BRIGHT HORIZONS FAMILY SOLUTIONS INC. - Annual Report: 2012 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012.

OR

For the transition period from              to             .

Commission File Number: 001-35780

BRIGHT HORIZONS FAMILY SOLUTIONS INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

200 Talcott Avenue South

Watertown, MA 02472

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

(617) 673-8000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

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  x

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

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  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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 and post such files).     Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ¨

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).     Yes  ¨     No  x

The aggregate market value of the shares of common stock of the registrant held by non-affiliates of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. computed by reference to the closing price of the registrant’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange as of March 15, 2013 was approximately $386.1 million.

As of March 15, 2013, there were 64,533,873 outstanding shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.001 par value per share, which is the only outstanding capital stock of the registrant.

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BRIGHT HORIZONS FAMILY SOLUTIONS INC.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report on Form 10-K includes statements that express our opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or projections regarding future events or future results and therefore are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). The following cautionary statements are being made pursuant to the provisions of the Act and with the intention of obtaining the benefits of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Act. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “projects,” “approximately,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates” or “anticipates,” or, in each case, their negatives or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this annual report and include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industries in which we and our partners operate.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We believe that these risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this annual report and in our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Although we base these forward-looking statements on assumptions that we believe are reasonable when made, we caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this annual report. In addition, even if our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate, are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this annual report, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.

Given these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement that we make in this annual report speaks only as of the date of such statement, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any of those statements to reflect future events or developments.

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PART I

Our Company

We are a leading provider of high-quality child care and early education services as well as other services designed to help employers and families better address the challenges of work and life. We provide services primarily under multi-year contracts with employers who offer child care and other dependent care solutions as part of their employee benefits packages to improve employee engagement, productivity, recruitment and retention. As of December 31, 2012, we had more than 850 client relationships with employers across a diverse array of industries, including more than 130 Fortune 500 companies and more than 75 of Working Mother magazine’s 2012 “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers.”

The provision of center-based full service child care and early education represented approximately 86% of our revenue in the year ended December 31, 2012. The balance of our revenue was from a broader suite of employer-sponsored service offerings, including back-up dependent care and educational advisory services, which we developed more recently to enhance our work/life service offerings, broaden our market opportunities and expand the scope of our client relationships. In certain locations, our child care centers are marketed directly to families in surrounding communities and serve employees of nearby clients.

We believe we are a provider of choice for both employers and working families for each of the solutions we offer. As of December 31, 2012, we operated a total of 765 child care and early education centers across a wide range of customer industries with the capacity to serve approximately 87,100 children in the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland, Canada and India. We have achieved satisfaction ratings of greater than 95% among respondents in our employer and parent satisfaction surveys over each of the past five years and an annual client retention rate of 97% for employer-sponsored centers over each of the past ten years. We believe that the close integration between our offerings and our customer interests, our geographic reach, our innovative and customizable approach, our strong customer focus and our high-quality curriculum have all contributed to this success.

The strength of our reputation is reflected in our 25-year track record of providing high-quality services and our history of strong financial performance. From 2001 through 2012, we have achieved year-over-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth at a compound annual growth rate of 11% for revenue and 18% for adjusted EBITDA. We also achieved year-over-year net income growth at a compound annual growth rate of 23% from 2001 to 2007. In 2008 through 2010, we incurred net losses due primarily to the additional debt service obligations and amortization expense incurred in connection with our going private transaction. In 2011 and 2012, net income grew $14.8 million and $3.7 million, respectively, over the prior year to $4.8 million and $8.5 million, respectively. Our strong revenue growth has been driven by additions to our center base through organic center growth and acquisitions, expansions of our service offerings to back-up dependent care and educational advisory services, and consistent annual tuition increases. For the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2012, we generated revenue of $973.7 million and $1.07 billion, net income of $4.8 million and $8.5 million, adjusted EBITDA of $148.5 million and $180.9 million, and adjusted net income of $23.4 million and $37.8 million, respectively. Additional information regarding adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income, including a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income to net income, is included in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

For the year ended December 31, 2012, no single client represented more than 3% of our revenue. Our clients include: Alston & Bird in the professional services and other sectors; British Petroleum and Chevron in the energy sector; JFK Medical Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sectors; The Home Depot, Staples, Starbucks, Newell Rubbermaid and Timberland in the consumer sector; Cisco Systems and EMC in the

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technology sector; Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Royal Bank of Scotland in the financial services sector; and Boeing and Toyota Motor Manufacturing in the industrials and manufacturing sectors. We also provide our services to government and education sector institutions such as Duke University, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, The Environmental Protection Agency, The Johns Hopkins University and The George Washington University.

We provide our center-based child care services under two general business models: a profit and loss (“P&L”) model, where we assume the financial risk of operating a child care center; and a cost-plus model, where we are paid a fee by an employer client for managing a child care center on a cost-plus basis. Our P&L model is further classified into two subcategories: (i) a sponsor model, where we provide child care and early education services on either an exclusive or priority enrollment basis for the employees of a specific employer sponsor; and (ii) a lease/consortium model, where we provide child care and early education services to the employees of multiple employers located within a specific real estate development (for example, an office building or office park), as well as to families in the surrounding community. In both our cost-plus and sponsor P&L models, the development of a new child care center, as well as ongoing maintenance and repair, is typically funded by an employer sponsor with whom we enter into a multi-year contractual relationship. In addition, employer sponsors typically provide subsidies for the ongoing provision of child care services for their employees. Our child care centers are largely located in targeted clusters where we believe demand is generally higher and where income demographics are attractive. We also provide back-up dependent care services through our own centers and through our Back-Up Care Advantage (“BUCA”) program, which offers access to a contracted network of in-home care agencies and approximately 2,500 center-based providers in locations where we do not otherwise have centers with available capacity.

Industry Overview

We compete in the global market for child care and early education services as well as the market for work/life services offered by employers as benefits to employees. Families in the United States spent approximately $43 billion on licensed group child care in 2007 according to a report published by the Pew Center on the States. The child care industry can generally be subdivided into center-based and home-based child care. We operate in the center-based market, which is highly fragmented, with over 90% of providers operating fewer than 10 centers, and the top 10 providers comprising less than 10% of the market, according to the Child Care Information Exchange’s 2012 Employee Child Care Trend Report.

Center-Based Child Care Services

The center-based child care market includes both retail and employer-sponsored centers and can be further divided into full-service centers and back-up centers. We have been a pioneer in the field of employer-sponsored child care, where we were one of the first providers to market a shared economic model directly to employers who offer child care as an employee benefit. While home-based businesses remain the majority of the overall child care market in the United States, the share of center-based child care providers has increased over time, reflecting what we believe is an increasing demand for high-quality, structured and professional child care and early education solutions. According to state licensing statistics, there are approximately 100,000 licensed child care centers in the United States, including retail and employer-sponsored centers.

The significant majority of our competitors market exclusively to families who are retail users of their centers. This employer-sponsored model, which has been central to our business since we were founded in 1986, is characterized by a single employer or consortium of employers entering into a long-term contract for the provision of child care at a center located at or near the employer sponsor’s worksite. The employer sponsor generally funds the development as well as ongoing maintenance and repair of a child care center at or near its worksite and subsidizes the provision of child care services to make them more affordable for its employees.

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Back-Up Dependent Care and Educational Advisory Services

We also compete in the growing markets for back-up dependent care and educational advisory services. The market for additional services that are designed to help employers and families better integrate the challenges of work and life, including back-up dependent care and educational advisory services, is newer and continues to evolve. We believe we are the largest and one of the only multi-national providers of back-up dependent care services and that there are significant growth opportunities available to providers of these services, particularly when a provider can leverage existing client relationships and deliver services to a larger portion of a workforce across multiple locations.

The field of back-up dependent care is less well-developed than that of full-service care. According to the Families and Work Institute’s 2012 National Study of Employers, only 7% of companies with over 1,000 employees surveyed offer back-up or emergency child care, versus 18% of companies with over 1,000 employees which offer full service child care at or near the worksite. A national survey of working adults commissioned by Workplace Options in 2007 found 56% of employees or their spouses missed three to ten days of work in the preceding 12 months due to the lack of adequate back-up child or elder care options. A survey conducted by Public Policy Polling asked respondents how valuable back-up child care would be, and 93% of respondents said “clearly valuable” or “extremely valuable.”

We also offer educational advisory services for employers and their employees, including educational and college counseling through College Coach and the management of employer tuition reimbursement programs through EdAssist. We believe that we are the first provider to have developed these service models within the employer market and are the only participant in the market with this combination of employer-sponsored service offerings.

Industry Trends

We believe that the following key factors contribute to growth in the markets for employer-sponsored child care and for back-up dependent care and educational advisory services:

Increasing Participation by Women and Two Working Parent Families in the Workforce. A significant percentage of mothers currently participate in the workforce. In 2007, for example, 64% of mothers with children under the age of six participated in the workforce in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We expect that the number of working mothers and two working parent families will increase over time, resulting in an increase in the need for child care and other work/life services. By 2016, for example, women are expected to earn 60% of all bachelor degrees and 54% of all doctorate and professional degrees in the United States, according to a 2011 report by the Families and Work Institute.

Greater Demand for High-Quality Center-Based Child Care and Early Education. We believe that recognition of the importance of early education and consistent quality child care has led to increased demand for higher-quality center-based care. In 1965, 8% of children under the age of five with working mothers were enrolled in center-based child care, compared to approximately 24% of such children by 2005, according to data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau. With the shift towards center-based care, there is an increased focus on the establishment of objective, standards-based methods of defining and measuring the quality of child care, such as accreditation. In a highly fragmented market comprised largely of center operators lacking scale, we believe this trend will favor larger industry participants with the size and capital resources to achieve quality standards on a consistent basis.

Recognized Return on Investment to Employers. Based on studies we have conducted through our Horizons Workforce Consulting practice, we believe that employer sponsors of center-based child care and back-up dependent care services realize strong returns on their investments from reduced turnover and increased productivity. For example, we estimate that users of our back-up dependent care services have been able to work,

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on average, 12 days annually that they otherwise would have missed due to breakdowns in child care arrangements. Additionally, according to a 2012 survey of our clients, 94% of respondents reported that access to dependable back-up dependent care helps them to focus on work and be more productive. We believe that this return on investment for employers will result in additional growth in employer-sponsored back-up dependent care services.

Growing Global Demand for Child Care and Early Education Services. We expect that a long-term shift to service-based economies and an increasing emphasis on education by government and families will contribute to further growth in the global child care and early education market as well as the developing markets for back-up dependent care and educational advisory services. In addition, in certain countries in which we operate, public policy decisions have facilitated increased demand for child care and early education services. In 2006, the United Kingdom instituted a ten-year plan to make child care more accessible and more affordable for all parents. In the Netherlands, a 2005 child care law increased the demand for child care and early education services by making child care more affordable for working families and thereby encouraging women to return to the workforce.

Our History

For over 25 years, we have operated child care and early education centers for employers and working families. In 1998, we transformed our business through the merger of Bright Horizons, Inc. and CorporateFamily Solutions, Inc., both then Nasdaq-listed companies that were founded in 1986 and 1987, respectively. We were listed on Nasdaq from 1998 to May 2008, when we were acquired by investment funds affiliated with Bain Capital Partners, LLC (collectively, the “Sponsor”), which we refer to as our going private transaction. Since then, we have continued to grow through challenging economic times while investing in our future. We have grown our international footprint to become a leader in the center-based child care market in the United Kingdom and have expanded into the Netherlands and India as a platform for further international expansion. In the United States, we have enhanced and grown our back-up dependent care services while adding EdAssist as a new educational advisory service for existing employer clients. We have also expanded our sales force with a specific focus on cross-selling opportunities to our employer clients. We have invested in new technologies to better support our full suite of services and expanded our marketing efforts with additional focus on maximizing occupancy levels in centers where we can improve our economics with increased enrollment.

On January 30, 2013, we completed an initial public offering (“the Offering”) and, after the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares on February 21, 2013, issued a total of 11.6 million shares of common stock in exchange for $233.3 million, net of offering costs. Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “BFAM.”

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe we have the following competitive strengths:

Market Leading Service Provider

We believe we are the leader in the markets for employer-sponsored center-based child care and back-up dependent care, and that the breadth, depth and quality of our service offerings—developed over a successful 25-year history—represent significant competitive advantages.

We have approximately five times more employer-sponsored centers in the United States than our closest competitor, according to Child Care Information Exchange’s 2010 Employer Child Care Trend Report. We believe the broad geographic reach of our child care centers, with targeted clusters in areas where we believe demand is generally higher and where income demographics are attractive, provides us with an effective platform

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to market our services to current and new clients. We also believe our pioneering efforts to develop back-up dependent care solutions and educational advisory services for employers to offer as employee benefits have helped to strengthen our position as the provider of choice for employers and working families. We believe we are the only provider who is currently able to offer this broad spectrum of diversified service offerings to employer clients.

Collaborative, Long-term Relationships with Diverse Customer Base

We have more than 850 client relationships with employers across a diverse array of industries, including more than 130 of the Fortune 500 companies, with our largest client contributing less than 3% of our revenue in fiscal 2012 and our largest 10 clients representing less than 13% of our revenue in that year. Our business model places an emphasis on multi-year employer sponsorship contracts where our clients typically fund the development of new child care centers at or near to their worksites and frequently support the ongoing operations of these centers.

Our multiple touch points with both employers and employees give us unique insight into the corporate culture of our clients. This enables us to identify and provide innovative and tailored solutions to address our clients’ specific work/life needs. In addition to full service center-based care, we provide access to a multi-national back-up dependent care network and educational advisory support, allowing us to offer various combinations of services to best meet the needs of specific clients or specific locations for a single client. Our tailored, collaborative approach to employer-sponsored child care has resulted in an annual client retention rate for employer-sponsored centers of approximately 97% over each of the past ten years.

Commitment to Quality

Our business is anchored in the consistent provision of high-quality service offerings to employers and families. We have therefore designed our child care centers to meet or exceed applicable accreditation and rating standards in all of our key markets, including in the United States through the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, a division of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (“NAEYC”), and in the United Kingdom through the ratings of the Office of Standards in Education. We believe that our voluntary commitment to achieving accreditation standards offers a competitive advantage in securing employer sponsorship opportunities and in attracting and retaining families, because an increasing number of potential and existing employer clients require adherence to accreditation criteria. All of our centers are operated at the quality standard to achieve NAEYC accreditation, which can take two to three years to complete, and we have achieved NAEYC accreditation for more than 70% of our eligible centers. In the United States, NAEYC accreditation is optional and has been achieved by fewer than 10% of child care centers.

“The World at Their Fingertips” is our developmentally appropriate, proprietary curriculum that is based on well-established international early childhood development research and theory including the work of Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, Maria Montessori, Howard Gardner and Jim Greenman. Our teachers document learning and assess each child’s progress through our online documentation and assessment system. This forms the basis for ongoing parent and teacher collaboration and communication. We maintain our curriculum at the forefront of early education practices by introducing elements that respond to the changing expectations and views of society and new information and theories about the ways in which children learn and grow.

We also believe that strong adult-to-child ratios are a critical factor in delivering our curriculum effectively as well as helping to facilitate more focused care. Our programs, which are designed to meet NAEYC standards for accreditation, will often provide adult-to-child ratios that are more stringent than many state licensing standards.

Market Leading People Practices

Our ability to deliver consistently high-quality care, education and other services is directly related to our ability to attract, retain and motivate our highly skilled workforce. We believe that we have earned a reputation

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as an employer of choice, and we have consistently been named as a top employer by third-party sources in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, including being named as one of the “100 Best Places to Work in America” by Fortune Magazine 14 times.

We believe the education and experience of our center leaders and teachers exceed the industry average. In addition to recurring in-center training and partial tuition reimbursement for continuing education, we have developed a training program that establishes standards for our teachers as well as an in-house online training academy (Bright Horizons University), which allows our employees to earn nationally-recognized child development credentials. Because we consider ongoing training essential to maintaining high-quality service, our facilities have specific budgets that provide for in-center training, attendance at selected outside conferences and seminars and partial tuition reimbursement for continuing education, in addition to the extensive training that our teachers receive in their first year with Bright Horizons.

Capital Efficient Operating Model Provides Platform for Growth, with Attractive Economics

We have achieved uninterrupted year-over-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth for each of the last eleven years despite broader macro-economic fluctuations. We have accomplished this growth through a combination of key factors, including: annual tuition increases and escalators in management fees which are designed to keep pace with annual cost increases, the addition of both organic and acquired new centers and modest gains in enrollment within existing centers, the addition and growth of new services such as back-up dependent care and educational advisory services, managing our cost structure in line with enrollment within centers and modest leveraging of our overhead structure as we expand on our revenue base.

With employer sponsors funding the majority of the capital required for new centers developed on their behalf, we have been able to grow our business with limited capital investment, which has contributed to strong cash flows from operations.

We also proactively manage our portfolio of centers to identify and close P&L model centers that we view as underperforming, which enables us to sustain our operating margins and effectively reinvest our capital.

Proven Acquisition Track Record

We have an established acquisition team to pursue potential targets using a proven framework to effectively evaluate potential transactions with the goal of maximizing our return on investment while minimizing risk. Since 2006, we have completed acquisitions of 123 child care centers in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, as well as a provider of back-up dependent care services in the United States, representing in aggregate approximately $160 million in annualized revenue. These acquisitions have enabled us to efficiently expand into targeted new markets and increase our presence within existing geographic clusters. Our experience has indicated that many of the smaller regional chains and individual operators seek liquidity and/or lack the professional management and financial resources that are often necessary for continued growth. Our acquisition strategy is also focused on enhancing and diversifying our platform of service offerings, as demonstrated through our 2006 acquisition of College Coach, through which we provide college preparation and admissions counseling.

Experienced Management Team

Our management team has an established track record of operational excellence and has an average tenure of 16 years at Bright Horizons. We have successfully operated Bright Horizons both as a publicly traded company and, since 2008, as a private company. Since then, our management team has navigated challenging macroeconomic conditions and continued to innovate, including rolling out a new technology platform across all of our centers, developing and launching new services including EdAssist, expanding our international presence and actively growing our business both organically and through acquisitions. This team has a proven track record

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of performance, having increased revenue from $345.9 million in 2001 to $1.07 billion in 2012, and increased adjusted EBITDA from $29.8 million in 2001 to $180.9 million in 2012, representing 830 basis points of adjusted EBITDA margin expansion. During this same period, our net income grew from $11.5 million in 2001 to $39.1 million in 2007 and then declined to $(6.6 million) in 2008 and to $(10.0 million) in 2010. In 2011 and 2012, net income increased $14.8 million and $ 3.7 million, respectively, over the prior year. Net income since 2008 reflects the incremental contributions from growth in the business, offset by the additional debt service obligations and amortization expense incurred in connection with our May 2008 going private transaction.

Our Growth Strategy

We believe that there are significant opportunities to continue to grow our business globally and expand our leadership position by continuing to execute on the following strategies:

Grow Our Client Relationships

Secure Relationships with New Employer Clients. Our addressable market includes approximately 15,000 employers, each with at least 1,000 employees, within the industries that we currently service in the United States and the United Kingdom. This presents us with a significant opportunity to engage new employer sponsors for the development of new centers, back-up dependent care services, College Coach and EdAssist. Our dedicated sales force focuses on establishing new client relationships and is supported by our Horizons Workforce Consulting practice, which helps potential clients to identify the precise work/life offerings that will best meet their strategic goals. We believe that our extensive service offerings, the breadth of our existing presence across the United States and our expanding European platform, as well as our track record of serving major employer sponsors for over 25 years, position us to take advantage of new client opportunities.

Expand Relationships with Existing Employer Clients Through Additional Centers and Cross-Selling. As of December 31, 2012, we operated approximately 200 centers for more than 50 clients with multiple facilities, and we believe there is a significant opportunity to add additional employer-sponsored centers for both these and other existing clients. In addition, only approximately 15% of our clients currently utilize more than one of our four principal service offerings. We believe that employers who have already placed trust in us through sponsorship of one of our services are more likely to add others, which should allow us to increase the number of our employer clients that contract with us to provide multiple services to their employees. In the near term, we expect that this cross-sales growth opportunity will be led by the continued expansion of our BUCA program. Revenues from this highly scalable program have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 20% since 2007 and BUCA users have reported a 99% satisfaction rate, resulting in improved business continuity, enhanced productivity and reduced absenteeism for our employer clients.

Continue to Expand Through the Assumption of Management of Existing Employer-Sponsored Child Care Centers. We occasionally assume the management of existing centers from the incumbent management team, which enables us to develop new client relationships, typically with no capital investment and no purchase price payment. We also evaluate existing centers for expansion or relocation in markets in which our operations have been successful, in order to accommodate demand and enhance our market presence.

Sustain Annual Price Increases to Enable Continued Investments in Quality

We look for opportunities to invest in quality as a way to enhance our reputation with our clients and their employees. By developing a strong reputation for high-quality services and facilities, we are able to support consistent price increases that keep pace with our cost increases. Over our history, these price increases have contributed to our revenue growth and have enabled us to drive margin expansion.

Increase Utilization at Existing Centers

We believe that our mature P&L centers (which we define as centers that have been open for more than three years) are currently operating at utilization levels below our target run rate, in part due to a general

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deterioration in economic condition from 2008 to 2010. Utilization rates at our mature P&L centers stabilized in 2010 and have grown in 2011 and 2012. We expect to further close the gap between current utilization rates and our target run rate over the next few years.

Selectively Add New Lease/Consortium Centers

We have typically added between six and twelve new lease/consortium centers annually for the past five years, focusing on urban or city surrounding markets where demand is generally higher and where income demographics are generally more supportive of a new center. We also seek to identify locations that we believe have the potential to attract employer sponsorship in the future. We believe there are at least 100 locations across the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands that would be suitable for a new lease/consortium center within the next five years. We expect to open new lease/consortium centers at an annual rate consistent with our current lease/consortium growth rate over at least the next five years.

Continue to Expand Through Selective Acquisitions

We have a long track record of successfully completing and integrating selective acquisitions, as we have sought to expand quickly within targeted geographies in our existing markets and efficiently enter into new markets. Since 2001, we have on average added between 40 and 60 centers per year, of which approximately 45% have been through acquisitions. Our acquisition strategy is focused on enhancing and diversifying our platform of service offerings, as demonstrated through our 2006 acquisition of College Coach. The domestic and international markets for child care and other family support services remain highly fragmented and, we believe, primed for consolidation. We will therefore continue to seek attractive opportunities both for center acquisitions and the acquisition of complementary service offerings.

Our Business Models

Our business is based primarily on multi-year contractual arrangements with employer clients for the provision of full-service center-based child care and early education, back-up dependent care and educational advisory services. These contractual arrangements provide us with significant visibility into our anticipated revenue stream. Employer sponsorship for new centers through capital and ongoing program investment has allowed us to develop a business model that produces customized, high-quality programs in a capital efficient manner. We believe that this, in turn, helps to enhance long-term relationships with our clients and supports our strong employer client retention rate. These key elements are present in each of the business models that we use to provide our suite of services, described below.

Full-Service Center-Based Care

We provide our full-service center-based child care and early education services under two general business models: (i) a P&L model, where we assume the financial risk of operating an employer-sponsored or lease/consortium facility; and (ii) a cost-plus model, where we are paid a fee for managing an employer-sponsored facility on a cost-plus basis. Under both models, we typically retain responsibility for all aspects of center operation, including the hiring and remuneration of employees, contracting with vendors, purchasing supplies and billing and collecting tuition. We work with clients to select the appropriate model and contractual arrangement for each center on a case-by-case basis based on the needs of the particular client and our own expectations regarding size, anticipated term and specific service offering, among other factors. However, we expect that the mix of business models for our centers will remain broadly consistent over time.

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Back-Up Dependent Care

Early in our history, we were a pioneer in center-based back-up dependent care in major urban markets. While we remain the leading provider of dedicated back-up dependent care centers, we created our BUCA program in 2006 to provide families with access to a national network of child care and adult/elder care options when their normal care arrangements are unavailable. BUCA is accessible only to families whose employers offer the back-up dependent care service as an employment benefit. The scope of care available includes back-up dependent care in our child care centers and a contracted network of over 2,500 high-quality child care centers (with whom we often have exclusive back-up dependent care arrangements) in locations where we do not otherwise have centers with available capacity. We also provide back-up dependent care for children and elders/adults in employees’ homes or other locations, which is provided by a contracted network of independent care providers who meet our contractual standards. Care can be arranged by employees 24 hours a day through our contact center or online, allowing employees to reserve care in advance or at the last minute. Our employer clients typically purchase back-up dependent care services for their employees through either: (i) sponsorship of an on-site dedicated back-up center (generally based on the cost-plus model); (ii) the purchase of specific center

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“memberships” or levels of uses in one or more of our lease/consortium centers located near the employer’s worksite; or (iii) the purchase of uses across the entire network of BUCA service options, allowing their employees to access care wherever they may live or work.

Educational Advisory Services

Through our educational advisory services, we provide employees of our employer clients with support at every stage of the educational spectrum, both for their children and for themselves as adult learners. Our services help consumers of educational benefits to better manage the complexities of using these services and also enable our employer clients to manage their tuition reimbursement budgets more efficiently. We deliver these services under two brands:

College Coach. Since our acquisition of College Coach in 2006, we have offered services both to employees of our employer clients and directly to families on a retail basis. Our College Coach services include educational advice for middle school, high school and special needs students, college planning, college financial aid counseling, as well as college selection and college admissions counseling. We offer these services in a one-on-one format, as well as through worksite or online workshops. According to a survey we conducted in 2011, among employees with access to College Coach services, 70% reported significant work time savings, 88% reported reduced stress and 72% reported increased job satisfaction. Our contracts with employer clients for College Coach services typically have initial terms of one to three years. We also provide college preparation and admissions counseling on a retail basis at a dozen locations nationwide and online.

EdAssist. In 2007, employers spent an estimated $17 billion on educational assistance benefits designed to help their employees achieve their educational goals or complete continuing education requirements mandated by professional associations or licenses. Developed in 2010, our EdAssist services allow our employer clients to more efficiently manage their tuition reimbursement programs through services such as tuition assistance administration, robust data analytics and individualized counseling to employees. We also provide employers and employees with access to a national network of higher education institutions with whom we have procured preferred relationship status, enabling us to offer financial and other benefits to them. Through EdAssist, our employer clients realized average savings of approximately 22.7% on their tuition assistance spending in 2012. Typically, our clients contract for our EdAssist services on a fee and incentive basis, with initial terms generally ranging from one to three years.

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Our Operations

Our primary reporting and operating segments are full-service center-based child care services and back-up dependent care services. Full-service center-based child care includes traditional center-based child care, pre-school and elementary education. Back-up dependent care includes center-based back-up child care, in-home care, mildly ill child care and adult/elder care. Our remaining operations, including our educational advisory services, are included in other educational advisory services.

The following table sets forth our segment information as of the dates and for the periods indicated.

Full-Service Child Care

Our full-service center operations are organized into geographic divisions led by a Division Vice President of Center Operations who, in turn, reports to a Senior Vice President of Center Operations. Each division is further divided into regions, each supervised by a Regional Manager who oversees the operational performance of approximately six to eight centers and is responsible for supervising the program quality, financial performance and client relationships. A typical center is managed by a small administrative team under the leadership of a Center Director. A Center Director has day-to-day operating responsibility for the center, including training, management of staff, licensing compliance, implementation of curricula, conducting child assessments and enrollment. Our corporate offices provide centralized administrative support for accounting, finance, information systems, legal, payroll, risk management, marketing and human resources functions. We follow this underlying operational structure for center operations in each country in which we operate.

Center hours of operation are designed to match the schedules of employer sponsors and working families. Most of our centers are open 10 to 12 hours a day with typical hours of operation from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. We offer a variety of enrollment options, ranging from full-time to part-time scheduling.

Tuition paid by families varies depending on the age of the child, the available adult-to-child ratio, the geographic location and the extent to which an employer sponsor subsidizes tuition. Based on a sample of 250 of

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our child care and early education centers, the average tuition rate at our centers in the United States is $1,670 per month for infants (typically ages three to sixteen months), $1,470 per month for toddlers (typically ages sixteen months to three years) and $1,165 per month for preschoolers (typically ages three to five years). Tuition at most of our child care and early education centers is payable in advance and is due either monthly or weekly. In many cases, families can pay tuition through payroll deductions or through Automated Clearing House withdrawals.

Revenue per center typically averages between $1.3 million and $1.6 million at our centers in North America, and averages between $0.7 million and $1.0 million at our centers in Europe, primarily due to the larger average size of our centers in North America. Gross margin at our centers typically averages between 15% and 25%, with our cost-plus model centers typically at the lower end of that range and our lease/consortium centers at the higher end.

Cost of services consists of direct expenses associated with the operation of child care and early education centers and direct expenses to provide back-up dependent care services and educational advisory services. Direct expenses consist primarily of payroll and benefits for personnel, food costs, program supplies and materials, parent marketing and facilities costs, which include depreciation. Personnel costs are the largest component of a center’s operating costs and comprise approximately 75% of a center’s operating expenses. In a P&L model center, we are often responsible for additional costs that are typically paid or provided directly by a client in centers operating under the cost-plus model, such as facilities costs. As a result, personnel costs in centers operating under P&L models will often represent a smaller percentage of overall costs when compared to centers operating under cost-plus models.

Selling, general and administrative expenses (“SGA”) consist primarily of salaries, payroll taxes and benefits (including stock-based compensation costs) for non-center personnel, which includes corporate, regional and business development personnel, accounting and legal, information technology, occupancy costs for corporate and regional personnel, management/advisory fees and other general corporate expenses.

Back-Up Dependent Care

Our back-up dependent care division is led by a Senior Vice President of Operations with Divisional Vice Presidents leading back-up center operations and the BUCA program. The dedicated back-up centers that we operate are organized in a similar structure to full-service centers, with regional managers overseeing approximately six to eight centers each and with center-based administrative teams that mirror the administrative teams in full-service centers. The dedicated back-up centers are either exclusive to a single employer or are consortium centers that have multiple employer sponsors, as well as uses from the BUCA program. Care is arranged through a 24 hours-a-day contact center or online, allowing employees to reserve care in advance or at the last minute. We operate our own contact center in Broomfield, Colorado, which is overseen by the Division Vice President responsible for BUCA, and contract with an additional contact center located in Durham, North Carolina to complement our ability to handle demand fluctuations and to provide seamless service 24 hours a day.

Back-up dependent care revenue is comprised of fees or subsidies paid by employer sponsors, as well as co-payments collected from users at the point of service. Cost of services consist of fees paid to providers for care delivered as part of their contractual relationships with us, personnel and related direct service costs of the contact centers and any other expenses related to the coordination or delivery of care and service. For Bright Horizons back-up centers, cost of service also includes all direct expenses associated with the operation of the centers. SGA related to back-up dependent care is similar to SGA for full-service care, with additional expenses related to the information technology necessary to operate this service, the ongoing development and maintenance of the provider network and additional personnel needed as a result of more significant client management and reporting requirements.

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Educational Advisory Services

Our educational advisory services consist of our College Coach services and our EdAssist services.

College Coach. Our College Coach services are provided by College Coach’s educators, all of whom have experience working at senior levels in admissions or financial aid at colleges and universities. We work with employer clients who offer these services as a benefit to their employees, and we also provide these services directly to families on a retail basis. We have 12 College Coach offices in the United States, located primarily in metropolitan areas, where we believe the demand for these services is greatest. College Coach derives revenue mainly from employer clients who contract with us for an agreed upon number of workshops, access to our proprietary virtual learning center and individual counseling. The College Coach division is managed by a vice president and general manager who has responsibility for the growth and profitability of this division.

EdAssist. Our EdAssist services are provided through a proprietary software system for processing and data analytics, as well as a team of compliance professionals who audit employee reimbursements. We also provide customer service through contact centers in Broomfield, Colorado and Durham, North Carolina. The EdAssist services derive revenue directly from fees paid by employer sponsors under contracts that are typically three years in length. The EdAssist division is managed by a vice president and general manager who has responsibility for the growth and profitability of this division.

Educational advisory services revenue is comprised of fees or subsidies paid by employer clients, as well as copayments or retail fees collected from users at the point of service. Cost of services consist of personnel and direct service costs of the contact centers, and other expenses related to the coordination and delivery of advisory and counseling services.

Geography

We operate in two primary regions: North America, which includes the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and Europe, which we define to include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland and India. The following table sets forth certain financial data for these geographic regions for the periods indicated.

Our international business primarily consists of child care centers throughout the United Kingdom and the Netherlands and is overseen by a senior vice president. In 2012, we added 50 centers worldwide, including 27 in the United Kingdom as a result of the completion of the acquisition of Huntyard Limited (“Huntyard”), the parent company of Casterbridge Care and Education Group Ltd (“Casterbridge”), on May 23, 2012. As of December 31, 2012, we had a total of 169 centers in Europe.

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Marketing

We market our services to prospective employer sponsors, current clients and their employees, and to parents. Our sales force is organized on both a centralized and regional basis and is responsible for identifying potential employer sponsors, targeting real estate development opportunities, identifying potential acquisitions and managing the overall sales process. We reach out to employers via word of mouth, direct mail campaigns, digital outreach and advertising, conference networking, webinars and social media. In addition, as a result of our visibility among human resources professionals as a high-quality dependent care service provider, potential employer sponsors regularly contact us requesting proposals, and we often compete for employer-sponsorship opportunities through request for proposal processes. Our management team is involved at the national level with education, work/life and children’s advocacy, and we believe that their prominence and involvement in such issues also helps us attract new business. We communicate regularly with existing clients to increase awareness of the full suite of services that we provide for key life stages and to explore opportunities to enhance current partnerships.

We also have a direct-to-consumer, or parent, marketing department that supports parent enrollment efforts through the development of marketing programs, including the preparation of promotional materials. The parent marketing team is organized on both a centralized and regional basis and works with center directors and our contract centers to build enrollment. New enrollment is generated by word of mouth, print advertising, direct mail campaigns, digital marketing, parent referral programs and business outreach. Individual centers may receive assistance from employer sponsors, who often provide access to channels of internal communication, such as e-mail, websites, intranets, mailing lists and internal publications. In addition, many employer sponsors promote the child care and early education center as an important employee benefit.

Competition

We believe that we are a leader in the markets for employer-sponsored center-based child care and back-up dependent care and maintain approximately five times more market share in the United States than our closest competitors who provide employer-sponsored centers. The market for child care and early education services is highly fragmented, and we compete for enrollment and for sponsorship of child care and early education centers with a variety of other businesses including large residential child care companies, regional child care providers, family day care (operated out of the caregiver’s home), nannies, for-profit and not-for-profit full- and part-time nursery schools, private schools and public elementary schools, and not-for-profit and government-funded providers of center-based child care. Our principal competitors for employer-sponsored centers include Knowledge Learning Corporation, Children’s Choice, New Horizons, Kids Unlimited, Childbase and Busy Bees in the United States and the United Kingdom. Competition for back-up dependent care and educational advising comes from some of these same competitors in addition to employee assistance programs, payment processors and smaller work/life companies. In addition, we compete for enrollment on a center-by-center basis with some of the providers named above, along with many local and national providers, such as Goddard Schools, Primrose Preschools, Asquith Court, Catalpa, SKON and Learning Care Group in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

We believe that the key factors in the competition for enrollment are quality of care, site convenience and cost. We believe that many center-based child care providers are able to offer care at lower prices than we do by utilizing less intensive adult-to-child ratios and offering their staff lower compensation and limited or less affordable benefits. While our tuition levels are generally higher than our competitors, we compete primarily based on the convenience of a work-site location and a higher level of program quality. In addition, many of our competitors may have access to greater financial resources (such as access to government funding or other subsidies), or may benefit from broader name recognition (such as established regional providers) or comply or are required to comply with fewer or less costly health, safety, and operational regulations than those with which we comply (such as the more limited health, safety and operational regulatory requirements typically applicable to family day care operations in caregivers’ homes).

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We believe that our primary focus on employer clients and track record for achieving and maintaining high-quality standards distinguishes us from our competitors. We believe we are well-positioned to continue attracting new employer sponsors due to our extensive service offerings, established reputation, position as a quality leader and track record of serving major employer sponsors for over 25 years.

Intellectual Property

We believe that our name and logo have significant value and are important to our operations. We own and use various registered and unregistered trademarks covering the names Bright Horizons and Bright Horizons Family Solutions, our logo and a number of other names, slogans and designs. We frequently license the use of our registered trademarks to our clients in connection with the use of our services, subject to customary restrictions. We actively protect our trademarks by registering the marks in a variety of countries and geographic areas, including North America, Asia and Southeast Asia, the Pacific Rim, Europe and Australia. These registrations are subject to varying terms and renewal options. However, not all of the trademarks or service marks have been registered in all of the countries in which we do business, and we are aware of persons using similar marks in certain countries in which we currently do not do business. Meanwhile, we monitor our trademarks and vigorously oppose the infringement of any of our marks. We do not hold any patents, and we hold copyright registrations for certain materials that are material to the operation of our business. We generally rely on common law protection for those copyrighted works which are not material to the operation of our business. We also license some intellectual property from third parties for use in our business. Such licenses are not individually or in the aggregate material to our business.

Regulatory Matters

We are subject to various federal, state and local laws affecting the operation of our business, including various licensing, health, fire and safety requirements and standards. In most jurisdictions in which we operate, our child care centers are required by law to meet a variety of operational requirements, including minimum qualifications and background checks for our teachers and other center personnel. State and local regulations may also impact the design and furnishing of our centers.

Internationally, we are subject to national and local laws and regulations that often are similar to those affecting us in the United States, including laws and regulations concerning various licensing, health, fire and safety requirements and standards. We believe that our centers comply in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations in these countries.

Health and Safety

The safety and well-being of children and our employees is paramount for us. We employ a variety of security measures at our child care and early education centers, which typically include secure electronic access systems as well as sign-in and sign-out procedures for children, among other site-specific security measures. In addition, our trained teachers and open center designs help ensure the health and safety of children. Our child care and early education centers are designed to minimize the risk of injury to children by incorporating such features as child-sized amenities, rounded corners on furniture and fixtures, age-appropriate toys and equipment and cushioned fall zones surrounding play structures.

Each center is further guided by a policies and procedures manual and a center management guide that address protocols for safe and appropriate care of children and center administration. These guidelines establish center protocols in areas including the safe handling of medications, managing child illness or health emergencies and a variety of other critical aspects of care to ensure that centers meet or exceed all mandated licensing standards. The center management guide is reviewed and updated continuously by a team of internal experts, and center personnel are trained on center practices using this tool. Our proprietary We Care system supports proper supervision of children and documents the transitions of children to and from the care of teachers and parents or from one classroom to another during the day.

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Environmental

Our operations, including the selection and development of the properties that we lease and any construction or improvements that we make at those locations, are subject to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulations, including environmental, zoning and land use requirements. In addition, we have a practice of conducting site evaluations on each freestanding or newly constructed or renovated property that we own or lease. Although we have no known material environmental liabilities, environmental laws may require owners or operators of contaminated property to remediate that property, regardless of fault.

Employees

As of December 31, 2012, we had approximately 22,000 employees (including part-time and substitute teachers), of whom approximately 1,000 were employed at our corporate, divisional and regional offices, and the remainder of whom were employed at our child care and early education centers. Child care and early education center employees include teachers and support personnel. The total number of employees includes approximately 4,000 employees working outside of the United States. We conduct annual surveys to assess employee satisfaction and can adjust programs, benefits offerings, trainings, communications and other support to meet employee needs and enhance retention. We have a long track record of being named a “Best Place to Work” in the United States and more recently in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands based largely upon employee responses to surveys. We believe our relationships with our employees are good.

Facilities

Our child care and early education centers are primarily operated at work-site locations and vary in design and capacity in accordance with employer sponsor needs and state and local regulatory requirements. Our North American child care and early education centers typically have an average capacity of 126 children. Our locations in Europe and India have an average capacity of 70 children. As of December 31, 2012, our child care and early education centers had a total licensed capacity of approximately 87,100 children, with the smallest center having a capacity of 10 children and the largest having a capacity of approximately 500 children.

We believe that attractive, spacious and child-friendly facilities with warm, nurturing and welcoming atmospheres are an important element in fostering a high-quality learning environment for children. Our centers are designed to be open and bright and to maximize supervision visibility. We devote considerable resources to equipping our centers with child-sized amenities, indoor and outdoor play areas comprised of age-appropriate materials and design, family hospitality areas and computer centers. Commercial kitchens are typically only present in those centers where regulations require that hot meals be prepared on site.

Available Information

We make available, free of charge, on our corporate website www.brighthorizons.com, the annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The public may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. Information filed wit the SEC is also available at www.sec.gov. References to these websites do not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained therein and should not be considered part of this document.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Changes in the demand for child care and other dependent care services, which may be negatively affected by economic conditions, may affect our operating results.

Our business strategy depends on employers recognizing the value in providing employees with child care and other dependent care services as an employee benefit. The number of employers that view such services as cost-effective or beneficial to their work forces may not continue to grow or may diminish. In addition, demographic trends, including the number of dual-income families in the work force, may not continue to lead to increased demand for our services. Such changes could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Even among employers that recognize the value of our services, demand may be adversely affected by general economic conditions. For example, during the recent recession, we believe sustained uncertainty in U.S. and global economic conditions and persistently high unemployment domestically resulted in reduced enrollment levels at our mature P&L centers, and enrollment remains below pre-recession levels, and in certain locations has not begun to recover. Should the economy experience additional or prolonged weakness, employer clients may reduce or eliminate their sponsorship of work and family services, and prospective clients may not commit resources to such services. In addition, a reduction in the size of an employer’s workforce could negatively impact the demand for our services and result in reduced enrollment or failure of our employer clients to renew their contracts. A deterioration of general economic conditions may adversely impact the need for our services because out-of-work parents may diminish or discontinue the use of child care services, or be unwilling to pay tuition for high-quality services. Additionally, we may not be able to increase tuition at a rate consistent with increases in our operating costs. If demand for our services were to decrease, it could disrupt our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

Our business depends largely on our ability to hire and retain qualified teachers.

State laws require our teachers and other staff members to meet certain educational and other minimum requirements, and we often require that teachers and staff at our centers have additional qualifications. We are also required by state laws to maintain certain prescribed minimum adult-to-child ratios. If we are unable to hire and retain qualified teachers at a center, we could be required to reduce enrollment or be prevented from accepting additional enrollment in order to comply with such mandated ratios. In certain markets, we may experience difficulty in attracting, hiring and retaining qualified teachers, which may require us to offer increased salaries and enhanced benefits in these more competitive markets. This could result in increased costs at centers located in these markets. Difficulties in hiring and retaining qualified personnel may also affect our ability to meet growth objectives in certain geographies and to take advantage of additional enrollment opportunities at our child care and early education centers in these markets.

Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition.

We have a significant amount of indebtedness. As of December 31, 2012, we had total indebtedness of $928.3 million, excluding approximately $0.8 million of undrawn letters of credit and $74.9 million of unused commitments under our revolving credit facility.

On January 30, 2013, we entered into new $890.0 million senior secured credit facilities to refinance all of the existing indebtedness under the senior credit facilities and the senior subordinated notes.

We currently have total indebtedness of $790.0 million, excluding approximately $0.8 million of undrawn letters of credit and $99.9 million of unused commitments under our revolving credit facility. Our high level of debt could have important consequences, including:

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We and our subsidiaries may be able to incur significant additional indebtedness in the future. Although the agreement governing our new senior secured credit facilities contains restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness, those restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions, and the additional indebtedness incurred in compliance with those restrictions could be substantial. We may also seek to amend or refinance one or more of our debt instruments to permit us to finance our growth strategy or improve the terms of our indebtedness, just as we amended our prior senior secured credit facilities in 2012 to finance the acquisition of Casterbridge in the United Kingdom in May 2012, and, in January 2013, refinanced the senior secured credit facilities and senior subordinated notes, described elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K.

In addition, the borrowings under our new senior secured credit facilities bear interest at variable rates. If market interest rates increase, variable rate debt will create higher debt service requirements, which could adversely affect our cash flow. Assuming all amounts under our new senior secured credit facilities are fully drawn, a 100 basis point change in interest rates would result in a $8.9 million change in annual interest expense on our indebtedness under our new senior secured credit facilities (subject to our base rate and LIBOR floors, as applicable). While we may in the future enter into agreements limiting our exposure to higher interest rates, any such agreements may not offer complete protection from this risk.

The terms of our indebtedness restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes or to take certain actions.

The new credit agreement governing our $890.0 million senior secured credit facilities contains a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interest, including restrictions on our ability to incur certain liens, make investments and acquisitions, incur or guarantee additional indebtedness, pay dividends or make other distributions in respect of, or repurchase or redeem, capital stock, or enter into certain other types of contractual arrangements affecting our subsidiaries or indebtedness. In addition, the restrictive covenants in the new $890.0 million credit agreement governing our senior secured credit facilities require us to maintain specified financial ratios and satisfy other financial condition tests, and we expect that the agreements governing any new senior secured credit facilities will contain similar requirements to satisfy financial condition tests and, with respect to any new revolving credit facility, maintain specified financial ratios, subject to certain conditions. Our ability to meet those financial ratios and tests can be affected by events beyond our control.

A breach of the covenants under the credit agreement governing our new $890.0 million senior secured credit facilities could result in an event of default unless we obtain a waiver to avoid such default. If we are unable to obtain a waiver, such a default may allow the creditors to accelerate the related debt and may result in the acceleration of or default under any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. In the event our lenders accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we and our subsidiaries may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness.

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Acquisitions may disrupt our operations or expose us to additional risk.

Acquisitions are an integral part of our growth strategy. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including potential difficulties in the integration of acquired operations, such as bringing new centers through the re-licensing or accreditation processes, successfully implementing our curriculum programs, not meeting financial objectives, increased costs, undisclosed liabilities not covered by insurance or by the terms of the acquisition, diversion of management’s attention and resources in connection with an acquisition, loss of key employees of the acquired operation, failure of acquired operations to effectively and timely adopt our internal control processes and other policies, and write-offs or impairment charges relating to goodwill and other intangible assets. We may not have success in identifying, executing and integrating acquisitions in the future.

The success of our operations in international markets is highly dependent on the expertise of local management and operating staff, as well as the political, social, legal and economic operating conditions of each country in which we operate.

The success of our business depends on the actions of our employees. In international markets that are newer to our business, we are highly dependent on our current local management and operating staff to operate our centers in these markets in accordance with local law and best practices. If the local management or operating staff were to leave our employment, we would have to expend significant time and resources building up our management or operational expertise in these markets. Such a transition could adversely affect our reputation in these markets and could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

If the international markets in which we compete are affected by changes in political, social, legal, economic or other factors, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected. As of December 31, 2012, we had 171 centers located in five foreign countries; therefore, we are subject to inherent risks attributed to operating in a global economy. Our international operations may subject us to additional risks that differ in each country in which we operate, and such risks may negatively affect our results. The factors impacting the international markets in which we operate may include changes in laws and regulations affecting the operation of child care centers, the imposition of restrictions on currency conversion or the transfer of funds or increases in the taxes paid and other changes in applicable tax laws.

In addition, instability in European financial markets or other events could cause fluctuations in exchange rates that may affect our revenues. Most of our revenues, costs and debts are denominated in U.S. dollars. However, revenues and costs from our operations outside of the United States are denominated in the currency of the country in which the center is located, and these currencies could become less valuable as a result of exchange rate fluctuations. The current European debt crisis and related European financial restructuring efforts may cause the value of the European currencies, including the British pound and the Euro, to deteriorate. The potential dissolution of the Euro, or market perceptions concerning this and related issues, could adversely affect the value of our Euro- and British pound-denominated assets. Unfavorable currency fluctuations as a result of this and other market forces could result in a reduction in our revenues and net earnings, which in turn could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

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

Adverse publicity concerning reported incidents or allegations of physical or sexual abuse or other harm to a child at any child care center, whether or not directly relating to or involving Bright Horizons, could result in decreased enrollment at our child care centers, termination of existing corporate relationships or inability to attract new corporate relationships, or increased insurance costs, all of which could adversely affect our operations. Brand value and our reputation can be severely damaged even by isolated incidents, particularly if the incidents receive considerable negative publicity or result in substantial litigation. These incidents may arise from events that are beyond our ability to control and may damage our brands and reputation, such as instances of physical or sexual abuse or actions taken (or not taken) by one or more center managers or teachers relating to the health, safety or welfare of children in our care. In addition, from time to time, customers and others make

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claims and take legal action against us. Whether or not customer claims or legal action related to our performance have merit, they may adversely affect our reputation and the demand for our services. Demand for our services could diminish significantly if any such incidents or other matters erode consumer confidence in us or our services, which would likely result in lower sales, and could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results. Any reputational damage could have a material adverse effect on our brand value and our business, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our business activities subject us to litigation risks that may lead to significant reputational damage, money damages and other remedies and increase our litigation expense.

Because of the nature of our business, we may be subject to claims and litigation alleging negligence, inadequate supervision or other grounds for liability arising from injuries or other harm to the people we serve, primarily children. We may also be subject to employee claims based on, among other things, discrimination, harassment or wrongful termination. In addition, claimants may seek damages from us for physical or sexual abuse, and other acts allegedly committed by our employees or agents. We face the risk that additional lawsuits may be filed which could result in damages and other costs that our insurance may be inadequate to cover. In addition to diverting our management resources, such allegations may result in publicity that may materially and adversely affect us and our brands, regardless of whether such allegations are valid. Any such claim or the publicity resulting from it may have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition including, without limitation, adverse effects caused by increased cost or decreased availability of insurance and decreased demand for our services from employer sponsors and families.

Our international operations may be subject to additional risks related to litigation, including difficulties enforcing contractual obligations governed by foreign law due to differing interpretations of rights and obligations, limitations on the availability of insurance coverage and limits, compliance with multiple and potentially conflicting laws, new and potentially untested laws and judicial systems and reduced or diminished protection of intellectual property. A substantial judgment against us or one of our subsidiaries could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Our continued profitability depends on our ability to pass on our increased costs to our customers.

Hiring and retaining key employees and qualified personnel, including teachers, is critical to our business. Because we are primarily a services business, inflationary factors such as wage and benefits cost increases result in significant increases in the costs of running our business. In addition, increased competition for teachers in certain markets could result in significant increases in the costs of running our business. Any employee organizing efforts could also increase our payroll and benefits expenses. Our success depends on our ability to continue to pass along these costs to our customers. In the event that we cannot increase the cost of our services to cover these higher wage and benefit costs without reducing customer demand for our services, our revenues could be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations, as well as our growth.

Changes in our relationships with employer sponsors may affect our operating results.

We derive a significant portion of our business from child care and early education centers associated with employer sponsors for whom we provide these services at single or multiple sites pursuant to contractual arrangements. Our contracts with employers for full service center-based care typically have terms of three to ten years, and our contracts related to back-up dependent care typically have terms of one to three years. While we have a history of consistent contract renewals, we may not experience a similar renewal rate in the future. The termination or non-renewal of a significant number of contracts or the termination of a multiple-site client relationship could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

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Significant increases in the costs of insurance or of insurance claims or our deductibles may negatively affect our profitability.

We currently maintain the following major types of commercial insurance policies: workers’ compensation, commercial general liability (including coverage for sexual and physical abuse), professional liability, automobile liability, excess and “umbrella” liability, commercial property coverage, student accident coverage, employment practices liability, commercial crime coverage, fiduciary liability, privacy breach/Internet liability and directors’ and officers’ liability. These policies are subject to various limitations, exclusions and deductibles. To date, we have been able to obtain insurance in amounts we believe to be appropriate. Such insurance, particularly coverage for sexual and physical abuse, may not continue to be readily available to us in the form or amounts we have been able to obtain in the past, or our insurance premiums could materially increase in the future as a consequence of conditions in the insurance business or in the child care industry.

Changes in laws and regulations could impact the way we conduct business.

Our child care and early education centers are subject to numerous national, state and local regulations and licensing requirements. Although these regulations vary greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, government agencies generally review, among other issues, the adequacy of buildings and equipment, licensed capacity, the ratio of adults to children, educational qualifications and training of staff, record keeping, dietary program, daily curriculum, hiring practices and compliance with health and safety standards. Failure of a child care or early education center to comply with applicable regulations and requirements could subject it to governmental sanctions, which can include fines, corrective orders, placement on probation or, in more serious cases, suspension or revocation of one or more of our child care centers’ licenses to operate, and require significant expenditures to bring our centers into compliance. Although we expect to pay employees at rates above the minimum wage, increases in the statutory minimum wage rates could result in a corresponding increase in the wages we pay to our employees.

Our operating results are subject to seasonal fluctuations.

Our revenue and results of operations fluctuate with the seasonal demands for child care and the other services we provide. Revenue in our child care centers that have mature operating levels typically declines during the third quarter due to decreased enrollments over the summer months as families withdraw children for vacations and older children transition into elementary schools. In addition, use of our back-up services tends to be higher when school is not in session and during holiday periods, which can increase the operating costs of the program and impact results of operations. We may be unable to adjust our expenses on a short-term basis to minimize the effect of these fluctuations in revenue. Our quarterly results of operations may also fluctuate based upon the number and timing of child care center openings and/or closings, acquisitions, the performance of new and existing child care and early education centers, the contractual arrangements under which child care centers are operated, the change in the mix of such contractual arrangements, competitive factors and general economic conditions. The inability of existing child care centers to maintain their current enrollment levels and profitability, the failure of newly opened child care centers to contribute to profitability and the failure to maintain and grow our other services could result in additional fluctuations in our future operating results on a quarterly or annual basis.

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

Our success depends on the efforts, abilities and continued services of our executive officers and other key employees. We believe future success will depend upon our ability to continue to attract, motivate and retain highly-skilled managerial, sales and marketing, divisional, regional and child care and early education center director personnel.

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

We compete for enrollment and sponsorship of our child care and early education centers in a highly-fragmented market. For enrollment, we compete with family child care (operated out of the caregiver’s home)

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and center-based child care (such as residential and work-site child care centers, full- and part-time nursery schools, private and public elementary schools and church-affiliated and other not-for-profit providers). In addition, substitutes for organized child care, such as relatives and nannies caring for children, can represent lower cost alternatives to our services. For sponsorship, we compete primarily with large residential child care companies with divisions focused on employer sponsorship and with regional child care providers who target employer sponsorship. We believe that our ability to compete successfully depends on a number of factors, including quality of care, site convenience and cost. We often face a price disadvantage to our competition, which may have access to greater financial resources, greater name recognition or lower operating or compliance costs. In addition, certain competitors may be able to operate with little or no rental expense and sometimes do not comply or are not required to comply with the same health, safety and operational regulations with which we comply. Therefore, we may be unable to continue to compete successfully against current and future competitors.

The growth of our business may be adversely affected if we do not execute our growth strategies successfully.

Our ability to grow in the future will depend upon a number of factors, including the ability to develop and expand new and existing client relationships, to continue to provide and expand the high-quality services we offer and to hire and train qualified personnel. Achieving and sustaining growth increases requires the successful execution of our growth strategies, which may require the implementation of enhancements to operational and financial systems, expanded sales and marketing capacity and additional or new organizational resources. We may be unable to manage our expanding operations effectively, or we may be unable to maintain or accelerate our growth.

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

National, state or local child care benefit programs comprised primarily of subsidies in the form of tax credits or other direct government financial aid provide us opportunities for expansion in additional markets. However, a universal benefit with governmentally mandated or provided child care could reduce the demand for early care services at our existing child care and early education centers due to the availability of lower cost care alternatives or could place downward pressure on the tuition and fees we charge, which could adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.

Breaches in data security could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

For various operational needs, we receive certain personal information including credit card information and personal information for the children and families that we serve. While we have policies and practices that protect our data, a compromise of our systems that results in unauthorized persons obtaining personal information could adversely affect our reputation and our operations, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, and could result in litigation against us or in the imposition of penalties. In addition, a security breach could require us to expend significant additional resources related to the security of our information systems and could result in a disruption to our operations.

A regional or global health pandemic or other catastrophic event could severely disrupt our business.

A health pandemic is a disease that spreads rapidly and widely by infection and affects many individuals in an area or population at the same time. A regional or global health pandemic, depending upon its duration and severity, could severely affect our business. Enrollment in our child care centers could experience sharp declines as families might avoid taking their children out in public in the event of a health pandemic, and local, regional or national governments might limit or ban public interactions to halt or delay the spread of diseases causing business disruptions and the temporary closure of our centers. Additionally, a health pandemic could also impair our ability to hire and retain an adequate level of staff. A health pandemic may have a disproportionate impact on our business compared to other companies that depend less on the performance of services by employees.

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Other unforeseen events, including war, terrorism and other international, regional or local instability or conflicts (including labor issues), embargos, natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, or other adverse weather and climate conditions, whether occurring in the United States or abroad, could disrupt our operations or result in political or economic instability. Enrollment in our child care centers could experience sharp declines as families might avoid taking their children out in public as a result of one or more of these events.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the New York Stock Exchange listing rules and, as a result, we qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such requirements.

Our Sponsor continues to control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of the New York Stock Exchange. Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements including:

We intend to continue to utilize these exemptions for so long as the Sponsor continues to control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we do not have a majority of independent directors, our compensation committee does not consist entirely of independent directors and the board committees are not subject to annual performance evaluations. In addition, we do not have a nominating and corporate governance committee. Accordingly, investors do not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”).

The Sponsor has agreed, subject to certain exceptions, not to sell or otherwise dispose of any shares of our common stock or other capital stock or other securities exercisable or convertible therefor for a period of at least 180 days after January 24, 2013, the date our initial public offering became effective, without the prior written consent of Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Barclays Capital Inc. Except for this brief period, there can be no assurance as to the period of time during which the Sponsor will maintain its ownership of our common stock.

Our stock price could be extremely volatile, and, as a result, you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price you paid for them.

Since our initial public offering in January 2013, the price of our common stock, as reported by NYSE, has ranged from a low of $22.00 on January 25, 2013 to a high of $35.13 on March 20, 2013.

The stock market in general has been highly volatile. As a result, the market price of our common stock is likely to be similarly volatile, and investors in our common stock may experience a decrease, which could be

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substantial, in the value of their stock, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects, and could lose part or all of their investment. The price of our common stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a number of factors, including those described elsewhere herein and others such as:

In the past, securities class action litigation has often been initiated against companies following periods of volatility in their stock price. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention and resources, and could also require us to make substantial payments to satisfy judgments or to settle litigation.

There may be sales of a substantial amount of our common stock by our current stockholders, and these sales could cause the price of our common stock to fall.

As of March 15, 2013, there were 64,533,873 shares of common stock outstanding. Approximately 79.9% of our outstanding common stock is beneficially owned by investment funds affiliated with the Sponsor and members of our management and employees.

Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales will occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and make it difficult for us to raise funds through securities offerings in the future.

In addition, certain holders of shares of our common stock may require us to register their shares for resale under the federal securities laws, and holders of additional shares of our common stock would be entitled to have their shares included in any such registration statement, all subject to reduction upon the request of the underwriter of the Offering, if any. Registration of those shares would allow the holders to immediately resell their shares in the public market. Any such sales or anticipation thereof could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

In addition, we have registered 5 million shares of common stock that are reserved for issuance under our 2012 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan.

Provisions in our charter documents and Delaware law may deter takeover efforts that could be beneficial to stockholder value.

In addition to the Sponsor’s beneficial ownership of a controlling percentage of our common stock, our certificate of incorporation and by-laws and Delaware law contain provisions that could make it harder for a third

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party to acquire us, even if doing so might be beneficial to our stockholders. These provisions include a classified board of directors and limitations on actions by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors has the right to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval that could be used to dilute a potential hostile acquiror. Our certificate of incorporation also imposes some restrictions on mergers and other business combinations between us and any holder of 15% or more of our outstanding common stock other than the Sponsor. As a result, you may lose your ability to sell your stock for a price in excess of the prevailing market price due to these protective measures, and efforts by stockholders to change the direction or management of the company may be unsuccessful.

Our certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our certificate of incorporation provides that, subject to limited exceptions, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation or our by-laws, or (iv) any other action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation described above. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

The Sponsor continues to have significant influence over us in the future, including control over decisions that require the approval of stockholders, which could limit your ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including a change of control.

We are currently controlled by the Sponsor. As of March 15, 2013, investment funds affiliated with the Sponsor beneficially owned 79.9% of our outstanding common stock. For as long as the Sponsor continues to beneficially own shares of common stock representing more than 50% of the voting power of our common stock, it will be able to direct the election of all of the members of our board of directors and could exercise a controlling influence over our business and affairs, including any determinations with respect to mergers or other business combinations, the acquisition or disposition of assets, the incurrence of indebtedness, the issuance of any additional common stock or other equity securities, the repurchase or redemption of common stock and the payment of dividends. Similarly, the Sponsor will have the power to determine matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders without the consent of our other stockholders, will have the power to prevent a change in our control and could take other actions that might be favorable to it. Even if its ownership falls below 50%, the Sponsor will continue to be able to strongly influence or effectively control our decisions.

Additionally, the Sponsor is in the business of making investments in companies and may acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us. The Sponsor may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us.

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Because we have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.

We may retain future earnings, if any, for future operations, expansion and debt repayment and have no current plans to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, cash requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends may be limited by covenants of any existing and future outstanding indebtedness we or our subsidiaries incur, including our senior credit facilities. As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in our common stock unless you sell our common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.

None.

We lease approximately 86,000 square feet of office space for our corporate headquarters in Watertown, Massachusetts under an operating lease that expires in 2020, with two ten-year renewal options. We also lease approximately 24,000 square feet for our contact center in Broomfield, Colorado, as well as space for regional administrative offices located in New York City; Brentwood, Tennessee; Corte Madera, California; Lisle, Illinois; Irving, Texas; Deerfield Beach, Florida; Rushden, London and Edinburgh in the United Kingdom; and Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. In addition, we also maintain small, regional offices for our College Coach division.

As of December 31, 2012, we operated 765 child care and early education centers in 42 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands and India, of which 72 were owned, with the remaining centers being operated under leases or operating agreements. The leases typically have initial terms ranging from 10 to 15 years with various expiration dates, often with renewal options. Certain owned properties are subject to mortgages under the terms of our senior credit agreement governing our senior credit facilities.

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The following table summarizes the locations of our child care and early education centers as of December 31, 2012:

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We believe that our properties are generally in good condition, are adequate for our operations, and meet or exceed the regulatory requirements for health, safety and child care licensing established by the governments where they are located.

We are, from time to time, subject to claims and suits arising in the ordinary course of business. Such claims have in the past generally been covered by insurance. We believe the resolution of such legal matters will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows, although we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of any such actions. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that our insurance will be adequate to cover all liabilities that may arise out of claims brought against us.

None.

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PART II

Principal Market

Our common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BFAM” on January 25, 2013. Prior to that time, there was no public market for our common stock. There were approximately 25 shareholders as of March 15, 2013 based upon the number of record holders.

Dividend Policy

There were no cash dividends paid on any of our classes of equity during the past two fiscal years. Our board of directors does not currently intend to pay regular dividends on our common stock. However, we expect to reevaluate our dividend policy on a regular basis and may, subject to compliance with the covenants contained in our senior secured credit facilities and other considerations, determine to pay dividends in the future.

Use of Proceeds from our Initial Public Offering

In January 2013, we completed the initial public offering of our common stock pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1, as amended (File No. 333-184579), that was declared effective on January 24, 2013. Under the registration statement, we registered the offering and sale of an aggregate of 10.1 million shares of our common stock at a price of $22.00 per share for net proceeds of $202.2 million. We also received additional proceeds of $31.1 million in connection with the exercise of the underwriter’s overallotment of 1.5 million shares of common stock.

Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Barclays Capital Inc. served as joint book running managers of the Offering. The Offering commenced on January 24, 2013 and closed on January 30, 2013. The sale of shares pursuant to the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares closed on February 21, 2013.

We raised a total of $222.2 million in gross proceeds in the initial public offering or approximately $202.2 million in net proceeds after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $15.0 million and $5.0 million of offering related expenses.

On January 30, 2013, we deposited with the trustee under the indenture covering the Bright Horizons Capital Corp. 13.0% senior notes due 2018 the entire amount of the net proceeds from the initial public offering, plus available cash from our refinancing also completed on January 30, 2013, to repay in full amounts outstanding in respect of the $110.0 million aggregate principal amount of the senior notes along with the related accrued interest.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

In 2011, we issued 4,752 shares of our Class A common stock and 528 shares of our Class L common stock upon exercise of vested options for aggregate consideration of $59,400.

In 2012, we issued 169,590 shares of our Class A common stock and 18,610 shares of our Class L common stock upon exercise of vested options for aggregate consideration of $2.1 million.

In 2011, we issued options to purchase an aggregate of 131,000 shares of our Class A common stock under our 2008 Equity Plan. Upon vesting in accordance with the terms of the awards made under the 2008 Equity Plan, the options are exercisable at a price equal to the fair market value of our Class A common stock as of the date of grant.

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In 2012, we issued options to purchase an aggregate of 1,108,674 shares of our Class A common stock and 123,186 shares of our Class L common stock under our 2008 Equity Plan. Upon vesting in accordance with the terms of the awards made under the 2008 Equity Plan, the options are exercisable at a price equal to the fair market value of our Class A common stock and Class L common stock as of the date of grant.

The foregoing share numbers do not reflect the 1-for-1.9704 reverse split and reclassification of our Class A common stock or the conversion of our Class L common stock.

The issuances of the securities in the transactions described above were issued without registration in reliance on the exemptions afforded by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Rules 506 and 701 promulgated thereunder.

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The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the “Selected Financial Data” and the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements and involves numerous risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and generally contain words such as “believes,” expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” or similar expressions. Our forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied by the forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and currently available data and are neither predictions nor guarantees of future events or performance. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. See “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are a leading provider of high-quality child care and early education as well as other services that are designed to help employers and families better address the challenges of work and life. We provide services primarily under multi-year contracts with employers who offer child care and other dependent care solutions as part of their employee benefits packages to improve their employee engagement, productivity, recruitment and retention. As of December 31, 2012, we had more than 850 client relationships with employers across a diverse array of industries, including more than 130 Fortune 500 companies and more than 75 of Working Mother magazine’s 2012 “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers.”

At December 31, 2012, we operated 765 child care and early education centers, consisting of 596 centers in North America and 169 centers in Europe and India. We have the capacity to serve approximately 87,100 children in 42 states, the District of Columbia, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands and India. We seek to cluster centers in geographic areas to enhance operating efficiencies and to create a leading market presence. Our North American child care and early education centers have an average capacity of 126 children per location, while the centers in Europe and India have an average capacity of 70 children per location.

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We operate centers for a diverse group of clients. At December 31, 2012, we managed child care centers on behalf of single employers in the following industries and also manage lease/consortium locations in approximately the following proportions:

Segments

Our primary reporting segments are full service center-based care services and back-up dependent care services. Full service center-based care includes child care and early education, preschool and elementary education. Back-up dependent care includes center-based back-up child care, in-home well child care, in home mildly ill child care and in home adult/elder care. Our remaining business services are included in the other educational advisory services segment, which includes our college preparation and admissions counseling services as well as tuition reimbursement management and educational counseling services.

Center Models

We operate our centers under two principal business models, which we refer to as profit & loss (“P&L”) and cost-plus. Approximately 70% of our centers operate under the P&L model. Under this model, we retain financial risk for child care and early education centers and are therefore subject to variability in financial performance due to fluctuation in enrollment levels. The P&L model is further classified into two subcategories: (i) the sponsor model and (ii) the lease/consortium model. Under the sponsor model, we provide child care and early education services on a priority enrollment basis for employees of an employer sponsor, and the employer sponsor generally pays facility, pre-opening and start-up capital equipment and maintenance costs. Our operating contracts typically have initial terms ranging from three to ten years. Under the lease/consortium model, the child care center is typically located in an office building or office park in a property that we lease, and we provide these services to the employees of multiple employers. We typically negotiate initial lease terms of 10 to 15 years for these centers, often with renewal options.

When we open a new P&L center, it generally takes two to three years for the center to ramp up to a steady state level of enrollment, as a center will typically enroll younger children at the outset and children age into the older (preschool) classrooms over time. We refer to centers that have been open for three years or less as “ramping centers.” A center will typically achieve breakeven operating performance between 12 to 24 months and will typically achieve a steady state level of enrollment that supports our average center operating profit by the end of three years, although the period needed to reach a steady state level of enrollment may be longer or shorter. Centers that have been open more than three years are referred to as “mature centers.”

Approximately 30% of our centers operate under the cost-plus business model. Under this model, we receive a management fee from the employer sponsor and an additional operating subsidy from the employer to

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supplement tuition paid by parents of children in the center. Under this model, the employer sponsor typically pays facility, pre-opening and start-up capital equipment and maintenance costs, and the center is profitable from the outset. Our cost-plus contracts typically have initial terms ranging from three to five years. For additional information about the way we operate our centers, see “Business—Our Business Models.”

Performance and Growth Factors

We believe that 2012 was a successful year for the Company. We grew our income from operations by 9.9%, from $86.8 million to $95.5 million. In addition, we added 50 child care and early education centers with a total capacity of approximately 5,900 children, including 27 centers through the acquisition of Casterbridge. In 2012, we closed 28 centers, resulting in a net increase of 22 centers for the year. We expect to add approximately 35-40 net new centers in 2013.

Our year-over-year improvement in operating income can be attributed to enrollment gains in ramping and mature centers, disciplined pricing strategies aimed at covering anticipated cost increases with tuition increases, contributions from back-up dependent care services and contributions from mature centers obtained through acquisitions and added through transitions of management.

General economic conditions and the business climate in which individual clients operate remain some of the largest variables in terms of our future performance. These variables impact client capital and operating spending budgets, industry specific sales leads and the overall sales cycle, enrollment levels, as well as labor markets and wage rates as competition for human capital fluctuates.

Our ability to increase operating income will depend upon our ability to sustain the following characteristics of our business:

Cost Factors

Our most significant expense is cost of services. Cost of services consists of direct expenses associated with the operation of our centers, direct expenses to provide back-up dependent care services (including fees to back-up dependent care providers) and direct expenses to provide educational advisory services. Direct expenses consist primarily of staff salaries, taxes and benefits, food costs, program supplies and materials, parent marketing and facilities costs, including occupancy costs and depreciation. Personnel costs are the largest component of a center’s operating costs, and, on a weighted average basis, comprise approximately 75% of a center’s operating expenses. We are typically responsible for additional costs in a P&L model center as compared to a cost-plus model center. As a result, personnel costs in centers operating under the P&L model will typically represent a smaller proportion of overall costs when compared to the centers operating under the cost-plus model.

We are highly leveraged. As of December 31, 2012, consolidated total debt was $928.3 million, which we refinanced into a $790.0 million senior secured term loan on January 30, 2013. Historically, a large portion of our cash flows from operations has been used to make interest payments on our indebtedness.

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Seasonality

Our business is subject to seasonal and quarterly fluctuations. Demand for child care and early education and elementary school services has historically decreased during the summer months when school is not in session, at which time families are often on vacation or have alternative child care arrangements. In addition, our enrollment declines as older children transition to elementary schools. Demand for our services generally increases in September and October coinciding with the beginning of the new school year and remains relatively stable throughout the rest of the school year. In addition, use of our back-up dependent care services tends to be higher when schools are not in session and during holiday periods, which can increase the operating costs of the program and impact the results of operations. Results of operations may also fluctuate from quarter to quarter as a result of, among other things, the performance of existing centers, including enrollment and staffing fluctuations, the number and timing of new center openings, acquisitions and management transitions, the length of time required for new centers to achieve profitability, center closings, refurbishment or relocation, the contract model mix (P&L versus cost-plus) of new and existing centers, the timing and level of sponsorship payments, competitive factors and general economic conditions.

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Results of Operations

The following table sets forth statement of operations data as a percentage of revenue for the three years ended December 31, 2012, (in thousands, except percentages).

Year Ended December 31, 2012 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2011

Revenue. Revenue increased $97.2 million, or 9.9%, to $1.07 billion for the year ended December 31, 2012 from $973.7 million for the prior year. Revenue growth is primarily attributable to contributions from new and ramping child care and early education centers, expanded sales of our back-up dependent care services and typical annual tuition increases of 3% to 4%. Revenue generated by full service center-based care services in the year ended December 31, 2012 increased by $77.6 million, or 9.2%, when compared to 2011. Revenue generated by back-up dependent care services in the year ended December 31, 2012 increased by $15.6 million, or 13.6%, when compared to the same period in 2011. Additionally, revenue generated by other educational advisory services in the year ended December 31, 2012 increased by $4.0 million, or 27.7%, when compared to 2011.

Our acquisition of the 27 Casterbridge centers in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2012 contributed approximately $26.3 million of revenue in the year ended December 31, 2012 from the date of the acquisition. The acquisition of a majority interest in 20 centers in the Netherlands on July 20, 2011, contributed approximately $25.4 million of revenue in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $10.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 from the date of acquisition. At December 31, 2012, we operated 765 child care and early education centers compared to 743 centers at December 31, 2011.

Cost of Services. Cost of services increased $58.7 million, or 7.7%, to $825.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 when compared to the prior year. Cost of services in the full service centers segment increased $52.1 million, or 7.6%, to $740.1 million in 2012. Personnel costs typically represent approximately 75% of total cost of services for this segment, and personnel costs increased 7.1% as a result of a 6.2% increase in overall enrollment and routine wage increases. In addition, program supplies, materials, food and facilities costs increased 6.9% in connection with the enrollment growth and the incremental occupancy costs associated

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with centers that have been added in 2011 and 2012. Cost of services in the back-up dependent care segment increased $5.6 million, or 8.0%, to $75.4 million in 2012, primarily for personnel costs and for increased care provider fees associated with the higher levels of back-up services provided. Cost of services in the other educational advisory services segment increased by $1.0 million, or 11.8%, to $9.7 million in 2012, as we realized economies of scale with existing personnel on the incremental sales of these services.

Gross Profit. Gross profit increased $38.6 million, or 18.6%, to $245.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 when compared to the prior year, and as a percentage of revenue, increased to 22.9% in the year ended December 31, 2012 from 21.3% in the year ended December 31, 2011. The increase is primarily due to the new and ramping P&L centers, which achieve proportionately lower levels of operating costs in relation to revenue as they ramp up enrollment to steady state levels, increased enrollment in our mature P&L centers and expanded back-up services revenue with proportionately lower direct cost of services.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. SGA increased $30.4 million, or 32.7%, to $123.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $92.9 million for the same period in the prior year, and as a percentage of revenue increased to 11.5% from 9.5% in the same period in the prior year. The increase in SGA was primarily due to an increase in stock compensation expense. Stock compensation expense increased $16.4 million, from $1.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 to $17.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2012. The increase primarily relates to our option exchange transaction that was completed on May 2, 2012. The increase was also due to the award of additional options to purchase a combination of shares of our Class A common stock and Class L common stock in the second quarter of 2012. The modification of the previously existing awards resulted in incremental stock compensation expense of $12.7 million, and the new option awards resulted in total incremental stock compensation expense of $2.5 million, for a combined incremental charge of $15.2 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2012 related to the requisite service period already fulfilled.

Excluding the incremental stock compensation expense totaling $15.2 million in 2012, SGA increased by $15.2 million, or 16.4%, for the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. The additional increase in SGA is related to investments in technology and marketing, incremental overhead associated with acquisitions, including $3.3 million for our Netherlands operations acquired in July 2011 and $2.3 million for the 27 Casterbridge centers acquired on May 23, 2012, and routine increases in costs compared to the prior year, including annual wage increases. In addition, we incurred approximately $1.8 million in accounting and legal fees associated with preparing for the Offering and refinancing of our debt that were completed in January 2013.

Upon the completion of the Offering on January 30, 2013, we recognized approximately $5.0 million in stock compensation expense, related to certain performance-based stock options which vested upon completion of the Offering.

Amortization. Amortization expense on intangible assets totaled $26.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $27.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. The decrease relates to certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized, partially offset by additional amortization for acquisitions completed in 2012. We do not expect any significant change in amortization expense in 2013.

Income from Operations. Income from operations increased by $8.6 million, or 9.9%, to $95.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 when compared to the same period in 2011. Income from operations was 8.9% of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012, consistent with the prior year. Excluding the impact of the incremental stock compensation charge of $15.2 million in the second quarter of 2012 described above, income from operations would have been $110.7 million, or 10.3% of revenue, an increase of $23.8 million, or 27.4%, from $86.8 million in the year ended December 31, 2011.

In the full service center-based care segment, income from operations increased $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, including a proportionate share of the incremental stock compensation expense of approximately $11.2 million that was included in SGA in the year ended December 31, 2012. Excluding this charge, the $12.7 million increase in 2012 reflects price increases and enrollment gains over the prior year as well as contributions from new centers that have been added in 2012. The back-up dependent care segment added $5.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2012. Excluding the proportionate share of the incremental stock

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compensation for this segment of $2.8 million, the back-up dependent care segment added $7.7 million in income from operations in the year ended December 31, 2012 due to the expanding revenue base and efficiencies of service delivery across a wider revenue base. Income from operations in the other educational advisory services segment increased $2.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, and increased $3.4 million excluding this segment’s proportionate share of the incremental stock compensation. This increase reflects the higher sales volume in the 2012 period.

Interest Expense. At December 31, 2012, we had total borrowings outstanding of $928.3 million of term loans, senior subordinated notes and senior notes, including $85.0 million term loan used in May 2012 in connection with the Casterbridge acquisition, and we had access to an additional $75.0 million revolving line of credit. Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2012 totaled $83.9 million compared to $82.9 million for the same period in 2011. The increase in interest expense is primarily related to the additional borrowings in May 2012, offset by a reduction in the interest rate attributable to the term loans as a result of the expiration of the interest rate floors on our Base and Euro rates on May 28, 2011.

On January 30, 2013, we completed a refinancing of our existing debt with $890.0 million senior secured credit facilities which included a $790.0 million senior secured term loan facility and a $100.0 million revolving credit facility. We used the net proceeds of our initial public offering and certain proceeds from the issuance of the $790.0 million secured term loan to redeem our senior notes in full for $213.3 million. We used the remainder of the $790.0 million secured term loan to repay all of the existing indebtedness under the senior subordinated notes as well as existing indebtedness outstanding under the Tranche B term loans and Series C new term loans. Accordingly, we will recognize a loss on extinguishment of debt of approximately $63.0 million, including redemption premiums on the senior notes, the senior subordinated notes and the Series C new term loans, and the write-off of deferred financing costs associated with this indebtedness, in the first quarter of 2013. Based upon borrowings outstanding of $790.0 million after the refinancing and borrowings available to us under the $100.0 million revolving line of credit, we expect interest expense to decrease significantly in 2013 compared to 2012.

Income Tax Expense. We had income tax expense of $3.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 on pre-tax income of $11.8 million, or a 27.6% effective rate, which includes the benefit of permanent items, a reduction to the statutory tax rate in the United Kingdom and a decrease to the reserves for uncertain tax positions. Income tax expense of $0.8 million in 2011, or an effective tax rate of 14.8% was lower due primarily to the reversal of a valuation allowance in the United Kingdom.

Net Income Attributable to Non-controlling Interest. Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest in our Netherlands subsidiary, which reduces net income attributable to Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc., increased to $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 from less than $0.1 million in the prior year due to improved center performance in the Netherlands.

Year Ended December 31, 2011 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2010

Revenue. Revenue increased $95.5 million, or 10.9%, to $973.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 from $878.2 million in the prior year. Revenue growth is primarily attributable to contributions from new and ramping full service child care centers, expanded sales of our back-up dependent care services and typical annual tuition increases of 3% to 4%. Revenue generated by full service center-based care services in the year ended December 31, 2011 increased by approximately $75.2 million, or 9.8%, when compared to 2010. Revenue generated by back-up dependent care services in the year ended December 31, 2011 increased by approximately $15.5 million, or 15.7%, when compared to 2010. Additionally, revenue generated by other educational advisory services increased by $4.8 million, or 48.4%, when compared to 2010.

Our acquisition of 20 centers in the United States on March 14, 2011 contributed approximately $17.1 million of revenue in 2011 from the date of the acquisition. The acquisition of a majority interest in 20 centers in the Netherlands on July 20, 2011 contributed approximately $10.9 million of revenue from the date of the acquisition. At December 31, 2011, we operated 743 child care and early education centers compared to 705 centers at December 31, 2010.

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Cost of Services. Cost of services increased $68.2 million, or 9.8%, to $766.5 million for the year ended 2011 from $698.3 million in the prior year. Cost of services in the full service centers segment increased $58.3 million, or 9.3%, to $688.1 million in 2011. Personnel costs increased 7.9% as a result of a 7.5% increase in overall enrollment and routine wage increases. In addition, program supplies, materials, food and facilities costs increased 14.1% in connection with the enrollment growth and the incremental occupancy costs associated with centers that have been added in 2010 and 2011, including the 40 centers acquired in 2011. Cost of services in the back-up dependent care segment increased $6.1 million, or 9.6%, to $69.8 million in 2011, primarily for personnel costs and for increased care provider fees associated with the higher levels of back-up services provided. Cost of services in the other educational advisory services segment increased by $3.8 million, or 79.1%, to $8.6 million in 2011, primarily in personnel costs as we established operating capacity to support the incremental sales of these services.

Gross Profit. Gross profit increased $27.3 million, or 15.2%, to $207.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 when compared to the prior year, and as a percentage of revenue increased to 21.3% in 2011 from 20.5% in 2010. The increase is primarily attributable to contributions from new and ramping P&L centers, which achieve proportionately lower levels of operating costs in relation to revenue as they increase enrollment to steady state levels, and to cost management in our mature P&L centers, where enrollment has stabilized in relation to the decreases in 2009 and 2010, but remains lower than historical levels. In addition to expanded sales of back-up dependent care services, we realized greater cost efficiency in managing our direct cost of services relating to back-up dependent care in 2011.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. SGA increased $9.3 million, or 11.2%, to $92.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 when compared to the prior year, and as a percentage of revenue remained consistent at 9.5%. The increase in SGA during the year is related to routine increases in costs compared to the prior year, including annual wage increases, to investments in technology and marketing, and $1.6 million of overhead associated with our Netherlands operations from July 20, 2011. We also incurred $1.0 million in 2011 in connection with the completion of our acquisition in the Netherlands, including the costs incurred to amend certain terms of our debt agreements in order to provide greater flexibility for foreign investments and allow for the acquisition. Partially offsetting the increase in SGA was a decrease in stock compensation expense in 2011 compared to 2010 related to employee stock option grants, the majority of which were initially awarded in 2008. We recorded stock compensation expense of $1.2 million and $2.4 million, respectively, in each of 2011 and 2010.

Amortization. Amortization expense on intangible assets totaled $27.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared to $27.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The slight decrease relates to certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized during the year, offset by increases related to the amortization of new intangible assets from acquisitions completed in 2011.

Income from Operations. Income from operations increased $18.2 million, or 26.5%, to $86.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 when compared to 2010. Income from operations was 8.9% of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to 7.8% in 2010. In the full service center-based care segment, income from operations increased $12.2 million in 2011, or 26.0%. This increase reflects price increases and enrollment gains in our ramping centers as well as contributions from new centers that were added in 2011. The back-up dependent care segment added $7.5 million in 2011, or 35.6%, due to the expanding sales levels and efficiencies of service delivery across a wider revenue base. The other educational advisory services segment declined by $1.5 million in 2011 compared to 2010 due to investments made in operating, sales and administrative personnel to support strategic growth initiatives that have not yet been fully realized.

Interest Expense. Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2011 totaled $82.9 million, compared to $89.0 million in 2010. The decrease in interest expense is primarily related to a reduction, effective May 29, 2011, in the interest rate attributable to the term loans as a result of the expiration of the interest rate floors on our Base and Euro rates on May 28, 2011. The interest rate on our term loans of 4.3% at December 31, 2011 decreased from the rate of 7.5% at December 31, 2010. Additionally, adjustments made to reflect the fair value

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of our interest rate cap also contributed to the decrease in interest expense. The fair value adjustments were an increase to interest expense of $0.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2011, compared to an increase to interest expense of $2.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2010.

Income Tax Expense. We had income tax expense of $0.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 on pre-tax income of $5.6 million, or a 14.8% effective rate, which includes the benefit of permanent items, the net change to the reserves for uncertain tax positions, a decrease in the state tax rate applied to the net deferred tax liability and a decrease to a valuation allowance at a foreign subsidiary.

Non-GAAP Measures

Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income are metrics used by management to measure operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA represents our earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, straight line rent expense, stock compensation expense, expenses related to the initial public offering and refinancing that were completed in January 2013 and the Sponsor management fee. Adjusted net income represents net income determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP, adjusted for stock compensation expense, amortization expense, the Sponsor management fee, expenses associated with our initial public offering and debt refinancing that were completed in January 2013, and the income tax benefit thereon. These non-GAAP measures are more fully described and are reconciled from the respective measures determined under GAAP as follows (in thousands):