EEX US Equity☆

10-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

OR

Commission File Number 001-38076

Emerald Holding, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (949) 226-5700

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class TradingSymbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share EEX New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes☐No☒

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes☐No☒

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes☒No☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes☒No☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☒

Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES☐NO☒

The aggregate market value of the Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, based on the closing price of the shares of Common Stock on The New York Stock Exchange on June 30, 2022, the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, was $88.3 million.

47,587,150 shares of the Registrant's Common Stock, which were held by the Registrant’s executive officers and directors and by certain investment funds affiliated with or managed by Onex Partners as of June 30, 2022 have been excluded from this number in that these persons or entities may be deemed affiliates of the registrant. This assumption regarding affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

The number of shares of Registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of March 10, 2023 was 67,881,615.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement relating to the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report. The Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.

Table of Contents

Page

PART I

Item 1. Business 2

Item 1A. Risk Factors 10

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 23

Item 2. Properties 23

Item 3. Legal Proceedings 23

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 23

PART II

Item 6. Selected Financial Data 25

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 71

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 72

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 132

Item 9B. Other Information 133

Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 133

PART III

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 134

Item 11. Executive Compensation 134

Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 134

PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 135

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can generally identify forward-looking statements by our use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek” or “should,” or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. In particular, statements about general economic conditions, or more specifically about the markets in which we operate, including growth of our various markets, and our expectations, beliefs, plans, strategies, objectives, prospects, assumptions or future events or performance contained in this report are forward-looking statements. In addition, statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K relating to potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (“COVID-19”) and its potential impacts of which are inherently uncertain, are forward-looking statements.

We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These and other important factors, including any continuing impact of COVID-19 on our business and the other risk factors discussed in this report under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, or could affect the trading price of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those discussed in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K under the heading “Risk Factors,” which are incorporated herein by reference.

Given these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this report are not guarantees of future performance and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate, may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this report. In addition, even if our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and events in the industry in which we operate, are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this report, they may not be predictive of results or developments in future periods.

Any forward-looking statement that we make in this Annual Report on Form 10-K speaks only as of the date of such statement. Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise, or to publicly announce any update or revision to, any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this report.

Except where the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “Emerald”, “the Company”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to Emerald Holding, Inc., formerly known as Emerald Expositions Events, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries. In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, when we refer to our fiscal years, we refer to the year number, as in “2022,” which refers to our fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.

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PART I

Item 1. Business.

BUSINESS

Our Company

Emerald is a leading operator of business-to-business (“B2B”) trade shows in the United States. Leveraging our shows as key market-driven platforms, we integrate live events, media content, industry insights, digital tools, data-focused solutions and e-commerce platforms into three complementary business lines – Connections, Content and Commerce. We have been recognized with many awards and accolades that reflect our industry leadership as well as the importance of our shows to the exhibitors and attendees we serve.

Connections: Our trade show franchises typically hold market-leading positions within their respective industry verticals, with significant brand value established over a long period of time. Each of our shows is typically held at least annually, with certain franchises offering multiple editions per year. Our shows are frequently the preeminent event, drawing the highest attendance in their respective industry verticals. As a result, we are able to attract high-quality attendees, including those who have the authority to make purchasing decisions on the spot or subsequent to the show. The participation of these qualified buyers makes our trade shows compelling events for our exhibitors, offering them an efficient platform for high quality lead generation. Our attendees use our shows for a variety of reasons, most notably to fulfill procurement needs, source new suppliers, reconnect with existing suppliers, identify trends, learn about new products and network with industry peers. We believe that these factors help demonstrate that our in-person shows are paramount and difficult to replace. Our portfolio of trade shows is well-balanced and diversified across both industry sectors and customers. The scale and qualified attendance at our trade shows translates into an exceptional value proposition for participants, resulting in a self-reinforcing “network effect,” whereby the participation of high-value attendees and exhibitors drives high participant loyalty and predictable, recurring revenue streams.

Content: In addition to organizing our trade shows, conferences and other events, we also operate content and content-marketing websites and related digital products, and produce publications, each of which is aligned with a specific event sector.

Commerce: We offer B2B e-commerce and digital merchandising solutions, serving the needs of manufacturers and retailers through our Elastic Suite and Bulletin platforms, which create a digital year-round transactional platform for use by Emerald’s customers, regardless of location. In addition to their respective revenues, each of these products supports our live events by delivering 365-day engagement and active channels for customer acquisition and development.

We also generate a substantial amount of first-party data across our events, content, and e-commerce platforms. We are in the process of developing products and processes based on our first-party data assets to enhance the customer experience, by providing actionable insights and measurable results through metrics such as content impressions, lead capture rates, conversion rates and transaction value per customer. Our efforts to provide customers with a clearer picture of the return on investment they receive from Emerald’s events should help incentivize customers to deploy more marketing dollars with Emerald, ultimately driving higher revenue per customer. The data we generate should also create efficiencies within Emerald’s sales efforts by enabling cross-selling of events, content, and e-commerce opportunities, contributing to lower sales costs and higher margins.

Our History

In June 2013, certain investment funds managed by an affiliate of Onex Corporation (such funds, collectively with Onex Partners V LP, “Onex”) acquired our business from an affiliate of Nielsen Holdings N.V. (the “Onex Acquisition”). We have since focused on expanding our portfolio of leading events organically, complemented by an increased focus on acquisitions. Since the Onex Acquisition, we have acquired and integrated 25 industry-leading,

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high-quality events and complementary businesses of various sizes for aggregate consideration of approximately $921 million.

In June 2020, we entered into an investment agreement with Onex Partners V LP (“Onex Partners V”), pursuant to which we agreed to issue to Onex Partners V, in a private placement transaction, 47,058,332 shares of our 7% Series A Convertible Participating Preferred Stock (the “redeemable convertible preferred stock”) for a purchase price of $5.60 per share (the “Series A Price per Share”), for which we received aggregate proceeds of approximately $252.0 million, net of fees and estimated expenses of $11.6 million. In conjunction with the investment agreement with Onex Partners V, we announced a rights offering to holders of our outstanding common stock of one non-transferable subscription right for each share of our common stock held, with each right entitling the holder to purchase one share of redeemable convertible preferred stock at the Series A Price per Share, backstopped by Onex Partners V (the “Onex Backstop”). The rights offering was completed in July of 2020. We received net proceeds of approximately $9.7 million from this rights offering. Pursuant to the Onex Backstop, on August 13, 2020, an additional 22,660,587 shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock were sold to Onex in exchange for proceeds of approximately $121.3 million, net of fees and expenses of $5.6 million.

As of December 31, 2022, Onex owned 47,058,332 shares of our common stock, representing 69.6% of our outstanding common stock. In addition, as of December 31, 2022, Onex owned 69,718,919 shares of our redeemable convertible preferred stock, representing 178,807,950 shares of our common stock on an as-converted basis, after accounting for the accumulated accreting return at a rate per annum equal to 7% on the accreted liquidation preference and paid in-kind. Onex’s beneficial ownership of our common stock, on an as-converted basis, is approximately 88.3%.

In 2022, we completed two acquisitions. In June, we acquired Advertising Week, a global event and thought leadership platform focused on marketing, media, technology, and culture. In July, we acquired Bulletin, an online wholesale market for retail where brands, buyers and designers gather to connect and discover new products. We believe this acquisition will infuse the NY NOW Gift and Home Show with Bulletin's industry expertise and extensive customer base of brands and retailers.

In 2021, we completed two acquisitions. In April, we acquired Sue Bryce Education and the Portrait Masters, a subscription-based photography business education and e-learning service with a photography conference.

On December 31, 2021, we purchased substantially all of the assets associated with a business known and operated as MJBiz (“MJBiz”), a leading event producer and content platform serving the wide range of commercial companies operating in the rapidly growing cannabis industry. MJBiz produces MJBizCon, the oldest and leading B2B cannabis trade show in America; the Emerald conference, which focuses on science and data analysis in the cannabis industry; and media brands including MjBizDaily, Hemp Industry Daily and MJBIZ Magazine. At the November 2022 live event, MJBizCon featured more than 1,400 exhibiting companies and 22,400 attendees. In addition to diversifying and enhancing Emerald’s portfolio in a high growth industry, the addition of MJBiz further accelerates our strategy of delivering 365-day customer engagement.

Products and Services

We operate leading trade shows in multiple attractive, fragmented industry sectors that represent significant portions of the U.S. economy and serve a large and diverse set of global exhibitors and attendees. This fragmentation of exhibitors and attendees is an especially important characteristic of the trade show industry. Trade shows provide a centralized platform for interaction between large numbers of qualified buyers and sellers (a “many-to-many” environment) within a short period of time, thus enhancing the value delivered to all trade show participants. Further, the highly fragmented nature of our markets enhances the stability of our entire platform as the loss of any single exhibitor or attendee is unlikely to affect the value delivered to and participation of other exhibitors or attendees.

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Trade Shows & Other Events

The following is a summary of several of our trade shows and other events by sector and a discussion of our complementary products.

Retail

Spanning a vast market of products, our retail experiences cover merchandising, licensing, sourcing, and marketing to enable professionals to shop intelligently, make informed decisions, and meet consumer demands. Buying customers are able to discover rare finds and big sellers in a complete marketplace of options, along with new brands, potential partners, and beneficial seminars across popular and profitable categories. Events produced in this category include:

☐ ASD Market Week (“ASD”) ☐ JA New York

☐ COUTURE ☐ NY NOW

☐ Impressions ☐ Outdoor Retailer (“OR”)

☐ Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show ☐ Surf Expo

Design & Construction

Our shows in the Design & Construction industry sector catering to the construction, hospitality, and interior design sectors serving the hotel, resort, retail, healthcare facilities, restaurant, bar, spa, and in-store marketing categories. Targeted attendees include interior designers, architects, owners and operators, developers, and specifiers and purchasers working within these industries. This sector is well-suited for trade shows because design and construction are highly visual and tactile processes, requiring the in-person experience and interaction provided by trade shows. By aggregating a wide range of products under one roof, these trade shows save time and expense for designers and other attendees who would otherwise have to independently visit hundreds of showrooms that may be located in different cities. Examples of our events produced in this category include:

☐ Boutique Design New York (“BDNY”) ☐ Hospitality Design Expo

Technology

With technology expanding at a rapid pace, professionals in every aspect of commerce—from engineering to electronics, and visual arts to security—must stay on top of the latest advancements to help them stay informed, efficient, and competitive. Our technology events provide experiences that connect businesses of all sizes with innovative products, operational strategies, and integration opportunities to drive new business, increased profits, and streamlined processes. Through exciting show floors, thought leadership, and networking events, decision-makers in these industries can thrive in the midst of digital progress and change. Some examples of our events produced in this category include:

☐ CEDIA Expo ☐ Prosper

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☐ Digital Dealer ☐ RFID Journal Live (“RFID Live”)

Equipment

Our equipment experiences outfit aerospace, construction, industrial, medical, and hospitality professionals with the tools and resources necessary to operate, build, and repair structures, vehicles, and devices of every kind. These events and surrounding platforms serve as a marketplace featuring vendors and innovative products and services, as well as educational centers, supporting a wide array of industries. Examples of our events produced in this category include:

☐ Fastener ☐ National Pavement Expo

☐ Medtrade ☐ PhotoPlus Expo

Safety

Seeking the innovations to ensure physical and cyber security, these experiences prepare professionals with advanced systems, training, and networking. With an integration of events and media, representatives and decision-makers from leading-edge companies have access to key resources year-round. Examples of our events produced in this category include:

☐ Campus Safety ☐ Security Sales & Integration

☐ Marine Military Expos

Other Marketing Services

Other Marketing Services consist of print publications and digital media products that complement our trade show properties, which generated 9.1% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022. These print and digital media products are closely aligned with several of our events across the portfolio categories, facilitating year-round customer contact, new customer generation and content marketing vehicles. Some examples of these products are:

☐ Healthcare Design ☐ Kitchen & Bath Business (“KBB”)

☐ Hospitality Design ☐ Pizza Today

☐ MJBiz Daily

Subscription Software and Services

We provide software-as-a-service technology through our Elastic Suite platform. Elastic Suite’s platform streamlines the wholesale buying process for both brands and retail buyers, creating a digital year-round transactional platform for use by Emerald’s customers. We believe this platform will accelerate Emerald’s strategy to provide 365-day-per-year engagement for our customer base, regardless of location, by expanding our digital commerce capabilities and providing our customers with transactional functionality, including enterprise-level integration to brands’ enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) systems, allowing customers to manage orders, real-time inventory, and product merchandising. Elastic Suite is integrated with leading manufacturers and retailers across numerous industries, most notably in the outdoor, surf, cycling, footwear and sporting goods verticals, and is expected to complement Emerald’s portfolio of leading show brands, including OR and Surf Expo, among others. Elastic Suite’s B2B platform bridges the gap between sellers’ order processing systems and allows brands to sell directly to their buyers using

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print-free digital product catalogs and merchandising technology, enabling brands to increase their efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and profitability.

Reportable Segments

As described in Note 18, Segment Information, in the notes to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the determination of our reportable segments is consistent with the information provided our Chief Executive Officer, who is considered the chief operating decision-maker (the "CODM"). The CODM evaluates performance based on the results of seven executive brand portfolios, which represent our seven operating segments. Based on an evaluation of economic similarities and the nature of services and types of customers, five of these operating segments have been aggregated into two reportable segments, the "Commerce" reportable segment and the "Design, Creative & Technology" reportable segment. The remaining two operating segments do not meet the quantitative thresholds to be considered reportable segments and are included in the “All Other” category. In addition, we have a "Corporate-Level Activities" category consisting of finance, legal, information technology and administrative functions. Prior year disclosures below have been updated to reflect the new reportable segment structure described in Note 18, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Segment Information.”

The following discussion provides additional detailed disclosure for the two reportable segments, the "All Other" category and the "Corporate-Level Activity" category:

Commerce: This segment includes events and services covering merchandising, licensing, retail sourcing and marketing to enable professionals to make informed decisions and meet consumer demands.

Design, Creative & Technology: This segment includes events and services that support a wide variety of industries connecting businesses and professionals with products, operational strategies, and integration opportunities to drive new business and streamline processes and creative solutions.

All Other: This category consists of Emerald’s remaining operating segments, which provide diverse events and services but are not aggregated with the reportable segments.

Corporate-Level Activity: This category consists of Emerald’s finance, legal, information technology and administrative functions.

Competition

The trade show industry is highly fragmented, with approximately 9,400 B2B trade shows held per year in the United States according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, of which a majority are owned by industry associations, according to Advanced Market Research. Individual trade shows typically compete for attendees and exhibitors only against the other trade shows that are relevant to their industry vertical. The level of competition each of our trade shows faces therefore varies by industry vertical. In addition, the Elastic Suite platform competes with several other well-capitalized software-as-a-service technology platforms.

Other well-established for-profit companies competing in the U.S. trade show industry include Reed Exhibitions, Informa Exhibitions and Clarion Events.

Seasonality

As is typical for the trade show industry, our business has historically been seasonal, with our pre-COVID revenue recognized from trade shows typically reaching its highest level during the first and third quarters of each calendar year, entirely due to the timing of our trade shows. As a result of the MJBiz and Advertising Week acquisitions at the end of 2021 and during the second quarter of 2022, respectively, our seasonality trend shifted, where revenue now typically reaches its highest level during the first and fourth quarters of each calendar year, entirely due to the timing of our live events.

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Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property and proprietary rights are important to our business. We undertake to strategically and proactively develop our intellectual property portfolio by registering our trademarks. We currently rely primarily on trademark laws to protect our intellectual property rights. We do not own, but have a license to use, certain trademarks belonging to an industry association in connection with our KBIS and CEDIA Expo. The KBIS license runs through 2043 and the CEDIA Expo license continues in perpetuity. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Intellectual Property and Information Technology” for further discussion relating to our trademarks.

Human Capital Resources

At Emerald, we consider our employees to be the foundation of our growth and success. As such, our future depends in large part on our ability to attract, retain, and motivate qualified and diverse personnel.

As of December 31, 2022, we had 759 full-time employees. Our management team principally works from our New York City headquarters (60 employees) and our Southern California corporate offices (67 employees), with members of our sales team located throughout the United States, mainly near the geographic markets they serve. As of February 2, 2023, our senior management team was 49% female and our overall employee population was 63% female.

Career development at Emerald is fostered through ongoing employee feedback, performance reviews and employee satisfaction surveys. These surveys regularly solicit employees’ to help Emerald track progress and the well-being of our workforce. In addition to monthly town halls conducted by our CEO, which foster transparent and consistent communication throughout the company, Emerald hosts a company-wide, in-person conference called ACE (Agility, Commitment and Excellence). ACE brings team members from around the country together to reconnect, face-to-face, and take part in presentations from top executives and smaller breakout sessions that focused on Emerald’s new business ventures, strategic roadmap and an employee award presentation which recognized individuals chosen by their peers as true leaders.

Emerald’s corporate culture and benefits offerings are also designed to meet the wide range of needs of our workforce including:

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Flexible work hours and paid time off policy for employees to do their best work;

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Comprehensive welfare package that includes a wide variety of benefits, such as domestic partner coverage, medical, dental and vision plan options with reduced premiums;

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Opportunities to build a solid financial foundation, including 401k plans with an employer match and the ability to participate in an Employee Stock Ownership Plan;

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Opportunities to give back in impactful ways through the Emerald Cares volunteer program; and

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On-the-job training, development opportunities, and quality experiences designed to help all Emerald team members elevate their knowledge, and skills, and to further their careers.

These resources are intended to support the physical, emotional and financial well-being of our employees.

In order to protect our workforce from the outbreak of COVID-19, in March 2020, Emerald transitioned all of our employees to a remote/work-from-home arrangement, and as of November 2021, we permanently adopted a hybrid work structure whereby employees have the flexibility to work from home and come in to the office to maximize in-person collaboration As we have resumed in-person events, we have prioritized the health and safety of our employees as well as our exhibitors and attendees, taking extensive COVID-19 protective measures.

Emerald is not involved in any material disputes with our employees and we believe that relations with our employees are good. None of our employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements with unions. However, some facilities where we hold our trade shows require our decorators to use unionized labor.

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Commitment to Corporate Sustainability and Governance

Emerald is dedicated to advancing its Environmental, Social and Governance practices. To that end, we are committed to minimizing our environmental impact with the goal of reducing the environmental footprint of our events. In partnership with the global Net Zero Carbon Events initiative, Emerald has taken the Net Zero Carbon Events pledge to chart a path towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with an interim goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. As part of this pledge, we have undertaken to identify and prioritize actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including energy management, water conservation, materials management, food and beverage waste reduction, sustainable procurement, stakeholder management and employee engagement initiatives.

We are working to develop, gather and track key event metrics to measure the environmental impact of our events and benchmark success against our pledged goals. We intend to collaborate with key partners and suppliers throughout the event industry, including venues, hotels, and general service contractors in furtherance of our sustainability initiatives.

Emerald also knows its ultimate success is directly linked to its ability to identify and hire talented individuals from all backgrounds and perspectives, and we are committed to developing and fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion. In January 2022, we hired an experienced leader to act as our Chair of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, who helps us to build upon our existing programs and maintain best practices to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment. Further, as part of our commitment to equity, we have partnered with the non-profit organization called OneTen, which cultivates economic opportunities for Black talent in the United States with a goal of providing one million jobs to Black individuals within the next ten years. In order to partner with OneTen, employers must agree to certain commitments, such as significantly increasing the hiring of Black employees for family-sustaining jobs that do not require 4-year college degrees. At the same time, we have also eliminated the college-degree requirement for a range of positions to expand the application process to include candidates with more diverse backgrounds, skills and experiences. We also require all hiring personnel to attend training programs focused on unconscious bias training and interview skills. Notably, Emerald is one of fifteen organizations that formed The COUTURE Diversity Action Council ("DAC"), which strives to be a catalyst for addressing the issues of systemic and institutionalized discrimination that have contributed to the lack of diversity within the fine jewelry industry. DAC’s purpose is to contribute to the creation of a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable industry through the implementation of mentoring and other programs and initiatives that promote and support Black, Indigenous, People of Color ("BIPOC") within all facets of the jewelry ecosystem.

Providing all our employees with the resources to develop their talents, grow their careers and reach their goals is a top priority at Emerald. To enable this, the Company provides numerous opportunities for employees to expand their professional and personal development, including unlimited access to Skillsoft’s online platform which provides continuous learning and career enhancement resources coupled with formal sales development and training from a professional sales coach. Emerald also offers a yearlong wellness program led by a top mindfulness coach focused on employees’ mental health and well-being.

Insurance

We maintain insurance policies to cover the principal risks associated with our business, including event cancellation, business interruption, workers’ compensation, directors’ and officers’ liability, cyber security, product liability, auto, property, and umbrella and excess liability insurance. All of our insurance policies are with third-party carriers and syndicates with financial ratings of A or better. We believe the premiums, deductibles, coverage limits and scope of coverage under such policies are reasonable and appropriate for our business. Event cancellation insurance provides coverage that allows us to refund a proportionate share, relative to the compromised enforced attendance reduction or show closure, of the deposits and booth and sponsorship fees paid to us by exhibitors in the event that we are forced to cancel a trade show or other event for reasons covered by the policies, such as natural disasters, terrorism, or venue closures. Business interruption insurance provides further coverage for our office property leases in cases where we are not able to conduct ongoing business, including sales and event planning. The continued availability of appropriate insurance policies on commercially reasonable terms is important to our ability to operate our business and to maintain our reputation.

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Our event cancellation insurance policies protect against losses due to the unavoidable cancellation, postponement, relocation and enforced reduced attendance at events due to certain covered causes. Specifically, for the policies covering calendar years 2020 and 2021, these causes included event cancellation caused by the outbreak of communicable diseases, including COVID-19. However, coverage for the outbreak of communicable disease, including COVID-19, is not included in our 2022 or subsequent event cancellation insurance policies. In addition, coverage for each of our event cancellation insurance policies extends to include additional promotional and marketing expenses necessarily incurred by us should a covered loss occur. These policies also include a terrorism endorsement covering an act of terrorism and/or threat of terrorism directed at the insured event or within the United States or its territories. The aggregate limit for our renewed 2022 primary event cancellation insurance policy is $100.0 million. The Company also obtained a similar separate event cancellation insurance policy for the Surf Expo Winter 2022 and Surf Expo Summer 2022 shows, with a coverage limit of $8.4 million and $6.5 million, respectively.

On August 3, 2022, we reached an agreement to settle outstanding insurance litigation relating to event cancellation insurance for proceeds of $148.6 million. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded other income, net of $182.8 million related to event cancellation insurance claim and settlement proceeds deemed to be realizable by our management team. All of the other income, net for the year ended December 31, 2022 was received during the period. We received payments of $95.2 million from our insurance carrier to recover the lost revenues, net of costs saved, of the affected trade shows during the year ended December 31, 2021 and we concluded that the receipt of $17.8 million of additional insurance proceeds was realizable as of December 31, 2020. As a result, during the year ended December 31, 2021, we reported other income, net of $77.4 million to recognize the amount that was recovered from the insurance company. We received payments of $89.2 million from our insurance carrier to recover the lost revenues, net of costs saved, of the affected trade shows during the year ended December 31, 2020 and we concluded that the receipt of $17.8 million of additional insurance proceeds was realizable as of December 31, 2020. As a result, during the year ended December 31, 2020, we reported other income, net of $107.0 million to recognize the amount that was recovered from the insurance company.

See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” for further discussion relating to our event cancellation insurance coverage and proceeds received under the Company’s policies.

Available Information

Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, are filed with the SEC. We are subject to the informational requirements of the Exchange Act and file or furnish reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Such reports and other information filed by us with the SEC are available free of charge on our website at investor.emeraldx.com when such reports are made available on the SEC’s website. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. The contents of these websites are not incorporated into this filing. Further, our references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors.

RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following factors, as well as other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, in evaluating our Company and business. If any of the following risks occur, our business, results of operations, and financial condition may be materially adversely affected.

Risks Relating to Our Industry and Macroeconomic Conditions

Our operations, business and financial results have been, and may in the future be, materially impacted by COVID-19 or future public health emergencies, including outbreaks of communicable disease.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the actions taken by governments around the world to combat the virus have negatively impacted and may in the future negatively impact our revenues from our live events, which depend on our ability to hold such in-person events and the willingness of exhibitors and attendees to attend. These governmental actions have included limitations and bans on travel or transportation; limitations on the size of gatherings; closures of work facilities, public buildings and businesses; cancellation of events, including trade shows, conferences and meetings; and quarantines and lockdowns. The pandemic and its consequences forced us to cancel or postpone a substantial portion of our event calendar for 2020 and 2021. These cancellations and postponements have had, and any future such cancellations and postponements could have, a material negative impact on our business, operations, and financial results. While we operated a full slate of events in 2022, exhibitor participation and attendance at some our trade shows was still below pre-pandemic levels. The extent to which COVID-19 continues to impact our business, operations, and financial results, including the duration and magnitude of such effects, will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict or assess, including the advent of new variants; government, social and business restrictions on in-person events; the availability, adoption and efficacy of vaccines and treatments; and the effect of the pandemic on short and long term general economic conditions. The impact of COVID-19 could also cause a long-term reduction in the willingness of exhibitors and attendees to travel to our events, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

Attendance at our shows has declined as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and may continue to decline due to disruptions in global or local travel conditions, such as congestion at airports, the risk of or an actual terrorist action, adverse weather or outbreaks or fear of communicable diseases.

Our business depends largely on the ability and willingness of people, whether exhibitors or attendees, to travel to our events. As a result, factors that depress the ability or desire of attendees and exhibitors to travel, including, but not limited to: outbreaks of contagious disease, such as COVID-19; increased costs associated with air travel; an increased frequency of flight delays or accidents; actual or threatened terrorist attacks; the imposition of heightened security standards; bans or travel restrictions on visitors from foreign countries; delays in acquiring visas for travel to the United States; or acts of nature, such as earthquakes, storms and other natural disasters. These factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. In addition to the impact of COVID-19, in the past we have experienced disruptions to several events due to hurricanes in Florida, and may be forced to cancel or re-locate future trade shows in the event of other natural or man-made disasters. While we are generally insured against direct losses resulting from event cancellations due to circumstances outside of our reasonable control, our event cancellation insurance policies for 2022 and future years did not include coverage for losses due to the outbreak of communicable disease, including COVID-19. Furthermore, the occurrence of one or more of the factors described above, including a prolonged recovery from COVID-19 or a spike or resurgence in cases of COVID-19, could cause a long-term reduction in the willingness of exhibitors and attendees to travel to attend our trade shows, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

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General economic conditions may have an adverse impact on the industry sectors in which our trade shows, conferences and other events operate and therefore may negatively affect demand for exhibition space and attendance at our trade shows, conferences and other events.

In addition to general domestic and global economic conditions affecting our business, certain industry-specific conditions could affect our trade shows, conferences and other events. The longer a recession or economic downturn continues, or the longer a particular industry sector is impacted by macroeconomic headwinds, the more likely it becomes that our customers reduce their marketing and advertising or procurement budgets. Any material decrease in marketing or procurement budgets could reduce the demand for exhibition space or reduce attendance at our trade shows, conferences and other events, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

We and our customers may also be adversely affected by the impact of the rise of interest rates and sustained inflationary conditions. Interest rates remained at relatively low levels on a historical basis for much of 2021, as the Federal Reserve maintained the federal funds target range at 0.0% to 0.25%. However, in March 2022, the Federal Reserve approved a 0.25% rate increase, and in each of June, July and September of 2022, it approved a further 0.75% rate increase to as high as 4.75% in February 2023. Additionally, inflation influences interest rates, which in turn impact the fair value of our investments and yields on new investments. While inflation has not historically had a material effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition, if our costs were to become subject to significant inflationary pressures, we may not be able to fully offset such higher costs. Our inability or failure to do so could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. Operating expenses, including cost of labor, are impacted to a certain degree by the inflation rate as well.

Increased spending on digital marketing and advertising, or other marketing channels, could reduce the amount spent on in-person trade shows.

The success of our trade shows depends on the willingness of companies to continue committing marketing budget allocations towards in-person shows and live events. Alternative channels for marketing spend such as digital, social media and telemarketing could draw marketing budgets away from in-person trade shows and live events. Moreover, digital marketing and social media have experienced meaningful growth over the last several years and, although we have not observed a material decline in demand for our trade shows as a result of the increasing use of the internet and social media for advertising and marketing, the increasing influence of online marketing and any resulting reductions or eliminations of the budgets our participants allocate to our trade shows could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Operations

Our inability to secure or retain desirable dates and locations for our trade shows could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

The date and location of a trade show can impact its profitability, prospects and the demand and competition for desirable dates and locations for trade shows is high. Consistent with industry practice, we typically maintain multi-year non-binding reservations for dates at our trade show venues. Aside from a nominal deposit in some cases, we do not pay for these reservations. However, these reservations are not binding on the facility owners until we execute a definitive contract with the owners and we are not always provided notice before the venue is rented to a third party during the reservation period. We typically sign contracts that guarantee the right to specific dates at venues only one or two years in advance. Therefore, our multi-year reservations may not lead to binding contracts with facility owners. Consistency in location and all other aspects of our trade shows is important to maintaining a high retention rate from year to year, and we rely on our highly loyal customer base for the success of our shows. Moving major shows to new cities, such as the move of OR from Denver, Colorado to Salt Lake City, Utah in January 2023, can adversely affect customer behavior. Similarly, significant timing and frequency changes, such as the move of OR Winter Market from November 2019 to January 2020 and the shift from a three-show to two-show format for OR in 2019, can also result in unanticipated customer reactions. External factors such as legislation and government policies at the local or state level, including policy related to social, political and economic issues, may weaken the desire of exhibitors and attendees to attend our trade shows held in certain locations, or cause us to move our trade shows.

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The success of each of our trade shows depends on the strong reputation of that show’s brand.

Our exhibitors and attendees primarily know us by the names of our trade shows that operate in their specific industry sector rather than by our corporate brand name, Emerald. In addition, a single brand name is sometimes used for shows that occur more than once a year. For example, the brand name “ASD Market Week” is used at our ASD Market Week March and ASD Market Week August shows. If the image or reputation of one or more of these shows is tarnished, it could impact the number of exhibitors and attendees attending those shows. A decline in one of our larger shows could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

If we fail to attract leading brands as exhibitors in, or high-quality attendees to, our trade shows, we may lose the benefit of the self-reinforcing “network effect” that many of our shows enjoy today.

The leading brands represented by our exhibitors attract attendees who, in many cases, have authority to make purchasing decisions, or who offer other benefits (such as publicity or press coverage) by virtue of their attendance. The presence of these exhibitors and attendees creates the self-reinforcing “network effect” that benefits our business; however, if representatives of leading brands decide for any reason not to participate in our trade shows, the number and quality of attendees could decline, which could lead to a rapid decline in the results of one or more trade shows and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

We may fail to accurately monitor or respond to changing market trends and adapt our trade show portfolio accordingly.

Our success depends in part upon our ability to monitor changing market trends and to adapt our trade shows, acquire existing trade shows or launch new trade shows to meet the evolving needs of existing and emerging target audiences. The process of researching, developing, launching, relaunching and establishing profitability for a new trade show may lead to initial operating losses. Our strategy is to launch new trade shows from time to time in order to take advantage of these trends. Our efforts to adapt our trade shows, or to introduce new trade shows into our portfolio, in response to our perception of changing market trends, may not succeed, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

We may face increased competition from existing trade show operators or new competitors.

Although the trade show market is highly fragmented, we currently face increased competition in certain of our industry sectors. Further, our high profit margins and low start-up costs could encourage new operators to enter the trade show business. Both existing and new competitors present an alternative to our product offerings, and if competition increases or others are successful in attracting away our exhibitors and attendees, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

A significant portion of our revenue has historically been generated by a concentrated number of our top trade shows.

We have historically depended on a concentrated number of our top trade shows to generate a significant portion of our revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2022, which is the last year in which our operations were not materially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, our top five shows represented 29% of our total revenues. While we continue to make efforts to diversify our business, a significant decline in the performance or prospects of any one of our top trade shows could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We may not fully realize the expected results and/or operating efficiencies associated with our strategic initiatives or restructuring programs, which may have an adverse impact on our business.

We depend on our ability to evolve and grow, and as changes in our business environment occur, we may adjust our business plans by introducing new strategic initiatives or restructuring programs to meet these changes. Recent strategic initiatives include our efforts to (i) implement event plans to standardize marketing and sales planning across our event portfolio, (ii) introduce value-based pricing in order to improve transparency and customer satisfaction while

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driving yield improvement, and (iii) enhance our data analytics capabilities to develop new commercial insights. If we are not able to effectively execute on our strategic initiatives, if we do not adequately leverage technology to improve operating efficiencies or if we are unable to develop the data analytics capabilities needed to generate actionable commercial insights, our business performance may be impacted, which may negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.

Our acquisition growth strategy entails risk and our future acquisitions may not be successful.

We may explore opportunities to purchase or invest in other businesses or assets that we believe will complement, enhance or expand our current business or that might otherwise offer us growth opportunities. Any transactions we identify may entail various risks, including, among others:

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the risks inherent in identifying desirable acquisition candidates, including management time spent away from running our core business and external costs associated with identifying such acquisition candidates;

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the risk that we turn out to be wrong with respect to selecting and consummating what we had believed to be accretive acquisitions;

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the risk of overpaying for a particular acquisition;

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the risks of failing to successfully integrate acquisitions and retain the key employees and/or customers of acquired businesses;

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the risks inherent in expanding into new lines of business, including our expansion into the digital commerce software-as-a-service business through the acquisition of PlumRiver, LLC (“PlumRiver”) which included the Elastic Suite product, and our recent acquisition of Bulletin Inc., a digital wholesale platform connecting brands and buyers;

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the risks inherent in expanding our existing business into new categories or industries, including our recent expansion into the highly regulated cannabis industry through the acquisition of MJBiz;

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the risks inherent in expanding into consumer events through our acquisition of the Overland Expo outdoor adventure events from Lodestone;

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the risks relating to potential unknown liabilities of acquired businesses;

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the cultural, execution, currency, tax and other risks associated with any future international expansion; and

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the risks associated with financing an acquisition, which may involve diluting our existing stockholders, reducing our liquidity or incurring additional debt, which in turn could result in increased debt service costs and/or a requirement to comply with certain financial or other covenants.

In furtherance of our strategy of growth through acquisitions, we routinely review and conduct investigations of potential acquisitions, some of which may be material. When we believe a favorable opportunity exists, we typically seek to enter into discussions with target shows or sellers regarding the possibility of such acquisitions. At any given time, we may be in discussions with one or more counterparties. There can be no assurances that any such negotiations will lead to definitive agreements, or if such agreements are reached, that any transactions would be consummated.

The acquisition of MJBiz may subject us to new regulatory, business and financial risks relating to the cannabis industry.

On December 31, 2021, we completed the acquisition of MJBiz. MJBiz publishes MJBiz Daily, a leading publication addressing business, regulatory, operational and legal issues relevant to the cannabis and hemp industries, and also sponsors the annual MJBizCon, a trade event and conference for the cannabis industry. Although we do not grow, sell or distribute cannabis products, and sale and distribution of cannabis products are not permitted at

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MJBiz-sponsored events, our connection with businesses that serve the cannabis industry could subject us to regulatory, financial, operational and reputational risks and challenges.

Under U.S. federal law, and more specifically the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), the cultivation, processing, distribution, sale, advertisement, and possession of cannabis are illegal, notwithstanding the legalization of sales for medicinal or adult recreational use in many individual states. As a result, federal law enforcement authorities, or authorities in certain U.S. jurisdictions that criminalize the processing, sale or possession of cannabis products, may seek to bring criminal actions against exhibitors, attendees or subscribers to MJBiz’s events and publications. If our exhibitors or customers are found to be violating applicable state or federal law relating to cannabis, they may be subject not only to criminal charges and convictions, but also to forfeiture of property, significant fines and penalties, disgorgement of profits, administrative sanctions, cessation of business activities, or civil liabilities arising from proceedings initiated by either government entities or private citizens. Further, the perception that businesses that participate in MJBiz events or subscribe to or advertise in MJBiz publications are engaged in or promoting socially undesirable activity could have an adverse impact on our overall corporate reputation. In addition, the breadth of federal conspiracy and aiding and abetting statutes could potentially subject us to prosecution for aiding and abetting or conspiring to violate the CSA by virtue of our sponsoring events or publications that are directed to businesses that directly or indirectly service the cannabis industry. Any of these actions or consequences could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition, particularly if law enforcement authorities seek to treat MJBiz as participating directly in the cannabis industry.

We rely on digital media and print publications to stay in close contact with, and market to, our existing event audiences.

Our ability to effectively engage with target audiences for our events depends in part on our ability to generate engaging and informative content for our other marketing services, including our digital media and print publication properties. The media industry is highly competitive and continues to evolve rapidly, with an increasing number of alternative methods for the production and delivery of content. If we are unable to generate timely and relevant content for our audiences, exploit new and existing technologies to distinguish our digital media and print publications from those of our competitors, or adapt to new distribution methods in order to provide enhanced user experiences, both our other marketing services and event revenues could decline, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

A loss or disruption of the services from one or more of the limited number of outside contractors who specialize in decoration, facility set-up and other services in connection with our trade shows could harm our business.

We, and to a greater extent, our exhibitors, use a limited number of outside contractors for decoration, facility set-up and other services in connection with our trade shows, and we and our exhibitors rely on the availability, capability and willingness of these contractors to provide services on a timely basis and on favorable economic and other terms. Notwithstanding our long-term contracts with many of these contractors, many factors outside our control could harm these relationships and the availability, capability or willingness of these contractors to provide these services on acceptable terms. The partial or complete loss of services from these contractors, or a significant adverse change in our or our exhibitors’ relationships with any of these contractors, could result in service delays, reputational damage and/or added costs that could harm our business and customer relationships to the extent we or our exhibitors are unable to replace them in a timely or cost-effective fashion, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

In addition, some facilities where we hold our trade shows require decorators, facility set-up and other service providers to use unionized labor. Any union strikes or work stoppages could result in delays in launching or running our trade shows and other events held at such facilities, reputational damage and/or added costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

The industry associations that sponsor and market certain of our trade shows could cease to do so effectively or could be replaced or supplemented by new industry associations who do not sponsor or market our trade shows.

We often enter into long-term sponsorship agreements with industry associations whereby the industry association endorses and markets our trade show to its members, typically in exchange for a percentage of the trade

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show’s revenue. Our success depends, in part, on our continued relationships with these industry associations and our ability to enter into similar relationships with other industry associations. Although we frequently enter into long-term agreements with these counterparties, these relationships remain subject to various risks, including, among others:

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failure of an industry trade association to renew a sponsorship agreement upon its expiration;

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termination of a sponsorship agreement by an industry trade association in specified circumstances;

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the willingness, ability and effectiveness of an industry trade association to market our trade shows to its members;

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dissolution of an industry trade association and/or the failure of a new industry trade association to support us; and

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the ability on the part of an industry trade association to organize a trade show itself.

Any disruptions or impediments in these existing relationships, or the inability to establish a new relationship, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

We face risks associated with event cancellations or other interruptions to our business, which our insurance may not fully cover.

We maintain business interruption, event cancellation, casualty, general commercial and umbrella and excess liability insurance, as well as policies relating to workers’ compensation, director and officer insurance, property and product liability insurance, and cyber security insurance. Our insurance policies may not cover all risks associated with the operation of our business and may not be sufficient to offset the costs of all losses, lost sales or increased costs experienced during business interruptions or event cancellations. For example, in addition to the impact of COVID-19, we previously experienced disruptions to several events held in Florida due to hurricanes, and we may be forced to cancel future trade shows in the event of other natural or man-made disasters. Our recent claims history due to COVID-19, combined with the increased frequency of natural disasters due to climate change or other factors, has resulted in increased event cancellation insurance premiums and higher deductibles, and we cannot guarantee that such premium increases will not continue in the future or that we will be able to renew our insurance policies or procure other desirable insurance on commercially reasonably terms, if at all. Further, while we have been able to secure event cancellation insurance for the calendar year 2023, this insurance policy does not include coverage for event cancellations due to the outbreak of communicable disease, including COVID-19. Losses and liabilities from uninsured or underinsured events and delay in the payment of insurance proceeds could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Failure to establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.

We are required to comply with the SEC’s rules implementing Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which require management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports, provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting and include the attestation form from our independent registered public accounting firm. If we do not develop and maintain effective internal controls, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse, which would be required if there are material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.

In connection with becoming a public company, we have undertaken various actions, and will need to take additional actions, such as implementing numerous internal controls and hiring additional accounting or internal audit staff or consultants. We have hired a third-party service provider to assist us with implementation of our internal audit function. Testing and maintaining internal control over financial reporting can divert our management’s attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. Additionally, when evaluating our internal control over financial reporting, we may identify material weaknesses that we may not be able to remediate on a timely basis. If we identify any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an unqualified opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock

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could be negatively affected, and we could become subject to investigations by the New York Stock Exchange, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources. In addition, if we fail to remedy any material weakness, our financial statements could be inaccurate and we could face restricted access to capital markets.

As of December 31, 2022, we no longer qualified as an “emerging growth company” and as a result will incur additional costs.

As of December 31, 2022, we no longer qualified as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. Accordingly, we have become subject to certain disclosure and compliance requirements that did not previously apply to us, such as (i) engaging with an independent registered public accounting firm to provide an attestation report on our internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) submitting certain executive compensation matters to stockholder advisory votes and (iii) disclosing a compensation discussion and analysis, including disclosure regarding certain executive compensation related items, such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the chief executive officer’s compensation to median employee compensation. We expect that the loss of emerging growth company status and compliance with the additional requirements of being an accelerated filer will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and cause management and other personnel to divert their attention from operational and other business matters to devote substantial time to public company reporting requirements. In addition, if we are not able to comply with changing requirements in a timely manner, the market price of our stock could decline and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the New York Stock Exchange, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources.

We have identified in the past material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to develop and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us; materially and adversely affect our business and operating results; and expose us to potential litigation.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis. Specifically, we did not design and maintain effective controls related to the evaluation of the impact of the arrangement’s terms and conditions on the accounting and reporting for preferred stock instruments. This material weakness resulted in the restatement of our previously filed consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020, as well as the quarterly condensed consolidated financial information for the 2020 interim periods ended June 30, September 30, and December 31, 2020 related to temporary equity, permanent equity, additional paid in capital, accretion to redemption value of redeemable convertible preferred stock, net loss and comprehensive loss attributable to common shareholders, loss per share and the related disclosures. Additionally, this material weakness could result in misstatements of the aforementioned account balances or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement to the annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would not be prevented or detected.

Effective internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we undertook efforts to remediate the material weaknesses. These remediation measures can be time consuming and costly. In order to remediate the material weakness, we have expended resources to enhance the design of our control activities related to the evaluation of the impact of the terms and conditions on the accounting and reporting for preferred stock issuances.

If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, we may be unable to maintain compliance with the requirements of securities laws, stock exchange listing rules, or debt instrument covenants regarding timely filing of information; we could lose access to sources of capital or liquidity; and investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. Though we have resolved existing material weaknesses as of December 31, 2022, we cannot assure you that the measures we may take in the future will be sufficient to avoid or remediate potential future material weaknesses.

As a result of the material weaknesses and the related restatements previously identified, and other matters raised or that may in the future be identified, we face potential for adverse regulatory consequences, including

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investigations, penalties or suspensions by the SEC or the New York Stock Exchange, litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the restatements and material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. As of the date of this filing, we have no knowledge of any such regulatory consequences, litigation, claim or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such regulatory consequences, litigation, claim or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such regulatory consequences, litigation, claim or dispute, whether successful or not, could subject us to additional costs, divert the attention of our management, or impair our reputation. Each of these consequences could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

During 2021 and 2022, we recorded noncash adjustments to our recorded asset balance for certain intangible assets, and we may be required to record further such adjustment in future periods that could significantly impact our operating results.

Our balance sheet includes significant intangible assets, including trade names, goodwill and other acquired intangible assets. The determination of related estimated useful lives and whether these assets have been impaired involves significant judgment and subjective assessments, including as to our future business performance, and is subject to factors and events over which we have no control. The impact of COVID-19 on our business, slower growth rates, the introduction of new competition into our markets or other external or macroeconomic factors could impair the value of our intangible assets if they create market conditions that adversely affect the competitiveness of our business. Further, declines in our market capitalization may be an indicator that the carrying values of our intangible assets or goodwill exceed their fair values, which could lead to potential impairments that could impact our operating results. For the year ended December 31, 2022 we recorded non-cash goodwill impairments of $6.3 million and non-cash intangible asset impairments of $1.6 million for certain trade names. For the year ended December 31, 2021, we recorded non-cash goodwill impairments of $7.2 million and non-cash intangible asset impairments of $24.3 million and $8.4 million for certain customer relationships and certain trade names, respectively. There can be no assurance that we will not record further impairment charges in future periods.

Changes in our income tax rates or other indirect taxes may affect our future financial results.

Our future effective income tax rates may be favorably or unfavorably affected by unanticipated changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, by changes in our stock price, or by changes in tax laws or their interpretation, including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in December 2017. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act introduced significant changes to U.S. income tax law. Accounting for the income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has required significant judgments and estimates as well as accumulation of information not previously provided for in U.S. tax law. In addition, we are subject to the continuous examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. These continuous examinations may result in unforeseen tax-related liabilities, which may harm our future financial results.

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) into law. The IRA establishes a 15% corporate minimum tax effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2022, and imposes a 1% excise tax on the repurchase after December 31, 2022 of stock by publicly traded corporations. We currently do not expect the tax-related provisions of the IRA to have a material impact on our financial results.

Risks Relating to our Indebtedness

Our significant indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and limit our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations.

We have a significant amount of indebtedness. As of December 31, 2022, we had $415.3 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, with $99.4 million in additional borrowing capacity under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility (as defined below) (after giving effect to $1.0 million of outstanding letters of credit).

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Our high level of indebtedness could have important consequences to us, including: limiting our ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures, investments or acquisitions or other general corporate requirements; requiring a substantial portion of our cash flows to be dedicated to debt service payments instead of other purposes, thereby reducing the amount of cash flows available for working capital, capital expenditures, investments or acquisitions or other general corporate purposes; increasing our vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions; exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates as borrowings under our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities (to the extent not hedged) bear interest at variable rates, including increases or changes resulting from the replacement or unavailability of LIBOR, which could further adversely impact our cash flows; limiting our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and the industry in which we compete; restricting us from making strategic acquisitions or causing us to make non-strategic divestitures; impairing or restricting our ability to repay or refinance borrowings under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility; impairing our ability to obtain additional financing in the future; and increasing our cost of borrowing.

Any one of these limitations could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows, results of operations and ability to satisfy our obligations in respect of our outstanding debt.

Despite our current debt levels, we may incur substantially more indebtedness, which could further exacerbate the risks associated with our substantial leverage.

We and our subsidiaries may be able to incur additional indebtedness in the future, which may be secured. While our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities limit our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to incur additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions and thus, notwithstanding these restrictions, we may still be able to incur substantially more debt. In addition, provided that no default or event of default (as defined in the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities) has occurred and is continuing, we have the option to request to add one or more incremental term loan or revolving credit facilities or increase commitments under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2022, we had $415.3 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, with $99.4 million in additional borrowing capacity under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility (after giving effect to $1.0 million of outstanding letters of credit). To the extent that we incur additional indebtedness, the risks that we now face related to our substantial indebtedness could increase.

The covenants in our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities impose restrictions that may limit our operating and financial flexibility.

Our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities contain, and any future debt agreements may contain, significant restrictions and covenants that limit our ability to operate our business, including restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness; pay dividends, repurchase or redeem our capital stock; prepay, redeem or repurchase specified indebtedness; create certain liens; sell, transfer or otherwise convey certain assets; consolidate, merger or transfer all or substantially all of our assets, make certain investments; engage in transactions with affiliates, and enter into new lines of business. In addition, the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility also contains a financial covenant requiring us to comply with a 5.50 to 1.00 total first lien net secured leverage ratio test. This financial covenant is tested quarterly if the aggregate amount of revolving loans, swingline loans and letters of credit outstanding under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility (net of up to $10.0 million of outstanding letters of credit) exceeds 35% of the total commitments thereunder.

As a result of these covenants, our ability to respond to changes in business and economic conditions and engage in beneficial transactions, including to obtain additional financing as needed, may be limited. Further, our compliance with these covenants may be affected by circumstances and events beyond our control. A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under our debt agreements, which could permit the holders to accelerate our obligation to repay the debt. If that occurs, we may not be able to make all of the required payments or borrow sufficient funds to refinance such debt. Even if new financing were available at that time, it may not be on terms that

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are acceptable to us or terms as favorable as our current agreements. If our debt is in default for any reason, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Relating to Ownership of Our Securities

The price of our common stock has fluctuated substantially from time to time and may continue to fluctuate substantially in the future.

Our stock price has been, and may continue to be, subject to significant fluctuations, and has decreased significantly from historical trading levels as a result of a variety of factors, some of which are beyond our control, such as volatility in the stock markets and the effects of COVID-19. We may fail to meet the expectations of our stockholders or securities analysts at some point in the future, and our stock price could decline further as a result. This volatility and the size of Onex’s investment in our equity securities may prevent you from being able to sell your common stock at or above the price you paid for your common stock. Additionally, further declines in our stock price could require further goodwill write-downs.

In addition, the stock markets in general have experienced extreme volatility recently that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock. Securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the overall market and in the market price of a company’s securities. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs, divert our management’s attention and resources and harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

Because Onex controls the majority of our equity securities, it may control all major corporate decisions and its interests may conflict with the interests of other holders of our equity securities.

As of December 31, 2022, Onex owned 47,058,332 shares of our common stock, representing 69.6% of our outstanding common stock. In addition, as of December 31, 2022, Onex owned 69,718,919 shares of our redeemable convertible preferred stock, representing 178,807,950 shares of our common stock on an as-converted basis, after accounting for the accumulated accreting return at a rate per annum equal to 7% on the accreted liquidation preference and paid in-kind. Onex’s beneficial ownership of our common stock, on an as-converted basis, is approximately 88.3%.

The holders of our redeemable convertible preferred stock have the right to approve certain matters, including (i) amendments to our organizational documents which may be adverse to the Series A Preferred Stock, (ii) the creation or issuance of senior or parity equity securities or (iii) the issuance of any convertible indebtedness, other class of preferred stock or other equity securities in each case with rights to payments or distributions in which the redeemable convertible preferred stock would not participate on a pro-rata, as-converted basis. In addition, for so long as the redeemable convertible preferred stock represents more than 30% of the outstanding common stock on an as-converted basis, without the approval of a majority of the directors elected by the holders of the redeemable convertible preferred stock, we may not (i) incur new indebtedness to the extent certain financial metrics are not satisfied, (ii) redeem or repurchase any equity securities junior to the redeemable convertible preferred stock, (iii) enter into any agreement for the acquisition or disposition of assets or businesses involving a purchase price in excess of $100 million, (iv) hire or terminate the chief executive officer of the Company or (v) make a voluntary filing for bankruptcy or commence a dissolution of the Company. Holders of our redeemable convertible preferred stock also have the right, for so long as the outstanding redeemable convertible preferred stock represents specified percentages of our outstanding common stock on an as-converted basis, to elect up to five members of our Board of Directors.

Accordingly, for so long as Onex continues to hold the majority of our equity securities, Onex will exercise a controlling influence over our business and affairs and will have the power to determine all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions such as amendments to our certificate of incorporation, mergers and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets. Onex could cause corporate actions to be taken that conflict with the interests of our other stockholders. This concentration of ownership could have the effect of deterring or preventing a change in control transaction that might otherwise be beneficial to our stockholders. In addition, Onex may in the future own businesses that directly compete with ours.

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Future stock issuances or sales, including as a result of the conversion of our redeemable convertible preferred stock, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of our common stock in the market, or the sale of securities convertible into a large number of our common stock. The perception that these sales could occur may also depress the market price of our common stock. As of December 31, 2022, we had outstanding 71,416,907 shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock with an aggregate liquidation preference of approximately $475.8 million, after accounting for the accumulated accreting return at a rate per annum equal to 7% on the accreted liquidation preference and paid in-kind. The aggregate accreting return will increase the number of shares of common stock issuable upon the conversion of the redeemable convertible preferred stock, which may result in a further decrease in the market value of our common stock. In addition, the terms of the redeemable convertible preferred stock provide that the conversion price may be reduced, which would result in the shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock being convertible into additional common stock upon certain events, including distributions on our common stock or issuances of additional common stock or equity-linked securities, at a price less than the then-applicable conversion price. The issuance of common stock upon conversion of the redeemable convertible preferred stock would result in immediate dilution to existing holders of our common stock, which dilution could be substantial. In addition, the market price of our common stock may be adversely affected by such factors as whether the market price is near or above the conversion price, which could make conversion of the shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock more likely.

Further, the redeemable convertible preferred stock ranks senior to our common stock, which could affect the value of the common stock on liquidation or on a change in control transaction. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our common stock, and may result in dilution to owners of our common stock. Because our decision to issue additional debt or equity securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future issuances. Also, we cannot predict the effect, if any, of future issuances of our common stock on the market price of our common stock.

Our directors who have relationships with Onex may have conflicts of interest with respect to matters involving us.

Two of our nine directors are affiliated with Onex. These persons have fiduciary duties to both us and Onex. As a result, they may have real or apparent conflicts of interest on matters affecting both us and Onex, which in some circumstances may have interests adverse to ours. Onex is in the business of making or advising on investments in companies and may hold, and may from time to time in the future acquire, interests in, or provide advice to, businesses that directly or indirectly compete with certain portions of our business or that are suppliers or customers of ours. In addition, as a result of Onex’s ownership interest, conflicts of interest could arise with respect to transactions involving business dealings between us and Onex including potential acquisitions of businesses or properties, the issuance of additional securities, the payment of dividends by us and other matters. In January 2018, Onex completed its acquisition of SMG Holdings Inc. (“SMG”), a leading global manager of convention centers, stadiums, arenas, theaters, performing arts centers and other venues. SMG subsequently merged with AEG Facilities, LLC to form ASM Global (“ASM”). Certain of our events are staged in ASM managed venues and two of our directors affiliated with Onex are also directors of ASM. In November 2020, Onex committed to invest more than $300 million in Convex Group Limited (“Convex”). Convex is the lead underwriter of Emerald’s 2022 event cancellation insurance policy.

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” does not apply with respect to us, to Onex or certain related parties or any of our directors who are employees of Onex or its affiliates such that Onex and its affiliates are permitted to invest in competing businesses or do business with our customers. Under the amended and restated certificate of incorporation, subject to the limitations set forth therein, Onex is not required to tell us about a corporate opportunity, may pursue that opportunity for itself or it may direct that opportunity to another person without liability to our stockholders. To the extent they invest in such other businesses, Onex may have differing interests than our other stockholders.

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We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the rules of the New York Stock Exchange and, as a result, rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

Onex owns the majority of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance rules. As a controlled company, we have the right to elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, including:

•

the requirement that a majority of our board consist of independent directors;

•

the requirement that we have a nominating and corporate governance committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities;

•

the requirement that we have a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and

•

the requirement for an annual performance evaluation of the nominating and corporate governance committee and compensation committee.

Accordingly, while our board currently has a majority of independent directors, our nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees do not consist entirely of independent directors. As a result, our stockholders will not have the same protection afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and Delaware law could discourage a change of control of our company or a change in our management

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and our second amended and restated bylaws, and the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), contain provisions that might discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition, or other change in control that stockholders may consider favorable, including in transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions may also prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. Among other things, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws:

•

authorize the issuance of blank check preferred stock that our board of directors could issue in order to increase the number of outstanding shares and discourage a takeover attempt;

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divide our board of directors into three classes with staggered three-year terms;

•

limit the ability of stockholders to remove directors to permit removals only “for cause” once Onex ceases to own more than 50% of all our outstanding common stock;

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prohibit our stockholders from calling a special meeting of stockholders once Onex ceases to own more than 50% of all our outstanding common stock;

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prohibit stockholder action by written consent once Onex ceases to own more than 50% of all our outstanding common stock, which will require that all stockholder actions be taken at a duly called meeting of our stockholders;

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provide that our board of directors is expressly authorized to adopt, alter, or repeal our second amended and restated bylaws;

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provide, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders;

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establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at stockholder meetings; and

•

require the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of common stock to amend our amended and restated bylaws and certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation if Onex ceases to own more than 50% of all our outstanding common stock.

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

Risks Related to our Intellectual Property and Information Technology

We do not own certain of the trade shows that we operate or certain trademarks associated with some of our shows.

The risks associated with some of our relationships with industry trade associations or other third-party sponsors of our events are particularly applicable in the case of KBIS (which is owned by the National Kitchen and Bath Association), CEDIA, the Salon International de l'alimentation (“SIAL”) and our Military trade shows, which are the trade shows in our portfolio where the show trademarks are owned by an industry association or other third party and not by us. Any material disruption to our relationship with these third parties could have a material adverse impact on the revenue stream from these trade shows. In addition, any of these third party owners may allege that we have breached a license agreement, whether with or without merit, and accordingly seek to terminate our license. If successful, this could result in our loss of the right to use the licensed intellectual property, which could adversely affect our trade shows success.

The infringement or invalidation of proprietary rights could have an adverse effect on our business.

We rely on trademark, trade secret and copyright laws in the United States and abroad to protect our proprietary rights, including with respect to the names of our trade shows and publications. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate protection of our intellectual property rights for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our business. Our trademarks, trade names and brand names distinguish our trade shows from those of our competitors and we have registered and applied to register many of these trademarks to prevent others from using or capitalizing our names. There can be no assurance that our trademark applications will be approved or that our federal registrations will be upheld if challenged. Third parties may oppose our applications or otherwise challenge our use of our trademarks through administrative processes or costly litigation which if successful, could force us to rebrand our products and/or services resulting in the loss of brand recognition. Further, there can be no assurance that competitors will not infringe upon our trademarks, or that we will identify all such infringements or have adequate resources to properly enforce our trademarks.

Our information technology systems, including our ERP business management system, could be disrupted.

The efficient operation of our business depends on our information technology systems. We rely on our information technology systems and certain third-party providers to effectively manage our business data, communications, vendor relationships, order entry and fulfillment and other business and financial processes. We also rely on internet service providers, mobile networks and other third-party systems to operate our business. We are currently in the process of reviewing and updating our information technology systems and processes in order to enhance our data analytics capability. This implementation process will consume time and resources and may not result in our desired outcome or improved financial performance. Our failure to properly and efficiently implement our information technology systems, or the failure of our information technology systems to perform as we anticipate, could disrupt our business and could result in transaction errors, processing inefficiencies and the loss of revenue and customers, causing our business and results of operations to suffer. In addition, our information technology systems may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from circumstances beyond our control, including fire, natural disasters, power outages, systems failures and viruses. While we maintain disaster recovery plans, any such damage or interruption could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We face continually evolving cybersecurity and similar risks, which could result in loss, disclosure, theft, destruction or misappropriation of, or access to, our confidential information and cause disruption to our business, damage to our brands and reputation, legal exposure and financial losses.

We and third parties on our behalf, collect and store, including by electronic means, certain personal, proprietary and other sensitive information, including payment card information that is provided to us through registration on our websites or otherwise in communication or interaction with us. These activities require the use of centralized data

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storage, including through third-party service providers. Data maintained in electronic form is always subject to the risk of security incidents, including breach, compromise, intrusion, tampering, theft, misappropriation or other malicious activity all of which are continuing to occur in our industry, as well as the industries of our exhibitors, vendors and suppliers. Unauthorized access to or security breaches of our systems could result in the loss of data, loss of business, severe reputational damage adversely affecting customer or investor confidence, diversion of our management’s attention, litigation, indemnity obligations, damages for contract breach, penalties for violation of applicable laws or regulations and significant costs for remediation that may include liability for stolen or lost assets or information and repair of system damage that may have been caused and other liabilities. Further, an actual or perceived security incident, such as penetration of our or our third-party vendors’ networks, affecting personal or other sensitive information could subject us to business and litigation risk (e.g., under the California Consumer Privacy Act) and damage our reputation, including with exhibitors, sponsors and attendees, which could have a material negative effect on our business and results of operations.

Our ability to safeguard such personal and other sensitive information is important to our business. We take these matters seriously and take significant steps to protect our stored information, including the implementation of systems and processes to thwart malicious activity. These protections are costly and require ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become more sophisticated. Further, we exercise only limited control over our third-party vendors, which increases our vulnerability to problems with services they provide. In addition, public attention regarding the use of personal information and data transfer has increased in recent years, and the regulatory environment governing information, security and privacy laws, as well as the requirements imposed on us by the credit card industry, are increasingly demanding and continue to evolve rapidly. Maintaining compliance with changing privacy laws in the U.S., the European Union and elsewhere, including the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (“GDPR”), which became effective in May 2018, and the California Consumer Privacy Act, which became effective in January 2020 and updated in early 2023, could further increase our operating costs and require significant management time and attention and may increase the risk of potential litigation from individuals. In addition to these costs, our insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover the costs, fines, indemnification obligations, or other liabilities that could result from a data breach or other cyber security incidents.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

Item 2. Properties.

We have two key offices located in New York, New York and San Juan Capistrano, California. We also have other smaller office locations throughout the United States, including in Lakewood, Colorado; New York, New York; and Rye, New Hampshire. We lease our offices from third parties on market terms and, in some cases following an acquisition, through transition services agreements with the applicable seller.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

From time to time, we may be involved in general legal disputes arising in the ordinary course of our business. We are not currently involved in legal proceedings that could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Refer to Note 16, Commitments and Contingencies, in the notes to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding our legal proceedings.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

None.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Market Information for Common Stock and Holders of Record

Our common stock has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since April 28, 2017 and trades under the symbol "EEX". The approximate number of record holders of our common stock on March 10, 2023 was 35. Because many of our shares of common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of stockholders represented by these record holders.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

In October 2022, we announced that our Board of Directors had authorized an extension and expansion of our previously authorized $20.0 million share repurchase program through December 31, 2023. Share repurchases may be made from time to time through and including December 31, 2023, subject to early termination or extension by our Board of Directors. The share repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time without notice. There is no minimum number of shares that we are required to repurchase. Shares may be purchased from time to time in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. Such purchases will be at times and in amounts as we deem appropriate, based on factors such as market conditions, legal requirements and other business considerations.

The following table presents our purchases of common stock during the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2022, as part of the publicly announced share repurchase program:

Stock Performance Graph

The following performance graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” with the SEC, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, except to the extent that it is specifically incorporated by reference into such filing.

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The following graph compares the yearly percentage change in the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with corresponding changes in the cumulative total returns of the Russell 2000 Index and our peer groups for the period from December 31, 2017 through December 31, 2022. The comparison assumes an initial investment of $100 at the close of business on December 31, 2017 in our stock and in each of the indices and also assumes the reinvestment of dividends where applicable. This historical performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance.

(1)

Exhibition Peers include Ascential PLC, Hyve Group Plc, Informa PLC, Relx PLC and Viad Corp.

(2)

Business Services Peers include Aramark, Barrett Business Services, Inc., KForce Inc. and TrueBlue, Inc.

(3)

Advertising and Entertainment Peers include Cinemark Holdings, Inc. and National CineMedia, Inc.

(4)

Digital Information Services & Research Peers include Gartner, Inc., IHS Markit Ltd., John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and Nielsen Holdings plc.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data.

The following table presents selected consolidated financial data for the periods and at the dates indicated. The selected consolidated financial data as of December 31, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018, and for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018, have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. This financial data should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements, related notes, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and other financial information appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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The following information should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, “Business” and our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Year Ended December 31,

(dollars in millions, share data in thousands except earnings per share)

Statement of income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) data:

Interest income 2.7 0.1 0.1 — —

Other expense — 0.1 0.1 — —

Loss on disposal of fixed assets — 0.4 — — —

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes 27.2 (1.3 ) (57.6 ) (5.0 ) (8.3 )

Participation rights on if-converted basis (60.2 ) — — — —

Net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders

Weighted average common shares outstanding

Statement of cash flows data:

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As of December 31,

(dollars in millions)

Balance sheet data:

(1)

Financial data for the year ended December 31, 2022 includes the results of Bulletin since its acquisition on July 11, 2022 and Advertising Week since its acquisition on June 21, 2022. Financial data for the year ended December 31, 2021 includes the results of MJBiz since its acquisition on December 31, 2021 and Sue Bryce Education and the Portrait Masters since its acquisition on April 1, 2021. Financial data for the year ended December 31, 2020 includes the results of PlumRiver since its acquisition on December 31, 2020 and EDspaces since its acquisition on December 21, 2020. Financial data for the year ended December 31, 2019 includes the results of G3 Communications (“G3”) since its acquisition on November 1, 2019. Financial data for the year ended December 31, 2018 includes the results of the Technology Brands since their acquisition on August 20, 2018 and BDNY, since their acquisition on October 15, 2018.

(2)

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018 included a gain of $14.0 million, and expenses of $9.4 million, $7.0 million, $6.4 million, and $9.2 million, respectively, in non-cash contingent consideration remeasurements, and acquisition-related transaction, transition and integration costs, including one-time severance, legal and advisory fees. Also included in selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018 were stock-based compensation expenses of $5.8 million, $10.4 million, $6.7 million, $7.7 million, and $6.1 million, respectively.

(3)

The goodwill impairments for the year ended December 31, 2022, represent a non-cash impairment charge of $6.3 million in connection with the interim March 31, 2022 testing of goodwill for impairment. The goodwill impairments for the year ended December 31, 2021, represent a non-cash impairment charge of $7.2 million in connection with our annual October 31 testing of goodwill for impairment. The goodwill impairments for the year ended December 31, 2020, represent a non-cash impairment charge of $588.2 million in connection with the interim March 31, 2020 testing of goodwill for impairment and a non-cash impairment charge of $15.2 million for goodwill in connection with our annual October 31 testing of goodwill for impairment. The goodwill impairments for the year ended December 31, 2019, represent a non-cash impairment charge of $9.3 million in connection with the interim August 31, 2019 testing of goodwill for impairment and a non-cash impairment charge of $59.8 million for goodwill in connection with our annual October 31 testing of goodwill for impairment. No other goodwill impairments were recorded in any other of the years presented.

(4)

The intangible asset impairments for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018 were recorded to align the carrying value of certain trade name and customer relationship intangible assets with their fair value. No other intangible asset impairments were recorded in any of the other years presented.

(5)

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we received proceeds of $373.3 million, net of fees and expenses of $17.2 million, from the sale of redeemable convertible preferred stock to Onex in the Initial Private Placement (as defined below) and net proceeds of approximately $9.7 million pursuant to the Rights Offering. We used $50.0 million of the net proceeds from the sale of redeemable convertible preferred stock to repay outstanding debt under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility and expects to use the remaining proceeds for general corporate purposes, including organic and acquisition growth initiatives. During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, we recorded accretion of $38.8 million, $35.6 million and $15.6 million, respectively, with respect to the redeemable convertible preferred stock, bringing the aggregate accreted carrying value to $472.4 million, $433.9 million and $398.3 million as of December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The accretion is reflected in the

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calculation of net income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Emerald Holding, Inc. common stockholders.

(6)

As of December 31, 2022, total assets included goodwill of $545.5 million and intangible assets, net, of $204.8 million. As of December 31, 2021, total assets included goodwill of $514.2 million and intangible assets, net, of $236.7 million. As of December 31, 2020, total assets included goodwill of $404.3 million and intangible assets, net, of $275.0 million. As of December 31, 2019, total assets included goodwill of $980.3 million and intangible assets, net, of $373.8 million. As of December 31, 2018, total assets included goodwill of $1,036.5 million and intangible assets, net, of $435.3 million.

(7)

As of December 31, 2022, total debt of $415.3 million consisted of $413.9 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, net of unamortized deferred financing fees of $0.8 million and unamortized original issue discount of $0.6 million, and no borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2021, total debt of $519.7 million consisted of $516.6 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, net of unamortized deferred financing fees of $1.7 million and unamortized original issue discount of $1.4 million, and no borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2020, total debt of $525.4 million consisted of $521.0 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, net of unamortized deferred financing fees of $2.4 million and unamortized original issue discount of $2.0 million, and no borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2019, total debt of $535.4 million consisted of $525.4 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, net of unamortized deferred financing fees of $3.0 million, and unamortized original issue discount of $2.5 million, and $10.0 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2018, total debt of $569.9 million consisted of $529.9 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, net of unamortized deferred financing fees of $3.6 million and unamortized original issue discount of $3.0 million and $40.0 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility.

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Quarterly Results of Operations (Unaudited)

The following table sets forth our unaudited quarterly consolidated statements of income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) data for each of the eight quarterly periods ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. The information for each of these quarters has been prepared on the same basis as the audited annual consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and, in our opinion, includes all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair statement of the results of operations for these periods. This information should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These quarterly results are not necessarily indicative of our operating results for a full year or any future period.

Quarter Ended

(unaudited)

(dollars in millions, share data in thousands except earnings per share)

Statement of income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) data:

Goodwill impairment charge — — — 6.3 7.2 — — —

Intangible asset impairment charge — — — 1.6 32.7 — — —

Other (income) expense (0.1 ) 0.1 — — — — 0.1 —

Loss on disposal of fixed assets — — — — 0.4 — — —

Participation rights on if-converted basis (8.2 ) (54.7 ) — (4.4 ) — — — —

Dividend declared per common share $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — $ —

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This discussion and analysis of the financial condition and results of our operations should be read in conjunction with “Item 6. Selected Financial and Operating Data” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes of Emerald Holding, Inc. included in Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should review the “Item 1A. Risk Factors” section of this filing for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.

The following information has been adjusted to reflect the Q4 2021 revision of our consolidated financial statements as described in Note 1, “Basis of Presentation”, in Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements of this Annual Report.

Overview and Background

Emerald is a leading operator of business-to-business trade shows in the United States. Leveraging our shows as key market-driven platforms, we combine our events with effective industry insights, digital tools, and data-focused solutions to create uniquely rich experiences. Emerald strives to build its customers’ businesses by creating opportunities that deliver tangible results.

All of our trade show franchises typically hold market-leading positions within their respective industry verticals, with significant brand value established over a long period of time. Each of our shows is scheduled to stage at least annually, with certain franchises offering multiple editions per year. As our shows are frequently the largest and most well attended in their respective industry, we are able to attract high-quality attendees, including those who have the authority to make purchasing decisions on the spot or subsequent to the show. The participation of these attendees makes our trade shows “must-attend” events for our exhibitors, further reinforcing the leading positions of our trade shows within their respective industry verticals. Our attendees use our shows to fulfill procurement needs, source new suppliers, reconnect with existing suppliers, identify trends, learn about new products and network with industry peers, which we believe are factors that make our shows difficult to replace with non-face-to-face events. Our portfolio of trade shows is well-balanced and diversified across both industry sectors and customers.

In addition to organizing our trade shows, conferences and other events, we also operate content and content-marketing websites, related digital products, and produce publications, each of which is aligned with a specific sector for which we organize an event. We also offer B2B commerce and digital merchandising solutions, serving the needs of manufacturers and retailers, through our recently acquired Elastic Suite and Flex platforms. In addition to their respective revenues, these products complement our live events and provide us year-round channels of customer acquisition and development.

Organic Growth Drivers

We are primarily focused on generating organic growth by understanding and leveraging the drivers for increased exhibitor and attendee participation at trade shows and providing year-round services that provide incremental value to those customers. Creating new opportunities for exhibitors to influence their market, engage with significant buyers, generate incremental sales and expand their brand’s awareness in their industry builds further demand for exhibit space and strengthens the value proposition of a trade show, generally allowing us to modestly increase booth space pricing annually across our portfolio. At the same time, our trade shows provide attendees with the opportunity to enhance their industry connectivity, develop relationships with targeted suppliers and distributors, discover new products, learn about new industry developments, celebrate their industry’s achievements and, in certain cases, obtain continuing professional education credits, which we believe increases their propensity to return and, consequently, drives high recurring participation among our exhibitors. By investing in and promoting these tangible and return-on-investment linked outcomes, we believe we will be able to continue to enhance the value proposition

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for our exhibitors and attendees alike, thereby driving strong demand and premium pricing for exhibit space, sponsorship opportunities and attendee registration.

Acquisitions

We are also focused on growing our national footprint through the acquisition of high-quality events that are leaders in their specific industry verticals. Since the Onex Acquisition in June 2013, we have completed 25 strategic acquisitions, with purchase prices, excluding the $335.0 million acquisition of GLM, ranging from approximately $5.0 million to approximately $142.2 million, and annual revenues ranging from approximately $1.3 million to approximately $25.6 million. Historically, we have completed acquisitions at earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization ("EBITDA") purchase multiples that are typically in the mid-to-high single digits. Our acquisitions have historically been structured as asset deals that have resulted in the generation of long-lived tax assets, which in turn have reduced our purchase multiples when incorporating the value of the created tax assets. In the future, we intend to look for acquisitions with similarly attractive valuation multiples. The 25 acquisitions we have completed are described as follows:

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GLM — Prior to its acquisition by Emerald in January 2014, GLM operated approximately 20 trade shows, including four of the largest 100 trade shows in the United States according to TSE. These trade shows serve industries as diverse as home furnishings, home textiles, stationery and paper products, giftware, tabletop, gourmet housewares, contemporary furniture and interiors, art & design, antiques & jewelry, fashion, board sports & resort lifestyle and e-commerce, and include the well-known NY NOW and Surf Expo brands. The acquisition of GLM substantially increased the scale and breadth of Emerald’s trade show portfolio.

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Healthcare Design Conference and Expo, Healthcare Design Magazine, Environments for Aging and Construction SuperConference (collectively, “HCD Group”) — On February 27, 2015, we acquired these brands, which were previously operated by the Healthcare Media division of Vendome Group. Healthcare Design Conference and Expo is the industry’s best attended and most respected trade show/conference primarily focused on evidence-based design for healthcare facilities. In addition to the annual trade show and conference, the brand has a complementary magazine, Healthcare Design Magazine, education and sponsored events and an online presence that together engage the industry all year round. Environments for Aging is a complementary niche event within the broader healthcare vertical, focused on creating functional and attractive living environments that meet the needs of the aging population. Construction SuperConference is an event for lawyers providing services in commercial construction markets.

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International Pizza Expo and Pizza Today magazine (“Pizza Group”) — On March 3, 2015, we acquired the International Pizza Expo, which was previously operated by Macfadden Communications Group and operates in the $40 billion pizza restaurant industry. The International Pizza Expo is the largest trade show for independent pizzeria owners and operators in the United States, and Pizza Today is the partner magazine and leading publication in this industry.

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HOW Design Live (“HOW”) — On October 14, 2015, we acquired HOW, which was previously operated by F+W Media, Inc. HOW is the largest graphic design conference and expo in the nation, combining seven separate conferences into a single event focused on creativity, business and inspiration for graphic designers.

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The National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo (“Fastener Expo”) — On November 12, 2015, we acquired Fastener Expo from the show’s co-founders. Fastener Expo brings together manufacturers and master distributors of industrial fasteners, precision formed parts, fastener machinery and tooling, and other related products and services with distributors and sales agents in the distribution chain.

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The International Gift Exposition in the Smokies and the Souvenir Super Show (“IGES”) — On August 1, 2016, we acquired IGES from M&M Gift Shows, LLC. IGES is the largest dedicated gathering of wholesale souvenir, resort and gift buyers in the United States.

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The Swim Collective and Active Collective trade shows (together “Collective”) — On August 8, 2016, we acquired Collective from the show’s founder. Swim Collective is the leading swimwear trade show on

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the West Coast, while Active Collective is a more recently-launched, fast-growing show focused on activewear.

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Digital Dealer Conference & Expo (“Digital Dealer”) — On October 11, 2016, we acquired Digital Dealer from its founder. As the leading semi-annual trade show focused on the retail automotive industry’s digital strategy and operations, Digital Dealer is the premier venue to explore the implementation of digital components by auto dealers to engage their automotive consumer. In conjunction with the acquisition, we also acquired Dealer Magazine, a complementary magazine for automotive dealerships and franchises.

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National Pavement Expo (“NPE”) — On October 18, 2016, we acquired NPE, which was previously operated by AC Business Media. NPE is the largest trade show focused on paving and pavement maintenance.

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RFID Journal LIVE! (“RFID LIVE!”) — On November 15, 2016, we acquired RFID LIVE! from its founder. RFID LIVE! is the largest trade show that focuses on RFID technologies used to identify, track and manage corporate assets and inventory across a wide range of industries.

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American Craft Retailers Expo (“ACRE”) — On December 13, 2016, we acquired ACRE from its founder. ACRE is a wholesale craft exposition, consisting of two shows that took place annually in Philadelphia and Las Vegas at the time of acquisition.

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CEDIA Expo — On January 25, 2017, we acquired the trade show CEDIA from its namesake association, Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association. CEDIA is the largest trade show in the home technology market, serving industry professionals that manufacture, design and integrate goods and services for the connected home.

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The International Drone Conference & Exposition — On March 10, 2017, we acquired the trade show InterDrone from BZ Media LLC. InterDrone is the leading commercial drone-focused show in the United States.

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Snow Show — On May 24, 2017, we acquired the trade show Snow Show from SnowSports Industries America. When acquired, Snow Show was the largest snow sports industry event in North America. Starting in January 2018, Snow Show merged with OR to become Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show, endorsed and sponsored by SnowSports Industries America and the Outdoor Industry Association.

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Connecting Point Marketing Group — On November 29, 2017, we acquired CPMG from Corridor Capital, LLC, mezzanine investor Aldine Capital Partners and management. CPMG organizes and hosts senior executive level business-intensive trade events focused on innovation for the hospitality, restaurant, healthcare, grocery and retail industries. These events are highly-curated, invitation-only forums that bring together leaders in each vertical market.

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Technology Brands — On August 21, 2018, we acquired the Technology Brands from EH Media. The Technology Brands include a leading technology event and a group of four complementary technology intelligence brands focused on the integration of audio, video, communications, IT, security and energy management products into buildings of all types. The Technology Brands are also strategically aligned with our CEDIA Expo and CPMG events.

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Boutique Design New York and related assets — On October 15, 2018, we acquired BDNY and related assets from ST Media Group International and Hospitality Media Group. BDNY is a leading trade show and conference for boutique hospitality design professionals, primarily serving the eastern United States, Canada and Europe. BDNY has been recognized among the fastest-growing trade shows in the U.S. for the past five years.

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G3 Communications — On November 1, 2019, we acquired G3, the producer of the B2B Marketing Exchange event series and is a creator of custom content and lead generation services. Through its mix of

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events, digital publications and marketing services, G3 helps B2B organizations develop revenue-producing, comprehensive campaigns by providing content ideation, creation and distribution services.

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EDspaces — On December 21, 2020, we acquired the trade show EDspaces from the Education Market Association, Inc. EDspaces is one of the nation’s largest events focused on educational spaces and related equipment.

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PlumRiver, LLC — On December 31, 2020, we acquired substantially all of the assets of PlumRiver. PlumRiver is a leading provider of B2B e-commerce software solutions under the Elastic Suite brand.

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Sue Bryce Education and The Portrait Masters — On April 1, 2021, we acquired substantially all of the assets of Sue Bryce Education and The Portrait Masters.Sue Bryce Education and The Portrait Masters is a subscription-based photography business education and e-learning service with a photography conference.

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MJBiz — On December 31, 2021, we acquired substantially all of the assets of MJBiz. MJBiz is a leading event producer and content platform serving the wide range of companies operating in the rapidly growing cannabis industry.

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Advertising Week — On June 21, 2022, we acquired substantially all of the assets of Advertising Week. Advertising Week is a global event and thought leadership platform focused on marketing, media, technology, and culture.

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Bulletin, Inc. ("Bulletin") — On July 11, 2022, we acquired substantially all of the assets of Bulletin. Bulletin is an online wholesale market for retail where brands, buyers and designers gather to connect and discover new products.

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Lodestone Events ("Lodestone") — On January 10, 2023, we acquired substantially all of the assets of Lodestone. Lodestone is a producer of the Overland Expo series of vehicle-based, adventure travel consumer shows.

Trends and Other Factors Affecting Our Business

There are a number of existing and developing factors and trends which impact the performance of our business, and the comparability of our results from year to year and from quarter to quarter, including:

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Severe Impact of COVID-19 — The COVID-19 pandemic and the actions taken by governments around the world to combat the virus have negatively impacted and may in the future negatively impact our revenues from our live events, which depend on our ability to hold such in-person events and the willingness of exhibitors and attendees to attend. These governmental actions have included limitations and bans on travel or transportation; limitations on the size of gatherings; closures of work facilities, public buildings and businesses; cancellation of events, including trade shows, conferences and meetings; and quarantines and lockdowns. The pandemic and its consequences forced us to cancel or postpone a substantial portion of our event calendar for 2020 and 2021. These cancellations and postponements have had, and any future such cancellations and postponements could have, a material negative impact on our business, operations, and financial results. For more information, see “Risk Factors—Our operations, business and financial results have been, and may in the future be, materially impacted by COVID-19 or future public health emergencies, including outbreaks of contagious disease” and “—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

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Market Fragmentation — The trade show industry is highly fragmented with the three largest companies, including us, comprising only 10% of the wider U.S. market according to the AMR International Globex Report 2018. This has afforded us the opportunity to acquire other trade show businesses, a growth opportunity we expect to continue pursuing. These acquisitions may affect our growth trends, impacting the comparability of our financial results on a year-over-year basis.

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Overall Economic Environment and Industry Sector Cyclicality — Our results of operations are correlated, in part, with the economic performance of the industry sectors that our trade shows serve, as

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well as the state of the overall economy, which may be affected by factors such as inflation and supply chain interruption.

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Lag Time — As the majority of our exhibit space is sold during the twelve months prior to each trade show, there is often a timing difference between changes in the economic conditions of an industry sector vertical and their effect on our results of operations. This lag time can result in a counter-cyclical impact on our results of operations.

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Variability in Quarterly Results — Our business is seasonal, with trade show revenues typically reaching their highest levels during the first and fourth quarters of each calendar year, entirely due to the timing of our trade shows. This seasonality is typical within the trade show industry. However, as a result of event cancellations due to COVID-19, results for the years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 may not align with this historical trend. Since event revenue is recognized when a particular event is held, we may also experience fluctuations in quarterly revenue and cash flows based on the movement of annual trade show dates from one quarter to another. Our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA accounts for these quarterly movements and the timing of shows, where applicable and material.

How We Assess the Performance of Our Business

In assessing the performance of our business, we consider a variety of performance and financial measures. The key indicators of the financial condition and operating performance of our business are revenues, Organic revenue, cost of revenues, selling, general and administrative expenses, interest expense, depreciation and amortization, income taxes, Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow.

Basis of Presentation

As described in Note 18, Segment Information, our business is organized into two reportable segments, consistent with the information provided to our Chief Executive Officer, who is considered the chief operating decision-maker ("CODM"). The CODM evaluates performance based on the results of seven executive brand portfolios, which represent our seven operating segments. Based on an evaluation of economic similarities and the nature of services and types of customers, five of these operating segments have been aggregated into two reportable segments, the "Commerce" reportable segment and the "Design, Creative and Technology" reportable segment. The remaining two operating segments do not meet the quantitative thresholds to be considered reportable operating segments and are included in the “All Other” category. In addition, we have a "Corporate-Level Activities" category consisting of finance, legal, information technology and administrative functions. Prior year disclosures below have

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been updated to reflect the new reportable segment structure described in Note 18, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Segment Information.

The following discussion provides additional detailed disclosure for the two reportable segments, the "All Other" category and the "Corporate-Level Activity" category:

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Commerce: This segment includes events and services covering merchandising, licensing, retail sourcing and marketing to enable professionals to make informed decisions and meet consumer demands.

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Design, Creative & Technology: This segment includes events and services that support a wide variety of industries connecting businesses and professionals with products, operational strategies, and integration opportunities to drive new business and streamline processes and creative solutions.

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All Other: This category consists of Emerald’s remaining operating segments, which provide diverse events, services and e-commerce software solutions, but are not aggregated with the reportable segments. Each of the operating segments in the All Other category do not meet the criteria to be a separate reportable segment.

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Corporate-Level Activity: This category consists of Emerald’s finance, legal, information technology and administrative functions.

Revenues

We generate revenues primarily from selling trade show exhibit space to exhibitors on a per square foot basis. Other trade show revenue streams include conference, sponsorships, fees for ancillary exhibition services and attendee registration fees. Exhibitors contract for their booth space and sponsorships up to a year in advance of the trade show. Fees are typically invoiced and collected in-full prior to the trade show or event. Additionally, we generate revenue through digital media and print publications that complement our trade shows. We also engage third-party sales agents to support our marketing efforts. Other marketing service revenue contracts are invoiced and recognized in the period the advertising services are delivered. Typically, the fees we charge are collected after the publications are issued.

We define “organic revenue growth” and “organic revenue decline” as the growth or decline, respectively, in our revenue from one period to the next, adjusted for the revenue impact of: (i) acquisitions and dispositions, (ii) discontinued events, (iii) material show scheduling adjustments and (iv) event cancellations for which the Company has received, or expects to receive, claim proceeds from its event cancellation insurance policy. We disclose changes in Organic revenue because we believe it assists investors and analysts in comparing Emerald’s operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe reflect a true comparison of the trends of the existing event calendar given changes in timing or strategy. Our Board of Directors evaluate changes in Organic revenues to understand underlying revenue trends of its events. Organic revenue is not defined under GAAP, and has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider such measure either in isolation or as a substitute for analyzing our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations include that Organic revenue reflects certain adjustments that we consider not to be indicative of our ongoing operating performance. Because not all companies use identical calculations, our presentation of Organic revenue may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Organic Revenue

Organic revenue is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure of performance and is not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP. Organic revenue should not be considered in isolation or as an

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alternative to revenues or other measures determined in accordance with GAAP. Also, Organic revenues is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The most directly comparable GAAP measure to Organic revenue is revenues. For a reconciliation of Organic revenues to revenues as reported, see footnote 6 to the table under the heading “Results of Operations—Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2022 to the Year Ended December 31, 2021”.

Other Income

We maintain event cancellation insurance to protect against losses due the unavoidable cancellation, postponement, relocation and enforced reduced attendance at events due to certain covered causes. Specifically, these causes include event cancellation caused by the outbreak of communicable diseases, including COVID-19 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, as well as losses caused by natural disasters such as hurricanes. However, Emerald’s renewed event cancellation insurance policies for the calendar year 2022 do not cover losses due to event cancellations caused by the outbreak of communicable diseases, including COVID-19. Our Other Income is primarily comprised of received or confirmed event cancellation insurance claim and insurance litigation settlement proceeds.

Cost of Revenues

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Decorating Expenses. We work with general service contractors to both set up communal areas of our trade shows and provide services to our exhibitors, who primarily contract directly with the general service contractors. We will usually select a single general service contractor for an entire show, although it is possible to bid out packages of work within a single show on a piecemeal basis to different task-specific specialists. Decorating expenses represented 17%, 16%, and 10% of our total cost of revenues for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively, and 6%, 6%, and 4% of our total revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

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Sponsorship Costs. We often enter into long-term sponsorship agreements with industry trade associations whereby the industry trade association endorses and markets the show to its members in exchange for a percentage of the show’s revenue. Sponsorship costs represented 13%, 9%, and 34% of our total cost of revenues for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively, and 5%, 3%, and 15% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

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Venue Costs. Venue costs represent rental costs for the venues, usually convention centers or hotels, where we host our trade shows. Given that convention centers are typically owned by local governments who have a vested interest in stimulating business activity in and attracting tourism to their cities, venue costs typically represent a small percentage of our total cost of revenues. Venue costs represented 11%, 13%, and 9% of our total cost of revenues for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively, and 4%, 5% and 4% of our total revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

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Costs of Other Marketing Services. Costs of other marketing services represent paper, printing, postage, contributor and other costs related to digital media and print publications. Costs of other marketing services represented 6%, 10%, and 9% of our total cost of revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively, and 2%, 4%, and 4% of our total revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

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Other Event-Related Expenses. Other event-related costs include temporary labor for services such as security, shuttle buses, speaker fees, food and beverage expenses and event cancellation insurance. Other event-related expenses represented 27%, 51%, and 39% of our total cost of revenues for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively, and 10%, 20%, and 18% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

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Labor Costs. Labor costs represent the cost of employees who are involved in sales, marketing, planning and administrative activities. The actual on-site set-up of the events is contracted out to third-party vendors and is included in cost of revenues. Labor costs represented 72%, 67%, and 68% of our total selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020,

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respectively, and 32%, 66%, and 63% of our total revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

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Miscellaneous Expenses. Miscellaneous expenses are comprised of a variety of other expenses, including advertising and marketing costs, promotion costs, credit card fees, travel expenses, printing costs, office supplies and office rental expense. Miscellaneous expenses represented 28%, 33%, and 32% of our total selling, general and administrative expenses, for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively, and 13%, 32%, and 30% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

Interest Expense

Interest expense represents interest payments and refinancing fees paid to our lenders. On May 22, 2017, we refinanced our senior secured credit facilities with the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the “2017 Refinancing”). We further amended the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities in November 2017 to reduce the applicable interest rates.Interest expense for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 principally represented interest paid in respect of our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities.

Depreciation and Amortization

We have historically grown our business through acquisitions and, in doing so, have acquired significant intangible assets, the value of some of which is amortized over time. These acquired intangible assets, unless determined to be indefinite-lived, are amortized over extended periods of three to thirty years from the date of each acquisition for reporting under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) purposes, or fifteen years for tax purposes. This amortization expense reduces our taxable income. Depreciation expense relates to property and equipment and represented approximately 1% of our total revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020.

Income Taxes

Income tax expense consists of U.S. federal, state, local and foreign taxes based on income in the jurisdictions in which we operate.

We record deferred tax charges or benefits primarily associated with our utilization or generation of net operating loss carryforwards and book-to-tax differences related to amortization of goodwill, amortization of intangibles assets, depreciation, stock-based compensation charges and deferred financing costs.

Cash Flow Model

We have favorable cash flow characteristics, as described below (see “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Cash Flows”), as a result of our high profit margins, low capital expenditures and consistently negative working capital, excluding cash on hand. Our working capital, excluding cash on hand, is negative as our current assets are generally lower than our current liabilities. Current assets primarily include accounts receivable and prepaid expenses, while current liabilities primarily include accounts payable, borrowings under our Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility (the “Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility”) and deferred revenues. Cash received prior to an event is recorded as deferred revenue on our balance sheet and recognized as revenue upon completion of each trade show. The implication of having negative working capital, excluding cash on hand, is that changes in working capital represent a source of cash as our business grows. As a result of COVID-19, the accounts receivable and deferred revenue balances related to canceled events have been reclassified to Canceled event liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets, as the net amount represents balances which we expect will be refunded to our customers.

The primary driver for our negative working capital, excluding cash on hand, is the sales cycle for a trade show, which typically begins during the twelve months prior to a show. In the interim period between the current show and the following show, we continue to sell to new and past exhibitors and collect payments on contracted exhibit space. Our exhibitors pay in full in advance of each trade show, whereas the bulk of direct expenses are paid close to or after the show. Cash deposits start to be received as early as twelve months prior to a show taking place and the balance of

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