would continue to use our current systems which may not be sufficient to support our planned operations and significant upgrades to the current systems may be warranted or required to meet our business needs pending SAP implementation. In addition, we rely on third-party vendors to provide long-term software maintenance support and hosting services for our information systems. Software vendors may decide to discontinue further development, integration or long-term software maintenance support for our information systems, which may increase our operational expense as well as disrupt the management of our business operations. In addition, we do not control the operation of any third party hosting facilities. These facilities are vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, fires, power loss, telecommunications failures and similar events. They are also subject to break-ins, computer viruses, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism and other misconduct. The occurrence of any of these disasters or other unanticipated problems with our third party hosting vendors could disrupt the management of, and have a material adverse effect on, our business operations. However, there can be no assurance that the new SAP system will be successfully implemented and failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operations.

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Our leverage could adversely affect our financial health and make us vulnerable to adverse economic and industry conditions.

As of January 15, 2017, we had approximately $313.6 million outstanding and $107.3 million available under our 2015 Revolving Credit Facility (as defined herein). Our indebtedness has important consequences; for example, it could:

Substantially all of the domestic personal property of the Company and its domestic subsidiaries and certain shares of certain non-domestic subsidiaries have been pledged as collateral against any outstanding borrowings under the Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated October 22, 2015 (the “2015 Credit Agreement”) governing our 2015 Revolving Credit Facility. In addition, the 2015 Credit Agreement requires us to maintain specified financial ratios and satisfy certain financial condition tests, which may require that we take action to reduce our debt or to act in a manner contrary to our business objectives.

In the future, the then current economic and credit market conditions may limit our access to additional capital, to the extent that the 2015 Credit Agreement would otherwise permit additional financing, or may preclude our ability to refinance our existing indebtedness. There can be no assurance that there will not be a deterioration in the credit markets, a deterioration in the financial condition of our lenders or their ability to fund their commitments or, if necessary, that we will be able to find replacement financing, if need be, on similar or acceptable terms. An inability to access sufficient financing or capital could have an adverse impact on our operations and thus on our operating results and financial position.

Our 2015 Credit Agreement imposes significant operating and financial restrictions, which may prevent us from pursuing our business strategies or favorable business opportunities.

Subject to a number of important exceptions, the 2015 Credit Agreement may limit our ability to:

The restrictions contained in the 2015 Credit Agreement may prevent us from taking actions that we believe would be in the best interest of our business, and may make it difficult for us to successfully execute our business strategy or effectively compete with companies that are not similarly restricted. A breach of any of these covenants or the inability to comply with the required financial ratios could result in a default under the 2015 Credit Agreement. If any such default occurs, the lenders under the 2015 Credit Agreement may elect to declare all of the outstanding debt under the 2015 Credit Agreement, together with accrued interest and other amounts payable thereunder, to be immediately due and payable. The lenders under the 2015 Credit Agreement also have the right in those circumstances to terminate any commitments they have to provide further borrowings. In addition, following an event of default under the 2015 Credit Agreement, the lenders under the 2015 Credit Agreement will have the right to proceed against the collateral

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that secures the debt. If the debt under the 2015 Credit Agreement were to be accelerated, we may not have the ability to refinance that debt, and i f we can, the terms of such refinancing may be less favorable than the current financing terms under the 2015 Credit Agreement. In the event that the indebtedness is accelerated, our assets may not be sufficient to repay in full all of our debt.

We face risks associated with our exposure to variable interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates.

We are exposed to various types of market risk in the normal course of business, including the impact of interest rate changes and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Some of our indebtedness bears interest at variable rates, generally linked to market benchmarks such as LIBOR. Any increase in interest rates would increase our finance expenses relating to our variable rate indebtedness and increase the costs of refinancing our existing indebtedness and issuing new debt. A portion of our indebtedness is also euro denominated. In addition, we conduct our business and incur costs in the local currency of the countries in which we operate. As we continue expanding our business into markets such as Europe, China, Australia and South America, we expect that an increasing percentage of our revenue and cost of sales will be denominated in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar, our reporting currency. As a result, we are subject to currency translation risk, whereby changes in exchange rates between the dollar and the other currencies in which we borrow and do business could result in foreign exchange losses and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We are exposed to swap counterparty credit risk that could materially and adversely affect its business, operating results, and financial condition.

From time to time, we rely on interest rate swap contracts and hedging arrangements to effectively manage our interest rate risk. We entered into multiple cross-currency interest rate swaps in 2016 to manage the cash flow currency risks caused by interest rate and foreign exchange changes on outstanding borrowings under the 2015 Credit Agreement of $170.0 million related to the Company’s foreign financing of the Stromag Acquisition. In January 2017, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement designed to fix the variable interest rate payable on a portion of its outstanding borrowings under the 2015 Credit Agreement, for a notional value of $50.0 million, at 1.625%. Failure to perform under derivatives contracts by one or more of our counterparties could disrupt our hedging operations, particularly if we were entitled to a termination payment under the terms of the contract that we did not receive, if we had to make a termination payment upon default of the counterparty, or if we were unable to reposition the swap with a new counterparty.

We are subject to tax laws and regulations in many jurisdictions and the inability to successfully defend claims from taxing authorities related to our current or acquired businesses could adversely affect our operating results and financial position.

We conduct business in many countries, which requires us to interpret the income tax laws and rulings in each of those taxing jurisdictions. Due to the subjectivity of tax laws between those jurisdictions as well as the subjectivity of factual interpretations, our estimates of income tax liabilities may differ from actual payments or assessments. Claims from taxing authorities related to these differences could have an adverse impact on our operating results and financial position. Moreover, changes to tax laws and regulations in the U.S. or other countries where we do business could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial position.

Certain of our businesses are exposed to renewable energy markets which depend significantly on the availability and size of government subsidies and economic incentives.

Certain of our businesses sell product to customers within the renewable energy market, which among other energy sources includes wind energy and solar energy. At present, the cost of many forms of renewable energy exceeds the cost of conventional power generation in many locations around the world. Various governments have used different policy initiatives to encourage or accelerate the development and adoption of renewable energy sources such as wind energy and solar energy. Renewable energy policies are in place in the European Union, certain countries in Asia, including China, Japan and South Korea, and many of the states in Australia and the United States. Examples of government sponsored financial incentives include capital cost rebates, feed-in tariffs, tax credits, net metering and other incentives to end-users, distributors, system integrators and manufacturers of renewable energy products to promote the use of renewable energy and to reduce dependency on other forms of energy. Governments may decide to reduce or eliminate these economic incentives for political, financial or other reasons. Reductions in, or eliminations of, government subsidies and economic incentives before renewable energy markets reach a sufficient scale to be cost-effective in a non-subsidized marketplace could reduce demand for our products and adversely affect our business prospects and results of operations.

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Regulations related to conflict minerals could adversely impact our business

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains provisions to improve transparency and accountability concerning the supply of certain minerals, known as conflict minerals, originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and adjoining countries. As a result, in August 2012 the SEC adopted annual disclosure and reporting requirements for those companies who use conflict minerals mined from the DRC and adjoining countries in their products. These new requirements required country of origin inquiries and potentially due diligence, with initial disclosure requirements beginning in May 2014 relating to activities in 2013. There have been and will continue to be costs associated with complying with these disclosure requirements, including for country of origin inquiries and due diligence to determine the sources of conflict minerals used in our products and other potential changes to products, processes or sources of supply as a consequence of such verification activities. These rules could adversely affect the sourcing, supply and pricing of materials used in our products. As there may be only a limited number of suppliers offering “conflict free” conflict minerals, we cannot be sure that we will be able to obtain necessary conflict minerals from such suppliers in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. Also, we may face reputational challenges if we determine that certain of our products contain minerals not determined to be conflict free or if we are unable to verify sufficiently the origins for all conflict minerals used in our products through the procedures we have implemented.

Continued volatility and disruption in global financial markets could significantly impact our customers and suppliers, weaken the markets we serve and harm our operations and financial performance.

Our financial performance depends, in large part, on conditions in the markets that we serve and on the U.S. and global economies in general. As widely reported, U.S. and global financial markets have been experiencing disruption in recent years. Further, economic conditions in the European Union have deteriorated and, with the Bauer Acquisition, the Svendborg Acquisition and the Stromag Acquisition, our exposure to European markets has increased. Given the significance and widespread nature of these circumstances, the U.S., European, and global economies could remain significantly challenged for an indeterminate period of time. While currently these conditions have not impaired our ability to access credit markets and finance our operations, there can be no assurance that there will not be a further deterioration in financial markets and confidence in major economies. In addition, a tight credit market may adversely affect the ability of our customers to obtain financing for significant purchases and operations and could result in a decrease in or cancellation of orders for our products and services as well as impact the ability of our customers to make payments. Similarly, a tight credit market may adversely affect our supplier base and increase the potential for one or more of our suppliers to experience financial distress or bankruptcy. These conditions would harm our business by adversely affecting our sales, results of operations, profitability, cash flows, financial condition and long-term anticipated growth rate, which could result in potential impairment of certain long-term assets including goodwill.

We face risks associated with the Svendborg Acquisition and Stromag Acquisition Purchase Agreements.

In connection with the Svendborg Acquisition and the Stromag Acquisition, we are subject to substantially all of the liabilities of Svendborg and Stromag, respectively, that were not satisfied on or prior to the corresponding closing date. There may be liabilities that we underestimated or did not discover in the course of performing our due diligence investigation of Svendborg and Stromag. Under the Purchase Agreements, the sellers agreed to provide us with a limited set of representations and warranties, including with respect to outstanding and potential liabilities. Damages resulting from a breach of a representation or warranty could have a material and adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations, and there is no guarantee that the Company would actually be able to recover all or any portion of the sums payable in connection with such breach.

We may not realize the value assigned to the Company’s facility in Changzhou, China.

In 2016, we completed the process of closing our facility in Changzhou, China.  As part of that closure, we are selling the facility and several of the assets of the entity.  There are several uncertainties in liquidating the business and we may not be able to realize the value we have assigned to the facility and related assets.

We may not be able to achieve the efficiencies, savings and other benefits anticipated from our cost reduction, margin improvement and other business optimization initiatives.

We have in the past undertaken and expect to continue to undertake various restructuring activities and cost reduction initiatives in an effort to better align our organizational structure and costs with our strategy. We cannot assure you that we will be able to achieve all of the cost savings that we expect to realize from current or future activities and initiatives.  Furthermore, in connection with these activities, we may experience a disruption in our ability to perform functions important to our strategy. Unexpected delays, increased costs, challenges with adapting our internal control environment to a new organizational structure, inability to retain and motivate employees or other challenges arising from these initiatives could adversely affect our ability to realize the anticipated savings or other intended benefits of these activities and could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and operating results.

21

The vote by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union could adversely affect us.

In a Referendum of the United Kingdom (or the U.K.) held on June 23, 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union (E.U.) (referred to as Brexit), which could cause disruptions to and create uncertainty surrounding our business, including affecting our relationships with our existing and future customers, suppliers and employees, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial results and operations. The effects of Brexit will depend on any agreements the U.K. makes to retain access to E.U. markets either during a transitional period or more permanently. The measures could potentially disrupt the markets we serve and the tax jurisdictions in which we operate and adversely change tax benefits or liabilities in these or other jurisdictions, and may cause us to lose customers, suppliers, and employees. In addition, Brexit could lead to legal uncertainty and potentially divergent national laws and regulations as the U.K. determines which E.U. laws to replace or replicate.