Item 1A. Risk Factors
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This annual report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The use of words such as “anticipates”, “estimates”, “expects”, “plans”, “intends”, “will continue”, “may”, “could” and “believes”, among similar expressions, generally identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements relating to: our future business, financial condition, results of operations and financial performance, our business strategy, trends in the home services industry and other similar matters. These forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and assumptions of our management about future events as of the date of this annual report, which are inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict.
Actual results could differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including, among others, the risk factors set forth below. Other unknown or unpredictable factors that could also adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations may arise from time to time. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking statements discussed in this annual report may not prove to be accurate. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which only reflect the views of our management as of the date of this annual report. We do not undertake to update these forward-looking statements.
Risk Factors
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
Our brands and businesses operate in an especially competitive and evolving industry.
The home services industry is competitive, with a consistent and growing stream of new products, services and entrants. Some of our competitors may enjoy better competitive positions in certain geographical areas, with certain consumer and service professional demographics and/or in other key areas that we currently serve or may serve in the future. Generally, we compete with search engines, online marketplaces and social media platforms that have the ability to market their products and services online in a more prominent and cost-effective manner than we can, as well as better tailor their products and services to individual users. Any of these advantages could enable these competitors to offer products and services that are more appealing to consumers and service professionals than our products and services, respond more quickly and/or cost effectively than we do to evolving market opportunities and trends, and/or display their own integrated or related home services products and services in search results and elsewhere in a more prominent manner than our products and services, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, since most home services products and services are offered to consumers for free, consumers can easily switch among home services offerings (or use multiple home services offerings simultaneously) at no cost to them. And while service professionals may incur additional or duplicative near-term costs, the costs for switching to a competing platform over the long term are generally not prohibitive. Low switching costs, coupled with the propensity of consumers to try new products and services generally, will most likely result in the continued emergence of new products and services, entrants and business models in the home services industry. Our inability to continue to innovate and compete effectively against new products, services and competitors could result in decreases in the size and level of engagement of our consumer and service professional bases, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success will depend, in substantial part, on the continued migration of the home services market online.
We believe that the digital penetration of the home services market remains low, with the vast majority of consumers continuing to search for, select and hire service professionals offline. While many consumers have historically been (and remain) averse to finding service professionals online, others have demonstrated a greater willingness to embrace the online shift. Service professionals must also continue to embrace the online shift, which will depend, in substantial part, on whether online products and services help them to better connect and engage with consumers relative to traditional offline efforts. The speed and ultimate outcome of the shift of the home services market online for consumers and service professionals is uncertain and may not occur as quickly as we expect, or at all. The failure or delay of a meaningful number of consumers and/or service professionals to migrate online and/or the return of a meaningful number of existing participants in the online home services market to offline solutions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our brands and businesses are sensitive to general economic events and trends, particularly those that adversely impact consumer confidence and spending behavior.
We have historically been, and will continue to be, particularly sensitive to events and trends that result in consumers delaying or foregoing home services projects and/or service professionals being less likely to pay for consumer matches and
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subscriptions. Any such event or trend (for example, a general economic downturn or sudden disruption in business conditions, consumer confidence, spending levels and access to credit) could result in decreases in service requests, pre-priced bookings and directory searches. Any such decreases could adversely impact the number and quality of service professionals at Angi Leads and Angi Services and at our directories and/or adversely impact the reach of (and breath of services offered through) the Angi Leads and Angi Services and our directories, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Lastly, we have historically been, and will continue to be, sensitive to events and trends that could result in decreased marketing and advertising expenditures by service professionals. Adverse economic conditions and trends could result in service professionals decreasing and/or delaying fees paid for consumer matches, pre-priced bookings, membership subscriptions and/or time-based advertising spend, any or all of which would result in decreased revenue and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The expansion of our pre-priced booking services, while balancing the overall mix of our service request and directory services on our platforms, is critical to our business, financial condition and results of operations.
For our Angi Services offerings, we contract with a service professional to perform a specific task for a consumer at a contracted price. Pre-priced booking services potentially offer higher margin opportunities, but also involve greater financial risk because we bear the impact of cost overruns, which could result in increased costs and expenses. An increase in the percentage of pre-priced booking services may also reduce service professional’s level of participation in our Angi Ads and Angi Leads offerings. As we expand our pre-priced booking services, we expect our mix of pre-priced booking services will be increasing over time, which could increase the risk that we suffer losses if we underestimate the level of effort or costs required to perform the consumer’s task. Our profits could be adversely affected if our costs exceed the assumptions we used in offering the contracted task. For example, we may miscalculate the costs, materials, or time needed to complete a task or we might be provided with inaccurate information by the consumer, which could result in us charging consumers too little for contracted tasks, which in turn would result in us having to absorb the actual, higher cost for contracted tasks or risk not being able to find service professionals to perform contracted tasks at the contracted rate. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected if our actual costs exceed the assumptions we used in offering the contracted task in our pre-priced booking service.
COVID-19 and other similar outbreaks could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a widespread global health crisis, resulting in significant disruption and has had (and is likely to continue to have) an adverse effect on economic conditions generally, as well as on consumer confidence and spending, all of which could have an adverse effect on our businesses, financial condition and results of operations. When COVID-19 first impacted North America and Europe in the early spring of 2020, we experienced a decline in demand for service requests, driven primarily by decreases in demand in certain categories of jobs (particularly discretionary indoor projects). While we experienced a rebound in service requests in the second half of 2020 and through early 2021, service requests did start to decline in May 2021 compared to the comparable months of 2020 as a result of the surge in 2020 and due to impacts of our brand integration initiative that we commenced in March 2021. Moreover, many service professionals’ businesses have been adversely impacted by labor and material constraints and many service professionals have limited capacity to take on new business, which negatively impacted our ability to monetize the increased level of service requests through the first quarter of 2021. Although our ability to monetize service requests rebounded modestly in the second half of 2021, we still have not returned to levels we experienced pre-COVID-19. No assurances can be provided that we will continue to be able to improve monetization, or that service professionals’ businesses will not be adversely impacted in the future.
The extent to which developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures designed to curb its spread continue to impact our business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, all of which are highly uncertain and many of which are beyond the Company’s control, including the continuing spread of COVID-19, the severity of resurgences of COVID-19 caused by variant strains of the virus, the effectiveness of vaccines and attitudes toward receiving them, materials and supply chain constraints, labor shortages, the scope of governmental and other restrictions on travel, discretionary services and other activity, and public reactions to these developments.
In addition, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and government-imposed measures to control its spread, our ability to conduct ordinary course business activities has been (and may continue to be) impaired for an indefinite period of time. For example, we have taken several precautions that could adversely impact employee productivity, such as requiring employees to work remotely, as well as imposing travel restrictions and temporarily closing office locations. While we have found that our employees (including call center and sales employees) have transitioned to working remotely with limited disruption to date, no assurances can be provided that their productivity and efficiency will remain at pre-pandemic levels, particularly if they are required to continue working remotely for an extended period of time. Also, working remotely may involve increased operational risks, such as increased risks of “phishing,” other cybersecurity attacks or the unauthorized dissemination of personally identifiable information or proprietary and confidential information. Lastly, moving employees back to the office
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may introduce distraction that could have a temporary negative impact on the Company’s productivity, and in turn, revenue. We may also experience increased operating costs as we gradually resume normal operations and enhance preventative measures, including with respect to real estate, compliance and insurance-related expenses. Moreover, we may also experience business disruption if the ordinary course operations of our contractors, vendors or business partners are adversely affected. Any of these measures or impairments could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Success depends, in substantial part, on our ability to maintain and/or enhance our brands, which could be negatively impacted by various factors.
We own and operate two of the leading home services brands in the United States (Angi and HomeAdvisor), as well as leading brands in several foreign jurisdictions. In March 2021, we updated one of our leading websites and brands, Angie’s List, to Angi, and concentrated our marketing investment in the Angi brand in order to focus our marketing, sales, and branding efforts on a single brand.
We believe that our success depends, in substantial part, on our continued ability to build awareness and loyalty to our Angi brand, maintain and enhance our established brands, as well as build awareness of (and loyalty to) new and emerging brands. Events that could negatively impact our brands and brand-building efforts include (among others): product and service quality concerns; service professional quality concerns; consumer and service professional complaints and lawsuits; lack of awareness of our policies or confusion about how the policies are applied; a failure to respond to feedback from our service professionals and consumers; ineffective advertising; inappropriate and/or unlawful acts perpetrated by service professionals and consumers; actions or proceedings commenced by governmental or regulatory authorities; and inadequate data protection and security breaches including related bad publicity. Any factors that negatively impact the Angi and/or HomeAdvisor brand(s) could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, trust in the integrity and objective, unbiased nature of the ratings and reviews found across our various brands contributes significantly to public perception of these brands and their ability to attract consumers and service professionals. If consumer reviews are perceived as not authentic in general, the reputation and strength of the relevant brand could be materially and adversely affected. While we use, and will continue to use, filters (among other processes) to detect fraudulent reviews, the accuracy of consumer reviews cannot be guaranteed. If fraudulent or inaccurate reviews (positive or negative) increase and we are unable to effectively identify and remove such reviews, the overall quality of the ratings and reviews across our various brands could decrease and the reputation of affected brands might be harmed. This could deter consumers and service professionals from using our products and services, which in turn could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our Angi brand integration initiative may involve substantial costs, including as a result of a continued negative impact on our organic search placement, and may not be favorably received by customers and service professionals.
We have incurred and may continue to incur substantial costs as a result of our brand integration initiative that we commenced in March 2021, and we may not be able to achieve or maintain brand name recognition or status that is comparable to the recognition and status previously enjoyed by Angie’s List, and our customers and service professionals may be confused as we transition and focus on the Angi brand. Our Company relies heavily on free and paid search engine marketing efforts to drive traffic to our platforms. Our brand initiative has adversely affected the placement and ranking of Angi Inc. websites, particularly Angi.com, in organic search results as Angi does not have the same domain history as Angie’s List. In addition, we shifted marketing to support the Angi brand, away from the HomeAdvisor brand, which has negatively affected the efficiency of our search engine marketing efforts.
Since the beginning of the integration process, these efforts have had a pronounced negative impact on service requests from organic search results and via our mobile applications, which in turn has resulted in increased paid search engine marketing to generate service requests. These factors have increased marketing spend and reduced revenue during the year ended December 31, 2021, materially more than expected at the launch of the brand initiative in March 2021. We expect the pronounced negative impact to organic search results, increased paid search engine marketing and reduced monetization from our mobile applicationswill continue until such time as the new brand establishes search engine optimization ranking and consumer awareness is more established. Any or all of these impacts could continue to increase our marketing costs (particularly to the extent free traffic is replaced with paid traffic) and adversely affect the effectiveness of our marketing efforts overall. Finally, as we align and focus the organization around a single brand, we could experience financial and operational challenges and reduced service professional participation across our various product lines. Depending on market acceptance, our brand integration initiative could adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers and service professionals, which could cause us not to realize some or all of the anticipated benefits contemplated by the brand integration initiative.
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Our success depends, in substantial part, on our ability to establish and maintain relationships with quality and trustworthy service professionals.
We must continue to attract, retain and grow the number of skilled and reliable service professionals who can provide services across our platforms. If we do not offer innovative products and services that resonate with consumers and service professionals generally, as well as provide service professionals with an attractive return on their marketing and advertising investments, the number of service professionals affiliated with our platforms would decrease. Any such decrease would result in smaller and less diverse networks and directories of service professionals, and in turn, decreases in service requests, pre-priced bookings and directory searches, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition to skill and reliability, consumers want to work with service professionals whom they can trust to work in their homes and with whom they can feel safe. While we maintain screening processes (which generally include certain, limited background checks) to try and prevent unsuitable service professionals from joining our platforms, these processes have limitations and, even with these safety measures, no assurances can be provided regarding the future behavior of any service provider on our platforms. Inappropriate and/or unlawful behavior of service professionals generally (particularly any such behavior that compromises the trustworthiness of service providers and/or of the safety of consumers), could result in decreases in service requests, bad publicity and related damage to our reputation, brands and brand-building efforts and/or actions by governmental and regulatory authorities, criminal proceedings and/or litigation. The occurrence or any of these events could, in turn, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Marketing efforts designed to drive traffic to our brands and businesses may not be successful or cost-effective.
Attracting consumers and service professionals to our brands and businesses involves considerable expenditures for online and offline marketing. We have made, and expect to continue to make, significant marketing expenditures, primarily for digital marketing (primarily paid search engine marketing, display advertising and third-party affiliate agreements) and traditional offline marketing (national television and radio campaigns). These efforts may not be successful or cost-effective. Historically, we have had to increase marketing expenditures over time to attract and retain consumers and service professionals and sustain our growth.
Our ability to market our brands on any given property or channel is subject to the policies of the relevant third-party seller, publisher of advertising (including search engines and social media platforms with extraordinarily high levels of traffic and numbers of users) or marketing affiliate. As a result, we cannot assure you that these parties will not limit or prohibit us from purchasing certain types of advertising (including the purchase by Angi of advertising with preferential placement), advertising certain of our products and services, and/or using one or more current or prospective marketing channels in the future. If a significant marketing channel took such an action generally, for a significant period of time and/or on a recurring basis, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, if we fail to comply with the policies of third-party sellers, publishers of advertising and/or marketing affiliates, our advertisements could be removed without notice and/or our accounts could be suspended or terminated, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, our failure to respond to rapid and frequent changes in the pricing and operating dynamics of search engines, as well as changing policies and guidelines applicable to keyword advertising (which may unilaterally be updated by search engines without advance notice), could adversely affect our paid search engine marketing efforts (and free search engine traffic). Such changes could adversely affect paid listings (both their placement and pricing), as well as the ranking of our brands and businesses within search results, any or all of which could increase our marketing expenditures (particularly if free traffic is replaced with paid traffic). Any or all of these events could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Evolving consumer behavior (specifically, increased consumption of media through digital means) can also affect the availability of profitable marketing opportunities. To continue to reach and engage consumers and service professionals and grow in this environment, we will need to continue to identify and devote more of our overall marketing expenditures to newer digital advertising channels (such as online video and other digital platforms), as well as target consumers and service professionals via these channels. Since newer advertising channels are undeveloped and unproven relative to traditional channels (such as television), it could be difficult to assess returns on marketing investments in newer channels, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Lastly, we also enter into various arrangements with third parties to drive visitors to our Angi platforms. These arrangements are generally more cost-effective than traditional marketing efforts. If we are unable to renew existing (and enter into new) arrangements of this nature, sales and marketing costs as a percentage of revenue would increase over the long-term, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the quality and convertibility of traffic and leads generated through third-party arrangements are dependent on many factors, most of which are
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outside our control. If the quality and/or convertibility of traffic and leads do not meet the expectations of our users and/or Angi Leads service professionals, they could leave our network and/or decrease their budgets for consumer matches or participation in pre-priced booking services, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on Internet search engines to drive traffic to our various properties. Certain operators of search services offer products and services that compete directly with our products and services. If links to websites offering our products and services are not displayed prominently in search results, traffic to our properties could decline and our business could be adversely affected.
In addition to paid marketing, we rely heavily on Internet search engines, such as Google, to drive traffic to our properties through their unpaid search results. Although search results have allowed us to attract a large audience with low organic traffic acquisition costs in the past, if they fail to continue to drive sufficient traffic to our properties, we may need to increase our marketing spend to acquire additional traffic. We cannot assure you that the value we ultimately derive from any such additional traffic would exceed the cost of acquisition, and any increase in marketing expense may in turn harm our operating results.
The amount of traffic we attract from search engines is due in large part to how and where information about our brands (and links to websites offering our products and services) are displayed on search engine results pages. The display, including rankings, of unpaid search results can be affected by a number of factors, many of which are not in our direct control, and may change frequently. Search engines have made changes in the past to their ranking algorithms, methodologies and design layouts that have reduced the prominence of links to websites offering our products and services, and negatively impacted traffic to such websites, and we expect that search engines will continue to make such changes from time to time in the future.
However, we may not know how (or otherwise be in a position) to influence actions of this nature taken by search engines. With respect to search results in particular, even when search engines announce the details of their methodologies, their parameters may change from time to time, be poorly defined or be inconsistently interpreted.
In addition, in some instances, search engines may change their displays or rankings in order to promote their own competing products or services, or the products or services of one or more of our competitors. Any such action could negatively impact the search rankings of links to websites offering our products and services, or the prominence with which such links appear in search results. Our success depends on the ability of our products and services to maintain a prominent position in search results, and in the event operators of search engines promote their own competing products in the future in a manner that has the effect of reducing the prominence or ranking of our products and services, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our ability to communicate with consumers and service professionals via e-mail (or other sufficient means) is critical to our success.
Historically, one of our primary means of communicating with consumers and service professionals and keeping them engaged with our products and services has been via e-mail communication. Through e-mail, we provide consumers and service professionals with service request and pre-priced booking service updates, as well as present or suggest new products and services (among other things) and market our products and services in a cost-effective manner. As consumers increasingly communicate via mobile and other digital devices and messaging and social media apps, usage of e-mail (particularly among younger consumers) has declined and we expect this trend to continue. In addition, deliverability and other restrictions could limit or prevent our ability to send e-mails to consumers and service professionals. A continued and significant erosion in our ability to communicate with consumers and service professionals via e-mail could adversely impact the overall user experience, consumer and service professional engagement levels and conversion rates, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We cannot assure you that any alternative means of communication (for example, push notifications and text messaging) will be as effective as e-mail has been historically.
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to access, collect and use personal data about consumers.
We depend on search engines, digital app stores and social media platforms, in particular, those operated by Google, Apple and Facebook, to market, distribute and monetize our products and services. Consumers engage with these platforms directly, and as a result, these platforms may receive personal data about consumers that we would otherwise receive if we transacted with them directly. Certain of these platforms have restricted our access to personal data about users of our products and services obtained through their platforms. If these platforms limit or increasingly limit, eliminate or otherwise interfere with our ability to access, collect and use personal data about users of our products and services that they have collected, our ability to identify and communicate with a meaningful portion of our user base may be adversely impacted. If so, our customer relationship management efforts, our ability to identify, target and reach new segments of our user base and the population generally, and the efficiency of our paid marketing efforts could be adversely affected. We cannot assure you that search engines, digital app stores and social media platforms upon which we rely will not limit or increasingly limit, eliminate or otherwise interfere with our ability to access, collect and use personal data about users of our products and services that they
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have collected. To the extent that any or all of them do so, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to develop and monetize versions of our products and services for mobile and other digital devices.
As consumers increasingly access our products and services through mobile and other digital devices (including through digital voice assistants), we will need to continue to devote significant time and resources to ensure that our products and services are accessible across these platforms (and multiple platforms generally). If we do not keep pace with evolving online, market and industry trends including the introduction of new and enhanced digital devices and changes in the preferences and needs of consumers and service professionals generally, offer new and/or enhanced products and services in response to such trends that resonate with consumers and service professionals, monetize products and services for mobile and other digital devices as effectively as our traditional products and services and/or maintain related systems, technology and infrastructure in an efficient and cost-effective manner, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
In addition, the success of our mobile and other digital products and services depends on their interoperability with various third-party operating systems, technology, infrastructure and standards, over which we have no control. Any changes to any of these things that compromise the quality or functionality of our mobile and other digital products and services could adversely affect their usage levels and/or our ability to attract consumers and service professionals, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
There may be adverse tax, legal and other consequences if the contractor classification or employment status of the service professionals who use our platform is challenged.
We are particularly sensitive to the adoption of worker classification laws, specifically, laws that could effectively require us to change our classification of certain of our service professionals from independent contractors to employees, as well as changes to state and local laws or judicial decisions related to the definition and/or classification of independent contractors. For example, in 2019, California passed a worker classification statute (AB 5), which effectively narrowed the definition of an independent contractor by requiring hiring entities to use a stricter test to determine a given worker’s classification placed the burden of proof for classifying workers as independent contractors on the hiring entity, and provided enforcement powers to the state and certain cities. AB 5 has been the subject of widespread national discussion and it is possible that other jurisdictions may enact similar laws. Since we currently treat service professionals who provide services through our business as independent contractors for all purposes, we do not withhold federal, state and local income or other employment related taxes, make federal or state unemployment tax or Federal Insurance Contributions Act payments or provide workers’ compensation insurance with respect to these individuals. If we are required as the result of new laws, interpretations or orders to reclassify these individuals as employees, we could be exposed to various liabilities and additional costs, including exposure (for prior and future periods) under federal, state and local tax laws, and workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, and employment laws, as well as potential liability for penalties and interest, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are involved in various legal proceedings and investigations challenging the classification of these individuals as independent contractors, and may become involved in other proceedings and investigations in the future.
We may not be able to protect our systems, technology and infrastructure from cyberattacks and cyberattacks experienced by third parties may adversely affect us.
We are regularly under attack by perpetrators of malicious technology-related events, such as the use of botnets, malware or other destructive or disruptive software, distributed denial of service attacks, phishing, attempts to misappropriate user information and account login credentials and other similar malicious activities. The incidence of events of this nature (or any combination thereof) is on the rise worldwide. We continuously develop and maintain systems designed to detect and prevent events of this nature from impacting our systems, technology, infrastructure, products, services and users. We have invested (and continue to invest) heavily in these efforts and related personnel and training and deploy data minimization strategies (where appropriate), but these efforts are costly and require ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome preventative security measures become more sophisticated. Despite these efforts, some of our systems have experienced past security incidents, none of which had a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and we could experience significant events of this nature in the future.
Any event of this nature that we experience could damage our systems, technology and infrastructure and/or those of our users, prevent us from providing our products and services, compromise the integrity of our products and services, damage our reputation, erode our brands and/or be costly to remedy, as well as subject us to investigations by regulatory authorities, fines and/or litigation that could result in liability to third parties. Even if we do not experience such events firsthand, the impact of any such events experienced by third parties could have a similar effect. We may not have adequate insurance coverage to compensate for losses resulting from any of these events. If we (or any third-party with whom we do business or otherwise rely upon) experience(s) an event of this nature, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
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If personal, confidential or sensitive user information that we maintain and store is breached or otherwise accessed by unauthorized persons, it may be costly to mitigate and our reputation could be harmed.
We receive, process, store and transmit a significant amount of personal, confidential or sensitive user information and, in certain cases, enable users to share their personal information with each other. While we continuously develop and maintain systems designed to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of this information, we cannot guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure will not occur or that third parties will not gain unauthorized access to this information. When such events occur, we may not be able to remedy them, we may be required by law to notify regulators and impacted individuals, and it may be costly to mitigate the impact of such events and to develop and implement protections to prevent future events of this nature from occurring. When breaches of security (ours or that of any third-party we engage to store information) occur, we could face governmental enforcement actions, significant fines, litigation (including consumer class actions) and the reputation of our brands and business could be harmed, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if any of the search engines, digital app stores or social media platforms through which we market, distribute and monetize our products and services were to experience a breach, third parties could gain unauthorized access to personal data about our users and subscribers, which could harm the reputation of our brands and businesses and in turn, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal data could give rise to liabilities and increased costs.
We receive, transmit and store a large volume of personal information in connection with the provision of our products and services. The manner in which we share, store, use, disclose and protect this information is determined by the respective privacy and data security policies of our various businesses, as well as federal, state and foreign laws and regulations and evolving industry standards and practices, which are changing, and in some cases, inconsistent and conflicting and subject to differing interpretations. In addition, new laws, regulations, standards and practices of this nature are proposed and adopted from time to time.
For example, a comprehensive European Union privacy and data protection reform, the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”), became effective in May 2018. The GDPR, which applies to companies that are organized in the European Union or otherwise provide services to (or monitor) consumers who reside in the European Union, imposes significant penalties (monetary and otherwise) for non-compliance, as well as provides a private right of action for individual claimants. The GDPR will continue to be interpreted by European Union Data protection regulators, which may require that we make changes to our business practices and could generate additional risks and liabilities. Data protection regulators in European union member states have taken a strict view of cookie consent requirements after the enactment of the GDPR and enforcement actions are on the rise.
Also, the exit from the European Union by the United Kingdom could result in the application of new and conflicting data privacy and protection laws and standards to our operations in the United Kingdom and our handling of personal data of users located in the United Kingdom.
Moreover, multiple legislative proposals concerning privacy and the protection of user information are being considered by the U.S. Congress and various state legislatures. Other U.S. state legislatures have already enacted privacy legislation, one of the strictest and most comprehensive of which is the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which became effective January 1, 2020 (the “CCPA”). The CCPA provides data privacy rights for California consumers, including the right to know what personal information is being collected about them and how it is being used, as well as significant rights over the use of their personal information and operational requirements for businesses. The CCPA restricts the ability of our businesses to use personal California user and subscriber information in connection with our various products, services and operations, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The CCPA also provides consumers with a private right of action for security breaches, as well as provides for statutory damages of up to $750 per violation, with the California Attorney General maintaining authority to enforce the CCPA and seek civil penalties for intentional violations of up to $7,500 per violation. In addition, California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) will take effect on January 1, 2023, and will revise and significantly expand the scope of the CCPA. The CPRA also creates a new California data protection agency authorized to implement and enforce the CCPA and the CPRA, which could result in increased privacy and information security enforcement. This could further restrict the ability of our businesses to use personal California user and subscriber information in connection with our various products, services and operations and/or impose additional operational requirements on our businesses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Virginia and Colorado also passed comprehensive privacy legislation in 2021. These state laws have similar requirements to those under the CCPA and penalties that range up to $7,500 per violation. Both laws take effect in 2023 could restrict the ability of our businesses to use personal user and subscriber information of Virginia and Colorado users in connection with our various products, services, and operations and/or impose additional operational requirements on our business, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Lastly, the Federal Trade Commission has also increased its focus on privacy and data security practices and we anticipate this focus to continue.
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We could be subject to claims of non-compliance with applicable privacy and data protection policies, laws and regulations and industry standards and practices that we may not be able to successfully defend and/or significant fines and penalties. Moreover, any non-compliance or perceived non-compliance by us (or any third-party we engage to store or process information) or any compromise of security that results in unauthorized access to (or use or transmission of) personal information could result in a variety of claims against us, including governmental enforcement actions, significant fines, litigation (including consumer class actions), claims of breach of contract and indemnity by third parties and adverse publicity. When such events occur, our reputation could be harmed and the competitive positions of our various brands and businesses could be diminished, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, to the extent multiple U.S. state-level (or European Union member-state level) laws are introduced with inconsistent or conflicting standards and there is no federal or European Union regulation to preempt such laws, compliance could be even more difficult to achieve and our potential exposure to the risks discussed above could increase.
Lastly, ongoing compliance with existing (and compliance with future) privacy and data protection laws worldwide could be costly. The devotion of significant costs to compliance (versus the development of products and services) could result in delays in the development of new products and services, us ceasing to provide problematic products and services in existing jurisdictions and us being prevented from introducing products and services in new and existing jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Credit card data security breaches or fraud could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We accept payments (including recurring payments) from service professionals and consumers, primarily through credit and debit card transactions. The ability to access payment information on a real-time basis without having to proactively reach out to service professionals and consumers to process payments is critical to our success.
When third parties (including credit card processing companies, as well as any business that offers products and services online or offline) experience a data security breach involving credit card information, affected cardholders will often cancel their credit cards. The more sizable a given affected third-party’s customer base, the greater the number of accounts impacted and the more likely it will be that our service professionals and consumers would be impacted by such a breach. If such a breach were to impact our service professionals and consumers, we would need to contact affected service professionals and consumers to obtain new payment information. It is likely that we would not be able to reach all affected service professionals and consumers, and even if we could, new payment information for some may not be obtained and pending payments may not be processed, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Even if our service professionals and consumers are not directly impacted by a given data security breach, they may lose confidence in the ability of providers of online products and services to protect their personal information generally. As a result, they may stop using their credit cards online and choose alternative payment methods that are not as convenient for us or restrict our ability to process payments without significant effort, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success depends, in part, on the integrity, quality, efficiency and scalability of our systems, technology and infrastructure, and those of third parties.
We rely on our systems, technology and infrastructure to perform well on a consistent basis. From time to time in the past we have experienced (and in the future we may experience) occasional interruptions that make some or all of this framework and related information unavailable or that prevent us from providing products and services; any such interruption could arise for any number of reasons. We also rely on third-party data center service providers and cloud-based, hosted web service providers, as well as third-party computer systems and a variety of communications systems and service providers in connection with the provision of our products and services generally, as well as to facilitate and process certain payment and other transactions with users. We have no control over any of these third parties or their operations.
The framework described above could be damaged or interrupted at any time due to fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, acts of God and other similar events or disruptions. Any event of this nature could prevent us from providing our products and services at all (or result in the provision of our products and services on a delayed or intermittent basis) and/or result in the loss of critical data. While we and the third parties upon whom we rely have certain backup systems in place for certain aspects of our respective frameworks, none of our frameworks are fully redundant and disaster recovery planning is not sufficient for all eventualities. In addition, we may not have adequate insurance coverage to compensate us for losses from a major interruption. When such damages, interruptions or outages occur, our reputation could be harmed and the competitive positions of our various brands and businesses could be diminished, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We also continually work to expand and enhance the efficiency and scalability of our framework to improve the consumer and service professional experience, accommodate substantial increases in the number of visitors to our various platforms,
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ensure acceptable load times for our various products and services, and keep up with changes in technology and user preferences. If we do not do so in a timely and cost-effective manner, the user experience and demand across our brands and businesses could be adversely affected, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may experience risks related to acquisitions.
We have made numerous acquisitions in the past and we continue to seek to identify potential acquisition candidates to expand our business generally in the future. If we do not identify suitable acquisition candidates or complete acquisitions on satisfactory pricing or other terms, our growth could be adversely affected. Even if we complete what we believe to be suitable acquisitions, we may experience related operational and financial risks. As a result, to the extent that we continue to grow through acquisitions, we will need to:
•properly value prospective acquisitions, especially those with limited operating histories;
•successfully integrate the operations, as well as the various functions and systems, of acquired businesses with our existing operations, functions and systems;
•successfully identify and realize potential synergies among acquired and existing businesses;
•retain or hire senior management and other key personnel at acquired businesses; and
•successfully manage acquisition-related strain on our management, operations and financial resources.
We may not be successful in addressing these challenges or any other problems encountered in connection with historical and future acquisitions. In addition, the anticipated benefits of one or more acquisitions may not be realized. Also, future acquisitions could result in increased operating losses, dilutive issuances of equity securities and/or the assumption of contingent liabilities. Lastly, the value of goodwill and other intangible assets acquired could be impacted by one or more continuing unfavorable events and/or trends, which could result in significant impairment charges. The occurrence of any these events could have an adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We face additional risks in connection with our international operations.
We currently operate businesses under various regional brands in Canada, France, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy and intend to seek to expand our international presence, both through acquisitions and organic growth.
Operating abroad, particularly in jurisdictions where we have limited experience, exposes us to additional risks, including:
•operational and compliance challenges caused by distance, language barriers and cultural differences;
•difficulties in staffing and managing international operations;
•differing levels (or lack) of social and technological acceptance of online services generally, as well as online home services offerings specifically;
•foreign currency fluctuations;
•restrictions on the transfer of funds among countries and back to the United States and related repatriation costs;
•differing and potentially complex laws and regulations, including related to tax, data privacy, cybersecurity and data protection, and related compliance challenges;
•competitive environments that favor local businesses;
•limitations on the level of intellectual property protection; and
•trade sanctions, political unrest, terrorism, war and epidemics or the threat of any of these events.
The occurrence of any or all of the events described above could adversely affect our international operations, and in turn, our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may fail to adequately protect our intellectual property rights or may be accused of infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties.
We rely heavily upon trademarks, trade dress and related domain names and logos to market our brands and businesses and to build and maintain brand loyalty and recognition, as well as upon trade secrets and patents.
We rely on a combination of laws and contractual restrictions on access to and use of proprietary information with employees, customers, suppliers, affiliates and others to establish and protect our and their various intellectual property rights. For example, we have generally registered and continue to apply to register and renew, or secure by contract where appropriate, trademarks and service marks as they are developed and used, and reserve, register and renew domain names as we deem appropriate. We also generally seek to apply for patents or for similar statutory protections as and if we deem appropriate, based
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on then current facts and circumstances, and will continue to do so in the future. No assurances can be given that these efforts will result in adequate trademark and service mark protection, adequate domain name rights and protections, the issuance of a patent or adequate patent protection against competitors and similar technologies. Third parties could also create new products or methods that achieve similar results without infringing upon patents we own.
Despite these measures, challenges to our intellectual property rights could still arise, third parties could copy or otherwise obtain and use the intellectual property without authorization and/or laws regarding the enforceability of existing intellectual property rights could change in an adverse manner. The occurrence of any of these events could result in the erosion of our various brands and limitations on our ability to control marketing online using our various domain names, as well as impede our ability to effectively compete against competitors with similar technologies, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on our key personnel.
Our future success depends upon our ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled, diverse individuals, particularly in the case of senior and executive management. Competition for well-qualified employees across our various businesses is intense and we must attract new (and retain existing) employees to compete effectively. While we have established programs, we may not be able to continue to attract new (and retain existing) key and other employees in the future, especially in the technical fields of engineering and product development. In addition, if we do not ensure the effective transfer of knowledge and smooth transitions (particularly in the case of senior and executive management) across our various businesses, our business, financial condition and results of operations, could be adversely affected.
Failure to obtain and maintain required licenses or to comply with applicable regulations could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be required under certain state and local government regulations to obtain and maintain licenses to perform pre-priced booking services on our platforms. Typically, licenses must be renewed annually and may be revoked or suspended for cause at any time. In some jurisdictions, the loss of a license for cause may lead to the loss of licenses in other jurisdictions and could make it more difficult to obtain additional licenses. The failure to receive or retain a license, or any other required permit, in a particular location, or to continue to qualify for, or renew licenses, could negatively impact our business. We may also spend significant amounts of money and effort to obtain licenses and continued compliance with applicable regulations. If we fail to comply with such licensing and permit regulations, we may be subject to various sanctions and/or penalties and fines or may be required to cease operations in such location until we achieve compliance, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Relationship with IAC
IAC controls our company and will have the ability to control the direction of our business.
As of December 31, 2021, IAC owned all of our outstanding shares of Class B common stock, and 2,588,180 outstanding shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, in total representing approximately 84.5% of our total outstanding shares of capital stock and approximately 98.2%of the total combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock. For so long as IAC owns shares of our capital stock that represent a majority of the combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock, it will be able to control any corporate action that requires a stockholder vote, regardless of the vote of any other stockholder (subject to certain limited exceptions for certain class votes). As a result, IAC has (and we expect will continue to have) the ability to control significant corporate activities, including:
•the election of our board of directors (subject to certain provisions of the investor rights agreement between us and IAC) and, through our board of directors, decision-making with respect to our business direction and policies, including the appointment and removal of our officers;
•acquisitions or dispositions of businesses or assets, mergers or other business combinations;
•issuances of shares of our Class A common stock, Class B common stock and Class C common stock and our capital structure generally;
•corporate opportunities that may be suitable for us and IAC, subject to the corporate opportunity provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (as described below);
•our financing activities, including the issuance of debt securities and/or the incurrence of other indebtedness generally;
•stock repurchases or the payment of one-time or recurring dividends; and
•the number of shares available for issuance under our equity incentive plans.
This voting control will limit the ability of other stockholders to influence corporate matters and, as a result, we may take actions that stockholders other than IAC do not view as beneficial. This voting control may also discourage transactions
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involving a change of control of our company, including transactions in which holders of shares of our Class A common stock might otherwise receive a premium for their shares.
Even if IAC owns shares of our capital stock representing less than a majority of the total combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock, so long as IAC owns shares representing a significant percentage of our total combined voting power, IAC will have the ability to substantially influence these significant corporate activities.
In addition, pursuant to the investor rights agreement between us and IAC, IAC has the right to maintain its level of ownership in us to the extent we issue additional shares of our capital stock in the future and, pursuant to the employee matters agreement between us and IAC, IAC may receive payment for certain compensation expenses through the receipt of additional shares of our capital stock. For a more complete summary of our various agreements with IAC, see “Note 14-Related Party Transactions with IAC” to the consolidated financial statements included in “Item 8-Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Until such time as IAC no longer controls or has the ability to substantially influence us, we will continue to face the risks described in this “Risk Factors” section relating to IAC’s control of us and the potential conflicts of interest between us and IAC.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation could prevent us from benefiting from certain corporate opportunities.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation has a “corporate opportunity” provision that requires us to renounce any interests or expectancy in corporate opportunities for both us and IAC. This provision also includes a disclaimer that states that we recognize that: (i) any of our directors or officers who are also officers, directors, employees or other affiliates of IAC or its affiliates (except that we and our subsidiaries are not considered affiliates of IAC or its affiliates for purposes of this provision) and (ii) IAC itself, will have no duty to offer or communicate information regarding such corporate opportunities to us. Generally, neither IAC nor any of our officers or directors who are also officers or directors of IAC or its affiliates will be liable to us or any of our stockholders for breach of any fiduciary duty by reason of the fact that any such person pursues or acquires any corporate opportunity for the account of IAC or any of its affiliates, directs or transfers such corporate opportunity to IAC or any of its affiliates or does not communicate information regarding such corporate opportunity to us. This corporate opportunity provision may exacerbate conflicts of interest between us and IAC because the provision effectively permits any of our directors or officers who also serves as a director or officer of IAC to choose to direct a corporate opportunity to IAC instead of us.
IAC’s interests may conflict with our interests and the interests of our other stockholders. Conflicts of interest between us and IAC could be resolved in a manner unfavorable to us and our other stockholders.
Various conflicts of interest between us and IAC could arise. As of the date of this report, four of our twelve directors are current directors or executive officers of IAC. Ownership interests of these individuals and IAC in our capital stock and ownership interests of our directors and officers in IAC capital stock, or service by an individual as either a director and/or officer of both companies, could create or appear to create potential conflicts of interest when such individuals are faced with decisions relating to us. These decisions could include:
•corporate opportunities;
•the impact that operating or capital decisions (including the incurrence of indebtedness) relating to our business may have on IAC's consolidated financial statements and/or current or future indebtedness (including related covenants);
•business combinations involving us;
•our dividend and stock repurchase policies;
•management stock ownership; and
•the intercompany agreements and services between us and IAC.
Potential conflicts of interest could also arise if we decide to enter into new commercial arrangements with IAC in the future or in connection with IAC’s desire to enter into new commercial arrangements with third parties. Additionally, IAC may be constrained by the terms of agreements relating to its indebtedness from taking actions, or permitting us to take actions, that may be in our best interest.
Furthermore, disputes may arise between us and IAC relating to our past and ongoing relationships, and these potential conflicts of interest may make it more difficult for us to favorably resolve such disputes, including those related to: tax, employee benefit, indemnification and other matters arising from the Combination; the nature, quality and pricing of services IAC agrees to provide to us; sales or other disposals by IAC of all or a portion of its ownership interest in us; and business combinations involving us.
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We may not be able to resolve any potential conflicts, and even if we do, the resolution may be less favorable to us than if we were dealing with an unaffiliated third-party. While we are controlled by IAC, we may not have the leverage to negotiate amendments to our various agreements with IAC (if required) on terms as favorable to us as those we would negotiate with an unaffiliated third-party.
We rely on exemptions from certain Nasdaq corporate governance requirements that provide protection to stockholders of other companies.
Because IAC owns more than 50% of the combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock, we are a “controlled company” under the Marketplace Rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (the “Marketplace Rules”). As a “controlled company,” we are exempt from compliance with certain Marketplace Rules related to corporate governance, including that a majority of our board of directors consists of “independent directors” (as defined in the Marketplace Rules) and that we have a nominating/governance committee composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities.
Accordingly, for so long as we are a “controlled company” and avail ourselves of these exemptions, our stockholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the Marketplace Rules.
IAC’s desire to maintain flexibility with respect to its ability to distribute the shares of our capital stock it holds on a tax-free basis to its stockholders, and its desire to preserve the ability to maintain tax consolidation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, may prevent us from pursuing opportunities to raise capital, acquire other businesses or provide equity incentives to our employees, or otherwise impact our ability to manage our capital structure.
Under current laws, IAC must retain beneficial ownership of at least 80% of our combined voting power and 80% of each class of our non-voting capital stock (if any is outstanding) in order to effect a tax-free distribution of our shares held by IAC to its stockholders. IAC has advised us that it does not have any present intention or plans to undertake such a tax-free distribution. However, IAC does currently intend to use its majority voting interest to retain its ability to engage in such a transaction. In addition, IAC must maintain ownership of at least 80% of our outstanding capital stock in order to maintain tax consolidation with us for U.S. federal income tax purposes. IAC has advised us that it currently intends to take such actions, or cause the Company to take such actions, as may be necessary in order to preserve tax consolidation. Each of these intentions may cause IAC not to support transactions that we wish to pursue that involve issuing shares of our capital stock, including for capital-raising purposes, as consideration for an acquisition or as equity incentives to our employees, or otherwise impact our overall capital management strategy. Our inability to pursue such transactions, or any reduced flexibility in the management of our capital structure, may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our agreements with IAC will require us to indemnify IAC for certain tax liabilities and may limit our ability to engage in desirable strategic or capital-raising transactions.
Pursuant to our tax sharing agreement with IAC, we generally will be responsible and will be required to indemnify IAC for: (i) all taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined or unitary tax return of IAC or its subsidiaries that includes us or any of our subsidiaries to the extent attributable to us or any of our subsidiaries (excluding certain taxes attributable to Angi and its subsidiaries for taxable periods (or portions thereof) ending on or before the completion of the Combination), as determined under the tax sharing agreement, and (ii) all taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined, unitary or separate tax returns of ours or any of our subsidiaries. To the extent IAC fails to pay taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined or unitary tax return of IAC or one of its subsidiaries that includes us or any of our subsidiaries, the relevant taxing authority could seek to collect such taxes (including taxes for which IAC is responsible under the tax sharing agreement) from us or our subsidiaries.
IAC does not have a present plan or intention to undertake a tax-free spin-off of its interest in us. Under the tax sharing agreement, we generally will be responsible for any taxes and related amounts imposed on IAC or us (or our respective subsidiaries) that arise from the failure of a future spin-off of IAC’s retained interest in us to qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Section 368(a)(1)(D) and/or Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), to the extent that the failure to so qualify is attributable to: (i) a breach of the relevant representations and covenants made by us in the tax sharing agreement (or any representation letter provided in support of any tax opinion or ruling obtained by IAC with respect to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of such spin-off), (ii) an acquisition of our equity securities or assets or (iii) any other action or inaction by us after any such spin-off.
To preserve the tax-free treatment of any potential future spin-off by IAC of its interest in us, the tax sharing agreement restricts us and our subsidiaries, for the two-year period following any such spin-off (except in specific circumstances), from: (i) entering into any transaction pursuant to which shares of our capital stock would be acquired above a certain threshold, (ii) merging, consolidating or liquidating, (iii) selling or transferring assets above certain thresholds, (iv) redeeming or repurchasing stock (with certain exceptions), (v) altering the voting rights of our capital stock, (vi) actions and inactions that
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are inconsistent with representations or covenants in any tax opinion or private letter ruling document or (vii) ceasing to engage in any active trade or business as defined in the Code. The indemnity obligations and other limitations under the tax sharing agreement could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Future sales or distributions of shares of our capital stock by IAC could depress the price of our Class A common stock.
IAC has the right to sell or distribute to its stockholders all or a portion of the shares of our capital stock that it holds. Although as of the date of this report IAC has advised us that it does not have any present intention or plans to undertake such a sale or distribution, sales by IAC in the public market or distributions to its stockholders of substantial amounts of our capital stock (shares of Class B common stock or Class A common stock) could depress the price of our Class A common stock. In addition, IAC has the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering the sale of the shares of our capital stock it holds or to include such shares in other registration statements that we may file. If IAC exercises these registration rights and sells all or a portion of the shares of our capital stock it holds, the price of our Class A common stock could decline.
The services that IAC provides to us may not be sufficient to meet our needs.
We expect IAC to continue to provide us with corporate and shared services related to corporate functions, such as executive oversight, risk management, information technology, accounting, audit, legal, investor relations, tax, treasury and other services in exchange for the fees specified in the services agreement between us and IAC. Since the services agreement automatically renews for one (1) year periods for as long as IAC holds a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock, we may not be able to modify these services in a manner desirable to us as a standalone public company. Although we intend to replace portions of the services currently provided by IAC, we may not be able to perform these services ourselves and/or find appropriate third parties to do so at a reasonable cost (or at costs at or below those charged by IAC), which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness.
Our ability to satisfy our debt obligations will depend upon, among other things, our future financial and operating performance, which will be affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control.
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow from our operations to meet our scheduled debt obligations. If so, we could be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets or seek additional capital in a manner that complies with the terms (including certain restrictions and limitations) of our current indebtedness. If these efforts do not generate sufficient funds to meet our scheduled debt obligations, we would need to seek additional financing and/or negotiate with our bondholders to restructure or refinance our indebtedness. Our ability to do so would depend on the condition of the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. Any such financing, restructuring or refinancing could be on less favorable terms than those governing our current indebtedness and would need to comply with the terms (including certain restrictions and limitations) of our existing indebtedness.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
The multiclass structure of our capital stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with IAC and limiting the ability of holders of our Class A common stock to influence corporate matters.
Each share of our Class B common stock has ten votes per share and each share of our Class A common stock has one vote per share. As of December 31, 2021, IAC owned all of our outstanding shares of Class B common stock, and 2,588,180 outstanding shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, in total representing approximately 84.5% of our total outstanding shares of capital stock and approximately 98.2%of the total combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock. Due to the ten-to-one voting ratio between our Class B common stock and Class A common stock, IAC (and any future holders of our Class B common stock, collectively) will continue to control a substantial majority of the combined voting power of our capital stock. This concentrated control will significantly limit the ability of holders of our Class A common stock to influence matters submitted to our stockholders for approval.
The difference in the voting rights of our Class B common stock and Class A common stock may harm the value and liquidity of our Class A common stock.
This difference in voting rights between our Class B common stock and Class A common stock could harm the value of our Class A common stock to the extent that any investor or potential future purchaser of our Class A common stock ascribes value to the right of the holders of our Class B common stock to ten votes per share. The existence of two classes of common stock with different voting rights could result in less liquidity for our Class A common stock than if there were only one class of common stock, which could adversely affect the price of our Class A common stock.
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We do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends and we currently have no plans to pay cash dividends on our Class A common stock and/or Class B common stock. Instead, we currently anticipate that all of our future earnings will be retained to support our operations and finance the growth and development of our business. Any future determination relating to our dividend policy will be made by our board of directors and will depend on a number of factors, including: our historic and projected financial condition, liquidity and results of operations; our capital levels and needs; tax considerations; any acquisitions that we may consider; statutory and regulatory prohibitions and other limitations; the terms of any credit agreement or other borrowing arrangements that restrict our ability to pay cash dividends; general economic conditions; and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors.
We are not obligated to pay dividends on our Class A common stock or Class B common stock. Consequently, investors may need to rely on sales on their Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment.
The Delaware General Corporation Law and certain provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company and/or changes in our management.
The Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our Company and/or changes in our management that our stockholders may deem advantageous, including provisions that: (i) authorize the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock, which our board of directors could issue to discourage a takeover attempt; (ii) limit the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders; and (iii) provide that our board of directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our bylaws.
Any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a related premium for their Class A common stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our Class A common stock.
The choice of forum provision in our amended and restated bylaws could limit the ability of our stockholders to obtain the judicial forum of their choice for certain disputes.
Our amended and restated bylaws provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, a state court within the State of Delaware (or, if no state court located within Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) will be the sole and exclusive forum for all of the following actions: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim for (or based on breach of) fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees to us or to our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees pursuant to the DGCL, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, (iv) any action asserting a claim relating to or involving us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine or (v) any action asserting an “internal corporate claim” (as defined under the DGCL). This choice of forum provision may limit the ability of our stockholders to bring claims in a judicial forum that they find favorable for disputes with us or our current or former directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find our choice of forum provision to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we could incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Our Class A common stock is currently ineligible for inclusion in certain stock market indices which may adversely affect the trading market for our Class A common stock.
Policies adopted by certain operators of U.S. stock market indices exclude equity securities of companies with multiple classes of outstanding publicly traded equity securities and/or companies with outstanding classes of publicly traded equity securities that have no voting rights (or “low” voting rights relative to another outstanding class of equity securities) from their stock indices and similar policies may be implemented by other operators of stock market indices in the future. Given the multiclass structure of our capital stock and IAC’s control over us, our Class A common stock is not currently eligible for inclusion in the S&P Composite 1500 (and its three component indices) and any indices managed by FTSE Russell and, as a result, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles that attempt to passively track these indices will not be investing in our stock. Exclusion from these stock market indices (and any others in the future) could make our Class A common stock less attractive which could adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.
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Item 2. Properties
We believe that the facilities for our management and operations are generally adequate for our current and near-term future needs. Our facilities, most of which are leased, consist of executive and administrative offices, sales offices and data centers. We do not anticipate any future problems renewing or obtaining suitable leases for us or any of our businesses. We currently lease approximately 152,000 square feet of office for our corporate headquarters, Angi business and administrative and sales force personnel in Denver, Colorado.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
Overview
In the ordinary course of business, the Company and its subsidiaries are (or may become) parties to claims, suits, regulatory and government investigations, and other proceedings involving property, personal injury, intellectual property, privacy, tax, labor and employment, competition, commercial disputes, consumer protection and other claims, as well as stockholder derivative actions, class action lawsuits and other matters. Such claims, suits, regulatory and government investigations, and other proceedings could result in fines, civil or criminal penalties, or other adverse consequences. The amounts that may be recovered in such matters may be subject to insurance coverage. Although the results of legal proceedings and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is currently a party to any legal proceedings the outcome of which, we believe, if determined adversely to us, would individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. However, the outcome of such matters is inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties.
Rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission require the description of material pending legal proceedings (other than ordinary, routine litigation incident to the registrant’s business) and advise that proceedings ordinarily need not be described if they primarily involve damages claims for amounts (exclusive of interest and costs) not exceeding 10% of the current assets of the registrant and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. In the judgment of Company management, none of the pending litigation matters which we are defending, including the one described below, involves or is likely to involve amounts of that magnitude. The litigation matter and the investigation described below involves issues or claims that may be of particular interest to our stockholders, regardless of whether this matter may be material to our financial position or operations based upon the standard set forth in the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
FTC Investigation of Certain HomeAdvisor Business Practices
On April 19, 2021, the staff of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) informed HomeAdvisor that upon investigation it believes that certain of HomeAdvisor’s business practices relating to leads provided to service professionals and its mHelpDesk product are unfair or deceptive in violation of the FTC Act. The Company and FTC have been engaged in discussions about the staff’s beliefs, and those discussions are ongoing. While HomeAdvisor believes that any such claims would be without merit and is prepared to defend vigorously against any enforcement proceeding, it is continuing a dialogue with the FTC to discuss the matter and cannot currently predict the outcome of this investigation and related discussions.
Service Professional Class Action Litigation against HomeAdvisor
In July 2016, a putative class action, Airquip, Inc. et al. v. HomeAdvisor, Inc. et al., No. 1:16-cv-1849, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The complaint, as amended in November 2016, alleges that our HomeAdvisor business engages in certain deceptive practices affecting the service professionals who join its network, including charging them for substandard customer leads and failing to disclose certain charges. The complaint seeks certification of a nationwide class consisting of all HomeAdvisor service professionals since October 2012, asserts claims for fraud, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment and violation of the federal RICO statute and the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (“CCPA”), and seeks injunctive relief and damages in an unspecified amount.
In July 2018, the plaintiffs’ counsel filed a separate putative class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, Costello et al. v. HomeAdvisor, Inc. et al., No. 1:18-cv-1802, on behalf of the same nine proposed new plaintiffs in the Airquip case, naming as defendants HomeAdvisor, Angi and IAC (as well as an unrelated company), and asserting 45 claims largely duplicative of those asserted in the proposed second amended complaint in the Airquip case. In November 2018, the judge presiding over the Airquip case issued an order consolidating the two cases to proceed before him under the caption In re HomeAdvisor, Inc. Litigation.
In January 2019, the plaintiffs renewed their motion for leave to file a consolidated second amended complaint, naming as defendants, in addition to HomeAdvisor, Angi and IAC, CraftJack, Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and thus, an entity affiliated with HomeAdvisor) and two unrelated entities. In February 2019, the defendants opposed the motion on
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various grounds. In September 2019, the court issued an order granting the plaintiffs’ motion. In October and December 2019, the four defendants affiliated with HomeAdvisor filed motions to dismiss certain claims in the amended complaint. On September 29, 2020, the court issued an order granting in part and denying in part the defendants’ motions to dismiss. Discovery in the case will close during 2022, after which the parties will begin litigating the issue of class certification.
The Company believes that the allegations in this lawsuit are without merit and will continue to defend vigorously against them.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters
Our Class A common stock is quoted on The Nasdaq Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) under the ticker symbol “ANGI.” There is no established public trading market for our Class B common stock.
As of February 11, 2022, there were 40 holders of record of our Class A common stock. Because the substantial majority of the outstanding shares of our Class A common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are not able to estimate the total number of beneficial shareholders represented by these record holders. As of February 11, 2022, there was one holder of record and beneficial shareholder of our Class B common stock.
Dividends
We do not currently expect that any cash or other dividends will be paid to holders of our Class A or Class B common stock in the near future. Any future cash dividend or other dividend declarations are subject to the determination of the Company’s Board of Directors.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
There were no unregistered sales of our capital stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2021.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The Company did not purchase any shares of its Class A common stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2021. As of that date, 16.1 million shares of ANGI Class A common stock remained available for repurchase under the Company's previously announced March 2020 repurchase authorization. The Company may repurchase shares pursuant to this repurchase authorization over an indefinite period of time in the open market and in privately negotiated transactions, depending on those factors Company management deems relevant at any particular time, including, without limitation, market conditions, share price and future outlook. From January 1, 2022 through February 11, 2022, the Company repurchased approximately 1.0 million shares at an average price of $7.80 per share. As of February 11, 2022, there were approximately 15.0 million shares remaining in the March 2020 share repurchase authorization.
Item 6. Reserved
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
GENERAL
Management Overview
Angi Inc., formerly ANGI Homeservices, Inc., (“Angi,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) connects quality home service professionals with consumers across more than 500 different categories, from repairing and remodeling homes to cleaning and landscaping. As of December 31, 2021, Angi had a network of approximately 240,000 transacting service professionals, each of whom paid for consumer matches and/or performed a job sourced or booked through Angi Ads and
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Leads and/or Angi Services. Collectively, this service professional network provided services in more than 175 categories, ranging from cleaning and installation services to simple home repairs and larger home remodeling projects, and 64 discrete geographic areas in the United States. Additionally, consumers turned to at least one of our brands to find a professional for approximately 33 million projects during the year ended December 31, 2021.
The Company has two operating segments: (i) North America (United States and Canada), which includes Angi Ads, Angi Leads and Angi Services; and (ii) Europe. In March 2021, the Company rebranded its North American brands which operate as follows: Angi Ads operates under the Angi (formerly Angie’s List) brand, Angi Leads operates primarily under the HomeAdvisor, powered by Angi brand, and Angi Services operates primarily under the Handy and Angi Roofing brands.
Angi Ads provides service professionals the capability to engage with potential customers, including quote, invoicing, and payment services. Angi Leads provides consumers with tools and resources to help them find local, pre-screened and customer-rated service professionals nationwide for home repair, maintenance and improvement projects. Angi Services allows consumers to browse and buy common household services at set prices directly from Angi, rather than requesting quotes from vetted service professionals, as well as instantly book appointments online for household services (primarily cleaning and handyman services) with top-quality, pre-screened independent service professionals. Consumers can request and pay for household services directly through the Angi platform and Angi fulfills the request through the use of independently established home services providers engaged in a trade, occupation and/or business that customarily provides such services. The matching and pre-priced booking services and related tools and directories are provided to consumers free of charge. Angi Services also includes roof replacement services fulfilled via the Angi Roofing, LLC business.
In the U.S., the Company primarily markets its services to consumers through search engine marketing, television advertising, and affiliate agreements with third parties. The Company also markets its services to consumers through email, digital display advertisements, partnerships with other contextually related websites and, to a lesser extent, through relationships with certain retailers, direct mail and radio advertising. The Company markets subscription packages and time-based advertising to service professionals primarily through its sales force, as well as through search engine marketing, digital media advertising, and direct relationships with trade associations and manufacturers. We have made, and expect to continue to make, substantial investments in digital and traditional advertising (with continued expansion into new and existing digital platforms) to consumers and service professionals to promote our products and services and to drive traffic to our various platforms and service professionals.
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Defined Terms and Operating Metrics:
Unless otherwise indicated or as the context otherwise requires, certain terms, which include the principal operating metrics we use in managing our business, are defined below:
•Angi Ads and Leads Revenue primarily reflects domestic ads and leads revenue, including consumer connection revenue for consumer matches, revenue from service professionals under contract for advertising and membership subscription revenue from service professionals and consumers.
•Angi Services Revenue primarily reflects domestic revenue from pre-priced offerings by which the consumer purchases services directly from the Company and the Company engages a service professional to perform the service and includes revenue from Total Home Roofing, Inc. (“Angi Roofing”), which was acquired on July 1, 2021.
•Angi Service Requests (“Service Requests”) are fully completed and submitted domestic customer service requests and includes Angi Services requests in the period.
•Angi Monetized Transactions are fully completed and submitted domestic customer service requests that were matched to and paid for by a service professional and includes completed and in-process Angi Services jobs in the period.
•Angi Transacting Service Professionals (“Transacting SPs”) are the number of service professionals that paid for consumer matches through Angi Leads or performed an Angi Services job during the most recent quarter.
•Angi Advertising Service Professionals (“Advertising SPs”) are the number of service professionals under contract for advertising at the end of the period.
•Senior Notes - On August 20, 2020, ANGI Group, LLC (“ANGI Group”), a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, issued $500.0 million of its 3.875% Senior Notes due August 15, 2028, with interest payable February 15 and August 15 of each year, commencing February 15, 2021.
Components of Results of Operations
Sources of Revenue
Angi Ads and Leads Revenue is primarily derived from (i) advertising revenue, which includes revenue from service professionals under contract for advertising, (ii) consumer connection revenue, which is comprised of fees paid by service professionals for consumer matches (regardless of whether the service professional ultimately provides the requested service), and (iii) membership subscription revenue from service professionals and consumers. Consumer connection revenue varies based upon several factors, including the service requested, product experience offered, and geographic location of service. Angi Services is primarily comprised of revenue from jobs (i) sourced through the “Book Now” feature which lets consumers complete booking the entire transaction digitally for work that is completed physically, (ii) under managed projects (including Angi Roofing) which are larger home improvement projects, and (iii) through retail partnerships for installation of furniture or other household items.
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Operating Costs and Expenses:
•Cost of revenue -consists primarily of payments made to independent service professionals who perform work contracted under Angi Services arrangements, credit card processing fees, hosting fees, and roofing materials costs associated with Angi Roofing.
•Selling and marketing expense - consists primarily of advertising expenditures, which include online marketing, including fees paid to search engines; offline marketing, which is primarily television advertising; and partner-related payments to those who direct traffic to our brands; compensation expense (including stock-based compensation expense) and other employee-related costs for our sales force and marketing personnel; and facilities costs.
•General and administrative expense - consists primarily of compensation expense (including stock-based compensation expense) and other employee-related costs for personnel engaged in executive management, finance, legal, tax, human resources and customer service functions, fees for professional services (including transaction-related costs related to acquisitions), provision for credit losses, software license and maintenance costs, and facilities costs. Our customer service function includes personnel who provide support to our service professionals and consumers.
•Product development expense - consists primarily of compensation expense (including stock-based compensation expense) and other employee-related costs that are not capitalized for personnel engaged in the design, development, testing and enhancement of product offerings and related technology, software license and maintenance costs, and facilities costs.
Non-GAAP financial measure
Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”) is a non-GAAP financial measure. See “Principles of Financial Reporting” for the definition of Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of net loss attributable to Angi Inc. shareholders to operating loss to consolidated Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. For a discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the year ended December 31, 2019, please refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on February 16, 2021.
Brand Integration Initiative
In March 2021, the Company changed its name to Angi Inc. and updated one of its leading websites and brands, Angie’s List, to Angi, and since then, has concentrated its marketing investment in the Angi brand in order to focus its marketing, sales, and branding efforts on a single brand.
We rely heavily on free, or organic, search results from search engine optimization, and paid search engine marketing to drive traffic to our websites. Our brand integration initiative has adversely affected the placement and ranking of Angi Inc. websites, particularly Angi.com, in organic search results as Angi does not have the same domain history as Angie’s List. In addition, we shifted marketing to support Angi, away from HomeAdvisor, which has negatively affected the efficiency of our search engine marketing efforts.
Since the beginning of the integration process, these efforts have had a pronounced negative impact on service requests from organic search results and via our mobile applications, which in turn has resulted in increased paid search engine marketing to generate service requests. These factors have increased marketing spend and reduced revenue during the year ended December 31, 2021, materially more than expected at the launch of the brand initiative in March 2021. We expect the pronounced negative impact to organic search results, the increased paid search engine marketing costs and the reduced monetization from our mobile applications to continue until such time as the new brand establishes search engine optimization ranking and consumer awareness is established.
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Angi Services Investment
Angi Services was launched in August 2019 and we have invested significantly in Angi Services and expect to continue to do so going forward. We expect significant future revenue growth as we expand the business, refine the overall experience, and increase penetration in certain geographies and service categories. This increased investment in Angi Services has contributed to losses for the Company for the year ended December 31, 2021 and this investment is expected to continue through at least 2023.
COVID-19 Update
The impact on the Company from the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures designed to contain its spread has been varied and volatile.
As previously disclosed, the impact of COVID-19 on the Company initially resulted in a decline in demand for service requests, driven primarily by decreases in demand in certain categories of jobs (particularly discretionary indoor projects). While we experienced a rebound in service requests in the second half of 2020 and through early 2021, service requests did start to decline in May 2021 compared to the comparable months of 2020 as a result of the surge in 2020 and due to impacts of the Brand Integration Initiative described above. Moreover, many service professionals’ businesses have been adversely impacted by labor and material constraints and many service professionals have limited capacity to take on new business, which continues to negatively impact our ability to monetize the slightly increased level of service requests. Although our ability to monetize service requests rebounded modestly in the second half of 2021, we still have not returned to levels we experienced pre-COVID-19. No assurances can be provided that we will continue to be able to improve monetization, or that service professionals’ businesses and, as a consequence, our revenue and profitability will not continue to be adversely impacted in the future.
The extent to which developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures designed to curb its spread continue to impact the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, all of which are highly uncertain and many of which are beyond the Company’s control, including the continuing spread of COVID-19, the severity of resurgences of COVID-19 caused by variant strains of the virus, the effectiveness of vaccines and attitudes toward receiving them, materials and supply chain constraints, labor shortages, the scope of governmental and other restrictions on travel, discretionary services and other activity, and public reactions to these developments.
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Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
Revenue
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
North America
Angi Ads and Leads:
Percentage of Total Revenue:
North America 95 % 95 %
Europe 5 % 5 %
Years Ended December 31,
(In thousands, rounding differences may occur)
Operating metrics:
_________________________________________________________
(a)Angi Transacting Service Professionals (“Transacting SPs”) are the number of service professionals that paid for consumer matches through Angi Leads or performed an Angi Services job during the most recent quarter.
North America revenue increased $207.1 million, or 15%, driven by increases in Angi Services revenue of $195.4 million, or 120%, and Angi Ads and Leads revenue of $11.7 million, or 1%. The increase in Angi Services revenue is due primarily to organic growth and, to a lesser extent from Angi Roofing, acquired July 1, 2021. The increase in Angi Ads and Leads revenue is due primarily to an increase in Advertising revenue of $25.5 million, or 11%.
Europe revenue increased $10.4 million, or 14%, due to growth across its markets from increased consumer demand and the favorable impact of the weakening of the U.S dollar relative to the Euro and the British Pound.
Cost of revenue
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
As a percentage of revenue 19% 12%
North America cost of revenue increased $152.6 million, or 89%, and increased as a percentage of revenue, due primarily to the organic growth of Angi Services resulting in increased payments to third-party professional service providers and $51.2
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million of costs attributable to the inclusion of Angi Roofing acquired July 1, 2021, primarily for roofing materials and third-party contractors.
Selling and marketing expense
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
As a percentage of revenue 52% 52%
North America selling and marketing expense increased $122.5 million, or 17%, driven by increases in advertising expense of $63.6 million, compensation expense of $36.9 million, consulting costs of $11.1 million, and $14.0 million in expense from the inclusion of Angi Roofing. The increase in advertising expense was due primarily to increases of $52.8 million in online marketing spend and $9.6 million in television spend. The increase in online marketing spend was attributable to the brand integration initiative described above under “Brand Integration Initiative.” The increase in television spend in 2021 reflects the return to historical spending levels as compared to the cost cutting initiatives during 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19. The increase in compensation expense was due primarily to increased commission expense, in addition to an increase in sales force headcount, net of an equity based compensation capitalization increase. The increase in consulting costs was due primarily to various sales initiatives at Angi Services.
Europe selling and marketing expense decreased $1.5 million, or 4%, driven by a decrease in compensation expense of $3.7 million, partially offset by an increase in advertising expense of $2.6 million. The decrease in compensation expense was primarily due to severance costs recorded in 2020 associated with headcount reductions in France and lower headcount in 2021. The increase in advertising expense was due, in part, to decreased advertising expense in 2020 to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on revenue.
General and administrative expense
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
As a percentage of revenue 24% 25%
North America general and administrative expense increased $24.5 million, or 7%, due primarily to an increase of $25.5 million in professional fees, $10.8 million of expense from the inclusion of Angi Roofing, $9.6 million in one-time costs related to the Company reducing its real estate footprint in 2021, increases of $7.5 million in the provision for credit losses, and $6.9 million in software license and maintenance costs, offset by a decrease of $42.4 million in compensation expense. The increase in professional fees is due primarily to an increase in outsourced personnel costs, and to a lesser extent, legal fees, recruiting fees, and consulting costs. The increase in outsourced personnel costs is due primarily to an increase in call volume related to our customer booking assistance function. The real estate related costs are the result of impairments of right-of-use lease assets, leasehold improvements and furniture and equipment associated with office space we vacated. The increase in the provision for credit losses is primarily due to higher Angi Services revenue as the provision for credit losses as a percentage of revenue has remained relatively flat. The increase in software license and maintenance expense is due primarily to increased investment in software to support our customer service function. The decrease in compensation expense was due primarily to a decrease of stock-based compensation expense of $54.1 million, partially offset by an increase of $11.4 million in wage related expenses resulting primarily from annual wage increases and a certain departments’ headcount now being aligned to general and administrative functions under the brand integration initiative, contributing $5.8 million of the increase. The decrease in stock-based compensation expense was due primarily to $30.8 million in stock appreciation rights expense recognized during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, which was not incurred in 2021 as the awards became fully vested in 2020, and a net decrease of $7.7 million due to the reversal of previously recognized expense related to unvested awards that were forfeited due to management departures in the first quarter of 2021, partially offset by the issuance of new equity awards since 2020.
Europe general and administrative expense increased $7.2 million, or 25%, due primarily to a charge of $7.0 million in compensation expenses related to the acquisition of an additional 25% interest in our MyBuilder business at a premium to fair value and a $1.7 million increase in professional fees related to corporate restructuring, partially offset by a $2.6 million decrease in compensation expense driven by severance costs recorded in 2020 associated with headcount reductions in France.
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Product development expense
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
As a percentage of revenue 4% 5%
North America product development expense decreased $3.5 million, or 6%, due primarily to decreases in compensation expense of $4.9 million and lease expense of $1.0 million, partially offset by an increase in software license and maintenance expense of $1.4 million. The decrease in compensation expense is due to certain departments’ headcount that were previously included within product development now being aligned to general and administrative functions under the brand integration initiative described above under “Brand Integration Initiative.”.
Europe product and development expense increased $5.6 million, or 49%, due to an increase in compensation expense of $5.3 million due primarily to higher headcount and fewer software development projects being capitalized.
Depreciation
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
As a percentage of revenue 4% 4%
North America and Europe depreciation in 2021 increased from 2020 due primarily to investments in capitalized software to support our products and services.
Operating (loss) income
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
As a percentage of revenue (5)% —%
________________________
NM = Not meaningful
North America operating income decreased $68.1 million to a loss of $63.3 million due to a decrease in Adjusted EBITDA of $143.5 million, described below, and an increase of $5.3 million in depreciation, partially offset by decreases of $54.5 million in stock-based compensation expense and $26.2 million in amortization of intangibles. The increase in depreciation was due primarily to the investments in capitalized software to support our products and services. The decrease in the amortization of intangibles was due primarily to certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized during 2020. The decrease in stock-based compensation expense was due primarily to $30.8 million in stock appreciation rights expense recognized during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, which was not incurred in 2021 as the awards became fully vested in 2020, and a net decrease of $7.7 million due to the reversal of previously recognized expense related to unvested awards that were forfeited due to management departures in the first quarter of 2021, partially offset by the issuance of new equity awards since 2020.
Europe operating loss increased $2.0 million, or 18%, due primarily to an increase in Adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.4 million, described below, and an increase of $1.3 million in depreciation expense, partially offset by decreases of $0.4 million in stock-based compensation expense and $0.3 million in amortization of intangibles.
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At December 31, 2021, there is $107.7 million of unrecognized compensation cost, net of estimated forfeitures, related to all equity-based awards, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 2.9 years.
Adjusted EBITDA
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
As a percentage of revenue 2% 12%
For a reconciliation of net loss attributable to Angi Inc. shareholders to operating loss to consolidated Adjusted EBITDA, see “Principles of Financial Reporting.” For a reconciliation of operating (loss) income to Adjusted EBITDA for the Company’s reportable segments, see “Note 11—Segment Information” to the consolidated financial statements included in “Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
North America Adjusted EBITDA decreased $143.5 million, or 80%, to $35.3 million, and decreased as a percentage of revenue, despite higher revenue of $207.1 million, due primarily to an increase in selling and marketing expense of $122.5 million as well as growth of Angi Services due to factors described above in the cost of revenue and selling and marketing discussions.
Europe Adjusted EBITDA loss decreased $1.4 million, or 23%, due primarily to an increase of $10.4 million in revenue, largely offset by the increase in general and administrative expense of $6.7 million (excluding stock-based compensation expense), which included a charge of $7.0 million related to the acquisition of an additional 25% interest in MyBuilder at a premium to fair value, and the increase in product development expense of $5.6 million.
Interest expense
Interest expense relates to interest on the ANGI Group Senior Notes, ANGI Group Term Loan, and commitment fees on the ANGI Group Revolving Facility. As of May 6, 2021, the outstanding balance of the ANGI Group Term Loan was repaid in its entirety. The ANGI Group Revolving Facility was terminated effective August 3, 2021. No amounts were ever drawn under the ANGI Group Revolving Facility prior to its termination.
For a detailed description of long-term debt, net, see “Note 6—Long-term Debt” to the consolidated financial statements included in “Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Years Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
Interest expense increased due primarily to the issuance of the ANGI Group Senior Notes in August 2020 and the write-off of deferred debt issuance costs associated with the termination of the ANGI Group Revolving Facility, partially offset by a decrease in interest expense due to the repayment of the ANGI Group Term Loan during the second quarter of 2021.
Other (expense) income, net
Years Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
Other expense, net in 2021 primarily includes net foreign currency exchange losses of $1.7 million and the write-off of $1.1 million of deferred debt issuance costs related to the ANGI Group Term Loan which was repaid in its entirety during the second quarter of 2021, partially offset by interest income of $0.2 million.
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Other income, net in 2020 primarily includes interest income of $1.7 million, partially offset by a $0.2 million mark-to-market charge for an indemnification claim related to the Handy acquisition that was settled in Angi Inc. shares during the first quarter of 2020.
Income tax benefit
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
Effective income tax rate 31% NM
For further details of income tax matters, see “Note 3—Income Taxes” to the consolidated financial statements included in “Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
In 2021, the effective income tax rate was higher than the statutory rate of 21% due primarily to excess tax benefits generated by the exercise and vesting of stock-based awards and a change in judgement about the valuation allowance at the beginning of the year, partially offset by unbenefited foreign losses.
In 2020, the Company recorded an income tax benefit of $15.2 million. The income tax benefit was due primarily to a reduction to deferred taxes due to the true-up of the state tax rate of an indefinite-lived intangible asset, a change in judgement about the valuation allowance at the beginning of the year, and excess tax benefits generated by the exercise and vesting of stock-based awards.
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PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL REPORTING
We report Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental measure to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). This measure is one of the primary metrics by which we evaluate the performance of our businesses, on which our internal budgets are based and by which management is compensated. We believe that investors should have access to, and we are obligated to provide, the same set of tools that we use in analyzing our results. This non-GAAP measure should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results. We endeavor to compensate for the limitations of the non-GAAP measure presented by providing the comparable GAAP measure with equal or greater prominence and descriptions of the reconciling items, including quantifying such items, to derive the non-GAAP measure. We encourage investors to examine the reconciling adjustments between the GAAP and non-GAAP measure, which we discuss below.
Definition of Non-GAAP Measure
Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”) is defined as operating income excluding: (1) stock-based compensation expense; (2) depreciation; and (3) acquisition-related items consisting of amortization of intangible assets and impairments of goodwill and intangible assets, if applicable. We believe this measure is useful for analysts and investors as this measure allows a more meaningful comparison between our performance and that of our competitors. Adjusted EBITDA has certain limitations because it excludes the impact of these expenses.
The following table reconciles net loss attributable to Angi Inc. shareholders to operating loss to consolidated Adjusted EBITDA:
Years Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
Net loss attributable to Angi Inc. shareholders $ (71,378) $ (6,283)
Add back:
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests 884 2,123
Other expense (income), net 2,509 (1,218)
Add back:
For a reconciliation of operating loss to Adjusted EBITDA for the Company’s reportable segments, see “Note 11—Segment Information” to the consolidated financial statements included in “Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Non-Cash Expenses That Are Excluded from Our Non-GAAP Measure
Stock-based compensation expense consists of expense associated with the grants, including unvested grants assumed in acquisitions, of stock appreciation rights, restricted stock units (“RSUs”), stock options, performance-based RSUs (“PSUs”) and market-based awards. These expenses are not paid in cash and we view the economic costs of stock-based awards to be the dilution to our share base; we also include the related shares in our fully diluted shares outstanding for GAAP earnings per share using the treasury stock method. PSUs and market-based awards are included only to the extent the applicable performance or market condition(s) have been met (assuming the end of the reporting period is the end of the contingency period). The Company is currently settling all stock-based awards on a net basis and remits the required tax-withholding amounts from its current funds.
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Depreciation is a non-cash expense relating to our capitalized software, leasehold improvements and equipment and is computed using the straight-line method to allocate the cost of depreciable assets to operations over their estimated useful lives, or, in the case of leasehold improvements, the lease term, if shorter.
Amortization of intangible assets and impairments of goodwill and intangible assets are non-cash expenses related primarily to acquisitions. At the time of an acquisition, the identifiable definite-lived intangible assets of the acquired company, such as service professional relationships, technology, memberships, customer lists and user base, and trade names, are valued and amortized over their estimated lives. Value is also assigned to acquired indefinite-lived intangible assets, which comprise trade names and trademarks, and goodwill that are not subject to amortization. An impairment is recorded when the carrying value of an intangible asset or goodwill exceeds its fair value. We believe that intangible assets represent costs incurred by the acquired company to build value prior to acquisition and the related amortization and impairments of intangible assets or goodwill, if applicable, are not ongoing costs of doing business.
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FINANCIAL POSITION, LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Financial Position
(In thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents and marketable debt securities:
Marketable debt securities (United States) — 49,995
Long-term debt:
Less: unamortized debt issuance costs 5,448 7,723
At December 31, 2021, all of the Company’s international cash can be repatriated without any significant tax consequences.
Cash Flow Information
In summary, the Company’s cash flows are as follows:
Years Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
Net cash provided (used in) by:
Net cash provided by operating activities consists of earnings adjusted for non-cash items and the effect of changes in working capital. Non-cash adjustments include stock-based compensation expense, provision for credit losses, amortization of intangibles, depreciation, impairment of long-lived and right-of-use assets, non-cash lease expense, and deferred income taxes.
2021
Adjustments to earnings consist primarily of $88.1 million of provision for credit losses, $59.2 million of depreciation, $28.7 million of stock-based compensation expense, $16.4 million of amortization of intangibles, $12.9 million of non-cash lease expense, $12.7 million of impairment charges on long-lived and right-of-use assets, and $8.6 million of revenue reserves, partially offset by $36.3 million of deferred income taxes. The decrease from changes in working capital consists primarily of an increase of $115.4 million in accounts receivable and a decrease of $16.8 million in operating lease liabilities, partially offset by increases of $14.0 million in accounts payable and other liabilities. The increase in accounts receivable is due primarily to revenue growth, primarily attributable to Angi Services. The increase in accounts payable and other liabilities is due primarily to increases in accrued advertising and related payables and accrued roofing material costs related to Angi Roofing.
Net cash used in investing activities includes $70.2 million of capital expenditures, primarily related to investments in capitalized software to support the Company’s products and services, and $25.6 million of cash principally related to the acquisition of Angi Roofing, partially offset by proceeds of $50.0 million from the maturities of marketable debt securities.
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Net cash used in financing activities includes $220.0 million for the prepayment of the ANGI Group Term Loan, which otherwise would have matured on November 5, 2023, $61.9 million for the payment of withholding taxes on behalf of employees for stock-based awards that were net settled, $35.4 million for the repurchase of 3.2 million shares of Angi Inc. Class A common stock, on a settlement date basis, at an average price of $11.06 per share, and $27.9 million for the purchase of redeemable noncontrolling interests.
2020
Adjustments to earnings consist primarily of $83.6 million of stock-based compensation expense, $78.2 million of provision for credit losses, $52.6 million of depreciation, $42.9 million of amortization of intangibles, and $13.7 million of non-cash lease expense. The decrease from changes in working capital consists primarily of an increase in accounts receivable of $79.8 million, a decrease in operating lease liabilities of $13.4 million, and an increase in other assets of $7.7 million, partially offset by an increase in accounts payable and other liabilities of $30.6 million. The increase in accounts receivable is due primarily to revenue growth. The increase in accounts payable and other liabilities is due primarily to an increase in accrued advertising and related payables, and accrued compensation costs due, in part, to the deferral of payroll tax payments under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Net cash used in investing activities includes purchases of marketable debt securities of $100.0 million and capital expenditures of $52.5 million, primarily related to investments in the development of capitalized software to support the Company’s products and services, $2.3 million related to the acquisition of a business, partially offset by $50.0 million of proceeds from maturities of marketable debt securities, and $0.7 million of net proceeds received in 2020 related to the December 31, 2018 sale of Felix.
Net cash provided by financing activities includes $500.0 million of proceeds from the issuance of the Senior Notes and a $3.1 million distribution from IAC pursuant to the tax sharing agreement, net of $63.7 million for the repurchase of 8.5 million shares of Angi Inc. Class A common stock, on a settlement date basis, at an average price of $7.47 per share, $64.1 million for the payment of withholding taxes on behalf of employees for stock-based awards that were net settled, $27.5 million in principal payments on the Term Loan, including the prepayment of the $13.8 million of principal payments that were otherwise due in 2021, $6.5 million for debt issuance costs, and $4.3 million for the purchase of redeemable noncontrolling interests
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Financing Arrangements
The ANGI Group Senior Notes were issued on August 20, 2020, the proceeds of which have been used for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Angi Roofing, and treasury share repurchases.
As of May 6, 2021, the outstanding balance of the ANGI Group Term Loan was repaid in its entirety.The outstanding balance of the ANGI Group Term Loan at December 31, 2020 was $220.0 million and bore interest at 2.16%.
The $250.0 million ANGI Group Revolving Facility, which otherwise would have expired on November 5, 2023, was terminated effective August 3, 2021.No amounts were ever drawn under the ANGI Group Revolving Facility prior to its termination.
Share Repurchase Authorizations and Activity
During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company repurchased 3.2 million shares, on a trade date basis, of its common stock at an average price of $11.06 per share, or $35.4 million in aggregate. From January 1, 2022 through February 11, 2022, the Company repurchased an additional 1.0 million shares at an average price of $7.80 per share, or $8.1 million in aggregate. Angi Inc. has 15.0 million shares remaining in its share repurchase authorization as of February 11, 2022. The Company may purchase shares over an indefinite period of time on the open market and in privately negotiated transactions, depending on those factors Angi Inc. management deems relevant at any particular time, including, without limitation, market conditions, share price and future outlook.
Outstanding Stock-based Awards
The Company may settle equity awards on a gross or a net basis depending upon factors deemed relevant at the time, and if settledon a net basis, Angi remits withholding taxes on behalf of the employee. At IAC’s option, certain Angi stock appreciation rights can be settled in either Class A shares of Angi or shares of IAC common stock. If settled in IAC common
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stock, the Company reimburses IAC in either cash or through the issuance of Class A shares to IAC. The Company currently settles all equity awards on a net basis.
Pursuant to the employee matters agreement, in the event of a distribution of Angi capital stock to IAC stockholders in a transaction intended to qualify as tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the Compensation Committee of the IAC Board of Directors has the exclusive authority to determine the treatment of outstanding IAC equity awards. Such authority includes (but is not limited to) the ability to convert all or part of IAC equity awards outstanding immediately prior to the distribution into equity awards denominated in shares of Angi Class A Common Stock for no compensation, which Angi would be obligated to assume and which would be dilutive to Angi’s stockholders.
The following table summarizes the aggregate intrinsic value of all awards outstanding as of February 11, 2022;assuming these awards were net settled on that date, the withholding taxes that would be paid by the Company on behalf of employees upon exercise or vesting that would be payable (assuming these equity awards are net settled with a 50% tax rate), and the shares that would have been issued are as follows:
(In thousands)
_______________
(a)Includes stock options, RSUs, and subsidiary denominated equity.
(b)The number of shares ultimately needed to settle subsidiary denominated equity awards and the cash withholding tax obligation may vary significantly as a result of the determination of the fair value of the relevant award at the time of exercise. In addition, the number of shares required to settle these awards will be impacted by movement in the Company’s stock price.
Contractual Obligations
The Company enters into various contractual arrangements as a part of its continued operations.Many of these contractual obligations are discussed in the notes to the financial statements included in “Item 8—Consolidated and Combined Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” As of December 31, 2021, material obligations discussed in the notes included principal and interest payments on the Company's long-term debt discussed above and in “Note 6—Long-term Debt,” operating leases discussed in “Note 12—Leases,” and postretirement benefits discussed in “Note 15—Benefit Plans.”
In addition, as of December 31, 2021, the Company has material purchase obligations which represent legally binding agreements to purchase goods and services that specify all significant terms. These obligations are discussed in “Note 13—Commitments and Contingencies.”
Capital Expenditures
The Company’s 2022 capital expenditures are expected to be higher than 2021 capital expenditures of $70.2 million by approximately 15% to 20%, due primarily to increased investment in capitalized software to support the development of our products and services.
Liquidity Assessment
The Company’s liquidity could be negatively affected by a decrease in demand for its products and services due to COVID-19 or other factors. As described in the “COVID-19 Update” section above, to date, the COVID-19 outbreak and measures designed to curb its spread have adversely impacted the Company’s business.
At December 31, 2021, IAC held all Class B shares of Angi Inc., which represent 84.5% of the economic interest and 98.2% of the voting interest of the Company. As a result, IAC has the ability to control Angi Inc.’s financing activities, including the issuance of additional debt and equity securities by Angi Inc. or any of its subsidiaries, or the incurrence of other indebtedness generally. While Angi Inc. is expected to have the ability to access debt and equity markets if needed, such transactions may require the approval of IAC due to its control of the majority of the outstanding voting power of Angi Inc.’s capital stock and its representation on the Angi Inc. board of directors. Additional financing may not be available on terms
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favorable to the Company or at all. In addition, the Company’s existing indebtedness could limit its ability to obtain additional financing.
The Company believes its existing cash, cash equivalents, and expected positive cash flows generated from operations will be sufficient to fund its normal operating requirements, including capital expenditures, debt service, the payment of withholding taxes paid on behalf of employees for net-settled stock-based awards, and investing and other commitments, for the foreseeable future.
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CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES
The following disclosure is provided to supplement the descriptions of Angi’s accounting policies contained in “Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” to the consolidated financial statements included “Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” in regard to significant areas of judgment. Management of the Company is required to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions during the preparation of its consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. These estimates, judgments and assumptions impact the reported amount of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses and the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Because of the size of the financial statement elements to which they relate, some of our accounting policies and estimates have a more significant impact on our financial statements than others. What follows is a discussion of some of our more significant accounting policies and estimates.
Credit Loss and Revenue Reserves
The Company makes judgments as to its ability to collect outstanding receivables and provides reserves when it has determined that all or a portion of the receivable will not be collected. The Company maintains a credit loss reserve to provide for the estimated amount of accounts receivable that will not be collected. The credit loss reserve is based upon a number of factors, including the length of time accounts receivable are past due, the Company’s previous loss history and the specific customer’s ability to pay its obligation to the Company. The duration of time between the Company’s issuance of an invoice and payment due date is not significant. The Company also maintains reserves for potential revenue adjustments. The amounts of these reserves are based primarily upon historical experience. The carrying value of the credit loss and revenue reserves is $36.4 million and $27.8 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The provision for credit losses was $88.1 million and $78.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Business Combinations
Acquisitions, which are generally referred to in GAAP as business combinations, are an important part of the Company’s growth strategy. The Company invested $29.2 million and $2.7 million in acquisitions for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The purchase price of each acquisition is attributed to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair values at the date of acquisition, including identifiable intangible assets that either arise from a contractual or legal right or are separable from goodwill.
Management makes two critical determinations at the time of an acquisition, the reporting unit that will benefit from the acquisition and to which goodwill will be assigned and the allocation of the purchase price of the business to the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed based upon their fair values. The reporting unit determination is important beyond the initial allocation of purchase price because future impairment assessments of goodwill, as described below, are performed at the reporting unit level. At October 1, 2021, the Company has two reporting units: North America and Europe. Historically, when the Company’s acquisitions have been complementary to these reporting units and the goodwill has been assigned to either the North America or Europe reporting unit.
The allocation of purchase price to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based upon their fair values is complex because of the judgments involved in determining these values. The determination of purchase price and the fair value of monetary assets acquired and liabilities assumed is typically the least complex aspect of the Company’s accounting for business combinations due to management’s experience and the inherently lower level of complexity. Due to the higher degree of complexity associated with the valuation of intangible assets, the Company usually obtains the assistance of outside valuation experts in the allocation of purchase price to the identifiable intangible assets acquired, which can be both definite-lived, such as acquired technology, customer and contractor relationships, or indefinite lived, such as acquired trade names and trademarks. While outside valuation experts may be used, management has ultimate responsibility for the valuation methods, models and inputs used and the resulting purchase price allocation. The excess purchase price over the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets is recorded as goodwill and is assigned to the reporting unit that is expected to benefit from the business combination as of the acquisition date.
Recoverability of Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets
The carrying value of goodwill is $916.0 million and $891.8 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Indefinite-lived intangible assets, which consist of the Company’s acquired trade names and trademarks, have a carrying value of $171.4 million and $171.9 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
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Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets are assessed annually for impairment as of October 1, or more frequently if an event occurs or circumstances change that would indicate that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit or the fair value of an indefinite-lived intangible asset has declined below its carrying value. In performing its annual goodwill impairment assessment, the Company has the option under GAAP to qualitatively assess whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value; if the conclusion of the qualitative assessment is that there are no indicators of impairment, the Company does not perform a quantitative test, which would require a valuation of the reporting unit, as of October 1. GAAP provides a not all-inclusive set of examples of macroeconomic, industry, market and company specific factors for entities to consider in performing the qualitative assessment described above; management considers the factors it deems relevant in making its more likely than not assessments. While the Company also has the option under GAAP to qualitatively assess whether it is more likely than not that the fair values of its indefinite-lived intangible assets are less than their carrying values, the Company’s policy is to quantitatively determine the fair value of each of its indefinite-lived intangible assets annually as of October 1, in part, because the level of effort required to perform the quantitative and qualitative assessments is essentially equivalent.
If the conclusion of our qualitative assessment is that there are indicators of impairment and a quantitative test is required, the annual or interim quantitative test of the recovery of goodwill involves a comparison of the estimated fair value of the Company’s reporting unit that is being tested to its carrying value. If the estimated fair value of a reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, goodwill of the reporting unit is not impaired. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value, a goodwill impairment equal to the excess is recorded.
The Company’s annual assessment of the recovery of goodwill begins with management’s reassessment of its operating segments and reporting units. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below an operating segment, which is referred to as a component. This reassessment of reporting units is also made each time the Company changes its operating segments. If the goodwill of a reporting unit is allocated to newly formed reporting units, the allocation is usually made to each reporting unit based upon their relative fair values.
For the Company’s annual goodwill test at October 1, 2021, a qualitative assessment of the North America and Europe reporting units’ goodwill was performed and the Company concluded it was more likely than not that the fair value of these reporting units was in excess of their respective carrying values. In the aggregate, Angi’s October 1, 2021 market capitalization of $6.2 billion exceeded its carrying value by approximately $5.0 billion. The primary factor that the Company considered in its qualitative assessment for its Europe reporting unit were valuations performed during 2021 that indicated a fair value in excess of the carrying value. The fair value based on the valuation that was most proximate to, but not as of, October 1, 2021 exceeded the carrying value of the Europe reporting unit by $164.2 million. The primary factor that the Company considered in its qualitative assessment for its North America reporting unit was the significant excess of the estimated fair value of the North America reporting unit over its carrying value. The fair value of the North America reporting unit was estimated by subtracting the fair value of the Europe reporting unit, based on the valuation described above, from the October 1, 2021 market capitalization of the Company; the estimated fair value of the North America reporting unit exceeded its carrying value by approximately $4.9 billion.
The fair value of the Company’s Europe reporting unit is determined using both an income approach based on discounted cash flows (“DCF”) and a market approach when it tests goodwill for impairment, either on an interim basis or annual basis as of October 1 each year. Determining fair value using a DCF analysis requires the exercise of significant judgment with respect to several items, including the amount and timing of expected future cash flows and appropriate discount rates. The expected cash flows used in the DCF analyses are based on the Company’s most recent forecast and budget and, for years beyond the budget, the Company’s estimates, which are based, in part, on forecasted growth rates. The discount rates used in the DCF analyses are intended to reflect the risks inherent in the expected future cash flows of the respective reporting units. Assumptions used in the DCF analyses, including the discount rate, are assessed based on the reporting units' current results and forecasted future performance, as well as macroeconomic and industry specific factors. The discount rate used in determining the fair value of the Company’s Europe reporting unit was 15% in both 2021 and 2020. Determining fair value using a market approach considers multiples of financial metrics based on both acquisitions and trading multiples of a selected peer group of companies. From the comparable companies, a representative market multiple is determined which is applied to financial metrics to estimate the fair value of a reporting unit. To determine a peer group of companies for our respective reporting units, we considered companies relevant in terms of consumer use, monetization model, margin and growth characteristics, and brand strength operating in their respective sectors.
The Company determines the fair value of indefinite-lived intangible assets using an avoided royalty DCF valuation analysis. Significant judgments inherent in this analysis include the selection of appropriate royalty and discount rates and estimating the amount and timing of expected future cash flows. The discount rates used in the DCF analyses are intended to reflect the risks inherent in the expected future cash flows generated by the respective intangible assets. The royalty rates used
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in the DCF analyses are based upon an estimate of the royalty rates that a market participant would pay to license the Company’s trade names and trademarks. The future cash flows are based on the Company's most recent forecast and budget and, for years beyond the budget, the Company’s estimates, which are based, in part, on forecasted growth rates. Assumptions used in the avoided royalty DCF analyses, including the discount rate and royalty rate, are assessed annually based on the actual and projected cash flows related to the asset, as well as macroeconomic and industry specific factors. The discount rates used in the Company’s annual indefinite-lived impairment assessment ranged from 11.1% to 15.0% in 2021 and 11.5% to 15.0% in 2020, and the royalty rates used ranged from 2.0% to 5.0% in 2021 and 2.0% to 5.5% in 2020.
The 2021 and 2020 annual assessments of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets identified no impairments.
Recoverability and Estimated Useful Lives of Long-Lived Assets
We review the carrying value of all long-lived assets, comprising of leased right-of-use assets (“ROU assets”), capitalized software, leasehold improvements and equipment and definite-lived intangible assets, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable. The carrying value of a long-lived asset is not recoverable if it exceeds the sum of the undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the asset. If the carrying value is deemed not to be recoverable, an impairment loss is recorded equal to the amount by which the carrying value of the long-lived asset exceeds its fair value. In addition, the Company reviews the useful lives of its long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that these lives may be changed. The carrying value of these long-lived assets is $210.5 million and $234.2 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Income Taxes
The Company is included within IAC’s tax group for purposes of federal and consolidated state income tax return filings. In all periods presented, the income tax provision and/or benefithas been computed for the Company on an as if standalone, separate return basis and payments to and refunds from IAC for the Company’s share of IAC’s consolidated federal and state tax return liabilities/receivables calculated on this basis have been reflected within cash flows from operating activities in the accompanying consolidated statement of cash flows. The tax sharing agreement between the Company and IAC governs the parties’ respective rights, responsibilities and obligations with respect to tax matters, including responsibility for taxes attributable to the Company, entitlement to refunds, allocation of tax attributes and other matters and, therefore, ultimately governs the amount payable to or receivable from IAC with respect to income taxes. Any differences between taxes currently payable to or receivable from IAC under the tax sharing agreement and the current tax provision computed on an if standalone, separate return basis for GAAP are reflected as adjustments to additional paid-in capital in the consolidated statement of shareholders’ equity and financing activities within the consolidated statement of cash flows. The portion of the December 31, 2021 deferred tax assets that will be payable to IAC pursuant to the tax sharing agreement, upon realization, is $93.9 million.
The Company accounts for income taxes under the liability method, and deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying values of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. A valuation allowance is provided if it is determined that it is more likely than not that the deferred tax asset will not be realized. At December 31, 2021 and 2020, the balance of the Company’s net deferred tax asset is $120.8 million and $84.4 million, respectively.