Item 1. Business
Open Lending Corporation, headquartered in Austin, Texas, provides loan analytics, risk-based loan pricing, risk modeling, and automated decision technology for automotive lenders throughout the United States of America which allows each lending institution to book incremental near-prime and non-prime automotive loans out of their existing business flow. The Company also operates as a third-party administrator that adjudicates insurance claims and premium adjustments on those automotive loans.
Nebula Acquisition Corporation (“Nebula”), our predecessor, was originally incorporated in Delaware on October 2, 2017 as a special purpose acquisition company for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. On June 10, 2020 (the “Closing Date”), Nebula consummated a business combination (the “Business Combination”) pursuant to that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated as of January 5, 2020 (as amended by that certain Amendment No. 1 and Waiver, dated as of March 18, 2020, that certain Amendment No. 2 and Consent, dated as of March 26, 2020, that certain Amendment No. 3, dated as of May 13, 2020, and that certain amendment No. 4, dated as of June 9, 2020, the “Business Combination Agreement”) by and among Nebula, Open Lending, LLC, a Texas limited liability company, BRP Hold 11, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Blocker”), the Blocker’s sole stockholder, Nebula Parent Corp., a Delaware Corporation (“ParentCo”), NBLA Merger Sub LLC, a Texas limited liability company, NBLA Merger Sub Corp., a Delaware corporation, and Shareholder Representative Services LLC, a Colorado limited liability company, as the Securityholder Representative.
Immediately upon the completion of the Business Combination and the other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (the “Transactions”, and such completion, the “Closing”), Open Lending, LLC became a wholly-owned subsidiary of ParentCo, and, ParentCo changed its name to Open Lending Corporation. The Company is now listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market ("NASDAQ") under the symbol “LPRO”.
Unless the context otherwise requires, “we,” “us,” “our,” “Open Lending,” and the “Company” refers to Open Lending Corporation, the combined company and its subsidiaries following the Business Combination. “Open Lending, LLC” and “Nebula” refers to Open Lending, LLC and Nebula Acquisition Corporation prior to the Closing Date. Refer to Note 3 for further discussion on the Business Combination.
The Company has evaluated how it is organized and managed and has identified only one operating segment. All of the Company’s operations and assets are in the United States, and all of its revenues are attributable to United States customers.
Company Overview
We are a leading provider of lending enablement and risk analytics to credit unions, regional banks and the captive finance companies of Original Equipment Manufacturers ("OEM Captives"). Open Lending's clients, collectively referred to herein as automotive lenders, make automotive loans to underserved non-prime and near-prime borrowers by harnessing our risk-based pricing models, powered by Open Lending's proprietary data and real-time underwriting of automotive loan default insurance coverage from insurers. Since Open Lending's inception in 2000, we have facilitated over $9.2 billion in automotive loans, accumulating over 20 years of proprietary data and developing over two million unique risk profiles. We currently cater to approximately 355 active automotive lenders.
Open Lending specializes in risk-based pricing and modeling and provides automated decision-technology for automotive lenders throughout the United States. We believe that we address the financing needs of near-prime and non-prime borrowers, or borrowers with a credit score between 560 and 699, who are underserved in the automotive finance industry. Traditional lenders focus on prime borrowers, where an efficient market has developed with interest rate competition that benefits borrowers. Independent finance companies focus on sub-prime borrowers. Borrowers that utilize the near-prime and non-prime automotive lending market have fewer lenders focused on loans with longer terms or higher advance rates. As a result, near-prime and non-prime borrowers often turn to sub-prime lenders, resulting in higher interest rate loan offerings than the consumers’ credit profile often merits or warrants. Open Lending seeks to make this market more competitive, resulting in more attractive loan terms.
We believe that Open Lending’s market opportunity is significant. The near-prime and non-prime automotive loan market in the U.S. is $250 billion annually, resulting in an approximate $14.4 billion annual revenue opportunity for Open Lending. Open Lending is currently serving less than 1% of this market, providing a significant opportunity for Open Lending to continue to grow. Open Lending addresses this market through the LPP.
Open Lending’s LPP enables automotive lenders to make loans that are insured against losses from defaults. Open Lending has been developing and advancing the proprietary underwriting models used by LPP for approximately 20 years. LPP provides significant benefits to Open Lending’s growing ecosystem of automotive lenders, automobile dealers and insurers.
A key element of LPP is the ability to facilitate risk-based interest rates that are appropriate for each loan and lender. Open Lending’s interest rate pricing is customized to each automotive lender, reflecting the cost of capital, loan servicing costs, loan acquisition costs, expected recovery rates and target return on assets of each. Using Open Lending’s risk models, Open Lending projects monthly loan performance results, including expected losses and prepayments for automotive lenders that use LPP. The product of this process is a risk-based interest rate, inclusive of elements to recover all projected costs, program fees and insurance premiums, given the risk of the loan, to return a targeted return on asset goal. For the fiscal year 2020, LPP generated, on average, approximately $1,155 in revenue per loan, inclusive of the program fee, administrative fee and profit share.
Automotive Lenders and Dealers. Open Lending’s customers for its LPP are automotive lenders who rely on Open Lending to help them make more loans, by assessing the risk of the loan. Open Lending’s customers also rely on Open Lending to assist in insuring against the default of these loans by helping pair these customers with highly-rated insurance companies that mitigate the added risk associated with lending to near-prime and non-prime borrowers. The LPP enables lenders to expand their lending guidelines to offer loans to borrowers with lower credit scores, potentially leading to higher loan advance rates and increased loan volumes. LPP is designed to provide a seamless, real-time experience for automotive lenders that is intuitive and easy to use. LPP integrates directly with lenders’ existing loan origination systems (“LOS”), while also allowing the dealers and automotive lenders to electronically receive all-inclusive loan rates in real-time with no manual intervention.
Open Lending’s business model is a B2B2C model. Open Lending’s customers are automotive lenders, who serve millions of borrowers, who in turn are the customers of the automotive lenders. Open Lending gets access to loan application information from the automotive lenders. Open Lending supports loans originated through a number of channels, including direct loans where the customer interfaces directly with the lender, indirect loans through networks of auto dealers who work with Open Lending’s automotive lenders, and in targeted refinance programs implemented by Open Lending’s automotive lenders.
Insurers. The insurance carriers are required to maintain an "A" rating by A.M. Best insurance rating company. Open Lending partners with insurance carriers who provide default insurance to automotive lenders on individual automotive loans made by their lenders and LPP underwrites the risk on each loan application. The insurance carriers issue default insurance to Open Lending’s automotive lending customers that cover the loans generated through LPP. The default insurance is “first loss” insurance with limits on coverage tied to vehicle recovery rates, which encourages Open Lending’s automotive lenders to maximize recoveries on repossessed automobiles and creates a strong alignment of interest. As part of the insurance policy, the automotive lender is listed as the named insured under the policy representing a direct contractual relationship between the automotive lender and the insurer.
The insurance carriers contract with Open Lending’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Insurance Administrative Services LLC (“IAS”), to perform claims administration and in turn pay Open Lending administrative fees representing a portion of the insurance premiums paid by the automotive lenders. As Open Lending’s subsidiary, IAS provides continuity of customer service and allows for a seamless experience between LPP and the automotive lenders. Open Lending has one-way exclusivity agreements with AmTrust North America, Inc. and CNA Financial Corp. through December 31, 2023, which are described below.
LPP is powered by its proprietary technology that delivers speed, scalability and decision-making support for the automotive lenders. It supports the full transaction lifecycle, including credit application, underwriting, real-time insurance approval, settlement, servicing, invoicing of insurance premiums and fees, and advance data analytics of automotive lender’s portfolio under the program. Through data derived at loan origination and the data collected by IAS, Open Lending has loan life performance data on each loan in its portfolio insured to date.
Open Lending’s ecosystem of lenders and insurance carriers allows Open Lending to generate revenues with minimal customer acquisition, marketing and distribution costs, resulting in attractive unit economics and strong margins. When Open Lending signs a new automotive lender to LPP, the lender brings with them an aggregated customer base and access to an indirect auto lending dealer network.
Open Lending believes that it has a strong revenue model built upon repeat and growing usage by automotive lenders. Open Lending’s profitability is strongly correlated with transaction volume. In addition, Open Lending collects an administrative fee on the total earned monthly insurance premium on the insurance policies IAS services. The insurance premium for Open Lending’s insurers and its revenue streams are collected monthly by a surplus lines insurance broker, through automated clearing house transfers. Open Lending receives a profit share of the total monthly insurance underwriting profit earned by its insurers.
AmTrust Agreement
On October 22, 2013 Lenders Protection, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Open Lending ("Lenders Protection"), entered into a producer agreement (the “AmTrust Agreement”), as may be amended from time to time, with AmTrust North America,
Inc. (“AmTrust”), through which Lenders Protection earns claims administration service fees and profit share revenue. Under the AmTrust Agreement, AmTrust facilitates the issuance of credit default insurance in connection with loans closed through the LPP. The AmTrust Agreement currently terminates on December 31, 2023, and thereafter automatically renews for two-year terms unless either party provides the other with written notice of termination at least 180 days prior to expiration. The AmTrust Agreement contains a non-competition provision in favor of Lenders Protection.
Under the AmTrust Agreement, early termination is permitted by either party at any time, upon mutual written consent; by either party upon a delivery of notice of termination in connection with certain specified bankruptcy events with respect to the other party; by AmTrust upon notice to Lenders Protection in the event that the surplus line broker fails to make payment to AmTrust; by either party upon 30 days’ written notice in the event of a material breach by the other party that is not cured; by either party immediately upon notice to the other due to any “problematic change of control” of the other party without prior written approval; by either party immediately if a governmental authority finds the AmTrust Agreement to be unenforceable; by Lenders Protection immediately in the event any carrier issuing policies fails to maintain an A.M Best rating of at least “A-”; by Lenders Protection if AmTrust breaches the non-competition commitment; and by Lenders Protection within 90 days if AmTrust provides the Lenders Protection notice of its intent to compete.
Neither party may assign the AmTrust Agreement or any of its rights or delegate any of its duties or obligations thereunder in any transaction that does not constitute a change of control, without the prior written consent of the other party.
A “change of control” is defined under the AmTrust Agreement as: the sale of all or substantially all the assets of either party; the issuance, sale, or transfer of equity interests of either party following which the equity holders that hold a majority of the economic and voting interests of either party cease to own a majority of the equity interests of such entity; or any dissolution, winding up, cessation of business or liquidation of either party other than in connection with an event of bankruptcy. The Business Combination did not qualify as a change of control under the AmTrust Agreement.
A “problematic change of control” is defined as any change of control wherein the acquirer engages in a directly competitive business with Lenders Protection or AmTrust; or the acquiring party maintains, or is generally regarded as maintaining, creditworthiness less than that maintained by the party being acquired.
CNA Agreement
On October 1, 2017 Lenders Protection entered into a producer agreement (the “CNA Agreement”), as may be amended from time to time, with Continental Casualty Company (“CNA”), through which Lenders Protection earns claims administration service fees and profit share revenue. Under the CNA Agreement, CNA facilitates the issuance of credit default insurance policies to financial institutions that enter into a program agreement with Lenders Protection for use of its proprietary software platform. The CNA Agreement terminates on December 31, 2023, and automatically renews for one-year terms unless either party provides the other with written notice of termination at least 180 days prior to expiration. The CNA Agreement contains non-competition provision in favor of Lenders Protection.
Under the CNA Agreement, early termination is permitted by either party at any time, upon mutual written consent; by either party upon a delivery of notice of termination in connection with certain specified bankruptcy events with respect to the other party; by CNA upon notice to Lenders Protection in the event that the surplus line broker fails to make payment to CNA; by either party upon 30 days’ written notice and cure-period in the event of a material breach by the other party; by either party immediately upon notice to the other due to any “problematic change of control” of the other party without prior written approval; by either party immediately if a governmental authority finds the CNA Agreement to be unenforceable; by Lenders Protection immediately in the event any carrier issuing policies fails to maintain an “A” or “A.M. Best” rating; by Lenders Protection if CNA breaches the non-competition commitment; by Lenders Protection if CNA provides notice to Lenders Protection of its intent to compete; and by either party for fraud or willful misconduct.
Neither party may assign the CNA Agreement or any of its rights or delegate any of its duties or obligations thereunder in any transaction that does not constitute a change of control, without the prior written consent of the other party.
A “change of control” is defined under the CNA Agreement as: the sale of all or substantially all the assets of either party; the issuance, sale, or transfer of equity interests of either party following which the equityholders that hold a majority of the economic and voting interests of either party cease to own a majority of the equity interests of such entity; or any dissolution, winding up, cessation of business or liquidation of either party other than in connection with an event of bankruptcy. The Business Combination did not qualify as a change of control under the CNA Agreement.
A “problematic change of control” is defined under the producer agreement as any change of control of Lenders Protection wherein the acquirer is an insurance company engaged in a directly competitive business of CNA.
Open Lending’s Market Opportunity
Automotive loans for many near-prime and non-prime borrowers have been historically referred by the automotive lenders to third-party subprime financing companies. Open Lending’s proprietary technology enables automotive lenders to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers and mitigate credit risk through Open Lending’s unique insurance solution without losing the opportunity to such third-party finance companies. This helps Open Lending’s automotive lenders maintain their consumer relationships instead of turning their clients over to third-parties.
The automotive industry is still seeking solutions to address the near-prime and non-prime borrower market. The near-prime and non-prime automotive loan market is a large, underserved sector with an approximate $14.4 billion revenue opportunity from an annual $250.0 billion underlying near-prime and non-prime auto loan market in the U.S. Open Lending is currently engaged with less than 1% of this market. Open Lending presents a compelling value proposition to the national network of OEM Captives, credit unions, banks and other automotive lenders by expanding the range of credit scores and loan-to-values where lenders can safely and profitably lend. Through the use of LPP, Open Lending believes it allows automotive lenders to increase application flow from near-prime and non-prime borrowers and help them broaden credit appetite with limited incremental risk. The insurance protection against default of these loans increases the ability for the automotive lenders to enter into these lending transactions with minimal additional risk. Additionally, Open Lending has solidified its channel partner relationships with fintech online lending partners, who source auto loan applications off the internet and offer refinance opportunities to near-prime and non-prime borrowers who have been mispriced by sub-prime auto lenders. Presently, Open Lending also has relationships with two OEM Captives, as described below.
OEM #1
On July 12, 2019, Lenders Protection entered into a Master Services Agreement (the “MSA”) and a Program Agreement (the “Program Agreement,” and together with the MSA, the “FinCo Agreement”), with an auto finance company (“Auto FinCo”), through which Lenders Protection provides Auto FinCo access to and use of the LPP in exchange for compensation. Under the FinCo Agreement, Auto FinCo uses the LPP to make credit available for purchases of motor vehicles by customers who do not qualify for financing under Auto FinCo’s standard terms. The term of the Program Agreement continues until July 12, 2021, and automatically renews for one-year periods unless notice of non-renewal is given by either party to the other at least sixty days prior to the expiration date of the Program Agreement. Auto FinCo may terminate the MSA and/or the Program Agreement without cause upon one day prior written notice to Lenders Protection, and Lenders Protection may terminate the MSA and/or the Program Agreement without cause upon 180 days prior written notice to Auto FinCo. Either party may terminate the MSA and/or the Program Agreement for default as set forth in the MSA.
OEM #2
On October 1, 2019, Lenders Protection entered into an agreement with another auto finance company through which Lenders Protection provides access to and use of the LPP in exchange for program fees. Under the agreement, the auto finance company utilizes the LPP to make credit available to borrowers. The term of this agreement continues until all insured loans are no longer covered under the program insurance defined in the agreement. For purposes of any future originations, either party may terminate this agreement upon breach by the other party of any of the sections of the agreement. So long as the underlying loans remain outstanding, the agreement will remain in place with respect to those loans.
Key Product
Lenders Protection Program, Open Lending’s flagship product, is an automotive lending program designed to underwrite default insurance on loans made to near-prime and non-prime borrowers. The program uses proprietary risk-based pricing models combined with loan default insurance provided by highly-rated third-party insurers. LPP links automotive lenders, LOS and insurance companies. LPP enables automotive lenders to assess the credit risk of a potential borrower within five seconds using data driven analysis, enabling the lender to generate an all-inclusive, insured, interest rate for a loan for the borrower.
The technology backing LPP is comprised of two primary elements. The first primary element is Open Lending’s proprietary, multi-tenant software technology platform, which functions to fulfill the needs of all constituents in Open Lending’s ecosystem. This software technology delivers underwriting results, loan-life reporting, consultative analyses and invoicing to Open Lending’s automotive lenders. This technology also fulfills the invoicing, reporting and collection needs of Open Lending’s insurers. Through electronic system integration, Open Lending’s software technology connects Open Lending to all parties in its ecosystem. Open Lending believes that its ability to perform these tasks in various work streams electronically provides it with the ability to rapidly scale at minimum cost.
The second primary element of the LPP is its unique database that drives risk decisioning, with proprietary data accumulated in the last 20 years. At origination when a loan is insured, all attributes of the transaction are stored in the database. Through IAS, Open Lending ultimately gets loan life performance data on each insured loan. Having extremely granular origination and performance data allows Open Lending’s data scientists and actuaries to constantly evolve and refine its risk models, based on
actual experience and new third-party information sources. Open Lending’s dataset is more comprehensive than automotive lenders data regarding near-prime and non-prime auto loans (e.g. our data points include higher loan advance rates in lower credit scores, older model used cars, higher mileage vehicles, longer loan terms with lower credit score and higher loan-to-value borrowers). This allows Open Lending’s automotive lenders to make more loans to near-prime and non-prime borrowers that they might otherwise decline.
LPP risk models use a proprietary score in assessing and pricing risk on automotive loan applications. This proprietary score combines credit bureau data and alternative consumer data to more effectively assess risk and determine the appropriate insurance premium for any given loan application.
Open Lending is currently integrated with approximately twenty third-party LOS, allowing it to electronically accept, underwrite, price, and process loan applications and respond in real-time to the automotive lenders. Some of these third-party LOS also act as resellers for Open Lending, which lowers Open Lending’s customer acquisition costs.
Open Lending’s Ecosystem
Open Lending has built a robust ecosystem of automotive lenders, insurers and borrowers. LPP enables automotive lenders directly and borrowers indirectly to benefit from enhanced access to each other and to Open Lending’s technology, resulting in increased loan generation and access to the automotive market for a larger population.
Value Proposition to Lenders and Dealers
Increased sales volume. LPP allows automotive lenders to add financing solutions and increase underwriting and credit protection solutions that we believe enable such automotive lenders to make more near-prime and non-prime loans with attractive risk return profiles. We believe LPP also allows dealers to sell more vehicles to near-prime and non-prime borrowers by enabling them to make loans to borrowers with additional risk profiles. LPP also helps automotive lenders and dealers make loans on additional vehicles, including financing on older model vehicles, higher mileage used vehicles and on after-market product sales. Used vehicle sales increased in the United States for five consecutive years from 2016 to 2020.
•Ability to finance older model year vehicles. LPP underwriting allows automotive lenders to advance loans on used vehicles up to nine model years old, compared to four to seven model years under traditional automotive loan models, helping expand the sales reach of dealers.
•Ability to finance higher mileage vehicles. Many automotive lenders limit mileage on eligible vehicles to 100,000 miles or less. LPP underwriting guidelines allow automotive lenders to underwrite loans for maximum mileage of 150,000 or less, enabling automotive lenders to finance the purchase of vehicles with higher mileage than is generally available in the market, expanding the sales reach of dealers.
•Higher allowance for after-market product sales. A material profit center for auto dealers is the profit on sale of after-market products such as Guaranteed Asset Protection insurance, or insurance covering the difference between the loan balance and insurance proceeds when a vehicle is damaged, vehicle warranties and extended service plans. Automotive lenders generally impose a maximum limit on the amount of after-market products that can be included in the loan balance. Based on Open Lending’s experience with many automotive lenders, LPP maximum limit on after-market products that can be included in the loan balance is higher, allowing dealers the opportunity to make higher profits. If the automotive lender has a significant flow of direct to consumer auto loans, they also have the ability to sell these products and generate incremental fee income from higher after-market product sales.
Higher risk-adjusted return on assets. In an effort to manage risk, most automotive lenders concentrate their loan portfolios in super prime and prime auto loans. Automotive lenders’ appetite for these loans results in a very efficient market where competition is expressed through interest rates. For automotive lenders that do not have size and scale, the result is a compressed return on assets on their super prime and prime loan portfolios. The near-prime and non-prime segment is much less efficient and consumer behavior is driven more by monthly loan payments than interest rates. Consequently, LPP attempts to enable automotive lenders to generate higher returns on assets and equity than traditional prime and super prime portfolios with a risk profile buttressed by credit protection from highly rated insurers. Additionally, many of the loans generated using LPP have already been processed and denied through the automotive lender’s LOS. The automotive lenders already incur costs for processing such loans and LPP enables such lenders to convert the loss on a denied loan into an earning asset on its books.
Loss mitigation on near-prime and non-prime loans. Near-prime and non-prime auto loans carry more risk and higher losses than super prime and prime auto loans. The default insurance coverage offered to Open Lending’s customers transfers the vast majority of the risk and increased losses to the insurers.
Higher loan advance rates. LPP may enable higher loan advances relative to vehicle value on auto loans. This allows automotive dealers and lenders to get internal approvals more often on requested loan structures instead of receiving counter-offers at lower loan advance rates.
Seamless integration. Open Lending designs its LPP to be easily integrated into the LOS of the financial institutions and existing automotive lenders to enable its customers to facilitate loans and sales using the LPP. This frictionless onboarding makes consumer point-of-sale financing available for dealers and automotive lenders of all sizes.
Enhanced borrower experience. Utilizing LPP, automotive lenders can serve more borrowers and meet a broader range of their financing needs.
Value Proposition to Insurers
Access to our proprietary technology and merchant network. Over the past two decades, Open Lending has built and refined its technology to deliver significant value to automotive lenders and dealers. Open Lending believes its insurer partners would require significant time and investment to build such a technology solution and lender network themselves.
No customer acquisition cost and limited operating expenses. LPP alleviates the need for its insurance carriers to bear any marketing, software development or technology infrastructure costs to insure loans. In addition, by providing claims administration services to the carriers, the insurers have far less administrative burden in servicing the policies.
Unique risk with significant underwriting profitability. Auto loan default coverage is a relatively unique line of insurance for insurers and, historically, Open Lending’s insurers have experienced significant underwriting profitability.
Value Proposition for Borrowers
Lower interest rates. Given the costs and financial goals Open Lending’s automotive lenders target and the specific risk posed by each loan, the goal of LPP is to find the lowest interest rate possible for the borrowers. LPP finds the appropriate risk-based interest rate for each loan application.
Lower payments. Near-prime and non-prime borrowers are more sensitive to monthly payment requirements than interest rates. By allowing longer loan terms, LPP may lead to lower monthly payments for consumers. By eliminating or reducing down payments and lower monthly payments, LPP lowers borrowing costs and gives borrowers more disposable income.
Reduction or elimination of loan down payments. Automotive lenders that use LPP typically have higher loan advance rates relative to vehicle value than most other automotive lenders that do not use LPP, which Open Lending believes eliminates or materially reduces the down payment required of borrowers.
Our Business Model
Open Lending generates revenue of approximately 5% of the balance on each loan originated. Revenue is comprised of fees paid by automotive lenders for the use of LPP to underwrite loans; fees paid by Open Lending’s insurers for claim administration services; and, profit-sharing with insurers providing insurance protection to automotive lenders. Therefore, revenue is comprised of three streams: program fee, administration fee and insurance profit participation. The first two streams provide a fee-based revenue for the loans processed through LPP and the third stream is based on an underwriting profit share paid over the term of the loan. Nearly 70% of the expected revenue is collected by Open Lending in the first 12 months after loan origination, with the balance comprised of administration fees and underwriting profit share that are realized over the remaining life of the loan.
LPP fees vary as a percentage of the loan amount and average approximately $470 per loan, and are recognized upfront upon receipt of the loan by the consumer. The program fee is either paid in one single payment in the month following the month of certification of the loan or in equal monthly payments over the first 12 months following loan certification. Administration fees are collected for claims management performed by Open Lending’s subsidiary, IAS. Administration fees are 3% of monthly insurance premium for as long as a loan remains outstanding. The administration fee is recognized monthly as received and decreases over time as the loan amortizes. The profit share represents Open Lending’s participation in the underwriting profit of the Lenders Protection Program. Open Lending receives 72% of the aggregate monthly insurance underwriting profit on each insurer’s portfolio, calculated as the monthly premium earned by the carrier less the carrier’s expenses and incurred losses. The underwriting profit on each loan is earned or received over its life with the majority earned in the first twelve months of the loan.
Open Lending’s flagship product has been tested through various economic cycles, including the economic downturn in 2008, enabling highly accurate risk pricing and credit decision-making with minimized loss ratios. Open Lending's proprietary risk models have predicted the probability of default with greater than 99% accuracy for all loan applications submitted since 2010.
In addition, Open Lending has not historically had concentration risk in its client base, given that its lending clients are distributed across the country with Open Lending’s top 10 clients consistently accounting for approximately 30% of total program fees over the last three years. With the future certified loan volume Open Lending anticipates from OEM Captives, Open Lending does anticipate concentration risk for some period into the future. Open Lending expects to have significant concentration in its largest automotive lender relationships for the foreseeable future and anticipates that its business will experience significant concentration with OEM Captives throughout 2021.
Open Lending’s digital, success-based offering enables an efficient, low-cost distribution model and offers frictionless setup with minimal startup costs to automotive lenders. Open Lending sources credit unions and bank sales leads from a range of partners for new clients. Compensation to Open Lending’s distribution partners is based on a percentage of the program fees it actually collects and, therefore, is entirely success based. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, the aggregate compensation paid by Open Lending to its distribution partners was $3.0 million, $2.4 million and $1.4 million, respectively. Open Lending’s integration with many LOS systems, some of which also act as resellers, further helps drive client generation and recruitment at minimal additional costs. Open Lending focuses on lenders with over $100 million in automotive loan assets and Open Lending has more than tripled its client base since 2013.
Open Lending’s Partners
Open Lending’s lending partners include credit unions, regional banks, automotive OEM Captives and non-bank auto finance companies. Open Lending has additional partners that provide auto loan sourcing and loan fulfillment services to its automotive lenders. These companies obtain a substantial proportion of their auto purchase or auto refinance applications from internet-based auto selling, buying or consumer credit management sites. Open Lending is also in discussions with additional banks and OEM Captives, with which Open Lending may partner in the future. Open Lending currently partners with AmTrust and CNA as its two insurance carriers.
Competition
Competition for Open Lending occurs at two levels: (1) competition to sign and maintain automotive lenders; and (2) competition to fund near-prime and non-prime auto loans.
Competition to enroll and maintain automotive lenders. For LPP, which combines lending enablement, risk analytics, near-prime and non-prime auto loan performance data, real-time loan decisioning, risk-based pricing and auto loan default insurance, Open Lending does not believe there are any direct competitors. The credit bureaus provide customized risk models for underwriting and most LOS provide for custom underwriting rules and loan underwriting, while third-party lending-as-a-service companies provide turn-key LOS. Most automotive lenders have some minority portion of their auto loan portfolios in near-prime and non-prime loans, however, these near-prime and non-prime loans are generally at lower loan advance rates, shorter loan terms, limited to newer model years of vehicles and lower mileage maximums. A very limited number of national banks and sub-prime lenders underwrite and originate near-prime and non-prime loans with the characteristics of the LPP portfolio.
Competition to fund near-prime and non-prime auto loans. The near-prime and non-prime lending market is highly fragmented and competitive. Open Lending faces competition from a diverse landscape of consumer lenders, including traditional banks and credit unions, as well as alternative technology-enabled lenders like LendingClub Corporation, Square, Inc., Social Finance, Inc., Avant, LLC, Prosper Funding LLC and Credit Acceptance Corporation, among others. Many of Open Lending’s competitors are (or are affiliated with) financial institutions with the capacity to hold loans on their balance sheets. These would include money center banks, super-regional banks, regional banks, OEM Captives, finance companies and sub-prime lenders. Some of these competitors offer a broader suite of products and services than Open Lending does, including retail banking solutions, credit and debit cards and loyalty programs.
Government Regulation
Open Lending operates in a heavily regulated industry that is highly focused on consumer protection. Statutes, regulations and practices that have been in place for many years may be changed, and new laws have been, and may continue to be, introduced to address real and perceived problems in the financial services industry in general and automotive lending in particular. These laws and how they are interpreted continue to evolve.
The regulatory framework to which Open Lending is subject includes U.S. federal, state and local laws, regulations and rules. U.S. federal, state and local governmental authorities, including state financial services and insurance agencies, have broad oversight and supervisory authority over Open Lending’s business. Federal and state agencies also have broad enforcement powers over Open Lending, including powers to investigate Open Lending's business practices and broad discretion to deem particular practices unfair, deceptive, abusive or otherwise not in accordance with the law.
Open Lending’s business requires compliance with several regulatory regimes, including some applicable to consumer lending. In particular, the laws which Open Lending may be subject to directly or indirectly include:
•state laws and regulations that impose requirements related to loan disclosures and terms, credit discrimination, and unfair or deceptive business practices;
•the Truth-in-Lending Act, and its implementing Regulation Z, and similar state laws, which require certain disclosures to borrowers regarding the terms and conditions of their loans and credit transactions;
•Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, and Section 1031 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”), which prohibits unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (“UDAAP”), in connection with any consumer financial product or service;
•the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and its implementing Regulation B, which prohibit creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, marital status, the fact that all or part of the applicant’s income derives from any public assistance program or the fact that the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act or any applicable state law;
•the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), and its implementing Regulation V, as amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which promotes the accuracy, fairness and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies;
•the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"), and its implementing Regulation F, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as well as state debt collection laws, all of which provide guidelines and limitations concerning the conduct of debt collectors in connection with the collection of consumer debts;
•the Bankruptcy Code, which limits the extent to which creditors may seek to enforce debts against parties who have filed for bankruptcy protection;
•the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ("GLBA"), and the California Consumer Protection Act, which include limitations on the disclosure of nonpublic personal information by financial institutions about a consumer to nonaffiliated third parties, in certain circumstances requires financial institutions to limit the use and further disclosure of nonpublic personal information by nonaffiliated third parties to whom they disclose such information and requires financial institutions to disclose certain privacy policies and practices with respect to information sharing with affiliated and nonaffiliated entities as well as to safeguard personal customer information, and other privacy laws and regulations;
•the rules and regulations promulgated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, as well as state banking regulators;
•the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which allows active duty military members to suspend or postpone certain civil obligations so that the military member can devote his or her full attention to military duties;
•the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and Regulation E promulgated thereunder, which provide disclosure requirements, guidelines and restrictions on the electronic transfer of funds from consumers’ bank accounts;
•the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, and similar state laws, particularly the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which authorize the creation of legally binding and enforceable agreements utilizing electronic records and signatures; and
•the Bank Secrecy Act, which relates to compliance with anti-money laundering, customer due diligence and record-keeping policies and procedures.
Open Lending is also subject to state insurance, insurance brokering, insurance agency regulations, third-party administration company statutes and similar statutes.
The number and complexity of these laws, and vagaries in their interpretations, present compliance and litigation risks from inadvertent error and omissions which Open Lending may not be able to eliminate from its operation or activities. The laws, regulations and rules described above are subject to legislative, administrative and judicial interpretation, and some of these laws and regulations have been infrequently interpreted or only recently enacted. Infrequent interpretations of these laws and regulations or an insignificant number of interpretations of recently-enacted laws and regulations can result in ambiguity with respect to permitted conduct under these laws and regulations. Any ambiguity under the laws and regulations to which Open Lending is subject may lead to regulatory investigations or enforcement actions and private causes of action, such as class-action lawsuits, with respect to Open Lending’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Certain states have adopted laws regulating and requiring licensing by parties that engage in certain activity regarding consumer finance and insurance transactions, including facilitating and assisting such transactions in certain circumstances. Furthermore, certain states and localities have also adopted laws requiring licensing for consumer debt collection or servicing. Open Lending must comply with state licensing requirements to conduct its business. LPP is licensed as a property and casualty insurance agency and regulated by the insurance regulator in each state in which Open Lending operates. All Lenders Protection sales personnel are individually licensed as property and casualty insurance agents in each state in which they operate. In those states where it is required, IAS is licensed as a third-party administration agent and is regulated by the insurance regulator in each state in which Open Lending operates.
Open Lending is also supervised by regulatory agencies under U.S. law. From time to time, Open Lending may receive examination requests that require Open Lending to provide records, documents and information relating to its business operations. State attorneys general, state licensing regulators, and state and local consumer protection offices have authority to investigate consumer complaints and to commence investigations and other formal and informal proceedings regarding Open Lending’s operations and activities.
Employees and Human Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2020, Open Lending employed approximately 104 employees, with substantially all located in Texas. None of Open Lending’s employees is currently represented by a labor union or has terms of employment that are subject to a collective bargaining agreement. Open Lending considers its relationships with its employees to be good and has not experienced any work stoppages.
We encourage and support the growth and development of our employees. Continual learning and career development is advanced through ongoing performance and development conversations with employees, internally developed training programs, customized corporate training engagements and educational reimbursement programs.
The safety, health and wellness of our employees is a top priority. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a unique challenge with regard to maintaining employee safety while continuing successful operations. Through teamwork and the adaptability of our management and staff, we were able to transition, over a short period of time, approximately 95% of our employees to effectively working from remote locations and ensure a safely-distanced working environment for employees performing customer facing activities at branches and operations centers. All employees are asked to not come to work when they experience signs or symptoms of a possible COVID-19 illness and have been provided additional paid time off to cover compensation during such absences. On an ongoing basis, we further promote the health and wellness of our employees by strongly encouraging work-life balance, offering flexible work schedules, reimbursing certain child care costs, keeping the employee portion of health care premiums to a minimum and sponsoring various wellness programs.
Available Information
Our website address is www.openlending.com. Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available through the investor relations page of our website free of charge as soon as reasonably
practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Our website and the information contained therein or connected thereto are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
A description of the material and other risks and uncertainties associated with our business and industry is set forth below. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and the “Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations” section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K before deciding whether to purchase shares of our common stock. If any of the following risks are realized, our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the price of our common stock could decline, perhaps significantly. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operation.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our results of operations and continued growth depend on our ability to retain existing, and attract new, automotive lenders.
A substantial majority of Open Lending’s total revenue is generated from the transaction fees that it receives from its automotive lenders and the profit share that it receives from its insurance company partners in connection with loans made by automotive lenders to the owners or purchasers of used and new automobiles (the “Consumers”) using the LPP. Approximately 5% of the average loan balance on each loan originated is collected by Open Lending as revenue in transaction fees, profit-sharing with insurance companies and administrative fees for claims administration services provided to the insurance companies. If automotive lenders cease to use LPP to make loans, Open Lending will fail to generate future revenues. To attract and retain automotive lenders, Open Lending markets LPP to automotive lenders on the basis of a number of factors, including loan analytics, risk-based pricing, risk modeling and automated decision-technology, as well as integration, customer service, brand and reputation. Automotive lenders are able to leverage the geographic diversity of the loans they can originate through LPP with the simplicity of Open Lending’s five-second all-inclusive loan offer generation. Automotive lenders, however, have alternative sources for internal loan generation, and they could elect to originate loans through those alternatives rather than through LPP. There is significant competition for existing automotive lenders. If Open Lending fails to retain any automotive lenders, and does not enroll new automotive lenders of similar size and profitability, it will have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business and future growth. There has been some turnover in automotive lenders, as well as varying activation rates and volatility in usage of the Open Lending platform by automotive lenders, and this may continue or even increase in the future. Agreements with automotive lenders are cancellable on thirty days’ notice and do not require any minimum monthly level of application submissions. If a significant number of existing automotive lenders were to use other competing platforms, thereby reducing their use of LPP, it would have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business and results of operations.
A large percentage of revenue for Open Lending is concentrated with Open Lending’s top ten automotive lenders, and the loss of one or more significant automotive lenders could have a negative impact on operating results.
Open Lending’s top ten automotive lenders (including certain groups of affiliated automotive lenders) accounted for 30% of the total program fee revenue over the past three years. Open Lending expects to have significant concentration in Open Lending’s largest automotive lender relationships for the foreseeable future. In the event that one or more of Open Lending’s significant automotive lenders, or groups of automotive lenders terminate their relationships with Open Lending, the number of loans originated through LPP would decline, which would materially adversely affect Open Lending’s business and, in turn, Open Lending’s revenue.
In 2021, Open Lending anticipates that its business will experience significant concentration as OEM Captives fully ramp and deploy LPP nationally across all of their new and used vehicle channels. The size and loan volume of OEM Captives is materially higher than any of Open Lending’s automotive lenders, which Open Lending believes will result in a high concentration of revenue being derived from a limited number of OEM Captives. As a result, if Open Lending were to lose an OEM Captive as one of its customers, or if an existing or anticipated OEM Captive customer were to delay its adoption or deployment of the LPP, this may have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s future revenues.
Open Lending’s results depend, to a significant extent, on the active and effective adoption of the LPP by automotive lenders.
Open Lending’s success depends on the active and effective adoption of the LPP by automotive lenders in originating loans to near-prime and non-prime borrowers. Open Lending relies on automotive lenders to utilize LPP within their loan origination
systems. Although automotive lenders generally are under no obligation to use LPP in generating their loans, the integrated loan and insurance offering by LPP encourages the use of LPP by automotive lenders. Any adverse accounting determinations concerning loans generated by automotive lenders using the LPP could negatively affect further adoption of the LPP. The failure by automotive lenders to effectively adopt LPP would have a material adverse effect on the rate at which they can lend to near-prime and non-prime borrowers and in turn, would have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business, revenues and financial condition.
Open Lending has partnered with two major insurance carriers that underwrite and insure the loans generated using the LPP.
Open Lending relies on AmTrust and CNA to insure the loans generated by the automotive lenders using LPP. Open Lending has entered into separate producer and claims service agreements with each of these carriers. The producer and claims service agreements with both insurance carriers generally contain customary termination provisions that allow them to terminate the agreement upon written notice after the occurrence of certain events including, among other things, breach of the producer agreement; changes in regulatory requirements making the agreement unenforceable; or for convenience. If either of these insurance carriers were to terminate their agreements with Open Lending and Open Lending is unable to replace the commitments of the terminating insurance carriers, it would have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business, operations and financial condition.
Open Lending’ financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by the impact of the global outbreak of the coronavirus.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus and resulting COVID-19 disease (“COVID-19”) a global pandemic. This contagious disease outbreak, which has continued to spread, and the related adverse public health developments, including orders to shelter-in-place, travel restrictions, and mandated business closures, have adversely affected workforces, organizations, customers, economies, and financial markets globally. In light of the uncertain and rapidly evolving situation relating to the spread of COVID-19, we have taken precautionary measures, including imposing travel restrictions for our employees, mandating a global work from home policy, and shifting customer events to virtual-only experiences. Although we continue to monitor the situation and may adjust our current policies as more information and public health guidance become available, precautionary measures that have been adopted could negatively affect our customer success efforts, customer retention, sales and marketing efforts, delay and lengthen our sales cycles, affect our revenue growth rate, or create operational or other challenges, any of which could harm our business and results of operations.
Additionally, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused and is likely to continue to cause substantial changes in consumer behavior and has caused restrictions on business and individual activities, which have led to and are likely to continue to lead to reduced economic activity. Extraordinary actions taken by international, federal, state, and local public health and governmental authorities to contain and combat the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 in regions throughout the world, including travel bans, quarantines, “stay-at-home” orders, and similar mandates for many individuals and businesses to substantially restrict daily activities could continue to have an adverse effect on Open Lending’s financial condition and results of operations.
The economic slowdown attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a global decrease in vehicle sales in markets around the world. Any sustained decline in vehicle sales would have a substantial adverse effect on Open Lending’s financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow. Moreover, as a result of the restrictions described above and consumers’ reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in general, showroom traffic at car dealers has dropped significantly and many dealers have temporarily ceased operations, thereby reducing the demand for Open Lending’s products and leading dealers to purchase fewer vehicles. In the event there are extended closures of businesses, furloughs or the suspension of employees from businesses or other developments that reduce the earnings of workers, these developments may negatively impact the ability of consumers to pay their automotive loans, which may lead to higher loan defaults and increased losses for Open Lending’s insurance company partners. Increased losses would result in lower profit share earnings on Open Lending’s existing insured loan portfolio.
The extent and duration of the economic slowdown attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain at this time. A continued significant economic slowdown could have a substantial adverse effect on our financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations. If these conditions persist for an extended term, it could have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s future revenue and net income.
Open Lending has experienced rapid growth, which may be difficult to sustain and which may place significant demands on its operational, administrative and financial resources.
Open Lending’s revenue growth has caused significant demands on its operational, marketing, compliance and accounting infrastructure, and has resulted in increased expenses, which Open Lending expects to continue as it grows. In addition, Open
Lending is required to continuously develop and adapt its systems and infrastructure in response to the increasing sophistication of the consumer finance market and regulatory developments relating to existing and projected business activities and those of automotive lenders. Open Lending’s future growth will depend, among other things, on its ability to maintain an operating platform and management system sufficient to address growth and will require Open Lending to incur significant additional expenses and to commit additional senior management and operational resources.
As a result of Open Lending’s growth, we face significant challenges in:
•securing commitments from existing and new automotive lenders to provide loans to consumers;
•maintaining existing and developing new relationships with additional automotive lenders;
•maintaining adequate financial, business and risk controls;
•training, managing and appropriately sizing workforce and other components of business on a timely and cost-effective basis;
•navigating complex and evolving regulatory and competitive environments;
•increasing the number of borrowers in, and the volume of loans facilitated through, the LPP;
•entering into new markets and introducing new solutions;
•continuing to revise proprietary credit decisioning and scoring models;
•continuing to develop, maintain and scale platform;
•effectively using limited personnel and technology resources;
•maintaining the security of platform and the confidentiality of the information (including personally identifiable information) provided and utilized across platform; and
•attracting, integrating and retaining an appropriate number of qualified employees.
Open Lending may not be able to manage expanding operations effectively, and any failure to do so could adversely affect the ability to generate revenue and control expenses.
If Open Lending experiences negative publicity, it may lose the confidence of automotive lenders and insurance carriers who use or partner with the LPP and Open Lending’s business may suffer.
Reputational risk, or the risk to negative publicity or public opinion, is inherent to Open Lending’s business. Recently, consumer financial services companies have experienced increased reputational harm as consumers and regulators take issue with certain of their practices and judgments, including, for example, fair lending, credit reporting accuracy, lending to members of the military, state licensing (for lenders, servicers and money transmitters) and debt collection. Given that Open Lending’s primary clients are automotive lenders in the customer financial services space, any reputational risk associated with clients is in turn attributable to Open Lending. Maintaining a positive reputation is critical to Open Lending’s ability to attract and retain existing and new automotive lenders, insurance carriers, investors and employees. Negative public opinion can arise from many sources, including actual or alleged misconduct, errors or improper business practices by employees, automotive lenders, insurance carriers, automobile dealers, outsourced service providers or other counterparties; litigation or regulatory actions; failure by Open Lending, automotive lenders, or automobile dealers to meet minimum standards of service and quality; inadequate protection of consumer information; failure of automotive lenders to adhere to the terms of their LPP agreements or other contractual arrangements or standards; failure of insurance carriers and Open Lending’s subsidiary, Insurance Administrative Services LLC, to satisfactorily administer claims; compliance failures; and media coverage, whether accurate or not. Negative public opinion can diminish the value of the Open Lending brand and adversely affect Open Lending’s ability to attract and retain automotive lenders and insurance carriers as a result of which Open Lending’s results of operations may be materially harmed and it could be exposed to litigation and regulatory action.
Privacy concerns or security breaches relating to the LPP could result in economic loss, damage Open Lending’s reputation, deter users from using Open Lending products, and expose Open Lending to legal penalties and liability.
Through the use of LPP, Open Lending gathers and stores personally identifiable information on Consumers such as social security numbers, names and addresses. A cybersecurity breach where this information was stolen or made public would result in negative publicity and additional costs to mitigate the damage to customers. While Open Lending has taken reasonable steps to protect such data, techniques used to gain unauthorized access to data and systems, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems, are constantly evolving, and Open Lending may be unable to anticipate such techniques or implement adequate preventative measures to avoid unauthorized access or other adverse impacts to such data or Open Lending systems.
The LPP is vulnerable to software bugs, computer viruses, internet worms, break-ins, phishing attacks, attempts to overload servers with denial-of-service, or other attacks or similar disruptions, any of which could lead to system interruptions, delays, or shutdowns, causing loss of critical data or the unauthorized access of data. Computer malware, viruses, and computer hacking and phishing attacks have become more prevalent in Open Lending’s industry. Functions that facilitate interactivity with other internet platforms could increase the scope of access of hackers to user accounts. Though it is difficult to determine what, if any, harm may directly result from any specific interruption or attack, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of Open Lending products to the satisfaction of Open Lending’s clients and their consumers may harm Open Lending’s reputation and Open Lending’s ability to retain existing clients. Although Open Lending has in place systems and processes that are designed to protect data, prevent data loss, disable undesirable accounts and activities and prevent or detect security breaches, Open Lending cannot assure you that such measures will provide absolute security. If an actual or perceived breach of security occurs to Open Lending’s systems or a third party’s systems, Open Lending could also be required to expend significant resources to mitigate the breach of security and to address matters related to any such breach, including notifying users or regulators.
Changes in market interest rates could have an adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
The fixed interest rates charged on the loans that automotive lenders originate are calculated based upon market benchmarks at the time of origination. Increases in the market benchmark would result in increases in the interest rates on new loans. Increased interest rates may adversely impact the spending levels of Consumers and their ability and willingness to borrow money. Higher interest rates often lead to higher rates charged to the Consumer, which could negatively impact the ability of automotive lenders to generate volume and in turn, Open Lending’s ability to generate revenues on loans originated using the LPP. Higher interest rates may also increase the payment obligations of Consumers, which may reduce the ability of Consumers to remain current on their obligations to automotive lenders and, therefore, lead to increased delinquencies, defaults, Consumer bankruptcies and charge-offs, and decreasing recoveries, all of which could have an adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
The loss of the services of Open Lending’s senior management could adversely affect Open Lending’s business.
The experience of Open Lending’s senior management is a valuable asset to Open Lending. Open Lending’s management team has significant experience in the consumer loan business, is responsible for many of Open Lending’s core competencies and would be difficult to replace. Competition for senior executives in consumer lending industry is intense, and Open Lending may not be able to attract and retain qualified personnel to replace or succeed members of Open Lending’s senior management team or other key personnel. Failure to retain talented senior leadership could have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
Open Lending’s projections are subject to significant risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties. As a result, Open Lending’s projected revenues, market share, expenses and profitability may differ materially from our expectations.
Open Lending operates in a rapidly changing and competitive industry and Open Lending’s projections will be subject to the risks and assumptions made by management with respect to its industry. Operating results are difficult to forecast because they generally depend on a number of factors, including the competition Open Lending faces, its ability to attract and retain automotive lenders, the active and effective adoption of the LPP by automotive lenders in originating loans to near-prime and non-prime borrowers, Open Lending’s profit share assumptions and general industry trends. Additionally, as described herein, Open Lending’s revenue is impacted, to a significant extent, by the general economy and the financial performance of automotive lenders. Open Lending’s business may be affected by reductions in consumer spending from time to time as a result of a number of factors which may be difficult to predict. This may result in decreased revenue levels, and Open Lending may be unable to adopt measures in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected shortfall in income. This inability could cause Open Lending’s operating results in a given quarter to be higher or lower than expected. If actual results differ from Open Lending’s estimates, analysts may negatively react and our stock price could be materially impacted.
Open Lending’s vendor relationships subject Open Lending to a variety of risks, and the failure of third parties to comply with legal or regulatory requirements or to provide various services that are important to Open Lending’s operations could have an adverse effect on its business.
Open Lending has significant vendors that, among other things, provide Open Lending with financial, technology, insurance and other services to support its loan protection services, including access to credit reports and information. Under various legal theories and contractual requirements, companies may be held responsible for the actions of their subcontractors. Accordingly, Open Lending could be adversely impacted to the extent that Open Lending’s vendors fail to comply with the legal requirements applicable to the particular products or services being offered.
In some cases, third-party vendors, including resellers and aggregators, are the sole source, or one of a limited number of sources, of the services they provide to Open Lending. Certain of Open Lending’s vendor agreements are terminable on little or no notice, and if current vendors were to stop providing services to Open Lending on acceptable terms, Open Lending may be
unable to procure alternatives from other vendors in a timely and efficient manner and on acceptable terms (or at all). For example, Open Lending currently utilizes a single vendor to provide all consumer credit reports that insurance carriers use for insurance underwriting. If this vendor were to stop providing consumer credit report services to Open Lending on acceptable terms, Open Lending would need to procure alternative consumer credit reporting services from another third-party provider in a timely and efficient manner and on acceptable terms. If any third-party vendor fails to provide the services Open Lending requires, fails to meet contractual requirements (including compliance with applicable laws and regulations), fails to maintain adequate data privacy and electronic security systems, or suffers a cyber-attack or other security breach, Open Lending could be subject to regulatory enforcement actions and suffer economic and reputational harm that could have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business. Further, Open Lending may incur significant costs to resolve any such disruptions in service, which could adversely affect Open Lending’s business.
Litigation, regulatory actions and compliance issues could subject Open Lending to significant fines, penalties, judgments, remediation costs and/or requirements resulting in increased expenses.
Open Lending’s business is subject to increased risks of litigation and regulatory actions as a result of a number of factors and from various sources, including as a result of the highly regulated nature of the financial services industry, insurance carriers and the focus of state and federal enforcement agencies on the financial services industry and insurance carriers.
From time to time, Open Lending is also involved in, or the subject of, reviews, requests for information, investigations and proceedings (both formal and informal) by state and federal governmental agencies, including insurance regulators and the Department of Insurance of many states, regarding Open Lending’s business activities and Open Lending’s qualifications to conduct its business in certain jurisdictions, which could subject Open Lending to significant fines, penalties, obligations to change its business practices and other requirements resulting in increased expenses and diminished earnings. Open Lending’s involvement in any such matter could also cause significant harm to its reputation and divert management attention from the operation of its business, even if the matters are ultimately determined in Open Lending’s favor. Moreover, any settlement, or any consent order or adverse judgment in connection with any formal or informal proceeding or investigation by a government agency, may prompt litigation or additional investigations or proceedings as other litigants or other government agencies begin independent reviews of the same activities.
In addition, a number of participants in the consumer finance industry have been the subject of putative class action lawsuits; state attorney general actions and other state regulatory actions; federal regulatory enforcement actions, including actions relating to alleged unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices; violations of state licensing and lending laws, including state usury laws; actions alleging discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender or other prohibited bases; and allegations of noncompliance with various state and federal laws and regulations relating to originating and servicing consumer finance loans. The current regulatory environment, increased regulatory compliance efforts and enhanced regulatory enforcement have resulted in significant operational and compliance costs and may prevent Open Lending from providing certain products and services. There is no assurance that these regulatory matters or other factors will not, in the future, affect how Open Lending conducts its business and, in turn, have a material adverse effect on its business. In particular, legal proceedings brought under state consumer protection statutes or under several of the various federal consumer financial services statutes may result in a separate fine for each violation of the statute, which, particularly in the case of class action lawsuits, could result in damages substantially in excess of the amounts Open Lending earned from the underlying activities. Similar risks exist for insurance producing and claims administration services, which are highly regulated.
In addition, from time to time, through Open Lending’s operational and compliance controls, Open Lending identifies compliance issues that require it to make operational changes and, depending on the nature of the issue, result in financial remediation to impacted customers. These self-identified issues and voluntary remediation payments could be significant, depending on the issue and the number of customers impacted, and also could generate litigation or regulatory investigations that subject Open Lending to additional risk.
Fraudulent activity could negatively impact the Open Lending business and could cause automotive lenders to be less willing to originate loans or insurance carriers to be less willing to underwrite policies as part of the Lenders Protection Program.
Fraud is prevalent in the financial services industry and is likely to increase as perpetrators become more sophisticated. Open Lending is subject to the risk of fraudulent activity with respect to the underwriting policies of insurance carriers, automotive lenders, their customers and third parties handling customer information. Open Lending’s resources, technologies and fraud prevention tools may be insufficient to accurately detect and prevent fraud. The level of Open Lending’s fraud charge-offs could increase and results of operations could be materially adversely affected if fraudulent activity were to significantly increase. High profile fraudulent activity also could negatively impact the Open Lending brand and reputation, which could negatively impact the use of Open Lending’s services and products. In addition, significant increases in fraudulent activity could lead to regulatory intervention, which could increase Open Lending’s costs and also negatively impact its business.
Cyber-attacks and other security breaches could have an adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
In the normal course of Open Lending’s business, Open Lending collects, processes and retains sensitive and confidential information regarding automotive lenders, insurance carriers and Consumers. Open Lending also has arrangements in place with certain third-party service providers that require Open Lending to share Consumer information. Although Open Lending devotes significant resources and management focus to ensuring the integrity of its systems through information security and business continuity programs, the Open Lending facilities and systems, and those of automotive lenders, insurance carriers and third-party service providers, are vulnerable to external or internal security breaches, acts of vandalism, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming or human errors, and other similar events. Open Lending, automotive lenders, insurance carriers and third-party service providers have experienced all of these events in the past and expect to continue to experience them in the future. Open Lending also faces security threats from malicious third parties that could obtain unauthorized access to Open Lending systems and networks, which threats it anticipates will continue to grow in scope and complexity over time. These events could interrupt the Open Lending business or operations, result in significant legal and financial exposure, supervisory liability, damage to its reputation and a loss of confidence in the security of Open Lending’s systems, products and services. Although the impact to date from these events has not had a material adverse effect on Open Lending, no assurance is given that this will be the case in the future.
Information security risks in the financial services industry have increased recently, in part because of new technologies, the use of the internet and telecommunications technologies (including mobile devices) to conduct financial and other business transactions and the increased sophistication and activities of organized criminals, perpetrators of fraud, hackers, terrorists and others. In addition to cyber-attacks and other security breaches involving the theft of sensitive and confidential information, hackers recently have engaged in attacks that are designed to disrupt key business services, such as consumer-facing websites. Open Lending and automotive lenders may not be able to anticipate or implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches of these types, especially because the techniques used change frequently and because attacks can originate from a wide variety of sources. Open Lending employs detection and response mechanisms designed to contain and mitigate security incidents. Nonetheless, early detection efforts may be thwarted by sophisticated attacks and malware designed to avoid detection. Open Lending also may fail to detect the existence of a security breach related to the information of automotive lenders, insurance carriers and Consumers that Open Lending retains as part of its business and may be unable to prevent unauthorized access to that information.
Open Lending also faces risks related to cyber-attacks and other security breaches that typically involve the transmission of sensitive information regarding borrowers through various third parties, including automotive lenders, insurance carriers and data processors. Some of these parties have in the past been the target of security breaches and cyber-attacks. Because Open Lending does not control these third parties or oversee the security of their systems, future security breaches or cyber-attacks affecting any of these third parties could impact Open Lending through no fault of its own, and in some cases Open Lending may have exposure and suffer losses for breaches or attacks relating to them. While Open Lending regularly conducts security assessments of significant third-party service providers, no assurance is given that Open Lending’s third-party information security protocols are sufficient to withstand a cyber-attack or other security breach.
The access by unauthorized persons to, or the improper disclosure by Open Lending of, confidential information regarding LPP customers or Open Lending’s proprietary information, software, methodologies and business secrets could interrupt the Open Lending business or operations, result in significant legal and financial exposure, supervisory liability, damage to its reputation or a loss of confidence in the security of Open Lending’s systems, products and services, all of which could have a material adverse impact on Open Lending’s business. In addition, there recently have been a number of well-publicized attacks or breaches affecting companies in the financial services industry that have heightened concern by consumers, which could also intensify regulatory focus, cause users to lose trust in the security of the industry in general and result in reduced use of Open Lending services and increased costs, all of which could also have a material adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
Disruptions in the operation of Open Lending’s computer systems and third-party data centers could have an adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
Open Lending’s ability to deliver products and services to automotive lenders, service loans made by automotive lenders and otherwise operate Open Lending’s business and comply with applicable laws depends on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of the Open Lending computer systems and third-party data centers, as well as those of automotive lenders and third-party service providers.
These computer systems and third-party data centers may encounter service interruptions at any time due to system or software failure, natural disasters, severe weather conditions, health pandemics, terrorist attacks, cyber-attacks or other events. Any such catastrophes could have a negative effect on the Open Lending business and technology infrastructure (including its computer network systems), on automotive lenders and insurance carriers and on Consumers. Catastrophic events also could prevent or make it more difficult for Consumers to travel to automobile dealers’ locations to shop, thereby negatively impacting Consumer
spending in the affected regions (or in severe cases, nationally), and could interrupt or disable local or national communications networks, including the payment systems network, which could prevent Consumers from making purchases or payments (temporarily or over an extended period). These events also could impair the ability of third parties to provide critical services to Open Lending. All of these adverse effects of catastrophic events could result in a decrease in the use of Open Lending’s solution and payments to Open Lending, which could have a material adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
In addition, the implementation of technology changes and upgrades to maintain current and integrate new systems may cause service interruptions, transaction processing errors or system conversion delays and may cause Open Lending to fail to comply with applicable laws, all of which could have a material adverse effect on the Open Lending business. Open Lending expects that new technologies and business processes applicable to the consumer financial services industry will continue to emerge and that these new technologies and business processes may be better than those Open Lending currently uses. There is no assurance that Open Lending will be able to successfully adopt new technology as critical systems and applications become obsolete and better ones become available. A failure to maintain and/or improve current technology and business processes could cause disruptions in Open Lending’s operations or cause its solution to be less competitive, all of which could have a material adverse effect on its business.
If the underwriting models Open Lending uses contain errors or are otherwise ineffective, Open Lending’s reputation and relationships with automotive lenders and insurance carriers could be harmed.
Open Lending’s ability to attract automotive lenders to LPP is significantly dependent on Open Lending’s ability to effectively evaluate a Consumer’s credit profile and likelihood of default and potential loss in accordance with automotive lenders’ and insurance carriers’ underwriting policies. Open Lending’s business depends significantly on the accuracy and success of its underwriting model. To conduct this evaluation, Open Lending uses proprietary credit decisioning and scoring models. If any of the credit decisioning and scoring models Open Lending uses contains programming or other errors, is ineffective or the data provided by Consumers or third parties is incorrect or stale, or if Open Lending is unable to obtain accurate data from Consumers or third parties (such as credit reporting agencies), the Open Lending loan pricing and approval process could be negatively affected, resulting in mispriced or misclassified loans or incorrect approvals or denials of loans. This could damage Open Lending’s reputation and relationships with automotive lenders and insurance carriers, which could have a material adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
Open Lending depends on the accuracy and completeness of information about Consumers, and any misrepresented information could adversely affect Open Lending’s business.
In evaluating loan applicants, Open Lending relies on information furnished to Open Lending by or on behalf of Consumers, including credit, identification, employment and other relevant information. Some of the information regarding Consumers provided to Open Lending is used in its proprietary credit decisioning and scoring models, which Open Lending uses to determine whether an application meets the applicable underwriting criteria. Open Lending relies on the accuracy and completeness of that information.
Not all Consumer information is independently verified. As a result, Open Lending relies on the accuracy and completeness of the information provided by Consumers or indirectly by automotive lenders. If any of the information that is considered in the loan review process is inaccurate, whether intentional or not, and such inaccuracy is not detected prior to loan funding, the loan may have a greater risk of default than expected. Additionally, there is a risk that, following the date of the credit report that Open Lending obtains and reviews, a Consumer may have defaulted on, or become delinquent in the payment of, a pre-existing debt obligation, taken on additional debt, lost his or her job or other sources of income, or experienced other adverse financial events. Any significant increase in inaccuracies or resulting increases in losses would adversely affect Open Lending’s business.
Open Lending relies extensively on models in managing many aspects of Open Lending business. Any inaccuracies or errors in Open Lending’s models could have an adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
In assisting automotive lenders with the design of the products that are offered on LPP, Open Lending makes assumptions about various matters, including repayment timing and default rates, and then utilizes proprietary underwriting modeling to analyze and forecast the performance and profitability of the loans. Open Lending’s assumptions may be inaccurate and models may not be as predictive as expected for many reasons, including that they often involve matters that are inherently difficult to predict and beyond Open Lending’s control (e.g., macroeconomic conditions) and that they often involve complex interactions between a number of dependent and independent variables and factors. Any significant inaccuracies or errors in assumptions could impact the profitability of the products to automotive lenders, as well as the profitability of Open Lending’s business, and could result in Open Lending’s underestimating potential losses and overstating potential automotive lender returns.
If assumptions or estimates Open Lending uses in preparing financial statements are incorrect or are required to change, Open Lending’s reported results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
Open Lending is required to make various assumptions and estimates in preparing its financial statements under GAAP, including for purposes of determining finance charge reversals, share-based compensation, asset impairment, reserves related to litigation and other legal matters, and other regulatory exposures and the amounts recorded for certain contractual payments to be paid to, or received from, Open Lending’s merchants and others under contractual arrangements. In addition, significant assumptions and estimates are involved in determining certain disclosures required under GAAP, including those involving fair value measurements. If the assumptions or estimates underlying Open Lending’s financial statements are incorrect, the actual amounts realized on transactions and balances subject to those estimates will be different, which could have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
The consumer lending industry is highly competitive and is likely to become more competitive, and Open Lending’s inability to compete successfully or maintain or improve Open Lending’s market share and margins could adversely affect its business.
Open Lending’s success depends on Open Lending’s ability to generate usage of LPP. The consumer lending industry is highly competitive and increasingly dynamic as emerging technologies continue to enter the marketplace. Technological advances and heightened e-commerce activities have increased consumers’ accessibility to products and services, which has intensified the desirability of offering loans to consumers through digital-based solutions. Open Lending faces competition in areas such as compliance capabilities, financing terms, promotional offerings, fees, approval rates, speed and simplicity of loan origination, ease-of-use, marketing expertise, service levels, products and services, technological capabilities and integration, customer service, brand and reputation. Open Lending’s existing and potential competitors may decide to modify their pricing and business models to compete more directly with Open Lending’s model. Any reduction in usage of LPP, or a reduction in the lifetime profitability of loans under LPP in an effort to attract or retain business, could reduce Open Lending’s revenues and earnings. If Open Lending is unable to compete effectively for customer usage, its business could be materially adversely affected.
Open Lending’s revenue is impacted, to a significant extent, by the general economy and the financial performance of automotive lenders.
Open Lending’s business, the consumer financial services industry and automotive lenders’ businesses are sensitive to macroeconomic conditions. Economic factors such as interest rates, changes in monetary and related policies, market volatility, consumer confidence and unemployment rates are among the most significant factors that impact consumer spending behavior. Weak economic conditions or a significant deterioration in economic conditions reduce the amount of disposable income consumers have, which in turn reduces consumer spending and the willingness of qualified borrowers to take out loans. Such conditions are also likely to affect the ability and willingness of borrowers to pay amounts owed to automotive lenders, each of which would have a material adverse effect on its business.
General economic conditions and the willingness of lenders to deploy capital impacts Open Lending’s performance. The generation of new loans through LPP, as well as the transaction fees and other fee income to Open Lending associated with such loans, is dependent upon sales of automobiles by dealers. Dealers’ sales may decrease or fail to increase as a result of factors outside of their control, such as the macroeconomic conditions referenced above, or business conditions affecting a particular automobile dealer, industry vertical or region. Weak economic conditions also could extend the length of dealers’ sales cycle and cause customers to delay making (or not make) purchases of automobiles. The decline of sales by dealers for any reason will generally result in lower credit sales and, therefore, lower loan volume and associated fee income for automotive lenders, and therefore, for us. This risk is particularly acute with respect to the largest automobile dealers associated with automotive lenders that account for a significant amount of Open Lending platform revenue.
In addition, if an automobile dealer or automotive lender closes some or all of its locations or becomes subject to a voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy proceeding (or if there is a perception that it may become subject to a bankruptcy proceeding), LPP borrowers may have less incentive to pay their outstanding balances to automotive lenders, which could result in higher charge-off rates than anticipated.
Weakening economic conditions, in particular increases in unemployment, will lead to increased defaults and insurance claim payments, resulting in higher losses for insurance carriers. Increased claim payments may affect the willingness of insurance carriers to provide default insurance. In the event insurer losses cause one of insurance carriers to cease providing insurance, it would have a material adverse effect on Open Lending operations and financial results.
Because Open Lending’s business is heavily concentrated on consumer lending in the U.S. automobile industry, Open Lending’s results are more susceptible to fluctuations in that market than the results of a more diversified company would be.
Open Lending’s business currently is concentrated on supporting consumer lending in the U.S. automobile industry. As a result, Open Lending is more susceptible to fluctuations and risks particular to U.S. consumer credit than a more diversified company
would be as well as to factors that may drive the demand for automobiles, such as sales levels of new automobiles and the aging of existing inventory. Open Lending is also more susceptible to the risks of increased regulations and legal and other regulatory actions that are targeted at consumer credit, the specific consumer credit products that automotive lenders offer (including promotional financing). Open Lending’s business concentration could have an adverse effect on its business.
Open Lending is, and intends in the future to continue, expanding into relationships with new lending partners, including the OEM Captive space, and Open Lending’s failure to comply with applicable regulations, or accurately predict demand or growth, in those new industries could have an adverse effect on its business.
Open Lending recently expanded into and is penetrating the OEM Captive space. Open Lending believes that all automobile manufacturers have an OEM Captive or related party finance company relationship. One of the primary goals of an OEM Captive is to support automobile sales of the dealers, particularly with respect to new vehicle sales. Open Lending believes that the OEM Captive is generally the preferred lender of the OEM dealer network. Relative to traditional credit union and bank automotive lenders, OEM Captives represent a larger loan volume and therefore, larger revenue opportunity for Open Lending. Open Lending makes no assurance that it will achieve similar levels of success, if any, with OEM Captives as with other credit unions and regional automotive lenders, and may face unanticipated challenges in its ability to offer LPP to OEM Captives. In addition, the OEM Captive space is highly regulated and Open Lending, OEM Captives and other automotive lenders, as applicable, are subject to substantial regulatory requirements, including privacy laws. Open Lending has limited experience in managing these risks and the compliance requirements attendant to such regulatory requirements. The costs of compliance and any failure by Open Lending, OEM Captives or other automotive lenders, as applicable, to comply with such regulatory requirements could have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business. Any failure by Open Lending to grow its relationships with these new lending partners could have a materially adverse impact on its business.
Open Lending may in the future expand to new industry verticals outside of the automotive industry, and failure to comply with applicable regulations, or accurately predict demand or growth, in those new industries could have an adverse effect on the Open Lending business.
Open Lending may in the future further expand into other industry verticals. There is no assurance that Open Lending will be able to successfully develop consumer financing products and services for these new industries. Open Lending’s investment of resources to develop consumer financing products and services for the new industries it enters may either be insufficient or result in expenses that are excessive in light of loans actually originated by lenders in those industries. Additionally, Open Lending’s nearly 20 years of experience is in the automotive lending industry and therefore, industry participants in new industry verticals may not be receptive to its financing solutions and Open Lending may face competitors with more experience and resources. The borrower profile of Consumers in new verticals may not be as attractive, in terms of average FICO scores or other attributes, as in current verticals, which may lead to higher levels of delinquencies or defaults than Open Lending has historically experienced. Industries change rapidly, and Open Lending makes no assurance that it will be able to accurately forecast demand (or the lack thereof) for a solution or that those industries will be receptive to Open Lending’s product offerings. Failure to predict demand or growth accurately in new industries could have a materially adverse impact on Open Lending’s business.
Open Lending’s business would suffer if it fails to attract and retain highly skilled employees.
Open Lending’s future success will depend on its ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified personnel for all areas of its organization, particularly information technology and sales. Trained and experienced personnel are in high demand and may be in short supply. Many of the companies with which Open Lending competes for experienced employees have greater resources than Open Lending and may be able to offer more attractive terms of employment. In addition, Open Lending invests significant time and expense in training employees, which increases their value to competitors that may seek to recruit them. Open Lending may not be able to attract, develop and maintain the skilled workforce necessary to operate its business, and labor expenses may increase as a result of a shortage in the supply of qualified personnel, which will negatively impact Open Lending’s business.
The Credit Agreement that governs Open Lending’s term loan contains various covenants that could limit its ability to engage in activities that may be in Open Lending’s best long-term interests.
Open Lending has a term loan outstanding in the original principal amount of $170,000,000 (the “Term Loan”) that was incurred under that certain Credit Agreement, dated as of March 11, 2020, among Open Lending, UBS AG, Stamford Branch, as administrative agent, the lenders from time to time party thereto and the other parties thereto, as amended (the “Credit Agreement”). A portion of the proceeds of the Term Loan were used to, among other things, finance a distribution to its equity investors prior to the consummation of the Business Combination. The Term Loan bears interest at a variable rate of LIBOR plus 6.50% (subject to a LIBOR floor of 1%) or the base rate plus 5.50%. The obligations of Open Lending under the Credit Agreement are guaranteed by all of its subsidiaries and secured by substantially all of the assets of Open Lending and its subsidiaries, in each case, subject to certain customary exceptions. The Term Loan has a maturity date of March 11, 2027.
Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Credit Agreement, Open Lending may be required to make certain mandatory prepayments prior to maturity. Voluntary prepayments and certain mandatory prepayments may be subject to certain prepayment premiums in the first 2 years after the date thereof.
The Credit Agreement contains affirmative and negative covenants customarily applicable to senior secured credit facilities, including, among other things, customary limitations on the incurrence of indebtedness and liens; certain intercompany transactions; and other investments, dispositions of assets, issuances and redemptions of certain units, repayment of other indebtedness, and payment of dividends. The Credit Agreement also contains a maximum total net leverage ratio financial covenant that is tested quarterly and calculated based on the ratio of Open Lending’s adjusted EBITDA to funded indebtedness. The maximum total net leverage ratio begins at 4.75 to 1 and then gradually decreases from year-to-year down to 2.5 to 1.0 on or after June 30, 2026. The Credit Agreement also contains customary events of default (subject to thresholds and grace periods), including payment default, covenant default, cross default to other material indebtedness, and judgment defaults.
Open Lending’s ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond its control, such as market fluctuations impacting net income. Breaches of these covenants will result in a default under the Credit Agreement, subject to any applicable cure rights, in which case the administrative agent may accelerate the outstanding Term Loan.
If such acceleration under the Credit Agreement occurs, Open Lending’s ability to fund its operations could be seriously harmed.
Open Lending may be unable to sufficiently protect its proprietary rights and may encounter disputes from time to time relating to its use of the intellectual property of third parties.
Open Lending relies on a combination of trademarks, service marks, copyrights, trade secrets, domain names and agreements with employees and third parties to protect its proprietary rights. Open Lending has service mark registrations in the United States. Open Lending also owns the domain name rights for Openlending.com, Openlending.net, Openlending.us, Dev-openlending.com, Lendersprotection.org, Lendersprotection.us, Len-pro.org, Lend-pro.us, Lend-pro.net, Lendpro.net, Lendpro.org, Lendpro.us, Lend-pro.com, Lendersprotection.com, Sayyestomoreloans.com, Sayyestomoreloans.net, as well as other words and phrases important to the Open Lending business. Nonetheless, third parties may challenge, invalidate or circumvent Open Lending’s intellectual property, and Open Lending’s intellectual property may not be sufficient to provide it with a competitive advantage.
Despite Open Lending’s efforts to protect these rights, unauthorized third parties may attempt to duplicate or copy the proprietary aspects of its technology and processes. Open Lending’s competitors and other third parties independently may design around or develop similar technology or otherwise duplicate Open Lending’s services or products such that Open Lending could not assert its intellectual property rights against them. In addition, Open Lending’s contractual arrangements may not effectively prevent disclosure of its intellectual property and confidential and proprietary information or provide an adequate remedy in the event of an unauthorized disclosure. Measures in place may not prevent misappropriation or infringement of Open Lending’s intellectual property or proprietary information and the resulting loss of competitive advantage, and Open Lending may be required to litigate to protect its intellectual property and proprietary information from misappropriation or infringement by others, which is expensive and could cause a diversion of resources and may not be successful.
Open Lending also may encounter disputes from time to time concerning intellectual property rights of others, and it may not prevail in these disputes. Third parties may raise claims against Open Lending alleging that Open Lending, or consultants or other third parties retained or indemnified by Open Lending, infringe on their intellectual property rights. Some third-party intellectual property rights may be extremely broad, and it may not be possible for Open Lending to conduct its operations in such a way as to avoid all alleged violations of such intellectual property rights. Given the complex, rapidly changing and competitive technological and business environment in which Open Lending operates, and the potential risks and uncertainties of intellectual property-related litigation, an assertion of an infringement claim against Open Lending may cause Open Lending to spend significant amounts to defend the claim (even if Open Lending ultimately prevails), pay significant monetary damages, lose significant revenues, be prohibited from using the relevant systems, processes, technologies or other intellectual property (temporarily or permanently), cease offering certain products or services, or incur significant license, royalty or technology development expenses.
Moreover, it has become common in recent years for individuals and groups to purchase intellectual property assets for the sole purpose of making claims of infringement and attempting to extract settlements from companies such as Open Lending’s. Even in instances where Open Lending believes that claims and allegations of intellectual property infringement against it are without merit, defending against such claims is time consuming and expensive and could result in the diversion of time and attention of Open Lending’s management and employees. In addition, although in some cases a third party may have agreed to indemnify Open Lending for such costs, such indemnifying party may refuse or be unable to uphold its contractual obligations. In other
cases, insurance may not cover potential claims of this type adequately or at all, and Open Lending may be required to pay monetary damages, which may be significant.
Open Lending’s risk management processes and procedures may not be effective.
Open Lending’s risk management processes and procedures seek to appropriately balance risk and return and mitigate risks. Open Lending has established processes and procedures intended to identify, measure, monitor and control the types of risk to which Open Lending and automotive lenders are subject, including credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, strategic risk and operational risk. Credit risk is the risk of loss that arises when an obligor fails to meet the terms of an obligation. Market risk is the risk of loss due to changes in external market factors such as interest rates. Liquidity risk is the risk that financial conditions or overall safety and soundness are adversely affected by an inability, or perceived inability, to meet obligations and support business growth.
Strategic risk is the risk from changes in the business environment, improper implementation of decisions or inadequate responsiveness to changes in the business environment. Operational risk is the risk of loss arising from inadequate or failed processes, people or systems, external events (e.g., natural disasters), compliance, reputational or legal matters and includes those risks as they relate directly to Open Lending as well as to third parties with whom Open Lending contracts or otherwise does business.
Management of Open Lending risks depends, in part, upon the use of analytical and forecasting models. If these models are ineffective at predicting future losses or are otherwise inadequate, Open Lending may incur unexpected losses or otherwise be adversely affected. In addition, the information Open Lending uses in managing its credit and other risks may be inaccurate or incomplete as a result of error or fraud, both of which may be difficult to detect and avoid. There also may be risks that exist, or that develop in the future, that Open Lending has not appropriately anticipated, identified or mitigated, including when processes are changed or new products and services are introduced. If Open Lending’s risk management framework does not effectively identify and control its risks, Open Lending could suffer unexpected losses or be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on its business.
Some aspects of Open Lending’s platform include open source software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more of these open source licenses could negatively affect its business.
Aspects of Open Lending’s platform include software covered by open source licenses. The terms of various open source licenses have not been interpreted by United States courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on Open Lending’s platform. If portions of Open Lending’s proprietary software are determined to be subject to an open source license, Open Lending could be required to publicly release the affected portions of its source code, re-engineer all or a portion of its technologies or otherwise be limited in the licensing of technologies, each of which could reduce or eliminate the value of Open Lending’s technologies and loan products. In addition to risks related to license requirements, usage of open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software because open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of the software. Many of the risks associated with the use of open source software cannot be eliminated and could adversely affect the Open Lending business.
To the extent that Open Lending seeks to grow through future acquisitions, or other strategic investments or alliances, Open Lending may not be able to do so effectively.
Open Lending may in the future seek to grow its business by exploring potential acquisitions or other strategic investments or alliances. Open Lending may not be successful in identifying businesses or opportunities that meet its acquisition or expansion criteria. In addition, even if a potential acquisition target or other strategic investment is identified, Open Lending may not be successful in completing such acquisition or integrating such new business or other investment. Open Lending may face significant competition for acquisition and other strategic investment opportunities from other well-capitalized companies, many of which have greater financial resources and greater access to debt and equity capital to secure and complete acquisitions or other strategic investments, than Open Lending. As a result of such competition, Open Lending may be unable to acquire certain assets or businesses, or take advantage of other strategic investment opportunities that Open Lending deems attractive; the purchase price for a given strategic opportunity may be significantly elevated; or certain other terms or circumstances may be substantially more onerous. Any delay or failure on Open Lending’s part to identify, negotiate, finance on favorable terms, consummate and integrate any such acquisition, or other strategic investment opportunity could impede Open Lending’s growth.
There is no assurance that Open Lending will be able to manage its expanding operations, including from acquisitions, investments or alliances, effectively or that it will be able to continue to grow, and any failure to do so could adversely affect its ability to generate revenue and control its expenses. Furthermore, Open Lending may be responsible for any legacy liabilities of businesses it acquires or be subject to additional liability in connection with other strategic investments. The existence or
amount of these liabilities may not be known at the time of acquisition, or other strategic investment, and may have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
Future changes in financial accounting standards may significantly change Open Lending’s reported results of operations.
GAAP is subject to standard setting or interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB"), the SEC and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on Open Lending’s reported financial results and could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of a change.
Additionally, Open Lending’s assumptions, estimates and judgments related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect its financial results. GAAP and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to its business, including revenue recognition, finance charge reversals, and share-based compensation, are highly complex and involve subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by Open Lending. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates or judgments by Open Lending could require Open Lending to make changes to its accounting systems that could increase its operating costs and significantly change its reported or expected financial performance.
Risks Related to Open Lending’s Regulatory Environment
Open Lending is subject to federal and state consumer protection laws.
In connection with administration of LPP, Open Lending must comply with various regulatory regimes, including those applicable to consumer credit transactions, various aspects of which are untested as applied to Open Lending’s business model. Insurance producing and claims administration services subject Open Lending to state regulation on a 50-state basis. The complex regulatory environment of the credit and insurance industries are subject to constant change and modification. While changes to statutes and promulgating new regulations may take a substantial amount of time, issuing regulatory guidance with the force of law in the form of opinions, bulletins, and notices can occur quickly. Also, consumer credit and insurance regulators often initiate inquiries into market participants, which can lead to investigations and, ultimately, enforcement actions. As a result, Open Lending is subject to a constantly evolving regulatory environment that is difficult to predict, which may affect Open Lending’s business. The laws to which Open Lending directly or its services by contract are or may be subject directly or indirectly include:
•state laws and regulations that impose requirements related to loan disclosures and terms, credit discrimination, and unfair or deceptive business practices;
•the Truth-in-Lending Act, and its implementing Regulation Z, and similar state laws, which require certain disclosures to borrowers regarding the terms and conditions of their loans and credit transactions;
•Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, and Section 1031 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which prohibits UDAAP, in connection with any consumer financial product or service;
•the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and its implementing Regulation B, which prohibit creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, marital status, the fact that all or part of the applicant’s income derives from any public assistance program or the fact that the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act or any applicable state law;
•the FCRA, and its implementing Regulation V, as amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which promotes the accuracy, fairness and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies;
•the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and its implementing Regulation F, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as well as state debt collection laws, all of which provide guidelines and limitations concerning the conduct of debt collectors in connection with the collection of consumer debts;
•the Bankruptcy Code, which limits the extent to which creditors may seek to enforce debts against parties who have filed for bankruptcy protection;
•the GLBA, and the California Consumer Protection Act, which include limitations on the disclosure of nonpublic personal information by financial institutions about a consumer to nonaffiliated third parties, in certain circumstances requires financial institutions to limit the use and further disclosure of nonpublic personal information by nonaffiliated third parties to whom they disclose such information and requires financial
institutions to disclose certain privacy policies and practices with respect to information sharing with affiliated and nonaffiliated entities as well as to safeguard personal customer information, and other privacy laws and regulations;
•the rules and regulations promulgated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, as well as state banking regulators;
•the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which allows active duty military members to suspend or postpone certain civil obligations so that the military member can devote his or her full attention to military duties;
•the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and Regulation E promulgated thereunder, which provide disclosure requirements, guidelines and restrictions on the electronic transfer of funds from consumers’ bank accounts;
•the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, and similar state laws, particularly the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which authorize the creation of legally binding and enforceable agreements utilizing electronic records and signatures; and
•the Bank Secrecy Act, which relates to compliance with anti-money laundering, customer due diligence and record-keeping policies and procedures.
While Open Lending has developed policies and procedures designed to assist in compliance with these laws and regulations, no assurance is given that its compliance policies and procedures will be effective. Failure to comply with these laws and with regulatory requirements applicable to Open Lending’s business could subject it to damages, revocation of licenses, class action lawsuits, administrative enforcement actions, and civil and criminal liability, which may harm Open Lending’s business.
Open Lending’s industry is highly regulated and is undergoing regulatory transformation, which results in inherent uncertainty. Changing federal, state, and local laws, as well as changing regulatory enforcement policies and priorities, may negatively impact Open Lending’s business.
In connection with Open Lending’s administration of LPP, Open Lending is subject to extensive regulation, supervision and examination under United States federal and state laws and regulations. Open Lending is required to comply with numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations that regulate, among other things, the manner in which Open Lending administers LPP, the terms of the loans that automotive lenders originate, the products of insurance carriers, production of those products, insurance claims administration, and the fees that Open Lending may charge. Any failure to comply with any of these laws or regulations could subject Open Lending to lawsuits or governmental actions and/or damage Open Lending’s reputation, which could materially and adversely affect Open Lending’s business. Regulators have broad discretion with respect to the interpretation, implementation, and enforcement of these laws and regulations, including through enforcement actions that could subject Open Lending to civil money penalties, customer remediations, increased compliance costs, and limits or prohibitions on Open Lending’s ability to offer certain products or services or to engage in certain activities. In addition, to the extent that Open Lending undertakes actions requiring regulatory approval or non-objection, regulators may make their approval or non-objection subject to conditions or restrictions that could have a material adverse effect on its business. Moreover, any competitors subject to different, or in some cases less restrictive, legislative or regulatory regimes may have or obtain a competitive advantage over Open Lending.
Additionally, federal, state, and local governments and regulatory agencies have proposed or enacted numerous new laws, regulations, and rules related to loans. Federal and state consumer credit and insurance regulators are also enforcing existing laws, regulations, and rules more aggressively and enhancing their supervisory expectations regarding the management of legal and regulatory compliance risks. Consumer finance and insurance regulation is constantly changing, and new laws or regulations, or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations, could have a materially adverse impact on Open Lending’s ability to operate as currently intended.
These regulatory changes and uncertainties make Open Lending’s business planning more difficult and could result in changes to its business model and potentially adversely impact its results of operations. New laws or regulations also require Open Lending to incur significant expenses to ensure compliance. As compared to Open Lending’s competitors, Open Lending could be subject to more stringent state or local regulations or could incur marginally greater compliance costs as a result of regulatory changes. In addition, Open Lending’s failure to comply (or to ensure that its agents and third-party service providers comply) with these laws or regulations may result in costly litigation or enforcement actions, the penalties for which could include: revocation of licenses; fines and other monetary penalties; civil and criminal liability; substantially reduced payments by borrowers; modification of the original terms of loans, permanent forgiveness of debt, or inability to, directly or indirectly, collect all or a part of the principal of or interest on loans; and increased purchases of receivables underlying loans originated by automotive lenders and indemnification claims.
Proposals to change the statutes affecting financial services companies are frequently introduced in Congress and state legislatures that, if enacted, may affect its operating environment in substantial and unpredictable ways. In addition, numerous federal and state regulators have the authority to promulgate or change regulations that could have a similar effect on Open Lending’s operating environment. Open Lending cannot determine with any degree of certainty whether any such legislative or regulatory proposals will be enacted and, if enacted, the ultimate impact that any such potential legislation or implementing regulations, or any such potential regulatory actions by federal or state regulators, would have upon Open Lending’s business.
With respect to state regulation, although Open Lending seeks to comply with applicable state insurance, insurance brokering, insurance agency regulations, third-party administration company statutes and similar statutes in all U.S. jurisdictions, and with licensing and other requirements that Open Lending believes may be applicable to it, if Open Lending is found to not have complied with applicable laws, Open Lending could lose one or more of its licenses or authorizations or face other sanctions or penalties or be required to obtain a license in one or more such jurisdictions, which may have an adverse effect on Open Lending’s ability to make the LPP available to borrowers in particular states and, thus, adversely impact Open Lending’s business.
Open Lending is also subject to potential enforcement and other actions that may be brought by state attorneys general or other state enforcement authorities and other governmental agencies. Any such actions could subject Open Lending to civil money penalties and fines, customer remediations, and increased compliance costs, damage its reputation and brand and limit or prohibit Open Lending’s ability to offer certain products and services or engage in certain business practices.
New laws, regulations, policy or changes in enforcement of existing laws or regulations applicable to Open Lending’s business, or reexamination of current practices, could adversely impact Open Lending’s profitability, limit its ability to continue existing or pursue new business activities, require it to change certain of its business practices or alter its relationships with LPP customers, affect retention of key personnel, or expose Open Lending to additional costs (including increased compliance costs and/or customer remediation). These changes also may require Open Lending to invest significant resources, and devote significant management attention, to make any necessary changes and could adversely affect its business.
The highly regulated environment in which automotive lenders and insurance carriers operate could have an adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
Automotive lenders and insurance carriers are subject to federal and/or state supervision and regulation. Federal regulation of the banking or insurance industries, along with tax and accounting laws, regulations, rules, and standards, may limit their operations significantly and control the methods by which they conduct business. In addition, compliance with laws and regulations can be difficult and costly, and changes to laws and regulations can impose additional compliance requirements. For example, the Dodd-Frank Act imposes significant regulatory and compliance obligations on financial institutions. Regulatory requirements affect automotive lenders’ lending and investment practices and insurance carriers’ offerings, among other aspects of their businesses, and restrict transactions between Open Lending and its automotive lenders and insurance carriers. These requirements may constrain the operations of automotive lenders and insurance carriers, and the adoption of new laws and changes to, or repeal of, existing laws may have a further impact on Open Lending’s business.
In choosing whether and how to conduct business with Open Lending, current and prospective automotive lenders and insurance carriers can be expected to take into account the legal, regulatory, and supervisory regimes that apply to them, including potential changes in the application or interpretation of regulatory standards, licensing requirements, or supervisory expectations. Regulators may elect to alter standards or the interpretation of the standards used to measure regulatory compliance or to determine the adequacy of liquidity, certain risk management or other operational practices for financial services companies in a manner that impacts automotive lenders or insurance carriers. Furthermore, the regulatory agencies have extremely broad discretion in their interpretation of the regulations and laws and their interpretation of the quality of automotive lenders’ loan portfolios and other assets. If any regulatory agency’s assessment of the quality of automotive lenders’ assets, operations, lending practices, investment practices or other aspects of their business changes, or those with respect to insurance carriers, it may materially reduce automotive lenders’ or insurance carriers’ earnings, capital ratios and share price in such a way that affects Open Lending’s business.
Bank holding companies, credit unions, financial institutions, automobile lenders, and insurance carriers and producers are extensively regulated and currently face an uncertain regulatory environment. Applicable state and federal laws, regulations and interpretations, including licensing laws and regulations, and enforcement policies and accounting principles have been subject to significant changes in recent years, and may be subject to significant future changes. Open Lending cannot predict with any degree of certainty the substance or effect of pending or future legislation or regulation or the application of laws and regulations to automotive lenders and insurance carriers. Future changes may have a material adverse effect on automotive lenders or insurance carriers and, therefore, on Open Lending.
Open Lending is subject to regulatory examinations and investigations and may incur fines, penalties and increased costs that could negatively impact the Open Lending business.
Federal and state agencies have broad enforcement powers over Open Lending, including powers to investigate Open Lending's business practices and broad discretion to deem particular practices unfair, deceptive, abusive or otherwise not in accordance with the law. The continued focus of regulators on the consumer financial services industry has resulted, and could continue to result, in new enforcement actions that could, directly or indirectly, affect the manner in which Open Lending conducts its business and increase the costs of defending and settling any such matters, which could negatively impact its business. In some cases, regardless of fault, it may be less time-consuming or costly to settle these matters, which may require Open Lending to implement certain changes to its business practices, provide remediation to certain individuals or make a settlement payment to a given party or regulatory body. There is no assurance that any future settlements will not have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
In addition, the laws and regulations applicable to Open Lending are subject to administrative or judicial interpretation. Some of these laws and regulations have been enacted only recently and may not yet have been interpreted or may be interpreted infrequently. As a result of infrequent or sparse interpretations, ambiguities in these laws and regulations may create uncertainty with respect to what type of conduct is permitted or restricted under such laws and regulations. Any ambiguity under a law or regulation to which Open Lending is subject may lead to regulatory investigations, governmental enforcement actions and private causes of action, such as class action lawsuits, with respect to Open Lending’s compliance with such laws or regulations.
The contours of the Dodd-Frank UDAAP standard remain uncertain, and there is a risk that certain features of the Open Lending business could be deemed to be a UDAAP.
The Dodd-Frank Act prohibits UDAAP and authorizes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) to enforce that prohibition. The CFPB has filed a large number of UDAAP enforcement actions against consumer lenders for practices that do not appear to violate other consumer finance statutes. There is a risk that the CFPB could determine that certain features of automotive lender loans are unfair, deceptive or abusive, which could have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
Regulations relating to privacy, information security, and data protection could increase Open Lending’s costs, affect or limit how Open Lending collects and uses personal information, and adversely affect its business opportunities.
Open Lending is subject to various privacy, information security and data protection laws, including requirements concerning security breach notification, and it could be negatively impacted by them. For example, in connection with Open Lending’s administration of LPP, Open Lending is subject to the GLBA and implementing regulations and guidance. Among other things, the GLBA (i) imposes certain limitations on the ability to share consumers’ nonpublic personal information with nonaffiliated third parties and (ii) requires certain disclosures to consumers about their information collection, sharing and security practices and their right to “opt out” of the institution’s disclosure of their personal financial information to nonaffiliated third parties (with certain exceptions).
Furthermore, legislators and/or regulators are increasingly adopting or revising privacy, information security and data protection laws that potentially could have a significant impact on Open Lending’s current and planned privacy, data protection and information security-related practices; Open Lending’s collection, use, sharing, retention and safeguarding of consumer and/or employee information; and some of Open Lending’s current or planned business activities. This also could increase Open Lending’s costs of compliance and business operations and could reduce income from certain business initiatives.
Compliance with current or future privacy, information security and data protection laws (including those regarding security breach notification) affecting customer and/or employee data to which Open Lending is subject could result in higher compliance and technology costs and could restrict Open Lending’s ability to provide certain products and services (such as products or services that involve sharing information with third parties or storing sensitive credit card information), which could materially and adversely affect Open Lending’s profitability. Additionally, there is always a danger that regulators can attempt to assert authority over the Open Lending business in the area of privacy, information security and data protection. If Open Lending’s vendors also become subject to laws and regulations in the more stringent and expansive jurisdictions, this could result in increasing costs on Open Lending’s business.
Privacy requirements, including notice and opt-out requirements, under the GLBA and FCRA are enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and by the CFPB through UDAAP and are a standard component of CFPB examinations. State entities also may initiate actions for alleged violations of privacy or security requirements under state law. Open Lending’s failure to comply with privacy, information security and data protection laws could result in potentially significant regulatory investigations and government actions, litigation, fines or sanctions; consumer, automotive lender or merchant actions; and damage to Open Lending’s reputation and brand, all of which could have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
If Open Lending was found to be operating without having obtained necessary state or local licenses, it could adversely affect its business.
Certain states have adopted laws regulating and requiring licensing by parties that engage in certain activity regarding consumer finance and insurance transactions, including facilitating and assisting such transactions in certain circumstances. Furthermore, certain states and localities have also adopted laws requiring licensing for consumer debt collection or servicing. While Open Lending believes it has obtained all necessary licenses, the application of some consumer finance or insurance producer and claims administration licensing laws to LPP is unclear. If Open Lending was found to be in violation of applicable state licensing requirements by a court or a state, federal, or local enforcement agency, it could be subject to fines, damages, injunctive relief (including required modification or discontinuation of Open Lending’s business in certain areas), criminal penalties and other penalties or consequences, and the loans originated through LPP could be rendered void or unenforceable in whole or in part, any of which could have a material adverse effect on Open Lending’s business.
Open Lending may in the future be subject to federal or state regulatory inquiries regarding its business.
From time to time, in the normal course of its business, Open Lending may receive or be subject to, inquiries or investigations by state and federal regulatory agencies and bodies, such as the CFPB, state Attorneys General, state financial regulatory agencies, and other state or federal agencies or bodies regarding LPP, including the origination and servicing of consumer loans, practices by merchants or other third parties, production of insurance policies, administration of insurance claims and licensing, and registration requirements. For example, in the future, Open Lending may enter into regulatory agreements with state agencies regarding issues including automotive lender conduct and oversight and loan pricing. Open Lending also may receive inquiries from state regulatory agencies regarding requirements to obtain licenses from or register with those states, including in states where Open Lending has determined that it is not required to obtain such a license or be registered with the state. Any such inquiries or investigations could involve substantial time and expense to analyze and respond to, could divert management’s attention and other resources from running Open Lending’s business, and could lead to public enforcement actions or lawsuits and fines, penalties, injunctive relief, and the need to obtain additional licenses that it does not currently possess. Open Lending’s involvement in any such matters, whether tangential or otherwise, even if the matters are ultimately determined in Open Lending’s favor, could also cause significant harm to its reputation, lead to additional investigations and enforcement actions from other agencies or litigants, and further divert management attention and resources from the operation of Open Lending’s business. As a result, the outcome of legal and regulatory actions arising out of any state or federal inquiries Open Lending receives could be material to its business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Related to the Business Combination and Integration of Businesses
Open Lending’s management has limited experience in operating a public company.
Open Lending’s executive officers and directors have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. Open Lending’s management team may not successfully or effectively manage the ongoing transition to a public company, and the Company will be subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of their time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to the management and growth of Open Lending. It is possible that Open Lending will be required to expand its employee base and hire additional employees to support its operations as a public company which will increase our operating costs in future periods.
We will incur significant increased expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on its business, financial condition and results of operations.
As a public company, we will continue to face increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), including the requirements of Section 404, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, the PCAOB and the securities exchanges, impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements will increase costs and make certain activities more time-consuming. A number of those requirements will require us to carry out activities we have not done previously. In addition, additional expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements will be incurred. Furthermore, if any issues in complying with those requirements are identified (for example, if the auditors identify a material weakness or significant deficiency in the internal control over financial reporting), we could incur additional costs rectifying those issues, and the existence of those issues could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions of it. It may also be more expensive to obtain director and officer liability insurance. Risks associated with our status as a public company may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on the board of directors or as executive officers. The additional reporting and other obligations imposed by these rules and regulations will increase legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities. These increased costs will
require us to divert a significant amount of money that could otherwise be used to expand the business and achieve strategic objectives. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase costs.
We qualify as an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance to the performance of other public companies.
We qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible for and intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies for as long as it continues to be an emerging growth company, including (i) the exemption from the auditor attestation requirements with respect to internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) the exemptions from say-on-pay, say-on-frequency and say-on-golden parachute voting requirements and (iii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the Company is deemed to be a "large accelerated filer," as defined by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1.07 billion or more during such fiscal year, (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in the prior three-year period or (iv) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of our common stock in our initial public offering. In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the exemption from complying with new or revised accounting standards provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act as long as we are an emerging growth company. An emerging growth company can therefore delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We may elect not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we may not be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. Investors may find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions, which may result in a less active trading market for our common stock and its stock price may be more volatile.
We may from time to time be subject to litigation and other claims.
We may from time to time become subject to litigation claims in the operation of our business, including, but not limited to, with respect to employee matters and contract matters. From time to time, we may also face intellectual property infringement, misappropriation, or invalidity/non-infringement claims from third parties, and some of these claims may lead to litigation. We may initiate claims to assert or defend our intellectual property against third parties. Any litigation may be expensive and time-consuming and could divert management’s attention from our business and negatively affect its operating results or financial condition. The outcome of any litigation cannot be guaranteed, and adverse outcomes can affect us negatively.
Our ability to successfully operate the business will be largely depend upon the efforts of certain of our key personnel. The loss of such key personnel could negatively impact our operations and financial results.
Our ability to successfully operate the business is dependent upon the efforts of certain of our key personnel. It is possible that we will lose some key personnel, the loss of which could negatively impact our operations and profitability. Furthermore, certain of our key personnel may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our principal stockholders and management control us and their interests may conflict with yours in the future.
Our executive officers and directors and significant affiliated stockholders own nearly 30% of the outstanding voting stock of the Company as of the date of this report. Each share of our common stock initially entitles its holders to one vote on all matters presented to stockholders generally. Accordingly, those owners, if voting in the same manner, will be able to control the election and removal of our directors and thereby determine corporate and management policies, including potential mergers or acquisitions, payment of dividends, asset sales, amendments of the certificate of incorporation and bylaws and other significant corporate transactions for so long as they retain significant ownership. This concentration of ownership may delay or deter possible changes in control of Open Lending, which may reduce the value of an investment in our common stock. So long as they continue to own a significant amount of the combined voting power, even if such amount is less than 50%, they will continue to be able to strongly influence or effectively control decisions of the Company.
We will be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for certain tax benefits we may claim, and the amounts of such payments could be significant.
In connection with the closing of the Business Combination, Open Lending entered into the Tax Receivable Agreement with Nebula, the Blocker, the Blocker Holder, and Open Lending. Prior to the closing of the Business Combination, (i) 100% of the
interest in Open Lending was held by the Blocker and the Company Unit Sellers, and (ii) 100% of the Blocker was held by the Blocker Holder. The Tax Receivable Agreement generally provides for the payment by Open Lending to the Company Unit Sellers and Blocker Holder, as applicable, of 85% of the net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax that Open Lending actually realizes (or is deemed to realize in certain circumstances) in periods after the closing of the Business Combination as a result of: (i) certain tax attributes of Blocker and/or Open Lending that existed prior to the Business Combination and were attributable to the Blocker; (ii) certain increases in the tax basis of Open Lending’s assets resulting from the Second Merger; (iii) imputed interest deemed to be paid by Open Lending as a result of payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement; and (iv) certain increases in tax basis resulting from payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Open Lending will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of these cash savings. The amount of the cash payments that Open Lending may be required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement could be significant and is dependent upon future events and assumptions, including the amount and timing of taxable income Open Lending generates in the future, the U.S. federal income tax rate then applicable and the portion of Open Lending’s payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that constitute interest or give rise to depreciable or amortizable tax basis. Moreover, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that Open Lending determines, which tax reporting positions are subject to challenge by taxing authorities. Open Lending will be dependent on distributions from the Blocker to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and we cannot guarantee that such distributions will be made in sufficient amounts or at the times needed to enable Open Lending to make its required payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, or at all. Any payments made by Open Lending to the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder under the Tax Receivable Agreement will generally reduce the amount of overall cash flow that might have otherwise been available to Open Lending. To the extent that Open Lending is unable to make timely payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, the unpaid amounts will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid. Nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a breach of a material obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and therefore, may accelerate payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are also not conditioned upon the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder maintaining a continued ownership interest in us.
In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits, if any, we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
The Tax Receivable Agreement provides that if we breach any of our material obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement, if we undergo a change of control or if, at any time, we elect an early termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement, then the Tax Receivable Agreement will terminate and our obligations, or our successor’s obligations, to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement would accelerate and become immediately due and payable. The amount due and payable in those circumstances is determined based on certain assumptions, including an assumption that we would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize all potential future tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. We may need to incur debt to finance payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the extent our cash resources are insufficient to meet our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement as a result of timing discrepancies or otherwise.
As a result of the foregoing, (i) we could be required to make cash payments to the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder that are greater than the specified percentage of the actual benefits we ultimately realize in respect of the tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement, and (ii) we could be required to make a cash payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future tax benefits that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement, which payment may be made significantly in advance of the actual realization, if any, of such future tax benefits. In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combination, or other changes of control due to the additional transaction costs a potential acquirer may attribute to satisfying such obligations. There can be no assurance that we will be able to finance our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement.
We will not be reimbursed for any payments made to the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits are disallowed.
We will not be reimbursed for any cash payments previously made to the Company Unit Sellers or Blocker Holder pursuant to the Tax Receivable Agreement if any tax benefits initially claimed by us are subsequently challenged by a taxing authority and are ultimately disallowed. Instead, any excess cash payments made by us to a Company Unit Seller or Blocker Holder will be netted against any future cash payments that we might otherwise be required to make under the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. However, a challenge to any tax benefits initially claimed by us may not arise for a number of years following the initial time of such payment or, even if challenged early, such excess cash payment may be greater than the amount of future cash payments that we might otherwise be required to make under the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement and, as a result, there might not be future cash payments from which to net against. The applicable U.S. federal income tax rules are complex and factual in nature, and there can be no assurance that the IRS or a court will not disagree with our tax reporting positions. As
a result, it is possible that we could make cash payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are substantially greater than our actual cash tax savings.
Our amended and restated bylaws designate specific courts as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit its stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Pursuant to our amended and restated bylaws, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for any state law claim for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (2) any action asserting a claim of or based on a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of ours to us or our stockholders; (3) any action asserting a claim pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or (4) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, or the Delaware Forum Provision. The Delaware Forum Provision will not apply to any causes of action arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Our amended and restated bylaws further provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas shall be the sole and exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, or the Federal Forum Provision. In addition, our amended and restated bylaws provide that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our common stock is deemed to have notice of and consented to the Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision; provided, however, that stockholders cannot and will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
We recognize that the Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision in our amended and restated bylaws may impose additional litigation costs on stockholders in pursuing any such claims, particularly if the stockholders do not reside in or near the State of Delaware or the State of Texas. Additionally, the forum selection clauses in our amended and restated bylaws may limit our stockholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that they find favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage the filing of lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees, even though an action, if successful, might benefit our stockholders. In addition, while the Delaware Supreme Court ruled in March 2020 that federal forum selection provisions purporting to require claims under the Securities Act be brought in federal court were “facially valid” under Delaware law, there is uncertainty as to whether other courts will enforce our Federal Forum Provision. If the Federal Forum Provision is found to be unenforceable, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters. The Federal Forum Provision may also impose additional litigation costs on stockholders who assert that the provision is not enforceable or invalid. The Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments may be more or less favorable to us than our stockholders.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
An active trading market for our common stock may not be sustained, which may make it difficult to sell the shares of our common stock you purchase.
An active trading market for our common stock may not be sustained, which would make it difficult for you to sell your shares of our common stock at an attractive price (or at all). The market price of our common stock may decline below your purchase price, and you may not be able to sell your shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid for such shares (or at all).
There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of NASDAQ.
If NASDAQ delists our shares of common stock from trading on its exchange for failure to meet Nasdaq’s listing standards, we and our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:
•a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
•reduced liquidity for our securities;
•a determination that our common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
•a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
•a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The market price of our common stock may be volatile, which could cause the value of your investment to decline.
Even if a trading market develops, the market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations. In addition, the trading volume in our common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. Securities markets worldwide experience significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market and political conditions, could reduce the market price of shares of our common stock in spite of our operating performance. In addition, our results of operations could be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors due to a number of potential factors, including variations in our quarterly or annual results of operations, additions or departures of key management personnel, the loss of key automotive lenders, changes in our earnings estimates (if provided) or failure to meet analysts’ earnings estimates, publication of research reports about our industry, litigation and government investigations, changes or proposed changes in laws or regulations or differing interpretations or enforcement thereof affecting our business, adverse market reaction to any indebtedness we may incur or securities we may issue in the future, changes in market valuations of similar companies or speculation in the press or the investment community with respect to us or our industry, adverse announcements by us or others and developments affecting us, announcements by our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, dispositions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments, actions by institutional stockholders, and increases in market interest rates that may lead investors in our shares to demand a higher yield, and in response the market price of shares of our common stock could decrease significantly.
These broad market and industry factors may decrease the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. The stock market in general has, from time to time, experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.
Our issuance of additional capital stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our stock incentive plans or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders.
We expect to issue additional capital stock in the future that will result in dilution to all other stockholders. We expect to grant equity awards to employees, directors, and consultants under our stock incentive plans. We may also raise capital through equity financings in the future. As part of our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in complementary companies, products, or technologies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition or investment. Any such issuances of additional capital stock may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the per share value of our common stock to decline.
Sales of a substantial amount of our common stock could cause the price of our securities to fall.
Following the recently completed underwritten public offering, nearly 30% of the outstanding shares of our common stock is held by entities affiliated with us and our executive officers and directors. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales will occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and make it difficult for us to raise funds through securities offerings in the future. In addition, in connection with the underwritten public offering that closed on December 14, 2020, all of our directors, our executive officers and the selling stockholders each agreed, subject to certain exceptions, to be subject to a 90-day lock-up restriction in connection with this offering. The market price of our common stock may decline when this lock-up restriction lapses.
The exercise of registration rights may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
In connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, Open Lending, LLC, Open Lending Corporation, Nebula, certain persons and entities holding membership units of Open Lending and certain persons and entities holding Founder Shares (collectively, the “Holders”) entered into the Investor Rights Agreement. Pursuant to the terms of the Investor Rights Agreement, we are obligated to file a registration statement to register the resale of certain of our securities held by the Holders. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Investor Rights Agreement and subject to certain requirements and customary conditions, including with regard to the number of demand rights that may be exercised, the Holders may demand at any time or from time to time, that we file a registration statement on Form S-1, or any similar long-form registration statement, or if available, on Form S-3 to register the shares of our common stock held by such Holders. The Investor Rights Agreement also provides the Holders with “piggy-back” registration rights, subject to certain requirements and customary conditions. The Investor Rights Agreement further provides for our shares of common stock held by the Holders to be locked-up for 180 days after the closing of the Business Combination. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
Because we have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.
We have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors. Our board of directors may take into account general and
economic conditions, our financial condition and operating results, our available cash, current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions, implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiary to us and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, the terms of our existing financing arrangements restrict or limit our ability to pay cash dividends. Accordingly, we may not pay any dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
Future offerings of debt or equity securities by us may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
In the future, we may attempt to obtain financing or to further increase our capital resources by issuing additional shares of our common stock or offering debt or other equity securities, including commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior or subordinated notes, debt securities convertible into equity or shares of preferred stock. Future acquisitions could require substantial additional capital in excess of cash from operations. We would expect to obtain the capital required for acquisitions through a combination of additional issuances of equity, corporate indebtedness and/or cash from operations.
Issuing additional shares of our common stock or other equity securities or securities convertible into equity may dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our common stock or both. Upon liquidation, holders of such debt securities and preferred shares, if issued, and lenders with respect to other borrowings would receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Debt securities convertible into equity could be subject to adjustments in the conversion ratio pursuant to which certain events may increase the number of equity securities issuable upon conversion. Preferred shares, if issued, could have a preference with respect to liquidating distributions or a preference with respect to dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay dividends to the holders of our common stock. Our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, which may adversely affect the amount, timing and nature of our future offerings.
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could hinder, delay or prevent a change in control of us, which could adversely affect the price of our common stock.
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us without the consent of our Board of Directors. Among other things, these provisions:
•authorize the issuance of undesignated preferred stock, the terms of which may be established and the shares of which may be issued without stockholder approval, and which may include super voting, special approval, dividend, or other rights or preferences superior to the rights of the holders of our common stock;
•prohibit stockholder action by written consent, requiring all stockholder actions be taken at a meeting of our stockholders;
•provide that the Board of Directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our bylaws;
•establish advance notice requirements for nominations for elections to our Board of Directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at stockholder meetings; and
•establish a classified Board of Directors, as a result of which our Board of Directors will be divided into three classes, with each class serving for staggered three-year terms, which prevents stockholders from electing an entirely new Board of Directors at an annual meeting.
In addition, these provisions may make it difficult and expensive for a third party to pursue a tender offer, change in control or takeover attempt that is opposed by our management or our board of directors. Stockholders who might desire to participate in these types of transactions may not have an opportunity to do so, even if the transaction is favorable to them. These anti-takeover provisions could substantially impede your ability to benefit from a change in control or change our management and board of directors and, as a result, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and your ability to realize any potential change of control premium.
If securities and industry analysts publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend, in part, on the research and reports that securities and industry analysts publish about us and our business. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, cover the Company. If securities and industry analysts do not commence coverage of the Company, the trading price of our stock would likely be negatively impacted. If one or more of the securities or industry analysts who cover us downgrade our stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of the Company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which might cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.