KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc.

You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information included in this Annual Report, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report, before making an investment decision. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks or uncertainties. In that case, the trading price of shares of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to our Business

Changes in the demand for child care and workplace solutions, which may be negatively affected by demographic trends and economic conditions, including unemployment rates, may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Most of our families are dual-income families or working single parents who require ECE, and we are dependent on this demographic segment to maintain and grow center revenues. As a result, changes in demographic trends, including the number of dual-income or working single parent families in the workforce, inflation, personal disposable income and birth rates may impact the demand for our services. In addition, our strategy also depends on employers recognizing the value in providing employees with child care, workforce education and other workplace solutions as an employee benefit. The number of employers that view such services as cost effective or beneficial to their workforces may not continue to grow at the levels we anticipate or may diminish. Such changes could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Demand may be adversely affected by general economic conditions, changes in workforce demographics and work-place environments, and global crises, such as pandemic or epidemic disease outbreaks. Uncertainty or a deterioration in economic conditions could also lead to reduced demand for our services. In addition, a reduction in the size of an employer’s workforce could negatively impact the demand for our services and result in reduced enrollment or failure of our employer clients to renew their contracts. A deterioration of general economic conditions or changes in workforce demographics may adversely impact the need for our services because out-of-work parents may decrease or discontinue the use of child care services, or be unwilling to pay tuition for high-quality services. Additionally, we may not be able to increase the price for our services at a rate consistent with increases in our operating costs. If demand for our services were to decrease, it could disrupt our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business depends largely on our ability to hire and retain qualified teachers and maintain strong employee engagement.

The provision of child care services is personnel-intensive. Our business depends on our ability to attract, train and retain the appropriate mix of qualified employees and on effectively implementing and maintaining strong employee engagement, cultivating an atmosphere of trust, and effectively communicating the value proposition of working for us. The child care industry traditionally has experienced high turnover rates. In addition, state laws require our teachers and other staff members to meet certain educational and other minimum requirements, and we often require that teachers and staff at our centers and sites have additional qualifications. We are also required by state laws to maintain certain prescribed minimum adult-to-child ratios. If we are unable to hire and retain qualified teachers at a center or site, we could be required to reduce enrollment or be prevented from accepting additional enrollment in order to comply with such mandated ratios. In certain markets, we may experience difficulty in attracting, hiring and retaining qualified teachers due to tight labor pools, health concerns and changes in the work environment, which may require us to offer increased salaries, enhanced benefits and institute initiatives to maintain strong employee engagement that could result in increased costs. In addition, our business may be disproportionately impacted compared to other companies that are less dependent upon the in-person provision of services if a significant percentage of our workforce is unable to work because of, among other things, illness, quarantine, government restrictions, or difficulty maintaining or retaining staff. Difficulties in attracting, hiring and retaining qualified personnel may also affect our ability to meet growth objectives in certain geographies and to take advantage of additional enrollment opportunities at our child care and early education centers and our sites in these markets, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time we may be subject to employee organizing efforts. If some of our employees attempt to unionize, the terms of any collective bargaining agreement may be significantly different from our current compensation arrangements and working conditions. Additionally, responding to such organization attempts could distract our management from performing their various business and operation functions and result in legal or other professional fees. Labor union representation of a material number of our employees could impact our business, financial condition or results of operations as a result of additional labor costs, payroll and benefit expenses, new rules and practices or work stoppages.

A permanent shift in workforce demographics and office environments may result in decreased demand for center-based or site-based child care and have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a substantial portion of the workforce, including parents of children we serve at our centers and sites, transitioned from working in traditional office environments to working in “virtual” or “home” offices. While many employees have returned to the office, both full-time and through “hybrid” working arrangements, some employers may maintain a remote or work-from-home presence or may permanently move all or a portion of their workforce to work remotely. While working parents continue to need child care regardless of their work location, there are no assurances that parents who work from home will continue to use our centers or sites, or will not require other part-time child care arrangements that accommodate different working arrangements. A shift in workplace demographics where employees work from home on a part- or full-time basis, or a sustained decrease in the number of women or dual-career households in the workforce, may reduce demand for center-based or site-based child care or specific center or site locations as well as other service offerings. We may be unable to successfully meet changed client and parent demands and needs, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on key management and key employees to manage our business.

Our success depends on the efforts, abilities and continued services of our executive officers and other key employees. We believe future success will depend upon our ability to continue to attract, motivate and retain highly-skilled managerial, sales and marketing, regional and child care and early education center and site director personnel. We may experience difficulty in attracting, hiring and retaining corporate staff and key employees due to the current labor market. Difficulties in hiring and retaining key personnel may affect our ability to meet growth objectives and such market pressures may require us to enhance compensation and benefits, which may increase costs. Failure to retain our leadership team and attract and retain other important personnel could lead to disruptions in management and operations, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Because our success depends substantially on the value of our brands and reputation as a provider of choice, adverse publicity could impact the demand for our services.

Our reputation and brand are critical to our business. Adverse publicity concerning reported incidents or allegations of inappropriate, illegal or harmful acts to a child at any child care center or site, or through a third-party provider, whether or not directly related to or involving us, could result in decreased enrollment at our child care centers or sites, the termination of existing corporate relationships, our inability to attract new corporate relationships or increased insurance costs, all of which could adversely affect our operations. Brand value and our reputation can be severely damaged even by isolated incidents, particularly if the incidents receive considerable negative publicity or result in substantial litigation. These incidents may arise from events that are beyond our ability to control, such as instances of abuse or actions taken (or not taken) by one or more center or site managers or teachers relating to the health, safety or welfare of children in our care. In addition, from time to time, clients and others make claims and take legal action against us. Whether or not claims have merit, they may adversely affect our reputation and the demand for our services. Such demand could also diminish significantly if any such incidents or other matters erode general confidence in us or our services, which would likely result in lower revenues and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any reputational damage could have a material adverse effect on our brand value and our business, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Significant competition in our industry could adversely affect our results of operations.

We compete for enrollment in our early education centers and sites in a highly-fragmented market, including residential-based child care operated out of the caregiver’s home and other center-based child care that may include work-site child care centers, full- and part-time child care centers and preschools, private and public elementary schools and church-affiliated, government-subsidized and other not-for-profit providers and schools. In addition, alternatives to organized child care, such as relatives and nannies caring for children, can represent lower cost options to our services. We are often at a price disadvantage with alternative providers, who operate with little or no rental expense, little or no curriculum expense and who may not be compelled to comply with the same health, safety, insurance and operational regulations. We believe that our ability to compete successfully depends on a number of factors, including qualifications of teachers, quality of care, quality of curriculum, center accreditation, site convenience and tuition pricing. Our inability to remain competitive could cause decreased enrollment, reduced tuition revenues and/or increased expenses relative to net revenue, which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our continued profitability depends on our ability to offset our increased costs, such as labor and related costs, through increases in tuition rates.

Hiring and retaining key employees and qualified personnel, including teachers, is critical to our business. Labor costs constitute our largest expense. Because we are primarily a service business, inflationary factors and regulatory changes that contribute to wage and benefits cost increases result in significant increases in the costs of running our business.

Additionally from time to time, legislative proposals are made or discussed to increase the federal minimum wage in the United States as well as the minimum wage in a number of states and municipalities. We expect to pay employees at rates above the minimum wage, and increases in the statutory minimum wage rates could result in a corresponding increase in the wages and benefits we pay to our employees. Additionally, legislative proposals are also made or discussed to raise the federal minimum wage and reform entitlement programs, such as health insurance and paid leave programs. If any of these proposals are successful resulting in an increase in the federal minimum wage or entitlement programs, such an increase could result in an increase in the wages and benefits we pay. Additionally, competition for teachers in certain markets and costs of retraining teachers could result in significant increases in the cost of running our business. Our success depends on our ability to continue to pass along these costs to our families and to meet our changing labor needs while controlling costs. In the event that we cannot increase the price for our services to cover these higher wage and benefit costs without reducing family demand for our services, our margins could be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations as well as our growth.

Our ability to find affordable real estate and renew existing leases on terms acceptable to us may affect our operating results.

Our ability to effectively obtain real estate leases to open new centers depends on the availability of and our ability to identify cost-effective properties that meets our criteria for site convenience, demographics, square footage, lease economics, licensing regulations and other factors. We also must be able to cost-effectively negotiate or renew our existing center leases at attractive rental rates. For example, in 2015 we entered into a master lease agreement with KCP RE LLC, a former affiliate, with respect to approximately 500 of our centers across the United States, for which KCP RE LLC serves as the lessor. This master lease expires in 2033 and is extendable at our option for two five-year periods. A termination of the master lease agreement, changes in the lease economics or other modifications to the lease could cause material disruption to our business, including, among other things, a significant increase in rental costs and/or closures of centers. Additionally, if we cannot renew leases for an appropriate term, it may affect enrollment should parents become concerned with the length of time a center will remain open in a particular location. In certain markets, we may also seek to downsize, consolidate, reposition or close some of our locations, which in some cases requires a modification to an existing center lease. Failure to secure adequate new locations or successfully modify existing leases, or failure to effectively manage rent cost, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in our relationships with employer sponsors or failure to anticipate and respond to changing client (parents or client employees) preferences and expectations or develop new customer-oriented services may affect our operating results.

Our contracts with employers for full-service center-based and site-based child care generally have terms of 10 to 15 years, though some have terms as long as 30 years, with varying terms and renewal and termination options. We have a history of consistent contract renewals, but we may not experience similar renewal rates in the future. Employer sponsors have historically reduced their expenditures for benefits related to family services during economic downturns. The termination or non-renewal of a significant number of contracts or the termination of a multiple-site or multiple-service client relationship could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Additionally, our continued success depends on our ability to convert and retain new and existing clients and our ability to develop new consumer-oriented strategies or services to accommodate changing client, children or parent expectations and preferences around service delivery. Our future success depends on our ability to continue to meet the evolving needs and expectations of our clients, including enhancing our existing services. Obsolete processes and/or skill gaps could impede our ability to meet new or changing customer demand. Failure to meet these needs may result in client loss and reduced demand and could have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our revenue and results of operations fluctuate with the seasonal demand for child care and the other services we provide. Revenue in our child care centers and sites typically declines during the third quarter due to decreased enrollments over the summer months. We may be unable to adjust our expenses on a short-term basis to minimize the effect of these fluctuations in revenue. Our quarterly results of operations may also fluctuate based upon the number and timing of child care center and site openings and/or closings, the timing of new client service launches, acquisitions, the performance of new and existing child care and early education centers and sites, the contractual arrangements under which child care centers and sites are operated, the change in the mix of such contractual arrangements, competitive factors and general economic conditions. The inability of existing child care centers or sites to maintain their current enrollment levels and profitability, and the failure of newly opened child care centers or sites to contribute to profitability could result in additional fluctuations in our future operating results on a quarterly or annual basis.

Governmental universal child care benefit programs could reduce the demand for our services.

Federal, state or local child care and early education benefit programs relying primarily on subsidies in the form of tuition assistance or tax credits could provide us with opportunities for expansion in new or existing markets. However, a federal, state or local universal benefit such as preschool, if offered primarily or exclusively through public schools or nonprofit entities, could reduce the demand for services at our existing centers or sites and negatively impact the financial and operational model for our remaining programs. Some states and smaller political subdivisions already offer preschool through programs in which we may or may not participate. If these programs were to significantly expand or our participation is reduced, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Federal, state and local governments have proposed publicly funded universal child care, which could allow private, for-profit entities to be eligible for participation, but do not necessarily mandate such participation. It is unclear how previously proposed legislation or future proposals will progress in the current political and fiscal climate, or how states would implement such programs. Public programs have the ability to either expand or shrink our ability to serve additional children. The amount of public funding, the rates paid for early education programs, our eligibility to be a provider and the terms and conditions of the programs can have either a positive or negative effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our revenue and profitability may be affected if there are changes in the spending policies or budget priorities for government funding of child care and education.

A portion of our revenue and reimbursement of certain center operating expenses are derived from various federal, state and local government programs. For example, some of the government programs provide funding for full or partial subsidies of tuition at our centers, provide meals through a food program for low-income families and universal pre-K programs that provide for free pre-kindergarten programs for children ages three and four. When the federal government funds such programs, it directs funds to state and local governments for specified purposes, which purposes may include the programs listed above. When the federal government directs funds to state and local governments, the appropriations processes are often slow and can be unpredictable. Some programs, such as the food program, also require our centers to maintain eligibility in order to receive such funding and may also provide that losing eligibility for the program in one state could also result in losing eligibility in states across the country. Factors such as budget cuts, curtailments, delays, changes in leadership, shifts in priorities, changes in eligibility or general reductions in funding could reduce or delay the funding for government programs. Furthermore, the programs funding the COVID-19 Related Stimulus (as defined herein) are required to distribute all stimulus funding by December 31, 2024, and we do not expect to receive a material amount of funding after that date.

The recent changes in the U.S. Government Administration may result in substantial modifications to laws, regulations and government programs, including, but not limited to, those related to financial assistance and education. New executive orders and legislative actions could alter the business environment in which we operate. The current administration may implement new policies or reverse existing ones, affecting the availability of financial assistance for families that are currently eligible for such subsidies. The alteration of government assistance programs, particularly those related to child care, could affect the ability of some families to use our centers. Additionally, new regulations or changes to existing regulations could require us to modify our operations and incur additional expenses to comply with the new legal standards.

Our business may be adversely affected by changes in government programs, resulting from changes in legislation, both at the federal and state levels, changes in the state procurement process, changes in government leadership, emergence of other priorities and changes in the condition of the local, state or U.S. economy. Moreover, future reductions in government funding and the state and local tax bases could create an unfavorable environment, leading to budget shortfalls resulting in a decrease in funding for the relevant government programs. Any decreased funding may harm our recurring and new business materially if our clients are not able to find and obtain alternative sources of funding.

Public health crises and outbreaks of widespread health pandemics or epidemics have in the past and may in the future adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our operations expose us to risks associated with public health crises and outbreaks of pandemics, epidemics or contagious diseases. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery therefrom disrupted our operations and impacted our business. Another future health crisis could have a serious adverse impact on the economy and on our business as the COVID-19 pandemic and associated containment efforts did. Potential adverse impacts to our business, financial condition and results of operations that could result from a health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, include, but are not limited to:

•

significant changes in the conditions of the markets we operate in may limit our ability to provide our services, especially center-based child care and center-based backup child care, and may result in center closures;

•

periodic classroom closures due to potential exposure, which may impact our reputation or impact parent or client confidence resulting in reduced demand or the adoption of alternative child care options;

•

reduced or shifting demand for our services due to adverse and uncertain economic and demographic conditions, including as a result of families or clients that have been adversely impacted, and/or increased unemployment, long-term shift to an at-home workforce and general effects of a broad-based economic recession;

•

incremental costs associated with mitigating the effects of a health crisis and additional procedures and protocols required to maintain health and safety at our centers and sites; and

•

legal actions or proceedings related to the health crisis.

These factors could place limitations on our ability to operate effectively and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the recovery from a health crisis may be slow and continue to impact our business. For example, we experienced lingering impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in the months that followed after the public state of emergency ended on May 11, 2023, including increased costs related to labor resulting from a constricted labor market and wage inflation. These increased costs, however, did not materially adversely affect our business and operations in fiscal 2023. The full impact on our business from a public health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is difficult to predict and depends on numerous factors including the duration and extent of the crisis, the extent of imposed or recommended containment and mitigation measures, and the general economic consequences of such crisis.

Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected by various litigation and regulatory proceedings.

We are subject to litigation and regulatory proceedings in the normal course of business and could become subject to additional claims in the future. These proceedings have included, and in the future may include, matters involving personnel and employment issues, workers’ compensation, personal and property injury, disputes relating to acquisitions, governmental investigations and other proceedings and allegations of inappropriate, illegal or harmful acts to children at our child care centers or sites or through a third-party provider. We are, have also from time to time been, and in the future may be, subject to claims and matters alleging negligence, inadequate supervision, illegal, inappropriate, abusive or neglectful behavior, health and safety, or other grounds for liability arising from injuries or other harm to the people we serve, primarily children. From time to time, federal, state and local legislations also lengthen statutes of limitation, potentially exposing us to proceedings for longer periods of time. Some historical and current legal proceedings and future legal proceedings may purport to be brought as class actions on behalf of similarly situated parties including with respect to employment-related matters. We cannot be certain of the ultimate outcomes of any such claims, and resolution of these types of matters against us may result in center closures, license suspensions, significant fines, judgments or settlements, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, particularly if the fines, judgments and settlements are uninsured or exceed insured levels. Any such proceeding could damage our reputation, force us to incur significant expenses in defense of such proceeding or action, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business or result in the imposition of financial liability.

We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and if our remediation of the material weakness is not effective, or if we fail to design and maintain an effective internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable laws and regulations could be impaired.

We previously identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weakness we identified relates to the lack of effectively designed and maintained IT general controls for information systems that are relevant to the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. Specifically, we did not design and maintain: (i) program change management controls to ensure that program and data changes are identified, tested, authorized and implemented appropriately; (ii) user access controls to ensure appropriate segregation of duties and to adequately restrict user and privileged access to appropriate personnel; and (iii) computer operations controls to ensure that processing and transfer of data, and data backups and recovery are monitored.

This material weakness did not result in a misstatement to the consolidated financial statements, however, it could result in misstatements potentially impacting the annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would result in a material misstatement to the financial statements that would not be prevented or detected.

We are in the process of designing and implementing controls and taking other actions to remediate the material weakness described above, including implementing an enterprise resource planning software system. The material weakness will not be considered remediated until we complete the design and implementation of controls, the controls operate for a sufficient period of time, and management has concluded, through testing, that the controls are effective.

Furthermore, we cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, and actions we may take in the future, will be sufficient to remediate the control deficiencies that led to the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting or that they will prevent or avoid potential future material weaknesses. Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to design or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements.

Neither our management nor our independent registered public accounting firm has performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the SEC rules because no such evaluation has been required. Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until the filing of our second Annual Report on Form 10-K. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal control over financial reporting is documented, designed or operating. Any failure to design, implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting also could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that are filed with the SEC. Ineffective internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the NYSE.

Risks Related to our Capital Structure, Indebtedness and Capital Requirements

We may face risks related to our indebtedness.

Our indebtedness and lease obligations could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, limit our flexibility in operating our business, expose us to interest rate risk to the extent of our variable rate debt and prevent us from meeting our obligations under the debt instruments. We had $966.8 million in debt outstanding as of December 28, 2024. As of December 28, 2024, we also had $184.2 million available for borrowing collectively under our Credit Facilities, after giving effect to outstanding letters of credit of $55.8 million. As a result, an increase in interest rates could result in a substantial increase in interest expense. In fiscal 2024, our total interest expense was $170.5 million.

Our indebtedness and lease obligations could have important consequences to us, including:

•

limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, debt service requirements, acquisitions, investments and general corporate or other purposes;

•

limiting our ability to adjust to changing market conditions and placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that are less leveraged;

•

•

exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates as some of the borrowings under our Credit Facilities are at variable rates of interest;

•

requiring a portion of cash flow from operations to be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness, thereby reducing our ability to use our cash flow to fund our operations, capital expenditures and future business opportunities; and

•

making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our debt, and any failure to comply with the obligations under our debt instruments, including restrictive covenants, could result in an event of default under the agreements governing our indebtedness.

The occurrence of any one of these events could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness. In addition, we may incur additional indebtedness in the future, subject to the terms of our Credit Facilities, which could magnify the risks that we currently face.

The terms of our Credit Facilities impose operating and financial restrictions on us that may impair our ability to respond to changing barriers and economic conditions.

The agreements governing our Credit Facilities contain a number of restrictive covenants imposing significant operating and financial restrictions on us, including restrictions that may limit our ability to:

•

•

incur additional indebtedness or issue certain disqualified stock and preferred stock;

•

create liens;

•

make investments, loans and advances;

•

•

enter into certain transactions with our affiliates;

•

prepay certain junior indebtedness;

•

make certain changes to our lines of business; and

•

designate our subsidiaries as unrestricted subsidiaries.

A breach of any of these covenants could result in an event of default under our Credit Facilities and/or other agreements containing cross-default provisions, which could result in our lenders accelerating our debt by declaring amounts outstanding under our debt instruments, including accrued interest, to be immediately due and payable. If we are unable to pay those amounts, the lenders under our Credit Facilities could proceed against the collateral granted to them to the extent such collateral secures such indebtedness. We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness or satisfy our obligations upon an event of default, and may not be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

We may require additional capital to meet our financial obligations and support business growth, and this capital may not be available on acceptable terms or at all.

Based on our current plans and market conditions, we believe that cash flows generated from our operations and borrowing capacity under our Credit Facilities will be sufficient to satisfy our anticipated cash requirements in the ordinary course of business for the foreseeable future. However, we intend to continue to make significant investments to support our business growth and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings in addition to our Credit Facilities to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing we secure in the future could include restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business may be harmed.

The growth of our business may be adversely affected if we do not implement our growth strategies and initiatives successfully or if we are unable to manage our growth or operations effectively.

We have expanded and are continuing to expand our operations, suite of services and client relationships, which has placed, and will continue to place, significant demands on our management and our operational, IT and financial infrastructure. Additionally, our ability to grow in the future will depend upon a number of factors, including the ability to develop and expand new and existing client relationships, to continue to provide and expand the high-quality services we offer, to hire and train qualified personnel, to expand and grow in existing and future markets, to develop and operationalize new service offerings, and to sustain our operations, growth and efficiencies. Achieving and sustaining growth requires the successful execution of our growth strategies, which may require the implementation of enhancements to client-facing, operational and financial systems, expanded sales and marketing capacity, continuous updates to technology and improvements to processes and systems, and additional or new organizational resources. Given these challenges, we may be unable to manage our expanding operations effectively, or to maintain our growth, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Acquisitions present many risks and may disrupt our operations. We also may not realize the financial and strategic goals that were contemplated at the time of the transaction.

Acquisitions are an important part of our growth strategy and we have made, and intend to continue to make, acquisitions to add centers or sites, clients or expand into new markets, which may potentially include markets outside of the United States. We may also consider new service offerings and complementary companies, products or technologies, and from time to time may enter into other strategic transactions, such as investments and joint ventures. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including potential difficulties in the integration of acquired operations, such as bringing new centers or sites through the re-licensing or accreditation processes, becoming subject to additional regulatory requirements, successfully implementing our curriculum programs, integration of systems and technology, diversion of management’s attention and resources in connection with an acquisition and its integration, loss of key employees or key service contract arrangements of the acquired operations, and failure of acquired operations to effectively and timely adopt our internal control processes and other policies. Additionally, the acquisition of new service offerings or emerging services may present operational and integration challenges, particularly with respect to companies that have significant or complex operations or that provide services where we do not have significant prior experience. With any acquisition, the financial and strategic goals that were contemplated at the time of the transaction may not be realized due to increased costs, undisclosed liabilities not covered by insurance or by the terms of the acquisition, write-offs or impairment charges relating to goodwill and other intangible assets, and other unexpected integration costs. We also may not have success in identifying, executing and integrating acquisitions in the future. The occurrence of any of these risks could have an impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations, particularly in the event of a larger acquisition or concurrent acquisitions.

Any impairment of goodwill, other intangible assets or long-lived assets could negatively impact our results of operations.

Our goodwill and other intangible assets are subject to an impairment test on an annual basis or more frequently if impairment indicators exist. Additionally, our long-lived assets are tested whenever events and circumstances indicate that an asset group may be impaired. Any excess goodwill resulting from the impairment test must be written off in the period of determination. Intangible assets (other than goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets) and other long-lived assets are generally amortized or depreciated over the useful life of such assets. Certain events and circumstances, such as center closures or reduced operating performance at our centers or sites, may require us to record impairment expense on our long-lived assets. In addition, from time to time, we may acquire or make an investment in a business that will require us to record goodwill based on the purchase price and the value of the acquired tangible and intangible assets. We have significantly increased our goodwill as a result of our acquisitions. We may subsequently experience unforeseen issues with the businesses we acquire, which may adversely affect the anticipated returns of the business or value of the intangible assets and trigger an evaluation of recoverability of the recorded goodwill and intangible assets. Future determinations of significant write-offs of goodwill, intangible assets or other long-lived assets, as a result of an impairment test or any accelerated amortization or depreciation of other intangible assets or other long-lived assets, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are a holding company with no operations of our own, and we depend on our subsidiaries for cash.

We are a holding company and do not have any material assets or operations other than ownership of equity interests of our subsidiaries. Our operations are conducted almost entirely through our subsidiaries, and our ability to generate cash to meet our obligations or to pay dividends, if any, is highly dependent on the earnings of, and receipt of funds from, our subsidiaries through dividends or intercompany loans. The ability of our subsidiaries to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to allow us and them to make scheduled payments on our debt obligations will depend on their future financial performance, which will be affected by a range of economic, competitive and business factors, many of which are outside of our control.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property, Information Technology and Data Privacy and Security

If we are unable to adequately protect our intellectual property rights, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Our success depends in large part on our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, including those rights in our brands and our ability to build and maintain brand loyalty. Our company’s brands (including name, logo, domain name and trademark rights thereto) and our curriculum (including copyrights therein) are valuable assets that serve to differentiate us from our competitors. We currently rely on a combination of trademark, patent, copyright, trade secrets and unfair competition laws, as well as confidentiality and license agreements and other contractual provisions, to establish and protect our intellectual property rights. These laws are subject to change at any time and certain agreements may not be fully enforceable, which could restrict our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, including our brands and curriculum. Such means also may afford only limited protection of our intellectual property rights and we cannot assure you that the steps taken by us to protect our intellectual property rights will be adequate to: (i) prevent or deter infringement, misappropriation or other violation of our trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property rights by others; (ii) prevent others from independently developing services similar to, or duplicative of, ours; or (iii) permit us to gain or maintain a competitive advantage.

We generally seek or apply for similar statutory protections as and if we deem appropriate, based on then-current facts and circumstances. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to secure additional intellectual property rights as we expand our services and geographic scope and there can be no assurance that any of our existing intellectual property rights will not be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or rendered unenforceable. If we fail to obtain additional intellectual property rights or our existing intellectual property rights are rendered invalid or unenforceable, or narrowed in scope, the coverage of such intellectual property rights afforded our brands and services could be impaired. Such impairment could impede our ability to market our services, negatively affect our competitive position and harm our business and operating results.

The unauthorized use, infringement, misappropriation or other violation of our intellectual property could damage our brand identity and the goodwill we have created for our company, which could cause our sales to decline. We cannot guarantee that the operation of our business does not, and will not in the future, infringe, misappropriate or violate the rights of third parties, and from time to time we may be subject to claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violation of intellectual property rights and related litigation. Litigation may also be necessary to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, or to defend against third-party claims. Any such litigation, regardless of merit, is inherently uncertain and can be time-consuming and result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, causing a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we cannot protect our intellectual property rights or our brand identity, the goodwill we created for our company may diminish, causing our sales to decline. If we are found to infringe, misappropriate or violate the rights of a third-party, we may be forced to stop offering, or to rebrand or redesign, certain products or services, to pay damages or royalties, and to enter into licensing agreements, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.

Intellectual property protection in jurisdictions outside of the United States may not be available to the same extent as in the United States and filing, prosecuting and defending our intellectual property in all countries throughout the world may be prohibitively expensive. The lack of adequate legal protections of intellectual property or failure of legal remedies for related actions in jurisdictions outside of the United States could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including materially and adversely affecting our identity in the United States and cause our sales to decline.

We rely significantly on the use of information technology, as well as those of our third-party service providers. Any significant failure, inadequacy, interruption or data security incident of our information technology systems, or those of our third-party service providers, could disrupt our business operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/ or cash flows.

We rely extensively on various information technology systems, including data centers, hardware and software and applications to manage many aspects of our business and the success of our operations depends upon the secure transmission of confidential and personal information over public networks, including the use of cashless payments. In particular, we are heavily dependent upon our mobile application and website platform as a means of growing user engagement and perception of our brand. Our mobile application is hosted by a third-party and supported by another outside development firm. In addition, kindercare.com, our website platform, is hosted on an Infrastructure-as-a-Service solution provided to us by a third-party’s cloud platform. Any compromises, shutdowns, failures or interruption of our mobile application, website hosting platform, payment processing application, or any of our computer and information technology systems, incidents or failures experienced by our third-party service providers including any of our computer and information technology systems managed thereby, could intentionally or inadvertently lead to delays in our business operations or harm our ability to serve our clients and families through these channels, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our information technology systems may be subject to damage or interruption from telecommunications problems, data corruption, software errors, fire, flood, global pandemics and natural disasters, power outages, systems disruptions, system conversions and/or human error. Our existing safety systems, data backup, access protection, user management and information technology emergency planning may not be sufficient to prevent data loss or long-term network outages. In addition, we may have to upgrade our existing information technology systems or choose to incorporate new technology systems from time to time in order for such systems to support the increasing needs of our expanding business. Costs and potential problems and interruptions associated with the implementation of new or upgraded systems and technology or with maintenance or adequate support of existing systems could disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations.

In addition, as part of our normal business activities, we collect and store certain confidential information, including personal information with respect to clients and employees, as well as information related to intellectual property, and the success of our business depends on the secure transmission of confidential and personal data over public networks, including the use of cashless payments. We may share some of this information with third-party service providers who assist us with certain aspects of our business. Any failure on the part of us or our third-party service providers to maintain the security of this confidential data and personal information, including via the penetration of our network security (or those of our third-party service providers) and the misappropriation of confidential and personal information, could result in business disruption, damage to our reputation, financial obligations to third parties, fines, penalties, regulatory proceedings and private litigation, any or all of which could result in the Company incurring potentially substantial costs. Such events could also result in the deterioration of confidence in the Company by employees and clients and cause other competitive disadvantages.

Security incidents compromising the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our confidential or personal information and our third-party service providers’ information technology systems could result from cyberattacks, computer malware, viruses, social engineering (including spear phishing and ransomware attacks), credential stuffing, supply chain attacks, efforts by individuals or groups of hackers and sophisticated organizations, including state-sponsored organizations, errors or malfeasance of our personnel and security vulnerabilities in the software or systems on which we and our third-party service providers rely. The techniques used by criminals to obtain unauthorized access to systems or sensitive data change frequently, are constantly evolving and often are not recognized until after being launched against a target, and accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures and there may be a significant delay between the initiation of an attack on our information technology systems and our recognition of the attack. Thus, a disruption, cyberattack or other security breach of our information technology systems or infrastructure, or those of our third-party service providers, may go undetected for an extended period and could result in the theft, transfer, unauthorized access to, disclosure, modification, misuse, loss or destruction of our employee, representative, client, vendor, consumer and/or other third-party data, including sensitive or confidential data, personal information and/or intellectual property. While we have taken measures designed to protect the security of the confidential and personal information under our control, we cannot assure you that any security measures that we or our third-party service providers have implemented will be effective against current or future security threats.

Additionally, new or changing risk profiles related to data security could require that we expend significant additional resources to enhance our information security systems. Several recent, highly publicized data security breaches at other companies have heightened consumer awareness of this issue and may embolden individuals or groups to target our systems or those of third parties with which we do business. In addition, our information systems are a target of cyberattacks, although the incidents that we have experienced to date have not had a material effect. If we suffer a material loss or disclosure of personal or confidential information as a result of a breach of our information technology systems, including those of our third-party service providers, we may suffer reputational, competitive and/or business harm, incur significant costs and be subject to government investigations, litigation, fines and/or damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows. Moreover, while we maintain cyber insurance that may help provide coverage for these types of incidents, we cannot assure you that our insurance will be adequate to cover costs and liabilities related to these incidents.

Any failure on the part of us or third parties with which we do business to maintain the security of our personal, sensitive or confidential data, including via the penetration of our network and the misappropriation of confidential and personal information, as well as a failure to promptly remedy any security incident events should they occur, could compromise our systems, and the information stored in our systems could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost, stolen or damaged. Any such circumstance could adversely affect our ability to attract and maintain clients, cause us to suffer negative publicity, and subject us to legal claims and liabilities or regulatory penalties or cause us to suffer competitive disadvantages, and thus have a material and adverse impact on us. Investigations into a data breach, including how it occurred, its consequences and our responses, by state and federal agencies could, among other adverse outcomes, lead to fines, other monetary relief and/or injunctive relief that could materially increase our data security costs, adversely impact how we operate our information systems and collect and use client information, and put us at a competitive disadvantage with other retailers. For example, as discussed below, the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”) creates a private right of action for certain data breaches. Further, defending a suit, regardless of its merit, could be costly, divert management attention and harm our reputation. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition, revenues, results of operations or cash flows. Furthermore, payment card networks with payment cards impacted by a data breach may pursue claims against us, either directly or through our acquiring banks. Finally, any material disruption or slowdown of our systems or those of our third-party service providers and business partners, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our collection, use, storage, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal information could give rise to significant costs and liabilities, including as a result of governmental regulation, uncertain or inconsistent interpretation and enforcement of legal requirements or differing views of personal privacy rights, which may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

As part of our normal business activities, we collect, use, store, process and transmit personal information with respect to our clients' children, families and employees. We share some of this personal information with vendors who assist us with certain aspects of our business. A variety of federal and state laws, regulations industry self-regulatory principles, industry standards or codes of conduct, and regulatory guidance, relating to privacy, data protection, marketing and advertising, and consumer protection apply to the collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer and other processing of certain types of data. These requirements of such laws, regulations, industry self-regulatory principles, industry standards or codes of conduct, and regulatory guidance may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another or may conflict with other rules or our practices. As a result, our practices may not have complied in the past, or may not comply in the future, with all such laws, regulations, standards, requirements and obligations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with our posted privacy policies or with any federal or state privacy or consumer protection-related laws, regulations, industry self-regulatory principles, industry standards or codes of conduct, regulatory guidance, or orders to which we may be subject or other legal obligations relating to privacy or consumer protection could adversely affect our reputation, brand and business, and may result in claims, fines, penalties, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, clients, suppliers or others or other liabilities or may require us to change our operations and/or cease using certain data.

In addition, various federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies, or self-regulatory organizations, may expand current laws or regulations, enact new laws or regulations or issue revised rules or guidance regarding privacy, data protection, consumer protection and advertising, and as the regulatory environment related to information security, data collection and use and privacy becomes increasingly rigorous, with new and changing requirements applicable to our business. For example, the CCPA, which came into effect in 2020, increases privacy rights for California consumers and imposes obligations on companies that process their personal information. Among other things, the CCPA gives California consumers expanded rights related to their personal information, including the right to access and delete their personal information and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used and shared. The CCPA also provides California consumers the right to opt-out of certain sales of personal information and may restrict the use of cookies and similar technologies for advertising purposes. The CCPA prohibits discrimination against individuals who exercise their privacy rights, and provides for civil penalties for violations enforceable by the California Attorney General as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action is expected to increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. Many of the CCPA’s requirements as applied to personal information of a business’s personnel and related individuals are subject to a moratorium that expired on January 1, 2023. The expiration of the moratorium may increase our compliance costs and our exposure to public and regulatory scrutiny, costly litigation, fines and penalties. Additionally, in November 2020, California passed the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”), which expanded the CCPA significantly, including by expanding California consumers’ rights with respect to certain personal information and creating a new state agency to oversee implementation and enforcement efforts, potentially requiring us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply. Many of the CPRA’s provisions became effective on January 1, 2023. The costs of compliance with, and the other burdens imposed by, these and other laws or regulatory actions may increase our operational costs and/or result in interruptions or delays in the availability of systems.

Moreover, other states have passed, or may in the future pass, comprehensive privacy laws that impose, or may in the future impose, obligations similar to or more stringent than those we face under other data protection laws. Once such laws become enforceable, we must comply with each if our operations fall within the scope of these newly enacted comprehensive mandates, which may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. Similar laws have been proposed at the federal level, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. Additional state and federal legislation may add additional complexity, variation in requirements, restrictions and potential legal risk, require additional investment in resources to compliance programs, could impact strategies and availability of previously useful data, and could result in increased compliance costs and/or changes in business practices and policies.

Our communications with our clients are subject to certain laws and regulations, including the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (“CAN-SPAM”) Act of 2003, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (the “TCPA”), and the Telemarketing Sales Rule and analogous state laws, that could expose us to significant damages awards, fines and other penalties that could materially impact our business. For example, the TCPA imposes various consumer consent requirements and other restrictions in connection with certain telemarketing activity and other communication with consumers by phone, fax or text message. The CAN-SPAM Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule and analogous state laws also impose various restrictions on marketing conducted use of email, telephone, fax or text message. As laws and regulations, including Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") enforcement, rapidly evolve to govern the use of these communications and marketing platforms, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations or subject us to fines or other penalties.

We are also subject to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), which applies to operators of commercial websites and online services directed to U.S. children under the age of 13 that collect personal information from children, and to operators of general audience websites with actual knowledge that they are collecting information from U.S. children under the age of 13. We collect certain personal information about children from their parents or guardians. COPPA is subject to interpretation by courts and other governmental authorities, including the FTC, and the FTC is authorized to promulgate, and has promulgated, revisions to regulations implementing provisions of COPPA, and provides non-binding interpretive guidance regarding COPPA that changes periodically with little or no public notice. Although we strive to ensure that our business and mobile application are compliant with applicable COPPA provisions, these provisions may be modified, interpreted or applied in new manners that we may be unable to anticipate or prepare for appropriately, and we may incur substantial costs or expenses in attempting to modify our systems, platform, applications or other technology to address changes in COPPA or interpretations thereof. If we fail to accurately anticipate the application, interpretation or legislative expansion of COPPA we could be subject to governmental enforcement actions, litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity and we could be in breach of our clients contracts and our clients could lose trust in us, which could harm our reputation and business.

Further, some laws may require us to notify governmental authorities and/or affected individuals of data breaches involving certain personal information or other unauthorized or inadvertent access to or disclosure of such information. We may need to notify governmental authorities and affected individuals with respect to such incidents. For example, laws in all 50 U.S. states may require businesses to provide notice to consumers whose personal information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. These laws are not consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach may be difficult and costly. We also may be contractually required to notify consumers or other counterparties of a security breach. Regardless of our contractual protections, any actual or perceived security breach or breach of our contractual obligations could harm our reputation and brand, expose us to potential liability or require us to expend significant resources on data security and in responding to any such actual or perceived breach.

In addition to government regulation, privacy advocates and industry groups have proposed, and may propose in the future, self-regulatory standards. These and other industry standards may legally or contractually apply to us, or we may elect to comply with such standards. If we fail to comply with these contractual obligations or standards, we may face substantial liability or fines.

We make public statements about our use and disclosure of personal information through our privacy policies that are posted on our websites. The publication of our privacy policies and other statements that provide promises and assurances about data privacy and security can subject us to potential government or legal action if they are found to be deceptive, unfair or misrepresentative of our actual practices.

In addition, the FTC expects a company’s data security measures to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer information it holds, the size and complexity of its business, and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce vulnerabilities. Our failure to take any steps perceived by the FTC as appropriate to protect clients’ personal information may result in claims by the FTC that we have engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act. State consumer protection laws provide similar causes of action for unfair or deceptive practices for alleged privacy, data protection and data security violations.

Further, we are subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI-DSS”), a security standard applicable to companies that collect, store or transmit certain data regarding credit and debit cards, holders and transactions. We rely on vendors to handle PCI-DSS matters and to ensure PCI-DSS compliance. Despite our compliance efforts, we may become subject to claims that we have violated the PCI-DSS based on past, present and future business practices. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with the PCI-DSS can subject us to fines, termination of banking relationships and increased transaction fees. In addition, there is no guarantee that PCI-DSS compliance will prevent illegal or improper use of our payment systems or the theft, loss or misuse of payment card data or transaction information.

Each privacy, security and data protection law and regulation, and any changes or new laws or regulations, could impose significant limitations, require changes to our business, or restrict our use or storage of personal information, which may increase our compliance expenses and make our business more costly or less efficient to conduct and failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in significant penalties and damages, each of which could materially and adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are in the process of implementing new cloud computing arrangements and may experience issues with the transition or the new arrangements may prove ineffective.

We are in the process of implementing new cloud computing arrangements to enhance our enterprise resource planning system and streamline our operations and corporate functions. These systems are crucial for executing our strategy, providing essential information to management, maintaining accurate books and records, preparing timely consolidated financial statements and fulfilling contractual obligations. We expect the implementation to be completed in 2025. However, during the transition to these new systems, we may experience disruptions in our business if the systems do not function as intended or if unforeseen challenges arise during the implementation. Such disruptions may impact our ability to process payments accurately and on time to our service providers, as well as our capability to invoice and collect payments from our customers. Moreover, the implementation of these systems may uncover or create data integrity issues or other technical problems that could negatively impact our business or financial results. Furthermore, periodic or prolonged disruptions in our financial functions could occur due to the adoption of these new systems, general usage, regular updates or other external factors beyond our control. If unexpected issues arise with either system or related technology infrastructure, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Additionally, if we are unable to effectively implement these systems as planned or if any component of the systems does not operate as intended, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting could be adversely affected, or our ability to assess it adequately could be delayed.

Use and storage of paper records increases risk of loss, destruction and could increase human error with respect to documentation.

We continue to rely on the use of paper records, which are initially stored onsite at our centers. Paper records are more susceptible to human error both in terms of accurately capturing client information, as well as with respect to misplacing or losing the same. There is no duplicate or backup copy of the paper records and in the event of a flood, fire, theft or other adverse event, the records, and all relevant client information or information about our clients’ families could be lost or destroyed. Paper records do not allow for a number of the benefits of electronic records systems, including features designed to improve privacy, security, accuracy and accessibility of such records. This may create more risk for us to the extent it could lead to breaches of client privacy.

We are subject to payment-related risks that may result in higher operating costs or the inability to process payments, either of which could harm our brand, reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

We accept payments using a variety of methods, including check, credit card, debit card and direct debit from a client’s bank account. For existing and future payment options that we offer to our clients, we may become subject to additional regulations and compliance requirements (including obligations to implement enhanced authentication processes that could result in significant costs and reduce the ease of use of our payment options), as well as fraud. For certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, we pay interchange and other fees, which may increase over time and raise our operating costs and lower profitability. We rely on independent service providers to provide certain payment processing services, including the processing of credit cards, debit cards and electronic checks. If these independent service providers become unwilling or unable to provide these services to us or if the cost of using these providers increases, our business could be harmed. We also are subject to payment card association operating rules, including data security rules, certification requirements and rules governing electronic funds transfers, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. In particular, we must comply with the PCI-DSS, a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit payment card information maintain a secure environment to protect cardholder data. If we fail to comply with any of these rules or requirements, or if our data security systems are breached or compromised, we may be liable for card-issuing banks’ costs, subject to fines and higher transaction fees, and lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from our clients, process electronic funds transfers or facilitate other types of online payments and our brand, reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Certain estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth included herein may prove to be inaccurate.

We present internal estimates of the addressable market for our solutions. Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts, whether obtained from third-party sources or developed internally, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may prove to be inaccurate. The estimates and forecasts herein relating to the size and expected growth of our target market, market demand and adoption, capacity to address this demand and pricing may also prove to be inaccurate. In particular, our estimates regarding our current and projected market opportunity are difficult to predict. The addressable market we estimate may not materialize for many years, if ever, even if the markets in which we compete meet the size estimates and growth forecasted in this Annual Report, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.

Risks Related to our Common Stock

Our stock price may be volatile, which could cause you to lose a significant part of your investment.

The market price of our common stock may fluctuate or decline substantially as a result of a variety of factors. In addition, securities markets worldwide have experienced, and are likely to continue to experience, significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could subject the market price of our shares to wide price fluctuations regardless of our operating performance. Our results of operations and the trading price of our shares may fluctuate in response to various factors, including:

•

variations in our operating results compared to market expectations or any guidance given by us, or changes in our guidance or guidance practices;

•

changes in the preferences of our clients or families;

•

low total comparable sales growth and gross margins compared to market expectations;

•

the failure of securities analysts to cover us or changes in financial estimates by the analysts who cover us, our competitors or our industry;

•

investors’ perceptions of our quarterly reports and the quarterly reports of the businesses in which we participate;

•

•

announced personnel changes;

•

changes in consumer spending or the economy, including periods of high inflation;

•

increased competition or stock price performance of our competitors;

•

•

actual or anticipated variations in our or our competitors’ operating results, and our competitors’ growth rates;

•

future sales of our common stock or the perception that such sales may occur;

•

changes in senior management or key personnel;

•

changes in laws or regulations, or new interpretations or applications of laws and regulations that are applicable to our business;

•

•

action by institutional stockholders or other large stockholders;

•

events beyond our control, such as war, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, severe weather and widespread illness, public health emergencies or pandemics; and

•

These and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, may cause our results of operations and the market price and demand for our shares to fluctuate substantially. In addition, our stock price may be volatile. The stock market in general has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of companies like us. Accordingly, these broad market fluctuations, as well as general economic, political and market conditions, such as recessions or interest rate changes, may significantly reduce the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could result in substantial costs and divert resources and our management’s attention from other business concerns, regardless of the outcome of such litigation.

Because PG owns a significant percentage of our common stock, it may control major corporate decisions and its interests may conflict with your interests as an owner of our common stock and our interests.

We are controlled by PG, which owns approximately 69% of our common stock. Accordingly, PG currently controls the election of our directors and could exercise a controlling interest over our business, affairs and policies, including the appointment of our management and the entering into of business combinations or dispositions and other corporate transactions. The directors PG elects have the authority to incur additional debt, issue or repurchase stock, declare dividends and make other decisions that could be detrimental to stockholders. PG also has specified board representation rights, governance rights and other rights, including the right to nominate designees to our board of directors on a sliding scale based on PG’s ownership of our common stock. In connection with our IPO, PG and certain of our other existing stockholders entered into a registration rights agreement, dated October 8, 2024, by and among the Company, PG and certain other existing stockholders (the "Registration Rights Agreement"), pursuant to which PG has certain registration rights and other rights. In addition, we entered into a stockholders agreement, dated October 8, 2024, by and among the Company, PG and certain other existing stockholders (the "Stockholders Agreement") which among other rights will provide that so long as PG owns, in the aggregate, (i) greater than 50% of the total outstanding shares of our common stock, PG will be entitled to nominate the lowest whole number of directors that is greater than 50% of the total number of directors, (ii) 50% or less, but at least 40% of the total outstanding shares of our common stock, PG will be entitled to nominate the lowest whole number of directors that is greater than 40% of the total number of directors, (iii) less than 40% but at least 30% of the total outstanding shares of our common stock, PG will be entitled to nominate the lowest whole number of directors that is greater than 30% of the total number of directors, (iv) less than 30% but at least 20%, PG will be entitled to nominate the lowest whole number of directors that is greater than 20% of the total number of directors, and (v) less than 20% but at least 10%, PG will be entitled to nominate the lowest whole number (such number always being equal to or greater than one) that is greater than 10% of the total number of directors. Even if PG were to own or control less than a majority of our total outstanding shares of common stock, it will be able to influence the outcome of corporate actions so long as it owns a significant portion of our total outstanding shares of common stock.

PG may have interests that are different from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and that may be adverse to your interests. In addition, PG’s concentration of ownership could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control or otherwise discouraging a potential acquirer from attempting to obtain control of us, which could cause the market price of our common stock to decline or prevent our stockholders from realizing a premium over the market price for their common stock.

Additionally, PG is in the business of making investments in companies and may from time to time acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us or supply us with goods and services. PG may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us. Stockholders should consider that the interests of PG may differ from their interests in material respects.

In addition, the Stockholders Agreement provides that so long as PG owns at least 25% of our outstanding common stock, PG’s consent will be required for us to (i) terminate, hire or appoint a chief executive officer, (ii) issue additional equity interests in our company or subsidiaries, subject to certain exceptions, (iii) other than in the ordinary course of business with vendors, customers and suppliers, enter into or effect any significant acquisition, and (iv) incur indebtedness for borrowed money aggregating to more than $100 million, subject to certain exceptions.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, will qualify for, and may rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

PG controls a majority of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. A company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, a group or another company is a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements of the NYSE, including:

•

•

•

•

While we do not intend to utilize the exemptions listed above, we may from time to time utilize one or more of these exemptions. If we do utilize the exemptions, our board of directors and those committees may have more directors who do not meet the New York Stock Exchange independence standards than they would if those standards were to apply. The independence standards are intended to ensure that directors who meet those standards are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors. Accordingly, you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market by our existing stockholders could cause our stock price to fall.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. In connection with our initial public offering (the "IPO"), substantially all of our existing stockholders signed lock-up agreements with the underwriters that restrict the stockholders’ ability to transfer shares of our common stock for the period ending April 7, 2025, subject to certain exceptions. The lock-up agreements limit the number of shares of common stock that may be sold immediately following the IPO. None of the 27,600,000 shares that we sold in the IPO are subject to lock-up agreements. In addition, subject to certain limitations, 90,366,089 shares will become eligible for sale upon expiration of the lock-up period. In addition, none of the shares issued or issuable upon exercise of options vested as of the expiration of the lock-up period will be eligible for sale at that time. Further, the representatives of the underwriters may, in their sole discretion, release all or some portion of the shares subject to the lock-up agreements at any time and for any reason. Sales of a substantial number of such shares upon expiration of the lock-up agreements, the perception that such sales may occur, or early release of these agreements, could have a material and adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

Moreover, holders of 73.2% of our outstanding common stock have rights pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, subject to certain conditions such as the lock-up arrangement described above, to require us to file registration statements for the public sale of their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. Any sales of securities by these stockholders could have a material and adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

We intend to retain any future earnings and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Our dividend policy may change at any time without notice. The declaration and amount of any future dividends is subject to the discretion of our board of directors in determining whether dividends are in the best interest of our stockholders based on our financial performance and other factors and are in compliance with all laws and agreements applicable to the declaration and payment of cash dividends by us. In addition, our ability to pay dividends on our common stock is currently limited by the covenants of our Credit Facilities and may be further restricted by the terms of any future debt or preferred securities. See “Dividends" in Item 5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information. Future dividends may also be affected by factors that our board of directors deems relevant, including our potential future capital requirements for investments, legal risks, changes in tax laws or corporate laws and contractual restrictions such as financial or operating covenants in our debt arrangements. As a result, we may not pay dividends at any rate or at all.

Some provisions of our governing documents and Delaware law may have anti-takeover effects that could discourage an acquisition of us by others, even if an acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders, and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

Provisions in our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws, the Stockholders Agreement and the Delaware General Corporation Law (the "DGCL") could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or increase the cost of acquiring us, even if doing so would benefit our stockholders, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions include:

•

•

allowing the total number of directors to be determined exclusively (subject to the rights of holders of any series of preferred stock to elect additional directors) by resolution of our board of directors and granting to our board the sole power (subject to the rights of holders of any series of preferred stock or rights granted to certain stockholders pursuant to our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the Stockholders Agreement) to fill any vacancy on the board;

•

providing that directors may only be removed for cause and only by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the confirmed voting power of our stock entitled to vote in the election of directors if PG ceases to own, in the aggregate, more than 50% of the voting power of our stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors;

•

authorizing the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock by our board of directors, without further stockholder approval, to thwart a takeover attempt;

•

prohibiting stockholder action by written consent (and, thus, requiring that all stockholder actions be taken at a meeting of our stockholders), if PG ceases to own, in the aggregate, more than 50% of the voting power of our stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors;

•

eliminating the ability of stockholders to call a special meeting of stockholders, except for PG, so long as PG owns, or in the aggregate, at least 25% of the voting power of our stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors;

•

establishing advance notice requirements for nominations for election to the board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon at annual stockholder meetings; and

•

requiring the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of the voting power of all outstanding stock entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class, to amend or repeal our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws if PG ceases to own, in the aggregate, more than 50% of the voting power of our stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors.

In addition, the Stockholders Agreement provides that so long as PG owns at least 25% of our outstanding common stock, PG’s consent will be required for us to (i) terminate, hire or appoint a chief executive officer, (ii) issue additional equity interests in our company or subsidiaries, subject to certain exceptions, (iii) other than in the ordinary course of business with vendors, customers and suppliers, enter into or effect any significant acquisition, and (iv) incur indebtedness for borrowed money aggregating to more than $100 million, subject to certain exceptions.

Further, while we have opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL, our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:

•

prior to such time, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

•

•

at or subsequent to that time, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and by the affirmative vote of holders of at least two-thirds of our outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.

Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction provided for or through us resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock and the affiliates and associates of such person. For purposes of this provision, “voting stock” means any class or series of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors. Our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that PG, its affiliates and any of its direct or indirect designated transferees (other than in certain market transfers) and any group of which such persons are a party do not constitute “interested stockholders” for purposes of this provision.

Under certain circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who qualifies as an “interested stockholder” to effect certain business combinations with us for a three-year period. This provision may encourage companies interested in acquiring us to negotiate in advance with our board of directors in order to avoid the stockholder approval requirement if our board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction that results in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our board of directors and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that our stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.

These anti-takeover defenses could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and cause us to take corporate actions other than those you desire.

Our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or federal district courts of the United States will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of lawsuits, which could limit our stockholders’ abilities to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the third amended and restated certificate of incorporation or the amended and restated bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine will have to be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware (or the federal district court for the District of Delaware or other state courts of the State of Delaware if the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware does not have jurisdiction). The third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws also require that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). However, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision in our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws. Section 22 of the Securities Act provides that federal and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction over all lawsuits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Therefore, to the extent the exclusive federal forum provision for causes of action arising under the Securities Act restricts the courts in which claims arising under the Securities Act may be brought, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such a provision, and investors cannot waive compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation and bylaws has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any action, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action. If a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, financial condition and operating results. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of applicable law in the types of lawsuits to which they apply, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. These provisions would not apply to any suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) or any other claim for which the federal courts of the United States have exclusive jurisdiction.

General Risks

Compliance with existing and new laws and regulations could impact the way we conduct business.

Laws, regulations and licensing, and other requirements impacting education, child care and before- and after-school programs at the national, state and local levels periodically change, and the ultimate cost of compliance cannot be precisely estimated. Although these regulations and requirements vary greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, government agencies and accreditation organizations generally review, among other things, the adequacy of buildings and equipment, minimum square footage, ratio of staff to children, educational qualifications and training of staff, record keeping, nutrition requirements, curriculum, employee screening, compliance with health and safety standards, data privacy and security requirements, and program quality. Failure of a center, site or program to comply with applicable regulations and requirements could subject it to sanctions, which can include fines, corrective orders, being placed on probation, loss of accreditation or, in more serious cases, suspension or revocation of the license to operate, inability to open or acquire new centers, or ability to participate in federal, state and local subsidy programs, and could require significant expenditures to bring our centers, sites or programs into compliance or result in the closing of the center, site or program. Certain government agencies may publish or publicly report major and/or minor regulatory violations and we may suffer adverse publicity, which could result in loss of enrollment in a center, site, program or market. In addition, there may be unforeseen changes in regulations and licensing requirements, such as changes in the required ratio of child center staff personnel to enrolled children that could have an adverse impact on our operations.

Changes in tax laws or to any of the several factors upon which our tax rate is dependent could impact our future tax rates and net (loss) income and affect our profitability.

We are subject to income and other taxes and our future tax rates and operations may be adversely affected by a number of factors, including: changes in tax laws or the interpretation of such tax laws (including changes with retroactive effect) in the various jurisdictions in which we operate; changes in the estimated realization of our deferred tax assets and settlement of our deferred tax liabilities; changes in the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed; adjustments to estimated taxes upon finalization of various tax returns; increases in expenses that are not deductible for tax purposes, including impairment of goodwill in connection with acquisitions; changes in available tax credits; and the resolution of issues arising from tax audits with various tax authorities. We are unable to predict whether or when any other tax changes may be enacted. Any such tax changes could materially increase the amount of taxes we would be required to pay, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Losses for which no tax benefits can be recorded could materially impact our tax rate and its volatility from one quarter to another. Any significant change in our jurisdictional earnings mix or in the tax laws in those jurisdictions could impact our future tax rates and net (loss) income in those periods and any increases in income tax rates or changes in income tax laws could have a material adverse impact on our financial results.

Inadequacy of our insurance coverage or an inability to procure contractually required coverage could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We currently maintain insurance policies for workers’ compensation, general liability, automobile liability and other insurance coverage. These policies provide for a variety of coverage and are subject to various limitations, exclusions and deductibles. There can be no assurance that insurance, particularly coverage for abuse as well as other coverages, will continue to be readily available in the form or amounts we have been able to obtain in the past or that our insurance premiums will not materially increase in the future as a consequence of conditions in the insurance business or in the child care industry. Although we believe we have adequate insurance coverage at this time, claims in excess of, or not included within, our coverage may be asserted. There can be no assurance of the long-term liquidity of our insurance carriers with regard to potential claims that may have significantly long statutes of limitations. We are also self-insured for medical, dental and vision benefits provided to our employees. In addition, we may, in the future, look at options to meet our risk financing needs. We also provide our insurance carriers letters of credit under our Credit Facilities to support our self-insurance programs. While we believe we can adequately fund our self-insurance obligations, a significant increase in claims and/or costs could require us to arrange for financing for payment of those claims, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If securities or industry analysts cease publishing research or reports about us, or if they issue unfavorable commentary about us or our industry or downgrade our common stock, the price of our common stock could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that third-party securities analysts publish about us and our industry. One or more analysts could downgrade our common stock or issue other negative commentary about us or our industry. In addition, if one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us, we could lose visibility in the market. As a result of one or more of these factors, the trading price of our common stock could decline.

We incur significant additional costs as a result of being a public company, and our management is required to devote substantial time to compliance with our public company responsibilities and corporate governance practices.

We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, increased costs associated with corporate governance requirements that are applicable to us as a public company, including rules and regulations of the SEC, under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Customer Protection Act of 2010, and the Exchange Act, as well as the rules of the New York Stock Exchange. These rules and regulations are expected to significantly increase our accounting, legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time consuming.

We also expect these rules and regulations to make it more expensive for us to maintain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. Furthermore, these rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. In addition, our management team needs to devote substantial attention to transitioning to interacting with public company analysts and investors and complying with the laws pertaining to public companies, which may divert attention away from the day-to-day management of our business. Increases in costs incurred or diversion of management’s attention as a result of becoming a publicly traded company may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As a result of being a public company, we are obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting and any failure to maintain the adequacy of these internal controls may negatively impact investor confidence in our Company and, as a result, the value of our common stock.

We are not currently required to comply with the rules of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and are therefore not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial report for that purpose, nor have we engaged an independent registered public accounting firm to perform an audit of our internal control over financial reporting as of any balance sheet date or for any period reported in our consolidated financial statements. We are required to comply with the SEC's rules implementing Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports. Although we are required to disclose changes that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting on a quarterly basis, we are not required to make our first annual assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act until our second annual report on Form 10-K. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC. Any failure to comply with the applicable requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner could severely inhibit our ability to accurately report our financial condition or results of operations. If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm determines we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our common stock could decline, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the NYSE, the SEC or other regulatory authorities and our access to the capital markets could be restricted in the future. In addition, we have incurred and will continue to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses related to our compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other applicable securities rules and regulations.

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, equity, revenues and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. If our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from our assumptions, our results of operations may be adversely affected and could fall below our publicly announced guidance or the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our common stock.

Natural disasters, geo-political events and other highly disruptive events could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The occurrence of one or more natural disasters, such as fires, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, floods and earthquakes, geo-political events, such as protests, civil unrest or terrorist or military activities disrupting transportation, communication or utility systems or other highly disruptive events, such as nuclear accidents, public health epidemics or pandemics (such as the COVID-19 pandemic or other highly transmissible diseases), unusual weather conditions or cyberattacks, could adversely affect our operations and financial performance. For example, certain of our centers in Southern California were impacted by the January 2025 wildfires. Such events could result in physical damage to or destruction or temporary closure of one or more of our centers or properties used by third parties in connection with the supply of products or services to us, the lack of an adequate workforce in parts or all of our operations, data, utility and communications disruptions, fewer children attending our centers, including due to quarantines or public health crises, the inability of our families to reach or have transportation to our locations directly affected by such events and the inability to operate our business. In addition, these events could cause a temporary reduction in enrollments or the ability to run our business or could indirectly result in increases in the costs of our insurance if they result in significant loss of property or other insurable damage. The uncertain nature, magnitude and duration of hostilities stemming from Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas, including the potential effects of sanctions and retaliatory cyberattacks on the world economy and markets, have contributed to increased market volatility and uncertainty, and such geo-political risks could have an adverse impact on macroeconomic factors. These factors could also cause consumer confidence and spending to decrease or result in increased volatility in the United States and global financial markets and economies. Any of these developments could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Discovery of any environmental contamination may affect our operating results.

Although we have periodically conducted limited environmental investigations and remediation activities at some of our centers or sites, we have not undertaken an in-depth environmental review of each center or site and, accordingly, there may be environmental liabilities of which we are unaware. In addition, no assurances can be given that future laws or regulations will not impose any environmental liability, which could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.