Cadre Holdings, Inc. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

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For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

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For The Transition Period FromTo

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Commission file number: 001-40698

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CADRE HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (904) 741-5400

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

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

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

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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 ☒

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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 ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically; every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.0405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes ☒ No ☐

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The aggregate market value of the shares of Cadre Holdings, Inc. common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2022 was $366,489,414 based on the closing price of $19.67 as reported by the New York Stock Exchange.

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As of March 10, 2023, there were 37,332,271 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001, outstanding

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Documents Incorporated by Reference

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Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholder, or the Proxy Statement, to be filed within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, are incorporated by reference in Part III. Except with respect to information specifically incorporated by reference in this Annual Report, the Proxy Statement shall not be deemed to be filed as part hereof.

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Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

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This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”) contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except where the context otherwise requires or where otherwise indicated, the terms the “Company”, “Cadre”, “we,” “us,” and “our,” refer to the consolidated business of Cadre Holdings, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. All statements in this Report, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, assumptions, hopes, beliefs, intentions, and strategies regarding future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. The Company cautions you that these forward-looking statements are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the Company, incident to its business.

Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this Report (or, in the case of forward-looking statements incorporated herein by reference, if any, as of the date of the applicable filed document), and any accompanying supplement, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any subsequent date, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this Report. We cannot assure you that the results, events, and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur, and actual results, events, or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, partnerships, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures, or investments we may make.

As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, our actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include:

customers, distributors or otherwise;

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Any expectations based on these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and other important factors, including those discussed in this Report, specifically the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Other risks and uncertainties are and will be disclosed in our prior and future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The following information should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report.

Neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements.

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PART I

Item 1. Business

BUSINESS

Business Overview

For over 55 years, we have been a global leader in the manufacturing and distribution of safety and survivability equipment for first responders. Our equipment provides critical protection which allows its users to safely perform their duties and protect those around them in hazardous or life-threatening situations. Through our dedication to superior quality, we establish a direct covenant with end users that our products will perform and keep them safe when they are most needed. We sell a wide range of products including body armor, explosive ordnance disposal equipment and duty gear through both direct and indirect channels. In addition, through our owned distribution, we serve as a one-stop shop for first responders providing equipment we manufacture as well as third-party products including uniforms, optics, boots, firearms and ammunition. The majority of our diversified product offering is governed by rigorous safety standards and regulations. Demand for our products is driven by technological advancement as well as recurring modernization and replacement cycles for the equipment to maintain its efficiency, effective performance and regulatory compliance.

As discussed below, we believe we have established leading market positions in our major product categories through high-quality standards, innovation and a direct connection to the end users, including being a leading provider of explosive ordnance disposal technician equipment globally as well as a leading provider of safety holsters and a top provider of soft body armor for first responders in the U.S. We service the ever-changing needs of our end users by investing in research and development for new product innovation and technical advancements that continually raise the standards for safety and survivability equipment in the first responder market. Our target end user base includes domestic and international first responders such as state and local law enforcement, fire and rescue, explosive ordnance disposal technicians, emergency medical technicians (“EMT”), fishing and wildlife enforcement and departments of corrections, as well as federal agencies including the U.S. Department of State (“DoS”), U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”), U.S. Department of Interior (“DoI”), U.S. Department of Justice (“DoJ”), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), U.S. Department of Corrections (“DoC”) and numerous foreign government agencies. We have a large and diverse customer base, with no individual customer representing more than 10% of our total revenue.

We are committed to honoring those who put their lives in danger through the SAVES CLUB®, which pays homage to first responders who experience a life-threatening incident in the line of work in which our armor or duty gear contribute to saving their lives. The SAVES CLUB® currently has over 2,000 members and counting. With the help of our suppliers, distributors and first responder end users, we strive to fulfill the Company creed: Together, We Save Lives.

Industry Overview

The market for safety and survivability equipment serving first responders focuses on providing a diverse set of protective and mission enhancing products and solutions to our target end users. The market is driven by multiple factors including customer refresh cycles, growing number of personnel employed by first responder organizations, equipment replacement and modernization trends, greater emphasis on public and first responders’ safety and demographic shifts.

Body armor, explosive ordnance disposal equipment and duty gear comprise the core product areas in the safety and survivability equipment market and law enforcement personnel growth is a significant driver for our business. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the number of law enforcement personnel in the U.S. to increase at a faster rate than broader labor market growth over the 10-year period from 2019 to 2029, or 5%, from 813,500 in 2019 to 854,200 in 2029. Demand for first responder safety and survivability equipment is also fueled by increasing law enforcement budgets.

In addition to the macro industry trends, each of these product segments experience unique drivers in and of themselves. Increasing mandatory body armor use and refresh policies, evolving technical standards and increases in tactical or special weapons and tactics (“SWAT”) law enforcement personnel act as tailwinds to the body armor market. Meanwhile, the explosive ordnance disposal equipment market is driven by the continued emergence of new global threats while duty gear is driven mainly by product use and replacement cycles.

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Our management estimates the annual addressable market for soft body armor (including tactical soft armor) to be approximately $870 million. We also estimate explosive ordnance disposal equipment to have an addressable market of approximately $245 million over the seven-to-ten year life cycle of the products’ installed base. Finally, the annual addressable market for holsters for the global law enforcement and military and consumer markets is estimated to be approximately $380 million.

The international market is also poised for growth as foreign governments face increasingly complex safety challenges and seek to replace legacy equipment. Additionally, we foresee the demand for safety and survivability equipment from overseas markets to increase due to heightened awareness of the importance and effectiveness of such products and as countries are exposed to new threats. Our management estimates our addressable number of total law enforcement personnel outside the U.S. to be approximately 9.7 million, representing a substantial market opportunity.

Our management team believes that the safety and survivability equipment industry for first responders represents a stable and growing market with long-term opportunities. Given our strong market standing, direct connection to the end users, extensive distribution network, long history of innovations and high-quality standards, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on the positive market dynamics.

Competitive Strengths

Leading, independent global provider of safety and survivability equipment for first responders. Our history as a leading provider of high-quality safety and survivability equipment dates back to 1964. Our differentiated value proposition is built on superior quality combined with an unwavering focus on critical safety standards, making us the trusted brand name for first responders. Our extensive product breadth allows us to serve as a one-stop shop for our end users and their safety and survivability equipment needs.

Strong market positions. Based on data we collect related to end users and publicly available information on awarded contracts and purchases, we believe we have leading market positions across multiple product categories through superior quality and performance differentiating us from our competition. By way of reference, we sell concealable tactical, hard armor, or duty retention holsters to the majority of the top 50 police departments in the U.S. by size. Furthermore, we are a party to multi-year contracts for the largest bomb suit teams in the world including the DoD. Our products continually exceed stringent industry safety standards and are recognized for advancements in performance through innovation and technological enhancement.

Mission-critical products with recurring demand characteristics. Our products provide critical protection to their end users as well as those around them, with limited or no room for error. As a result, stringent safety standards and customary warranty provisions create refresh cycles on over 80% of the equipment we supply to ensure efficient and effective performance at all times. Demand associated with these refresh cycles drives a highly predictable recurring revenue stream. The majority of our remaining revenue is associated consumable products driving recurring sales based on replenishment needs.

Attractive macro-economic and secular tailwinds driving demand and visibility for our products. The vast majority of our end markets are acyclical in nature, as their demand is driven primarily by the first responder budgets, and relatively unaffected by economic cycles. Our business has benefitted from key shifts serving as tailwinds to our growth strategy including the increasing focus on safety, replacement and modernization trends as well as demographic shifts and urbanization.

Compelling organic and inorganic growth roadmap. Leveraging our differentiated product development process and technical knowhow, leading domestic market position and first mover advantage with our suppliers, we plan to drive profitable organic revenue growth via new product development and geographic expansion. In particular, international expansion is an especially important initiative in our organic growth roadmap due to the significant market share opportunity and increasing investments in safety and survivability equipment in various key geographic markets. We expect to supplement our organic growth through a targeted M&A program spanning our existing core products and markets as well as attractive adjacencies.

Attractive financial profile with strong EBITDA margins and free-cash-flow generation. We generate strong profitability through diligent portfolio management of customers and contracts and continued focus on cost structure to drive operating leverage. Our strong profitability combined with minimal capital expenditure requirements result in high free-cash-flow generation, which is a key driver for our internal research and development initiatives and targeted M&A program. Our Adjusted EBITDA Conversion Rate ((Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures) / Adjusted EBITDA) has consistently been greater than 90%.

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Tenured management with significant public company platforms. Our management team is comprised of executive officers with extensive experience at public company platforms including Armor Holdings Inc., Danaher Corporation, General Electric Company and IDEX Corporation. Together they bring an established track record of strong performance operating and growing public companies both organically and via acquisitions. This experience has created a differentiated approach to our operating model through their expertise in building a culture of operational and cultural excellence, complexity reduction, and innovation.

Long-term customer relationships across diverse end markets and geographies. We maintain long-term relationships with over 23,000 first responders and federal agencies both domestically and internationally, with top customer relationships averaging an excess of 15 years. Our global presence spans over 100 countries across North America, Europe and other regions.

Products

We design and manufacture a diversified product portfolio of critical safety and survivability equipment to protect first responders. We maintain clear market-leadership positions in certain core product categories including body armor, explosive ordnance disposal equipment and duty gear. Over 80% of our product line is tied to customary or mandated refresh cycles of between five and ten years, which drives a highly predictable recurring revenue stream. The majority of the remaining revenue is associated consumable products. Our overall strategy is to drive growth by leveraging our leading market shares and competitively differentiated offerings in each of our core product categories, including:

Body Armor. We offer a full range of field-proven advanced armor solutions. Our products incorporate cutting-edge technology, innovative materials and processes in order to provide the best protection, reduce weight and optimize ergonomics for the end user. The majority of our armor products, which comply with NIJ or other applicable standards, are made-to-measure. We recently launched an industry-first partnership to provide law enforcement officers and first responders with the ability to determine size through the use of mobile phone scanning and artificial intelligence technologies.

Our principal body armor product offerings include concealable, corrections and tactical armor, which provide varying levels of protection against ballistic or sharp instrument threats. Our body armor products are sold under the well-known Safariland® and Protech® Tactical brand names. We also sell products in partnership with industry leading developer Hardwire LLC.

Our body armor panels manufactured in the United States are designed to meet applicable ballistic performance standards established by the NIJ. We also manufacture body armor in Canada, England and Lithuania that is certified to meet applicable international armor standards. We also distribute a variety of third-party items, including helmets, and face shields for protection from blunt trauma and explosive shrapnel.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal. We are the global leader of a highly engineered portfolio of critical operator survival suits, remotely operated vehicles, specialty tools, blast sensors, accessories and vehicle blast attenuation seats for bomb safety technicians. As the most trusted brand in the market, Med-Eng is the go-to source for explosive ordnance solutions in the developed world. Our products provide end users with the latest protective technologies integrated with electronic components and communications equipment.

Med-Eng has a fielded installed base of bomb suits in over 100 countries, yielding predictable, recurring replacement cycles. Our continuous investment in R&D supported by our existing IP portfolio, drives next- generation technologies designed to meet the ever-evolving threats for operators in the field. Select customers include the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines, FBI, ATF and all the armed forces of NATO countries.

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Duty Gear. We are the industry leader in holster innovation and safety engineering and our products incorporate industry standard safety locking mechanisms on which a majority of first responders are trained. The end user base for our holster products includes state and local law enforcement, federal agencies including the DoS, DoD, DoI, DHS, and DoC, foreign police and military agencies, and the commercial concealed carry market. We also offer a complementary line of officer duty gear including belts and accessories.

In connection with the mission critical nature of duty gear products, we dedicate significant product development resources to ensure efficient and effective performance of our products. We manufacture and sell duty gear and commercial offerings under the widely recognized Safariland®, Radar® and Bianchi® brands.

Other Protective and Law Enforcement Equipment. Supplementary to our core product offerings, we design, manufacture, assemble, and market a suite of equipment to round out our product portfolio. Key products include communications gear, forensic and investigation products, firearms cleaning solutions, and crowd control products. These products are marketed under several well-known niche brands. In addition, through our owned distribution, we serve as a one-stop shop for first responders providing equipment we manufacture as well as third-party products including uniforms, optics, boots, firearms and ammunition.

Growth Strategy

Our growth plan consists of a multi-pronged approach that includes driving profitable core revenue growth through new product introductions and international market expansion combined with targeted acquisitions, enhanced through our operating model.

Profitable Core Revenue Growth. We believe that our leading market positions across a range of core categories will continue to yield significant growth opportunities. Our management team is focused on delivering new product launches, increasing customer wallet share, executing on key new contract opportunities and expanding our high-margin e-commerce and direct-to-consumer capabilities to continue to drive revenue growth. Examples of recent product innovation include the development of a 3D body sizing solution for soft armor, introduction of our next generation holsters, a new tactical armor solution, and working with key suppliers on the use of emerging materials for utilization in new armor products. We are also seeking to expand our leadership in high-growth technologies through the development of our blast sensor equipment for soldier protection. We believe this opportunity could represent a total potential addressable market opportunity of up to approximately $500 million based on the total size of the DoD branches ultimately participating in the program. The requirement for blast sensors and the potential market for all branches of the U.S. military is supported by the Blast Pressure Exposure Study Improvement Act which was signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020.

International Market Expansion. We are also committed to increasing our market share internationally. Given our leading domestic market position and our products’ high-quality standards and performance, we believe we are well positioned to take advantage of the growth in international demand for safety and survivability equipment for first responders. We intend to penetrate certain international markets through leveraging existing relationships, building local market teams and expansion into relevant market adjacencies.

Targeted M&A Program. To supplement organic growth and internal research and development, our management team has historically undertaken a targeted M&A program, completing 14 transactions to date. These strategic acquisitions have allowed us to

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expand our product and technology offerings, enter new markets and expand geographically to achieve attractive returns in our invested capital period.

We maintain a robust pipeline of opportunistic M&A opportunities, spanning our existing core products and markets as well as attractive adjacencies within the safety and survivability landscape. We plan to utilize our relatively high free-cash-flow generation and historical success in acquisitions to drive favorable acquisition structures and efficient integration. Our operating model, passion around connecting with customers and expansive channel help maximize the value created from our acquisitions.

Continuous Margin Improvement Initiatives. Our management team has shown a strong track record of achieving cost structure optimization to drive operating leverage, as evidenced by past years’ margin improvements. Our operating model starts with complexity reduction then uses lean tools and methods to continuously improve operational and commercial processes. Strategic initiatives completed over the past few years include among others, rationalizing the Company’s manufacturing footprint, divesting non-core activities, enhancing our supply chain and optimizing customer relationships and key contracts. Together these activities have helped enhance the Company’s manufacturing and sales operations, ultimately driving profitability growth.

Customers and Selling Channels

We sell our products through distributors and work directly with agencies to effectively reach end users. We classify our first responder customers into four categories: U.S. State and Local Agencies, International, U.S. Federal Agencies, and Commercial (which includes our direct-to-consumer sites).

U.S. State and Local Agencies. We have built relationships with the majority of domestic law enforcement agencies in the country, selling at least one product category to each of the top 50 major departments. Other end users in this category include fire and rescue, explosive ordnance disposal technicians, EMT, fishing and wildlife enforcement and departments of corrections. We sell our products through a network of longstanding third-party distributors as well as an owned distribution platform, both of which interact directly with agencies and end users.

International. Over the past three years, we have sold products to more than 100 countries globally. We service foreign defense ministries, foreign national law enforcement agencies and other foreign agencies through our distribution partners as well as through agency agreements with representatives to help service broad regions.

U.S. Federal Agencies. We sell to a variety of federal agencies including the DoS, DoD, DoI, DoJ and DHS Inc. Furthermore, we have long-standing contracts with key departments within the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.

Commercial. Our Commercial channel consists primarily of sales through largely recognized e-commerce companies and retailers as well as through our own e-commerce sites.

We service each of our channels through in-field technical salespeople and an owned distribution network. Our traditional distribution network consists of longstanding distribution partners and agents for first responders and federal agencies, retailers and e-commerce platforms and our own website where we sell directly to the end user. We pair our in-house expertise with outside partners in order to provide our customers with the best service possible while maintaining a real-time understanding of end user needs. In total, we have 81 salespeople domestically and 21 internationally. We believe that by combining our third party network with our in-house salesforce and our extensive owned distribution network, we create continuous customer interaction and best- in-class service and training, providing us with a distinct advantage over our peers.

Our brand name recognition and reputation among our customers, diversified product line and extensive distribution network are central to our marketing strategy. We leverage these advantages along with involvement and support of several law enforcement associations to market our products.

Manufacturing and Raw Materials

We operate a global manufacturing footprint with 16 sites across North America and Europe. Each site has capacity to scale up without further material investment in machinery and equipment. Additionally, we manage a diverse global supplier base of leading

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textile, fabric and raw material providers. We have multiple sources for each input in order to limit our dependency on any single vendor. No supplier makes up more than 10% of total purchases.

We are reliant on certain suppliers that provide us with the raw materials and components that we utilize in manufacturing our ballistic resistant garments. Although in some cases substitutable alternative materials and components may be obtained from other commercially available sources, any change in the materials and components that we utilize in manufacturing our ballistic resistant garments may require additional research and development, recertification as well as customer acceptance.

Competition

We compete in the large public safety and outdoor and recreation markets amongst other ancillary addressable markets. Competition in the public safety markets depends on the specific product in question but is generally based on a number of factors including product quality, safety performance, fit, price, and brand recognition. We believe that we have been able to compete successfully driven by the combination of our brand and product dependability, superior engineering and manufacturing capabilities, industry-leading product innovations, as well as on the breadth of our offering to customers.

Our primary competitors include, but are not limited to, Point Blank Enterprises, Inc., Avon Protection Systems, Inc., Central Lake Armor Express, Inc. (d/b/a Armor Express), as well as the Blackhawk division of Vista Outdoor Inc. None of our competitors across individual product categories compete in each of our product verticals, making us the only one-stop provider of critical safety and survivability equipment solutions in the market.

Certain of our products cross over into the broader outdoor and recreation market, which is highly fragmented and highly competitive. While we believe that acceptance in this market is principally driven by the ability to bring new and innovative products to market, price point is critical.

Human Capital

We have a total of 2,274 employees. Of these employees, 1,729 were engaged in manufacturing, 221 in sales, marketing, product management and customer support, 152 in corporate functions (IT, Finance, HR, Legal and Compliance, etc.), 127 in R&D, technical engineering, manufacturing engineering and project management, 33 retail store associates and 12 in various executive and administrative functions. None of our employees are represented by a union in collective bargaining with us. We believe that our employee relations are good. Our human capital objectives center around identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and new employees.

Research and Development

Our significant IP portfolio combined with best-in-class product development and advanced materials processing separates us from our competitors. We have dedicated research and development centers at our manufacturing sites that specialize in product categories, including ballistics developments and state-of-the-art testing laboratory in Ontario, California, blast impact and technology development for explosive ordnances in Ottawa, Canada, and holster development and design in Jacksonville, FL, each of which focus on quality and product performance in order to generate critical real-time feedback. We aim to achieve efficient integration of quality materials and latest technologies to develop our products, which will allow us to leverage our first mover advantage from our suppliers.

Intellectual Property and Trademarks

We own significant intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, manufacturing processes and trade secrets related to our products, processes and business. Although our intellectual property plays an important role in maintaining our competitive position, we do not consider any single patent, trademark, manufacturing process or trade secret to be of material importance to any segment or to the business as a whole.

We own a total of 447 patents and pending patent applications worldwide, of which 402 are patents granted and 45 are pending patent applications, with expiry dates ranging from 2023 to 2045 in 33 jurisdictions. Of those 447 patents and pending patent applications, 329 are for utility patents and 118 are for design patents. We own patents and pending patent applications in the United

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States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, as well as in the European Union.

The loss of patent protection for patents expiring in 2023 is not expected to have a material effect on our business.

Our material registered trademarks include SAFARILAND® and MED-ENG®.

The following table describes the material patents and patent applications owned or licensed by us, segregated by product category, including the range of expiry dates:

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Government Regulation

We are subject to federal licensing requirements with respect to the sale of some of our products in foreign countries. In addition, we are obligated to comply with a variety of federal, state and local regulations, both domestically and abroad, governing certain aspects of our operations and workplace.

The export of certain of our products from the U.S. is subject to various U.S. regulations, including laws and regulations relating to import-export controls, technology transfers, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”), and the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). More specifically, to export some of our products in accordance with ITAR or EAR, we must obtain export authorizations or licenses from the U.S. government, primarily the U.S. Department of State for ITAR and the U.S. Department of Commerce for EAR. Also, the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (“AECA”) requires that a certification be provided to the U.S. Congress prior to the granting of any license or other approval for certain transactions involving exports of any defense articles and defense services and for exports of major defense equipment.

Our business in Canada is subject to the Canadian Controlled Good Directorate Registration regime, which regulates commerce in controlled goods, meaning those that require a license to export, including ITAR items.

We are also subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) along with similar anti-corruption laws worldwide which prohibit improper payments to foreign governments and their officials by U.S. and other business entities.

The transportation of certain of our products is subject to U.S. Department of Transportation Hazardous Material Regulations (“HMR”), which govern the transportation of hazardous materials in interstate, intrastate, and foreign commerce. Prior to transportation into and within the United States, explosives must be tested and classified by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Domestically, the manufacture, sale, and purchase of certain products are subject to extensive federal, state, and local governmental regulation, with the primary regulatory body being the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”). The primary federal laws are the National Firearms Act of 1934 (“NFA”), the Gun Control Act of 1968 (“GCA”) and the AECA. Among other things, the ATF conducts periodic audits of our facilities that hold Federal Firearms Licenses.

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The Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) governs the majority of our contracts with U.S. federal agencies, mandating uniform policies and procedures across agencies and with each agency supplementing the FAR as needed. For example, the U.S. Department of Defense implements the FAR through the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”). Finally, agencies routinely audit and review government contractors for performance and compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards.

In addition, like many other manufacturers, we are subject to compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”), data privacy laws, and many other regulations surrounding employment law, environmental law, taxation, and consumer protection.

Environmental Laws and Regulations

Our operations are subject to a variety of federal, state, and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection, including those governing the discharge, treatment, storage, transportation, remediation, and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes; the restoration of damages to the environment; and health and safety matters. We have an excellent workplace safety track record and believe that our operations are in material compliance with these laws and regulations. We incur expenses in complying with environmental requirements and could incur higher costs in the future as a result of more stringent requirements that may be enacted in the future.

Impact of COVID-19

The global outbreak of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and a national emergency by the U.S., and European governments in March 2020, with governments world-wide implementing safety measures restricting travel and requiring citizen lockdowns and self-confinements for quarantining purposes. During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021, and 2022, this had negatively affected the U.S. and global economies, disrupted global supply chains, and resulted in significant transport restrictions and disruption of global financial markets.

An outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could have, and in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic has had and may continue to have, a significant impact on the global supply chain, with restrictions and limitations on related activities causing disruption and delay, along with increased raw material, storage, and shipping costs. Any of these disruptions and delays may strain domestic and international supply chains, which could negatively affect the flow or availability of certain critical raw materials and finished good products that the Company relies upon. Furthermore, the foregoing impacts may negatively affect our logistical operations, including our fulfillment and shipping functions, which could result in periodic delays in the delivery of our products.

We expect that an outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could have, and in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to have, an impact on the Company’s sales and profitability in future periods. The duration of these trends and the magnitude of such impacts cannot be precisely estimated at this time, as they are affected by a number of factors (some of which are outside management’s control), including those presented in Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Available Information

Our Internet address is www.cadre-holdings.com. We make available free of charge on or through our website our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports, and the proxy statement for our annual meeting of stockholders as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed with respect to our equity securities under Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are also available on our website. All of the foregoing materials are located at the ‘‘SEC Filings’’ tab. The information found on our website shall not be deemed incorporated by reference by any general statement incorporating by reference this report into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and shall not otherwise be deemed filed under such laws. The SEC also maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. In addition, you may request a copy of any such materials, without charge, by submitting a written request to: Cadre Holdings, Inc., c/o the Secretary,

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13386 International Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32218. The contents of the websites identified above are not incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

RISK FACTORS

In addition to other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the following risk factors should be carefully considered in evaluating our business, because such factors may have a significant impact on our business, operating results, liquidity and financial condition. As a result of the risk factors set forth below, actual results could differ materially from those mentioned in any forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or that we currently consider to be immaterial, may also impact our business, operating results, liquidity and financial condition. If any of the following risks occur, our business, operating results, liquidity and financial condition, and the price of our common stock, could be materially adversely affected.

Risk Factor Summary

Risks Related to Our Industry

The products we sell are inherently risky and could give rise to product liability, product warranty claims, and other loss contingencies.

The products that we manufacture are typically used in applications and situations that involve high levels of risk of personal injury. Failure to use our products for their intended purposes, failure to use or care for them properly, or their malfunction, or, in some limited circumstances, even correct use of our products, could result in serious bodily injury or death. Given this potential risk of injury, proper maintenance of our products is critical. Our products include: body armor and plates designed to protect against ballistic and sharp instrument penetration; explosive ordnance disposal products; police duty gear; and crowd control products.

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Claims have been made, and are pending against certain of our subsidiaries, involving permanent physical injury and death allegedly caused by our products or arising from the design, manufacture or sale of such goods. If these claims are decided against us and we are found to be liable, we may be required to pay substantial damages and our insurance costs may increase significantly as a result, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, a significant or extended lawsuit, such as a class action, could divert significant amounts of management’s time and attention.

We cannot assure you that our insurance coverage would be sufficient to cover the payment of any potential claim. In addition, we cannot assure you that this or any other insurance coverage will continue to be available or, if available, that we will be able to obtain it at a reasonable cost. Any material uninsured loss could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the inability to obtain product liability coverage would prohibit us from bidding for orders from certain governmental customers because, at present, many bids from governmental entities require such coverage, and any such inability would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Furthermore, while our products are rigorously tested for quality, our products nevertheless do, and may continue to, fail to meet customer expectations from time-to-time. Also, not all defects are immediately detectible. Failures could result from faulty design or problems in manufacturing. In either case, we could incur significant costs to repair and/or replace defective products under warranty. We have experienced such failures in the past, and remain exposed to such failures. In some cases, product redesigns and/or rework may be required to correct a defect, and such occurrences could adversely impact future business with affected customers. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity could be materially and adversely affected by any unexpected significant warranty costs.

We are subject to extensive government regulations, and our failure or inability to comply with these regulations could materially restrict our operations and subject us to substantial penalties.

We are subject to federal licensing requirements with respect to the export of certain of our products. In addition, we are obligated to comply with a variety of federal, state and local regulations, both domestically and abroad, governing certain aspects of our sales, operations and workplace, including regulations promulgated by, among others, the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense, Justice, Treasury, State and Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also regulates our manufacturing and distribution of certain destructive devices, firearms, and explosives. We also ship hazardous goods, and in doing so, must comply with the regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation for packaging and labeling. We are also required to comply with Controlled Goods Directorate Registration regime in Canada for explosive ordnance disposal products. Additionally, the failure to obtain applicable governmental approval and clearances could materially adversely affect our ability to continue to service the government contracts we maintain. Exports of some of our products to certain international destinations may require export authorization from U.S. export control authorities, including the U.S. Departments of Commerce and State, and authorizations may be conditioned on re-export restrictions. Failure to receive these authorizations may materially adversely affect our revenues and in turn our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity from international sales. Furthermore, we have material contracts with governmental entities and are subject to rules, regulations and approvals applicable to government contractors. We are also subject to routine audits to assure our compliance with these requirements.

While we continually work to enhance our international trade compliance programs, we cannot assure you that we are or will be in full compliance at all times with applicable laws and regulations governing the export and deemed export of defense articles, defense services, and dual-use products and services that are controlled by U.S. and/or foreign governments. In those instances where we have identified non-compliances with applicable laws or regulations, we have taken affirmative steps to correct or mitigate such identified failures and to self-report them to the cognizant U.S. or foreign government agencies. We also import significant volumes of foreign-made components and materials for use in our manufacturing processes, which may be subject to import duties and other regulations. Violations of international trade (export/ import) controls in the U.S. and elsewhere may result in severe criminal and/or civil penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Like other companies operating internationally, we are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other laws that prohibit improper payments to foreign governments and their officials by U.S. and other business entities. We operate in countries known to experience endemic corruption. Our extensive operations in such countries create risk of an unauthorized payment by one of our employees or agents, which would be in violation of various laws including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act may result in severe criminal penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

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We have significant international operations and assets and, therefore, are subject to additional financial and regulatory risks.

We sell our products in foreign countries and seek to increase our level of international business activity. Our overseas operations are subject to various risks, including: U.S.-imposed embargoes and/or sanctions of sales to specific countries (which could prohibit sales of our products there); foreign import controls (which may be arbitrarily imposed and enforced and which could interrupt our supplies or prohibit customers from purchasing our products); exchange rate fluctuations; dividend remittance restrictions; expropriation of assets; war, civil uprisings and riots; government instability; the necessity of obtaining government approvals for both new and continuing operations; and legal systems of decrees, laws, taxes, regulations, interpretations and court decisions that are not always fully developed and that may be retroactively or arbitrarily applied.

One component of our strategy is to expand our operations into selected international markets. Military procurement, for example, has traditionally had a large international base. We actively market our products in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. However, we may be unable to execute our business model in these markets or new markets. Further, foreign providers of competing products and services may have a substantial advantage over us in attracting consumers and businesses in their countries due to earlier established businesses in those countries, greater knowledge with respect to the cultural differences of consumers and businesses residing in those countries and/or their focus on a single market. In pursuing our international expansion strategy, we face several additional risks, including:

We may also be subject to unanticipated income taxes, excise duties, import taxes, export taxes or other governmental assessments. In addition, a percentage of the payments to us in our international markets are often in local currencies. Although most of these currencies are presently convertible into U.S. dollars, we cannot be sure that convertibility will continue. Even if currencies are convertible, the rate at which they convert is subject to substantial fluctuation. Our ability to transfer currencies into or out of local currencies may be restricted or limited. Any of these events could result in a loss of business or other unexpected costs, which could reduce revenue or profits and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

We routinely operate in areas where local government policies regarding foreign entities and the local tax and legal regimes are often uncertain, poorly administered and in a state of flux. We cannot, therefore, be certain that we are in compliance with, or will be protected by, all relevant local laws and taxes at any given point in time. A subsequent determination that we failed to comply with relevant local laws and taxes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. One or more of these factors could adversely affect our future international operations and, consequently, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation and liquidity.

Changes in global cultural, political, and financial market conditions could impair our international operations and financial performance.

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We are subject to risks generally associated with doing business internationally. Some of our operations are conducted or products are sold in countries where economic growth has slowed, or where economies have suffered economic, social and/or political instability or hyperinflation. In addition, global economic uncertainty relating to the effects of fiscal and political crises and political and economic disputes, current or future ‘trade wars,’ changes in consumer spending, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, political unrest, wars, terrorist acts, and/or military operations, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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The conflict between Russia and Ukraine could have a material adverse effect on our operations, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and business outlook.

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There is continued, sustained military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and continued disruption in the region is likely. As a result, new and stricter sanctions have been imposed by the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and other countries and organizations against officials, individuals, regions, and industries in Russia. Russia’s potential response to such sanctions, as well as prolonged unrest, intensified military activities and/or the implementation of more extensive sanctions impacting the region could have a material adverse effect on our operations, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and business outlook.

Pandemics, epidemics or other disease outbreaks may negatively impact our business operations, financial condition, liquidity, and consolidated results of operations.

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A widespread outbreak of disease can adversely affect the operation of our customers’ businesses, which could lead to a material decline in demand for our products and services and our customers’ ability to pay us for the products and services we have provided to them. A pandemic could also have material negative impact on the operation of our vendors’ and suppliers’ businesses and effect their ability to provide us the products and services we rely on to conduct our business and provide products and services to our customers. A widespread outbreak could potentially result in the infection of the Company's employees and diminish our ability to operate our business, service our customers or produce and sell our products. These potential negative impacts to our business could negatively impact our financial results and thereby reduce our operating results and borrowing capacity, which could limit our ability to operate our business. These situations can also lead to a general downturn in the equity markets which could negatively impact the value of the Company’s shares as well as increase the cost to the Company to raise equity capital. Any and all of the above situations could have a material adverse impact on our operations, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and business outlook. Beginning in 2020, we felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related shelter-in-place orders which materially reduced the demand for many of our customers products and services which consequently negatively impacted the demand for our products and services from time to time. The pandemic also resulted in thousands of hours of lost work time for our employees due to illness or steps taken to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. While our customers appear to have resumed business operations that are similar to pre-COVID activities, we cannot predict whether future variants of COVID-19 might cause further slowdowns of cessation of business activities. As a result, we cannot predict the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic might have on our business and operating results in the future

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in ongoing disruptions and delays in manufacturing, shipping and transportation of our products that have had an adverse effect on our business and results of operations, and we expect this adverse impact to continue.

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The COVID-19 pandemic also has the potential to significantly impact our supply chain if the factories that manufacture our products, the distribution centers where we manage our inventory, or the operations of our logistics and other service providers are disrupted, temporarily closed or experience worker shortages. Current vessel, container and other transportation shortages, labor shortages and port congestion globally have delayed and are expected to continue to delay inventory orders and, in turn, deliveries to our customers. These supply chain and logistics disruptions have impacted our inventory levels and net revenues in 2022 and could impact our sales volumes in future periods. We have also incurred in 2022 higher freight and other distribution costs, including air freight, to mitigate these delays. We are also seeing negative impacts to pricing of certain components of our products as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the event we increase prices of our products, there can be no assurance that consumers will accept such increases, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, as well as the trading price of our common stock.

Risks Related to Our Business

Many of our customers have fluctuating budgets, which may cause substantial fluctuations in our results of operations.

Customers for our products include domestic and international first responders such as state and local law enforcement, fire and rescue, explosive ordnance disposal technicians, emergency medical technicians, fishing and wildlife enforcement and departments of corrections, as well as federal agencies and numerous foreign government agencies. Government tax revenues and budgetary constraints, which fluctuate from time to time, can affect budgetary allocations for these customers. Many domestic and foreign government agencies have in the past experienced budget deficits that have led to decreased spending in defense, law enforcement and

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other military and security areas. In addition, first responder budgets have been the subject of increased discussions as a result of controversies relating to police reform. Our results of operations may be subject to substantial period-to-period fluctuations because of these and other factors affecting military, law enforcement and other governmental spending. A reduction of funding for state, local, municipal as well as federal and foreign governmental agencies could have a material adverse effect on sales of our products and our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Our markets are highly competitive, and if we are unable to compete effectively, we will be adversely affected.

The markets in which we operate include a large number of competitors ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations and are highly competitive. Competitors who are larger, better financed and better known than us may compete more effectively than we can. In order to stay competitive in our industry, we must keep pace with changing technologies and customer preferences. If we are unable to differentiate our services from those of our competitors, our revenues may decline. In addition, our competitors have established relationships among themselves or with third parties to increase their ability to address customer needs. As a result, new competitors or alliances amongst competitors may emerge and compete more effectively than we can. There is also a significant industry trend towards consolidation, which may result in the emergence of companies which are better able to compete against us. Any such development could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

There are limited sources for some of our raw materials and components, which may significantly curtail our manufacturing operations.

The raw materials and components that we use to manufacture our products, include SpectraShield^®,a patented product of Honeywell, Inc.; Kevlar^®, a patented product of E.I. du Pont de Nemours Co., Inc.; Dyneema^®, a patented product of Koninklijke DSM N.V.; and Twaron^®, a patented product of Teijin Limited, amongst others, which we use in manufacturing ballistic resistant garments. We purchase the materials and components that we use in manufacturing ballistic resistant garments directly from these suppliers and also through five independent weaving companies. The supply of the materials and components that we use to manufacture our products may be constrained by a number of factors, including a supplier’s need to prioritize the manufacture of rated orders issued under the Defense Production Act of 1950 (the “DPA”). We cannot predict when the United States government will invoke the DPA, and in the past we have faced shortages from our sources of materials and components when the DPA has been invoked, including shortages in the raw materials and components that we use in manufacturing ballistic resistant garments.

Should these materials or components become unavailable for any reason, we would not necessarily be able to replace them with materials or components of like weight and strength, as our ballistic resistant garments must be manufactured to specific standards using specific materials and components that are not necessarily interchangeable based on metrics such as weight and strength. When we have faced shortages in the past, we have been able to ameliorate the issue by obtaining substitutable alternative materials and components from other commercially available sources. However, the use of alternative materials and components in our ballistic resistant garments requires research and development, recertification as well as customer acceptance of the new products utilizing these alternative materials and components, and there is no guarantee that any such recertification or acceptance will be obtained by us. Thus, if our supply of any of these materials or components were materially reduced or cut off or if there were a material increase in the prices of these materials or components, our manufacturing operations could be adversely affected and our costs increased, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity could be materially adversely affected.

Our resources may be insufficient to manage demand.

As we expand our operations, any growth may place significant demands on our management, administrative, operating and financial resources. The growth of our customer base, the types of services and products offered and the geographic markets we serve could place a significant strain on our resources. In addition, we cannot easily identify and hire personnel qualified both in the provision and marketing of our products and systems. Our future performance and profitability will depend in large part on our ability to attract and retain additional management and other key personnel; our ability to implement successful enhancements to our management, accounting and information technology systems; and our ability to adapt those systems, as necessary, to respond to any growth in our business.

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We are dependent on industry relationships.

A number of our products are components in our customers’ final products. Accordingly, to gain market acceptance, we must demonstrate that our products will provide advantages to the manufacturers of final products, including increasing the safety of their products, providing such manufacturers with competitive advantages or assisting such manufacturers in complying with existing or new government regulations affecting their products. There can be no assurance that our products will be able to achieve any of these advantages for the products of our customers. Furthermore, even if we are able to demonstrate such advantages, there can be no assurance that such manufacturers will elect to incorporate our products into their final products, or if they do, that our products will be able to meet such customers’ manufacturing requirements. Additionally, there can be no assurance that our relationships with our manufacturer customers will ultimately lead to volume orders for our products. The failure of manufacturers to incorporate our products into their final products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

We may be unable to protect our proprietary technology.

We depend upon a variety of methods and techniques that we regard as proprietary trade secrets. We also depend upon a variety of trademarks, service marks and designs to promote brand name development and recognition. We rely on a combination of trade secret, copyright, patent, trademark, unfair competition and other intellectual property laws as well as contractual agreements to protect our rights to such intellectual property. Due to the difficulty of monitoring unauthorized use of and access to intellectual property, however, such measures may not provide adequate protection. It is possible that our competitors may access our intellectual property and proprietary information and use it to their advantage. In addition, there can be no assurance that courts will always uphold our intellectual property rights, or enforce the contractual arrangements that we have entered into to protect our proprietary technology. Any unenforceability or misappropriation of our intellectual property could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Furthermore, we cannot assure you that any pending patent application or trademark application made by us will result in an issued patent or registered trademark, or that, if a patent is issued, it will provide meaningful protection against competitors or competitor technologies. In addition, if we bring or become subject to litigation to defend against claimed infringement of our rights or of the rights of others or to determine the scope and validity of our intellectual property rights, such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. Unfavorable results in such litigation could also result in the loss or compromise of our proprietary rights, subject us to significant liabilities, require us to seek licenses from third parties on unfavorable terms, or prevent us from manufacturing or selling our products, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Technological advances, the introduction of new products, and new design and manufacturing techniques could adversely affect our operations unless we are able to adapt to the resulting change in conditions.

Our future success and competitive position depend to a significant extent upon our proprietary technology. We must make significant investments to continue to develop and refine our technologies. We will be required to expend substantial funds for and commit significant resources to research and development activities, the engagement of additional engineering and other technical personnel, the purchase of advanced design, production and test equipment, and the enhancement of design and manufacturing processes and techniques. Our future operating results will depend to a significant extent on our ability to continue to provide design and manufacturing services for new products that compare favorably on the basis of time to introduction, cost and performance with the design and manufacturing capabilities. The success of new design and manufacturing services depends on various factors, including utilization of advances in technology, innovative development of new solutions for customer products, efficient and cost-effective services, timely completion and delivery of new product solutions and market acceptance of customers’ end products. Because of the complexity of our products, we may experience delays from time to time in completing the design and manufacture of new product solutions. In addition, there can be no assurance that any new product solutions will receive or maintain customer or market acceptance. If we are unable to design and manufacture solutions for new products of our customers on a timely and cost-effective basis, such inability could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

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We may be adversely affected by applicable environmental, health and safety laws and regulations.

We are subject to federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations governing environment, health and safety (“EHS”) matters, including those regulating discharges to the air and water, the management of wastes, the control of noise and odors, and the maintenance of a safe and healthy operating environment for our employees. We cannot assure you that we are at all times in complete compliance with all such requirements. Like all companies in our industry, we are subject to potentially significant fines or penalties if we fail to comply with various EHS requirements. Such requirements are complex, change frequently, and could become more stringent in the future. Accordingly, we cannot assure you whether these requirements will change in a manner requiring material capital or operating expenditures or will otherwise have a material adverse effect on us in the future. In addition, we are also subject to environmental laws requiring the investigation and clean-up of environmental contamination. We may be subject to liability, including liability for clean-up costs, if contamination is discovered at one of our current or former facilities, in some circumstances even if such contamination was caused by a third party such as a prior owner. We also may be subject to liability if contamination is discovered at a landfill or other location where we have disposed of wastes, notwithstanding that historic disposal practices may have been in accordance with all applicable requirements. We use Orthochlorabenzalmalononitrile and Chloroacetophenone chemical agents in connection with our production of our crowd control products, and these chemicals are hazardous and could cause environmental damage if not handled and disposed of properly. Moreover, private parties may bring claims against us based on alleged adverse health impacts or property damage caused by our operations. The amount of liability for cleaning up contamination or defending against private party claims could be material and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

The effects of climate change and increased focus by governmental and non-governmental organizations, customers, consumers and investors on sustainability issues, including those related to climate change and socially responsible activities, may adversely affect our business and financial results and damage our reputation.

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Climate change is occurring around the world and may impact our business in numerous ways. Such change could lead to an increase in raw material and packaging prices, reduced availability, for example, due to water shortages which could adversely impact raw material availability. Increased frequency of extreme weather (storms and floods) could cause increased incidence of disruption to the production and distribution of our products and an adverse impact on consumer demand and spending.

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Investor advocacy groups, certain institutional investors, investment funds, other market participants, shareholders, and stakeholders have focused increasingly on the environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) and related sustainability practices of companies. These parties have placed increased importance on the implications of the social cost of their investments. If our ESG practices do not meet investor or other stakeholder expectations and standards, which continue to evolve, our brands, reputation and employee retention may be negatively impacted. It is possible that stakeholders may not be satisfied with our ESG practices or the speed of their adoption. We could also incur additional costs and require additional resources to monitor, report, and comply with various ESG practices. Also, our failure, or perceived failure, to manage reputational threats and meet expectations with respect to socially responsible activities and sustainability commitments could negatively impact our credibility, employee retention, and the willingness of our customers and suppliers to do business with us.

We may lose money or generate less than expected profits on our fixed-price contracts.

Our direct government contracts are primarily fixed-price for a specified term. Under these contracts, we agree to perform a specific scope of work or deliver a certain quantity of end items for a fixed price. Typically, we assume more risk with fixed-price contracts since we are subject to rising labor costs and commodity price risk. Fixed-price contracts require us to price our contracts by forecasting our expenditures. When making proposals for fixed-price contracts, we rely on our estimates of costs and timing for completing these projects. These estimates reflect management’s judgments regarding our capability to complete projects efficiently and timely. Our production costs may, however, exceed forecasts due to unanticipated delays or increased cost of materials, components, labor, capital equipment or other factors. Therefore, we may incur losses on fixed price contracts that we had expected to be profitable, or such contracts may be less profitable than expected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

As it relates to our Product segment, fixed-price contracts represented less than 10% of annual net sales in 2022. For our Distribution segment, we estimate that fixed-price contracts represented approximately 55% of annual net sales in 2022.

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Our business is subject to various laws and regulations favoring the U.S. government’s contractual position, and our failure to comply with such laws and regulations could harm our operating results and prospects.

As a direct and indirect contractor to the U.S. government, we must comply with laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration and performance of federal government contracts, which effect how we do business with our clients and may impose added costs on our business. These rules generally favor the U.S. government’s contractual position.

For example, these regulations and laws include provisions that subject contracts we have been awarded to:

The accuracy and appropriateness of certain costs and expenses used to substantiate our direct and indirect costs for the U.S. government under both cost-plus and fixed-price contracts are subject to extensive regulation and audit by the Defense Contract Audit Agency, an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense. Responding to governmental audits, inquiries or investigations may involve significant expense and divert management’s attention. Our failure to comply with these or other laws and regulations could result in contract termination, suspension or debarment from contracting with the federal government, civil fines and damages and criminal prosecution and penalties, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Our Chief Executive Officer has divided responsibilities and is not required to devote any specified amount of time to our business.

Our Chief Executive Officer, Warren B. Kanders, is also the Executive Chairman of Clarus Corporation, which is in the business of designing, manufacturing, and marketing equipment for outdoor recreation activities. Our employment agreement with Mr. Kanders requires that he devote his time, attention, energy, knowledge, best professional efforts and skills to the duties assigned to him by us, but he is permitted to pursue other professional endeavors and investments that do not violate the terms of his employment agreement, including provisions relative to non-competition. Mr. Kanders’ employment agreement does not require him to devote any specific amount of time to the Company. Accordingly, it is possible that Mr. Kanders will fail to devote the necessary time to our Company which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

We may be subject to disruptions, failures or cyber-attacks in our information technology systems and network infrastructures that could have a material adverse effect on us.

We maintain and rely extensively on information technology systems and network infrastructures for the effective operation of our business. Techniques used to gain unauthorized access to private networks are constantly evolving, and we may be unable to anticipate or prevent unauthorized access to data pertaining to our customers, including credit card and debit card information and other personally identifiable information. Like all Internet services, our direct-to-consumer service, which is supported by our own systems and those of third-party vendors, is vulnerable to computer viruses, Internet worms, break-ins, phishing attacks, attempts to overload servers with denial-of-service or other attacks and similar disruptions from unauthorized use of our and third-party vendor computer systems, any of which could lead to system interruptions, delays or shutdowns, causing loss of critical data or the unauthorized access to personally identifiable information. If an actual or perceived breach of our systems or a vendor’s systems security occurs, we may face civil liability and public perception of our security measures could be diminished, either of which would negatively affect our ability to attract customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. We also would be required to expend significant resources to mitigate the breach of security and to address related matters.

Further, a disruption, infiltration or failure of our information technology systems or any of our data centers including the systems and data centers of our third-party vendors as a result of software or hardware malfunctions, computer viruses, cyber-attacks, employee theft or misuse, power disruptions, natural disasters or accidents could cause breaches of data security and loss of critical data, which in turn could materially adversely affect our business.

We cannot fully control the actions of third parties who may have access to the customer data we collect and the customer data collected by our third party vendors. We may be unable to monitor or control such third parties and the third parties having access to our other websites in their compliance with the terms of our privacy policies, terms of use, and other applicable contracts, and we may

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be unable to prevent unauthorized access to, or use or disclosure of, customer information. Any such misuse could hinder or prevent our efforts with respect to growth opportunities and could expose us to liability or otherwise adversely affect our business. In addition, these third parties may become the victim of security breaches or have practices that may result in a breach, and we could be responsible for those third-party acts or failures to act.

Any failure, or perceived failure, by us or the prior owners of acquired businesses to maintain the security of data relating to our customers and employees, to comply with our posted privacy policies, our predecessors’ posted policies, laws and regulations, rules of self-regulatory organizations, or industry standards and contractual provisions to which we or they may be bound, could result in the loss of confidence in us, or result in actions against us by governmental entities or others, all of which could result in litigation and financial losses, and could potentially cause us to lose customers, revenue and employees.

Initiatives to upgrade our business processes and information technology systems to optimize our operational and financial performance involve many risks which could result in, among other things, business interruptions, higher costs and lost profits.

We regularly implement business process improvement and information technology initiatives intended to optimize our operational and financial performance. Transitioning to these new or upgraded processes and systems requires significant capital investments and personnel resources. Implementation is also highly dependent on the coordination of numerous employees, contractors and software and system providers. The interdependence of these processes and systems is a significant risk to the successful completion and continued refinement of these initiatives, and the failure of any aspect could have a material adverse effect on the functionality of our overall business. We may also experience difficulties in implementing or operating our new or upgraded business processes or information technology systems, including, but not limited to, ineffective or inefficient operations, significant system failures, system outages, delayed implementation and loss of system availability, which could lead to increased implementation and/or operational costs, loss or corruption of data, delayed shipments, excess inventory and interruptions of operations resulting in lost sales and/or profits.

We rely on information technology systems, including third-party cloud-based solutions, and any failure of these systems may result in disruptions or outages, loss of processing capabilities, and/or loss of data, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flow.

Our reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve consumers is dependent upon the reliable performance of our underlying technology infrastructure and external service providers, including third-party cloud-based solutions. These systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption and we have experienced interruptions in the past. We rely on cloud-based solutions furnished by third parties primarily to allocate resources, pay vendors, collect from customers, process transactions, develop demand and supply plans, manage product design, production, transportation, and distribution, forecast and report operating results, meet regulatory requirements and administer employee payroll and benefits, among other functions. We have also designed a significant portion of our software and computer systems to utilize data processing and storage capabilities from third-party cloud solution providers. Both our on-premises and cloud-based infrastructure may be susceptible to outages due to any number of reasons, including, human error, fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, terrorist attacks and similar events. Despite the implementation of security measures that we believe to be reasonable, both our on-premises and our cloud-based infrastructure may also be vulnerable to hacking, computer viruses, the installation of malware and similar disruptions either by third-parties or employees, which may result in outages. We do not have redundancy for all of our systems and our disaster recovery planning may not account for all eventualities. If we or our existing third-party cloud-based solution providers experience interruptions in service regularly or for a prolonged basis, or other similar issues, our business could be seriously harmed and, in some instances, our consumers may not be able to purchase our products, which could significantly and negatively affect our sales. Additionally, our existing cloud-based solution providers have broad discretion to change and interpret their terms of service and other policies with respect to us, and they may take actions beyond our control that could harm our business. We also may not be able to control the quality of the systems and services we receive from our third-party cloud-based solution providers. Any transition of the cloud-based solutions currently provided to different cloud providers would be difficult to implement and may cause us to incur significant time and expense.

If we and/or our cloud-based solution providers are not successful in preventing or effectively responding to outages and cyberattacks, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow could be materially and adversely affected.

Additionally, information technology systems require periodic modifications, upgrades, and replacement that subject us to costs and risks, including potential disruption to our internal control structure, substantial capital expenditures, additional administration and

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operating expenses, retention of sufficiently skilled personnel or outside firms to implement and operate existing or new systems, and other risks and costs of delays or difficulties in transitioning to new or modified systems or of integrating new or modified systems into our current systems. In addition, challenges implementing new or modified technology systems may cause disruptions in our business operations and, if not anticipated and appropriately mitigated, could have a material adverse effect on our business operations.

Misuse of our products may adversely affect the Company’s reputation.

The target end users of the products that we sell, which include firearms, ammunition and body armor, are licensed professionals that include state and local law enforcement, federal agencies, foreign police, military agencies as well as private security firms. However, if any misuse of our products were to occur, the Company’s reputation could be harmed. The occurrence of any misuse of our products could seriously damage our reputation and the image of our brands or cause our customers to consider alternatives to the Company’s products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Adverse publicity about the Company and/or its brands, including without limitation, through social media or in connection with brand damaging events and/or public perception, could negatively impact our business.

Negative claims or publicity involving us, our board of directors, our brands, our products, services and experiences, consumer data, or any of our key employees, or suppliers could seriously damage our reputation and the image of our brands, regardless of whether such claims are accurate. Social media, which accelerates and potentially amplifies the scope of negative publicity, can increase the challenges of responding to negative claims. Negative attention or scrutiny on the various products sold by our brands can also possibly result in negative publicity. For example, heightened governmental scrutiny of the safety of crowd control products has resulted in requests by two subcommittees of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform for information from major U.S. manufacturers, including us, relating to the production, sale, safety, and regulation of crowd control products. Congressional scrutiny and other similar inquiries by governmental bodies may damage our reputation and may also result in potential legislation designed to regulate the various products sold by our brands.

Adverse publicity could also damage our reputation and the image of our brands, undermine consumer confidence in us and reduce long-term demand for our products, even if such adverse publicity is unfounded or not material to our operations. If the reputation, culture or image of any of our brands is tarnished or receives negative publicity, then our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity could be materially adversely affected.

The terms of our outstanding long-term debt and any requirements to incur further indebtedness or refinance our outstanding indebtedness in the future could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Our significant payment obligations under the terms of our long-term debt, $151.3 million of which was outstanding as of December 31, 2022, together with any additional indebtedness we may incur in the future (including under the New Credit Agreement (herein defined)), could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. For example, our indebtedness or any additional financing may:

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Any of the foregoing, alone or in combination, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. A breach of, or the inability to comply with, the covenants in our term loan facility and revolving credit agreement could result in an event of default, in which case the lenders will have the right to declare all borrowings to be immediately due and payable, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and could lead to foreclosure on our assets

In the future, we may need to refinance our indebtedness. However, additional financing may not be available on favorable commercial terms to us, or at all. If, at such time, market conditions are materially different or our credit profile has deteriorated, the cost of refinancing such debt may be significantly higher than our indebtedness existing at that time. Furthermore, we may not be able to procure refinancing at all. Any failure to meet any future debt service obligations through use of cash flow, refinancing or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Our business is significantly dependent on our ability to meet our labor needs.

The success of our business depends significantly on our ability to hire and retain quality team members, which include but are not limited to managers and other personnel. Competition for non-entry-level personnel, particularly those with experience in our industry, is highly competitive. We may be unable to meet our labor needs and control our costs due to external factors such as the availability of a sufficient number of qualified persons in the workforce of the markets in which we operate, competition, unemployment levels, demand for certain labor expertise, prevailing wage rates, wage inflation, changing demographics, health and other insurance costs, adoption of new or revised employment and labor laws and regulations, and the impacts of man-made or natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and public health emergencies, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, a shortage of labor for certain functions, which has increased our labor costs and negatively impacted our profitability. The extent and duration of the effect of these labor market challenges are subject to numerous factors, including the availability of qualified persons in the markets where we and our vendors and customers operate and unemployment levels within these markets, behavioral changes, prevailing wage rates and other benefits, inflation, adoption of new or revised employment and labor laws and regulations (including increased minimum wage requirements) or government programs, safety levels of our operations, and our reputation within the labor market.

Recent or potential future legislative initiatives may seek to increase the federal minimum wage in the United States, as well as the minimum wage in a number of individual states or markets. As federal or state minimum wage rates increase, we may need to increase not only the wage rates of our minimum wage team members, but also the wages paid to our other hourly team members as well. Further, should we fail to increase our wages competitively in response to increasing wage rates, the quality of our workforce could decline, causing our customer service to suffer. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed rules that may have salary and wage impact for “exempt” team members, which could result in a substantial increase in store payroll expense. Any increase in the cost of our labor could have an adverse effect on our operating costs, financial condition and results of operations, which in turn can materially adversely affect our business.

Although none of our employees are currently covered under collective bargaining agreements, we cannot guarantee that employees will not elect to be represented by labor unions in the future. If some or our entire workforce were to become unionized and collective bargaining agreement terms were significantly different from our current compensation arrangements or work practice, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Reductions in the availability of energy supplies or an increase in energy costs may increase our operating costs.

Electricity and natural gas are used to operate equipment at manufacturing facilities. Over the past several years, prices for electricity and natural gas have fluctuated significantly. An outbreak or escalation of hostilities between the United States and any foreign power, or between foreign powers, or a natural disaster, could result in a real or perceived shortage of petroleum and/or natural gas, which could result in an increase in the cost of electricity or energy generally as well as an increase in the cost of our raw materials, of which many are petroleum-based. In addition, increased energy costs negatively impact our freight costs due to higher fuel prices. Future limitations on the availability or consumption of petroleum products and/or an increase in energy costs, particularly electricity for plant operations, could have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

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Risks Related to our Acquisition Strategy

A number of other companies are seeking to make acquisitions in our industry, which may make our acquisition strategy more difficult or expensive to pursue.

We compete with many other companies, and certain of them have greater financial resources than we do for pursuing and consummating acquisitions and to further develop and integrate acquired businesses. Our strategy of growing through the acquisition of businesses and assets relies on our ability to consummate acquisitions to develop and offer new products that foster the growth of our core business, and to establish ourselves in other geographic regions and related businesses in which we do not currently operate. Increased competition for acquisition opportunities may impede our ability to acquire these companies because they choose another acquirer. It could also increase the price that we must pay for these companies. Either of these outcomes could reduce our growth, harm our business and adversely impact our ability to consummate acquisitions.

We may be unsuccessful in identifying suitable acquisition candidates, which may negatively impact our competitive position and our growth strategy.

In addition to organic growth, our future growth will be driven by our selective acquisition of additional businesses, our competitors and complementary businesses. Our growth through acquisitions, to date, has consisted of 14 acquisitions and two divestitures. We may be unable to identify other suitable targets for future acquisition or acquire businesses at favorable prices, which would negatively impact our growth strategy. We may not be able to execute our growth strategy through organic expansion, and if we are unable to identify and successfully acquire new businesses complementary to ours, we may not be able to offer new products in line with industry trends.

The due diligence process that we undertake in connection with acquisitions may not reveal all facts that may be relevant in connection with an investment.

Before making acquisitions and other investments, we conduct due diligence of the target company that we deem reasonable and appropriate based on the facts and circumstances applicable to each acquisition. The objective of the due diligence process is to assess the investment opportunities based on the facts and circumstances surrounding an investment or acquisition. When conducting due diligence, we may be required to evaluate important and complex business, financial, tax, accounting, environmental and legal issues. The due diligence process may at times be subjective with respect to newly-organized companies for which only limited information is available. Accordingly, we cannot be certain that the due diligence investigation that we conduct with respect to any investment or acquisition opportunity will reveal or highlight all relevant facts that may be necessary or helpful in evaluating such investment opportunity. For example, instances of fraud, accounting irregularities and other deceptive practices can be difficult to detect. Executive officers, directors and employees may be named as defendants in litigation involving a company we are acquiring or have acquired. Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a particular investment or acquisition, we may fail to uncover all material issues relating to such investment, including regarding the controls and procedures of a particular target or the full scope of its contractual arrangements. We rely on our due diligence to identify potential liabilities in the businesses we acquire, including such things as potential or actual lawsuits, contractual obligations or liabilities imposed by government regulation. However, our due diligence process may not uncover these liabilities, and where we identify a potential liability, we may incorrectly believe that we can consummate the acquisition without subjecting ourselves to that liability. If our due diligence fails to identify issues specific to an investment or acquisition, we may obtain a lower return from that transaction than the investment would return or otherwise subject ourselves to unexpected liabilities.

We may face difficulty in integrating the operations of the businesses we have acquired and may acquire in the future.

Acquisitions have been and will continue to be an important component of our growth strategy; however, we will need to integrate these acquired businesses successfully in order for our growth strategy to succeed and for our Company to be profitable. We will implement, and the management teams of the acquired businesses will adopt, our policies, procedures and best practices. We may face difficulty with the integration of the businesses we acquire, such as coordinating geographically dispersed organizations, integrating personnel with disparate business backgrounds and combining different corporate cultures. Furthermore, we may fail in implementing our policies and procedures, or the policies and procedures may not be effective or provide the results we anticipate for a particular business. Further, we will be relying on these policies and procedures in preparing our financial and other reports as a public company, so any failure of acquired businesses to properly adopt these policies and procedures could impair our public

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reporting. Management of the businesses we acquire may not have the operational or business expertise that we require to successfully implement our policies, procedures and best practices.

We typically retain the management of the businesses we acquire and rely on them to continue running their businesses, which leaves us vulnerable in the event they leave our Company.

We seek to acquire businesses that have strong management teams that will continue to run the business after the acquisition. We often rely on these individuals to conduct the day-to-day operations, and pursue the growth, of these acquired businesses. Although we typically seek to sign employment agreements with the managers of acquired businesses, it remains possible that these individuals will leave our organization. This would harm the prospects of the businesses they manage, potentially causing us to lose money on our investment and harming our growth and financial results.

We may be required to take write downs or write-offs, restructuring, and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.

In connection with our general growth strategy of acquiring businesses and assets, we may be forced to write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in us reporting losses. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our common stock.

Risks Related to Ownership of our Common Stock

Our executive officers, directors and principal stockholders, if they choose to act together, will continue to have the ability to control all matters submitted to stockholders for approval.

Our executive officers, directors and stockholders who own more than 5% of our outstanding common stock and their respective affiliates held, in the aggregate, shares representing approximately 49.3% of our outstanding voting stock. As a result, if these stockholders were to choose to act together, they would be able to control or significantly influence all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, as well as our management and affairs. For example, these persons, if they choose to act together, would control or significantly influence the election of directors and approval of any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. This concentration of ownership control may:

Shares of our common stock have been, and may continue to be, thinly traded, which may contribute to volatility in our stock price and less liquidity for investors.

The trading volume of our common stock has varied, and at times may be characterized as thinly traded.  As a result of this thin trading market or “float” for our common stock, our common stock has been, and may continue to be, less liquid than the common stock of companies with broader public ownership.  If our common stock is thinly traded, the trading of a relatively small volume of our common stock may have a greater impact on the trading price of our common stock than would be the case if our float were larger.  As a result, the trading prices of our common stock may be more volatile than the common stock of companies with broader public ownership, and an investor be unable to liquidate an investment in our common stock at attractive prices.

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We cannot predict the prices at which our common stock will trade in the future. Variations in financial results, announcements of material events, changes in our dividend policy, technological innovations or new products by us or our competitors, our quarterly operating results, changes in general conditions in the economy or government spending on law enforcement and military, other developments affecting us or our competitors or general price and volume fluctuations in the market are among the many factors that could cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate substantially.

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Our stock price may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance, resulting in substantial losses for investors.

The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:

In addition, stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. Stock prices of many companies have fluctuated in a manner unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. In the past, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could subject us to substantial costs, divert resources and the attention of management from our business and have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Substantial future sales of shares of our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that such sales may have on the prevailing market price of our common stock.

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If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business, our market and our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

We are an emerging growth company, and any decision on our part to comply only with certain reduced reporting and disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to emerging growth companies, including:

We could be an emerging growth company until December 31, 2026. Our status as an emerging growth company will end as soon as any of the following takes place:

We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on any of the exemptions afforded emerging growth companies. If some investors find our common stock less attractive because we rely on any of these exemptions, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and the market price of our common stock may be more volatile.

Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can also delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected to avail ourselves of this provision of the JOBS Act. As a result, we will not be subject to new or revised accounting standards at the same time as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. Therefore, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to those of companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

Compliance with changing laws, regulations and standards of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expenses.

Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes Oxley Act”), the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, new Securities and Exchange Commission regulations and NASDAQ rules, are creating uncertainty for companies such as ours. These new or changed laws, regulations, and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity. As a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies, which could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance

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practices. We are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, our efforts to comply with evolving laws, regulations, and standards have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our common stock, which may also have the consequence of depressing the market price of our common stock.

Our status as a Delaware corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law may discourage, delay, or prevent a change in control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of our company more difficult, including the following:

These provisions, alone or together, may (a) frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to select or replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management; (b) discourage, delay, or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our Company; and/or (c) discourage proxy contests, any of which, under certain circumstances, could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock, and could also affect the market price of our common stock.

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and 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 amended and restated bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or other state courts of the State of Delaware if the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware does not have jurisdiction or the federal district court for the District of Delaware if no state court in the State of Delaware has jurisdiction) is the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine or any action asserting an “internal corporate claim” as that term is defined in Section 115 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that this choice of forum does not apply to any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Finally, our amended and restated bylaws provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits

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against our directors and officers, although our stockholders cannot waive our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

Our payment of future quarterly dividends on our common stock is subject to the discretion and approval of our board of directors.

On November 11, 2021, the Company announced that its board of directors approved the initiation of a quarterly cash dividend program of $0.08 per share of the Company’s common stock or $0.32 per share on an annualized basis (the “Quarterly Cash Dividend”). While we intend to pay regular Quarterly Cash Dividends for the foreseeable future, all subsequent dividends will be reviewed quarterly and declared at the discretion and approval of our board of directors and will depend upon, among other things, our results of operations, capital requirements, general business conditions, contractual restrictions under our New Credit Agreement on the payment of dividends, legal and regulatory restrictions on the payment of dividends, and other factors our board of directors deems relevant. Therefore, you should not purchase our common stock if you need immediate or future income by way of dividends from your investment. In addition, upon an event of default under our New Credit Agreement, we are prohibited from declaring or paying any dividends on our common stock or generally making other distributions to our stockholders.

We could be subject to securities class action litigation.

In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of shares of blank check preferred stock.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors will be authorized to issue from time to time, without further stockholder approval, up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix or alter the designations, preferences, rights and any qualifications, limitations or restrictions of the shares of each series, including the dividend rights, dividend rates, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, including sinking fund provisions, redemption price or prices, liquidation preferences and the number of shares constituting any series or designations of any series. Such shares of preferred stock could have preferences over our common stock with respect to dividends and liquidation rights. We may issue additional preferred stock in ways which may delay, defer or prevent a change in control of us without further action by our stockholders. Such shares of preferred stock may be issued with voting rights that may adversely affect the voting power of the holders of our common stock by increasing the number of outstanding shares having voting rights, and by the creation of class or series voting rights.

We may issue a substantial amount of our common stock in connection with future acquisitions, and the sale of those shares could adversely affect our stock price.

As part of our acquisition strategy, we anticipate issuing additional shares of common stock as consideration for such acquisitions. To the extent that we are able to grow through acquisitions and issue shares of our common stock as consideration, the number of outstanding shares of common stock that will be eligible for sale in the future is likely to increase substantially. Persons receiving shares of our common stock in connection with these acquisitions may be more likely to sell large quantities of their common stock, which may influence the price of our common stock. In addition, the potential issuance of additional shares in connection with anticipated acquisitions could lessen demand for our common stock and result in a lower price than would otherwise be obtained.

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Techniques employed by short sellers or other derivative traders may drive down the market price of our common stock and/or spur litigation or regulatory action.

Short selling is the practice of selling securities that a seller does not own but rather has borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical securities back at a later date to return to the lender. Short sellers hope to profit from a decline in the value of the securities between the sale of the borrowed securities and the purchase of the replacement securities, as short sellers expect to pay less in that purchase than they received in the sale. As it is in short sellers’ interest for the price of the security to decline, many short sellers publish, or arrange for the publication of, negative opinions and allegations regarding the relevant issuer and its business prospects in order to create negative market momentum and generate profits for themselves after selling a security short. These short attacks have, in the past, led to selling of shares in the market.

If we were to become the subject of unfavorable allegations contained in short reports, whether such allegations are proven to be true or untrue, we may have to expend a significant amount of resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend ourselves. While we would prefer to strongly defend against any such short seller attacks, we may be constrained in the manner in which we can proceed against the relevant short sellers by principles of freedom of speech, applicable state law or issues of commercial confidentiality. Such a situation could be costly and time-consuming, and could divert management’s attention from our day-to-day operations. Even if such allegations are ultimately proven to be groundless, allegations against us could severely impact the market price of our common stock and our business operations.

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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

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Item 2. Properties

We own our corporate headquarters located at 13386 International Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32218 where we occupy approximately 36,941 square feet of office space and 95,283 square feet of manufacturing space. In total, we operate 19 facilities (8 owned) across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe, spanning more than 1,000,000 square feet. Additionally, we lease 11 retail locations across the East Coast that service our Distribution segment. Our properties are well maintained, and we consider them to be sufficient for our existing capacity requirements.

The following table identifies and provides certain information regarding our facilities:

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Item 3. Legal Proceedings

Refer to Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is incorporated herein by reference.

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Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

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PART II

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

Market Information

Our common stock has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CDRE” since November 4, 2021. Prior to that date, there was no public trading market for our common stock.

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Holders of Record

As of March 10, 2023, there were 17 holders of record of our common stock. The actual number of stockholders is greater than this number of record holders and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners but whose shares are held in street name by brokers and other nominees.

Dividend Policy

On November 11, 2021, the Company announced that its Board of Directors approved the initiation of a quarterly cash dividend program of $0.08 per share of the Company’s common stock or $0.32 per share on an annualized basis. In 2022, our total quarterly cash dividends were $11.5 million.  We expect to continue to pay a quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per share, or $0.32 on an annualized basis, on our common stock for the foreseeable future, but we may elect to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent on a number of factors, including the terms of our New Credit Agreement, our earnings, capital requirements, our overall financial condition and other factors that our board of directors considers relevant.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities

None.

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Item 6. [Reserved]

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

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of the financial condition and results of operations of Cadre Holdings, Inc. (D/B/A The Safariland Group) (“Cadre,” “the Company” “we,” “us” and “our”) should be read together with our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 in each case together with related notes thereto, included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect future plans, estimates, beliefs and expected performance. The forward-looking statements are dependent upon events, risks and uncertainties that may be outside of Cadre’s control. Our actual results may differ significantly from those projected in the forward- looking statements. Factors that might cause future results to differ materially from those projected in the forward- looking statements include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain total amounts may not foot due to rounding.

Overview and 2022 Financial Highlights

Cadre is a global leader in the manufacturing and distribution of safety and survivability equipment for first responders. Our equipment provides critical protection to allow its users to safely and securely perform their duties and protect those around them in hazardous or life-threatening situations. Through our dedication to superior quality, we establish a direct covenant with end users that our products will perform and keep them safe when they are most needed. We sell a wide range of products including body armor, explosive ordnance disposal equipment and duty gear through both direct and indirect channels. In addition, through our owned distribution, we serve as a one-stop shop for first responders providing equipment we manufacture as well as third-party products including uniforms, optics, boots, firearms and ammunition. The majority of our diversified product offering is governed by rigorous safety standards and regulations. Demand for our products is driven by technological advancement as well as recurring modernization and replacement cycles for the equipment to maintain its efficiency, effective performance and regulatory compliance.

We service the ever-changing needs of our end users by investing in research and development for new product innovation and technical advancements that continually raise the standards for safety and survivability equipment in the first responder market. Our target end user base includes domestic and international first responders such as state and local law enforcement, fire and rescue, explosive ordnance disposal technicians, emergency medical technicians (“EMT”), fishing and wildlife enforcement and departments of corrections, as well as federal agencies including the U.S. Department of State (“DoS”), U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”), U.S. Department of Interior (“DoI”), U.S. Department of Justice (“DoJ”), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), U.S. Department of Corrections (“DoC”) and numerous foreign government agencies in over 100 countries.

In January 2022, the Company acquired Radar Leather Division S.r.l. (“Radar”) for $19.4 million, net of cash acquired. We recorded an allocation of the purchase price to tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values.

In May 2022, the Company acquired Cyalume Technologies, Inc, CT SAS Holdings, Inc. and Cyalume Technologies SAS (collectively “Cyalume”) for $36.2 million, net of cash acquired. We recorded a preliminary allocation of the purchase price to tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values. These estimates are preliminary and subject to adjustments as we complete our valuation process.

The following table sets forth a summary of our financial highlights for the periods indicated:

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Net sales increased by $30.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to December 31, 2021, primarily as a result of recent acquisitions and agency demand for hard goods through our Distribution segment.

Net income decreased by $6.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, primarily as a result of an increase in stock-based compensation expense, which was partially offset by an increase in net sales, lower interest expense and the loss on extinguishment of debt related to the August 2021 debt refinance.

Initial Public Offering

On November 3, 2021, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) in which the Company issued and sold 6,900,000 shares of common stock, which included 900,000 shares that were offered and sold pursuant to the full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, at a public offering price of $13.00 per share. The Company’s net proceeds from the sale of shares in the IPO were $78.6 million after underwriter discounts and commissions, fees and expenses of $11.1 million, of which $2.3 million was paid to Kanders & Company, Inc., a company controlled by Warren B. Kanders, our Chief Executive Officer.

Secondary Offering

On June 9, 2022, the Company completed a secondary offering in which the Company issued and sold 2,250,000 shares of common stock at a price of $23.50 per share. The Company’s net proceeds from the sale of shares were $47.0 million after underwriter discounts and commissions, fees and expenses of $2.7 million, of which $2.0 million was paid to Kanders & Company, Inc., a company controlled by Warren B. Kanders, our Chief Executive Officer.

On July 14, 2022, the underwriters exercised a portion of their over-allotment option and purchased an additional 300,000 shares of common stock at a price of $23.50 per share, resulting in net proceeds to the Company of $6.4 million after underwriter discounts and commissions, fees and expenses of $0.7 million.

COVID-19

The global outbreak of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and a national emergency by the U.S., and European governments in March 2020, with governments world-wide implementing safety measures restricting travel and requiring citizen lockdowns and self-confinements for quarantining purposes. During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021, and 2022, this had negatively affected the U.S. and global economies, disrupted global supply chains, and resulted in significant transport restrictions and disruption of global financial markets.

An outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could have, and in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic has had and may continue to have, a significant impact on the global supply chain, with restrictions and limitations on related activities causing disruption and delay, along with increased raw material, storage, and shipping costs. Any of these disruptions and delays may strain domestic and international supply chains, which could negatively affect the flow or availability of certain critical raw materials and finished good products that the Company relies upon. Furthermore, the foregoing impacts may negatively affect our logistical operations, including our fulfillment and shipping functions, which could result in periodic delays in the delivery of our products.

We expect that an outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could have, and in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to have, an impact on the Company’s sales and profitability in future periods. The duration of these trends and the magnitude of such impacts cannot be precisely estimated at this time, as they are affected by a number of factors (some of which are outside management’s control), including those presented in Item 1A. Risk Factors.

KEY PERFORMANCE METRICS

Orders backlog

We monitor our orders backlog, which we believe is a forward-looking indicator of potential sales. Our orders backlog for products includes all orders that have been received and are believed to be firm. Due to municipal government procurement rules, in certain cases orders included in backlog are subject to budget appropriation or other contract cancellation clauses. Consequently, our

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orders backlog may differ from actual future sales. Orders backlog can be helpful to investors in evaluating the performance of our business and identify trends over time.

The following table presents our orders backlog as of the periods indicated:

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Orders comprising backlog as of a given balance sheet date are typically invoiced in subsequent periods. The majority of our products are generally processed and shipped within one to six weeks of an order being placed, though the fulfillment time for certain products, for example, explosive ordnance disposal equipment, may take three months or longer. Our orders backlog could experience volatility between periods, including as a result of customer order volumes and the speed of our order fulfilment, which in turn may be impacted by the nature of products ordered, the amount of inventory on hand and the necessary manufacturing lead time.

Orders backlog increased by $4.0 million as of December 31, 2022 compared to December 31, 2021, primarily due to $8.9 million from recent acquisitions, $8.6 million due to large government and international orders for less lethal product and $6.4 million from higher demand for armor products, offset partially by reductions of $13.2 million from 2022 shipments of large international contracts for bomb suits, $3.3 million driven by reductions in supplier past dues for ammunition and firearms through our Distribution segment and $2.1 million from 2022 shipments of a large domestic duty gear order.

DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN COMPONENTS OF FINANCIAL DATA

Net sales

We recognize revenue when a contract exists with a customer that specifies the goods and services to be provided at an agreed upon sales price and when the performance obligation is satisfied by transferring the goods or service to the customer. The performance obligation is considered satisfied when control transfers, which is generally determined when products are shipped or delivered to the customer but could be delayed until the receipt of customer acceptance, depending on the terms of the contract. At the time of revenue recognition we also provide for estimated sales returns and miscellaneous claims from customers as reductions to revenues. Charges for shipping and handling fees billed to customers are included in net sales. Taxes collected from customers and remitted to government authorities are reported on a net basis and are excluded from sales. See Note 1 “Significant Accounting Policies — Revenue Recognition” to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We generate sales primarily through our four main sales channels: U.S. state and local agencies, international, U.S. federal agencies, and commercial.

Costs and Expenses

Cost of goods sold. Cost of goods sold includes raw material purchases, manufacturing-related labor costs, contracted labor, shipping, reimbursable research and development costs, allocated manufacturing overhead, facility costs, depreciation and amortization, and product warranty costs.

Selling, general and administrative. Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expense includes personnel-related costs, professional services, marketing and advertising expense, research and development, depreciation and amortization, and impairment charges.

Restructuring and transaction costs. Restructuring costs consist primarily of termination benefits and relocation of employees, termination of operating leases and other contracts related to consolidating or closing facilities. Transaction costs consist of legal fees and consulting costs related to one-time transactions.

Related party expense. Related party expense primarily consists of rent expense related to distribution locations owned by related parties and any one-time transaction fees paid to related parties.

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Other general income. Other general income consists primarily of gains from the disposition of a long-lived assets.

Interest expense. Interest expense consists primarily of interest on outstanding debt.

Loss on extinguishment of debt. Loss on extinguishment of debt consists primarily of recorded losses associated with debt restructuring.

Other expense, net. Other expense, net primarily consists of gains and losses from foreign currency transactions.

Provision for income taxes. A provision or benefit for income tax is calculated for each of the jurisdictions in which we operate. The provision or benefit for income taxes is determined using the asset and liability approach of accounting for income taxes. Under this approach, deferred taxes represent the future tax consequences expected to occur when the reported amounts of assets and liabilities are recovered or paid. The benefit or provision for income taxes represents income taxes paid or payable for the current year plus the change in deferred taxes during the year. Deferred taxes result from differences between the book and tax bases of assets and liabilities and are adjusted for changes in tax rates and tax laws when changes are enacted. Valuation allowances are recorded to reduce deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that a tax benefit will not be realized. See Note 16 “Income Taxes” in our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

In order to reflect the way our chief operation decision maker reviews and assesses the performance of the business, Cadre has determined that it has two reportable segments — the Product segment and the Distribution segment. Segment information is consistent with how the chief operating decision maker, our chief executive officer, reviews the business, makes investing and resource allocation decisions and assesses operating performance.

The following table presents data from our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands unless otherwise noted):

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The following table presents segment data for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands unless otherwise noted):

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Comparison of Year Ended December 31, 2022 to Year Ended December 31, 2021

Net sales. Product segment net sales increased by $23.2 million or 6.4%, from $362.2 million to $385.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily due to increases of $29.4 million from recent acquisitions and $11.4 million from higher demand for armor products, partially offset by reductions of $9.3 million from a large contractual armor order fulfilled in the prior year, $4.9 million for crowd control product due to higher demand in the prior year, $3.7 million from large international contractual orders for explosive ordnance disposals and $2.3 million for gun cleaning lubricants (higher prior year sales in support of firearms demand). Distribution segment net sales increased by $7.1 million or 7.8%, from $90.0 million to $97.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily due to agency demand for hard goods. Reconciling items consisting primarily of intercompany eliminations were $24.7 million and $24.9 million for year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Cost of goods sold. Product segment cost of goods sold increased by $16.3 million, or 7.7%, from $213.9 million to $230.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021 primarily due to increased volume and increasing costs to manufacture product (principally material and labor). Product segment gross profit as a percentage of net sales decreased by 69 basis points to 40.3% in 2022 from 40.9% in 2021 mainly driven by 110 basis points related to amortization of inventory step-up recorded as part of the recent acquisitions, partially offset by favorable pricing net of mix and inflation. Distribution segment cost of goods sold increased by $9.0 million, or 13.3%, from $67.6 million to $76.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021 primarily due to increased volume and costs to acquire products. Distribution segment gross profit as a percentage of net sales decreased 21.1% in 2022 from 24.9% in 2021 mainly driven by unfavorable channel mix with more volume going to agencies versus retail and e-commerce. Reconciling items consisting primarily of intercompany eliminations were $24.7 million and $24.9 million for year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Selling, general and administrative. SG&A increased by $38.3 million, or 33.3%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021 primarily due to increased stock-based compensation expense of $31.9 million in the current year and $6.9 million as a result of acquisitions.

Restructuring and transaction costs. Restructuring and transaction costs increased by $0.9 million, for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, which primarily consisted of expenses related to the Company’s various acquisition efforts and various initiatives implemented during the current quarter.

Related party expense. Related party expense increased by $0.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily due to a $1.0 million transaction fee paid to Kanders & Company, Inc., a company controlled by our Chief Executive Officer, in connection with the acquisition of Cyalume. We also recorded rent expense relating to distribution warehouses and retail stores that we lease from related parties.

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Other general income. Gains in other general income increased by $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021 due to a gain from the sale of our Daventry, UK facility in the current year.

Interest expense. Interest expense decreased by $10.2 million, or 62.2%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021 as a result of our prior year debt refinancing and debt repayments on our outstanding debt.

Loss on extinguishment of debt. Loss on extinguishment of debt decreased by $15.2 million due to the refinancing of our long-term debt in August 2021.

Other expense, net. Other expense, net increased by $0.2 million, for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021 primarily due to losses on foreign currency transactions.

Provision for income taxes. Income tax provision was $3.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to $6.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The effective tax rate was 37.9% for the year ended December 31, 2022 and was higher than the statutory rate due to state taxes, executive compensation and the tax impact of our foreign earnings, partially offset by research and development tax credits. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the effective tax rate was 34.0% and was higher than the statutory rate primarily due to state taxes and executive compensation, partially offset by research and development tax credits.

NON-GAAP MEASURES

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Conversion Rate, which are non-GAAP measures that we use to supplement our results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. EBITDA is defined as net income before depreciation and amortization expense, interest expense and provision for income taxes. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA that excludes restructuring and transaction costs, other general income, loss on extinguishment of debt, other expense, net, stock-based compensation expense, stock-based compensation payroll tax expense, long term incentive plan (“LTIP”) bonus, and amortization of inventory step-up as these items do not represent our core operating performance. We also present Adjusted EBITDA Conversion Rate, which we define as Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures divided by Adjusted EBITDA. We use Adjusted EBITDA Conversion Rate as a measurement of the cash generation capacity of our underlying operations, exclusive of impacts relating to our capital structure.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Conversion Rate are performance measures that we believe are useful to investors and analysts because they illustrate the underlying financial and business trends relating to our core, recurring results of operations and enhance comparability between periods. Adjusted EBITDA is identical to the financial metric used under our existing credit facilities to measure our covenant compliance and is also considered by our board of directors and management as an important factor in determining performance-based compensation. Adjusted EBITDA Conversion Rate is a liquidity measure that we believe provides investors and analysts with important information about our core, recurring cash generation trends, which are an indication of our ability to make acquisitions, incur additional debt or return capital to investors, after making the capital investments required to support our business operations.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Conversion Rate are not recognized measures under U.S. GAAP and are not intended to be a substitute for any U.S. GAAP financial measure and, as calculated, may not be comparable to other similarly-titled measures of performance of other companies. Investors should exercise caution in comparing our non-GAAP measures to any similarly titled measures used by other companies. These non-GAAP measures exclude certain items required by U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to information reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

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The table below presents our EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Conversion Rate reconciled to the most comparable GAAP measure for the periods indicated:

Adjusted EBITDA increased $4.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily due to the increase in net sales, partially offset by increases in public company costs and marketing spend.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Liquidity refers to our ability to generate sufficient cash flows to meet the cash requirements of our business operations, including working capital needs, capital expenditures, service debt, acquisitions and other commitments. Our principal sources of liquidity have been cash provided by operating activities, cash on hand and amounts available under our revolving credit facility.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash provided by operating activities was $46.4 million and as of December 31, 2022, cash and cash equivalents were $45.3 million. We believe that our cash flows from operations and cash on hand, and available borrowing capacity under Debt (as described below) will be adequate to meet our liquidity requirements for at least the 12 months following the date

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of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our future capital requirements will depend on several factors, including future acquisitions and investments in our manufacturing facilities and equipment. We could be required, or could elect, to seek additional funding through public or private equity or debt financings; however, additional funds may not be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all.

Debt

As of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we had $149.7 million and $159.7 million in outstanding debt, net of debt discounts and debt issuance costs, respectively, primarily related to the term loan facilities.

New Credit Agreement

On August 20, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), the Company refinanced its existing credit facilities and entered into a new credit agreement whereby Safariland, LLC, as borrower (the “Borrower”), the Company and certain domestic subsidiaries of the Borrower, as guarantors (the “Guarantors”), closed on and received funding under a credit agreement (initially entered into on July 23, 2021), pursuant to a First Amendment to Credit Agreement (as amended by the Second Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of December 14, 2022, collectively, the “New Credit Agreement”) with PNC Bank, National Association (“PNC”), as administrative agent, and the several lenders from time to time party thereto (together with PNC, the “Lenders”) pursuant to which the Borrower (i) borrowed $200.0 million under a term loan (the “Term Loan”), and (ii) may borrow up to $100.0 million under a revolving credit facility (including up to $15.0 million for letters of credit and up to $10.0 million for swing line loans) (the “Revolving Loan”). Each of the Term Loan and the Revolving Loan mature on July 23, 2026. Commencing December 31, 2021, the New Term Loan requires scheduled quarterly payments in amounts equal to 1.25% per quarter of the original aggregate principal amount of the Term Loan, with the balance due at maturity. The New Credit Agreement is guaranteed, jointly and severally, by the Guarantors and, subject to certain exceptions, secured by a first-priority security interest in substantially all of the assets of the Borrower and the Guarantors pursuant to a Security and Pledge Agreement and a Guaranty and Suretyship Agreement, each dated as of the Closing Date.

There were no amounts outstanding under the Revolving Loan as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. As of December 31, 2022, there were $2.4 million in outstanding letters of credit, and $97.6 million of availability.

The Borrower may elect to have the Revolving Loan and Term Loan under the New Credit Agreement bear interest at a base rate or a LIBOR rate, in each case, plus an applicable margin. The applicable margin for these borrowings will range from 0.50% to 1.50% per annum, in the case of base rate borrowings, and 1.50% to 2.50% per annum, in the case of LIBOR borrowings, in each case based upon the level of the Company’s consolidated total net leverage ratio. The New Credit Agreement also requires the Borrower to pay a commitment fee on the unused portion of the loan commitments. Such commitment fee will range between 0.175% and 0.25% per annum, and is also based upon the level of the Company’s consolidated total net leverage ratio.

The New Credit Agreement also contains customary representations and warranties, and affirmative and negative covenants, including limitations on additional indebtedness, dividends, and other distributions, entry into new lines of business, use of loan proceeds, capital expenditures, restricted payments, restrictions on liens on the assets of the Borrowers or any Guarantor, transactions with affiliates, amendments to organizational documents, accounting changes, sale and leaseback transactions, dispositions, and mandatory prepayments in connection with certain liquidity events. The New Credit Agreement contains certain restrictive debt covenants, which require us to: (i) maintain a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.25 to 1.00, starting with the quarter ended December 31, 2021, which is to be determined for each quarter end on a trailing four quarter basis and (ii) maintain a quarterly maximum consolidated total net leverage ratio of 3.75 to 1.00 from the quarter ended December 31, 2021 until the quarter ended September 30, 2022, and thereafter 3.50 to 1.00, which is in each case to be determined on a trailing four quarter basis; provided that under certain circumstances and subject to certain limitations, in the event of a material acquisition, we may temporarily increase the consolidated total net leverage ratio by up to 0.50 to 1.00 for four fiscal quarters following such acquisition. The New Credit Agreement contains customary events of default that include, among others, non-payment of principal, interest or fees, violation of covenants, inaccuracy of representations and warranties, failure to make payment on, or defaults with respect to, certain other material indebtedness, bankruptcy and insolvency events, material judgments and change of control provisions. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, and after the expiration of any applicable grace period, payment of any outstanding loans under the New Credit Agreement may be accelerated and the Lenders could foreclose on their security interests in the assets of the Borrowers and the Guarantors. As of March 10, 2023, there were no amounts outstanding under the Revolving Loan.

The foregoing description of the New Credit Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to exhibits 10.15, 10.16 and 10.17, respectively, to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Canadian Credit Facility

On October 14, 2021, Med-Eng Holdings ULC and Pacific Safety Products Inc., the Company’s Canadian subsidiaries, as borrowers (the “Canadian Borrowers”), and Safariland, LLC, as guarantor (the “Canadian Guarantor”), closed on a line of credit pursuant to a Loan Agreement (the “Canadian Loan Agreement”) and a Revolving Line of Credit Note (the “Note”) with PNC Bank Canada Branch (“PNC Canada”), as lender pursuant to which the Canadian Borrowers may borrow up to CDN$10.0 million under a revolving line of credit (including up to $3.0 million for letters of credit) (the “Revolving Canadian Loan”). The Revolving Canadian Loan matures on July 23, 2026. The Canadian Loan Agreement is guaranteed by the Canadian Guarantor pursuant to a Guaranty and Suretyship Agreement.

The Canadian Borrowers may elect to have borrowings either in United States dollars or Canadian dollars under the Canadian Loan Agreement, which will bear interest at a base rate or a LIBOR rate, in each case, plus an applicable margin, in the case of borrowings in United States dollars, or at a Canadian Prime Rate (as announced from time to time by PNC Canada) or a Canadian deposit offered rate (“CDOR”) as determined from time to time by PNC Canada in accordance with the Canadian Loan Agreement. The applicable margin for these borrowings will range from 0.50% to 1.50% per annum, in the case of base rate borrowings and Canadian Prime Rate borrowings, and 1.50% to 2.50% per annum, in the case of LIBOR borrowings and CDOR borrowings. The Canadian Loan Agreement also requires the Canadian Borrowers to pay (i) an unused line fee on the unused portion of the loan commitments in an amount ranging between 0.175% and 0.25% per annum, based upon the level of the Company’s consolidated total net leverage ratio, and (ii) an upfront fee equal to 0.25% of the principal amount of the Note.

There were no amounts outstanding under the Revolving Canadian Loan as of December 31, 2022.

The Canadian Loan Agreement also contains customary representations and warranties, and affirmative and negative covenants, including, among others, limitations on additional indebtedness, entry into new lines of business, entry into guarantee agreements, making of any loans or advances to, or investments in, any other person, restrictions on liens on the assets of the Canadian Borrowers and mergers, transfers of assets and acquisitions. The Canadian Loan Agreement and Note also contain customary events of default that include, among others, non-payment of principal, interest or fees, violation of covenants, inaccuracy of representations and warranties, failure to make payment on, or defaults with respect to, certain other material indebtedness, bankruptcy and insolvency events, material judgments and change of control provisions. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, and after the expiration of any applicable grace period, payment of any outstanding loans under the Canadian Loan Agreement may be accelerated. As of March 10, 2023, there were no amounts outstanding under the Revolving Canadian Loan.

The foregoing description of the Canadian Loan Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Canadian Loan Agreement, which is incorporated by reference as exhibit 10.18 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Cash Flows

The following table presents a summary of our cash flows for the periods indicated:

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Net cash provided by operating activities

During the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash provided by operating activities of $46.4 million resulted primarily from net income of $5.8 million, a $31.9 million add back to net income for stock-based compensation, a $15.7 million add back to net income for depreciation and amortization, a $4.3 million add back to net income for amortization of inventory step-up and a $12.6 million deduction to net income from changes in operating assets and liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities were primarily driven by an increase in accounts receivable of $11.5 million, an increase in prepaid expense and other assets of $7.7 million and an increase in accounts payable and other liabilities of $5.5 million.

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During the year ended December 31, 2021, net cash provided by operating activities of $40.1 million resulted primarily from net income of $12.7 million, a $15.2 million add back to net income for loss on extinguishment of debt, a $13.7 million add back to net income for depreciation and amortization, a $3.2 million add back to net income for amortization of original debt issuance discount and debt issuance costs and a $9.7 million deduction to net income from changes in operating assets and liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities were driven by an increase in accounts receivable of $4.6 million, an increase in inventories of $3.2, an increase in prepaid expense and other assets of $4.6 million and an increase in accounts payable and other liabilities of $2.7 million.

Net cash used in investing activities

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we used $59.6 million of cash in investing activities, primarily consisting of $19.4 million for the acquisition of Radar, $36.2 million for the acquisition of Cyalume and $4.5 million for purchases of property and equipment.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we used $2.8 million of cash in investing activities relating to the purchase of property and equipment.

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

During the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash provided by financing activities of $24.5 million resulted primarily from proceeds from the secondary offering of $56.3 million, partially offset by principal payments on term loans of $10.1 million, taxes paid in connection with employee stock transactions of $6.3 million and dividends distributed of $11.5 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we used $6.6 million of cash in financing activities, primarily consisting of proceeds from the revolving credit facility of $258.0 million, proceeds from term loans of $198.7 million, and proceeds from the initial public offering, net of underwriter discounts of $83.4 million, offset by principal payments on the revolving credit facility of $258.6 million, principal payments on term loans of $266.0 million and dividends distributed of $12.7 million.

Contractual Obligations

The following table summarizes our significant contractual obligations as of December 31, 2022 by period:

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not engage in off-balance sheet financing arrangements, as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgements and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. Preparation of the financial statements requires us to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that impact the reported amount of net sales and expenses, assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We consider an accounting judgment, estimate or assumption to be critical when the estimate or assumption is complex in nature or requires a high degree of judgment and when the use of different judgments, estimates and assumptions could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. While our significant accounting policies are described in more detail in Note 1

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of our consolidated financial statements, we believe that the following accounting policies are those most critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our financial statements.

Goodwill

Goodwill is initially recorded at the fair value. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price of acquisitions over the fair value of the net assets acquired. Goodwill is not subject to any amortization but is tested for impairment annually as of October 31^st, and when events or circumstances indicate that the estimated fair value of a reporting unit may no longer exceed its carrying value. If the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to the excess, limited to the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit.

In evaluating goodwill for impairment, qualitative factors are considered to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If, through this qualitative assessment, the conclusion is made that it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying value, an impairment test is conducted. This quantitative test is performed by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit, determined by a weighted combination of the discounted cash flow method of the income approach and the market approach, to its carrying value. If the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to that excess. We had three reporting units as of October 31, 2022: Safariland, Med-Eng, and Distribution.

We determine the fair value of reporting units based on a combination of the income approach and market approach, weighted based on the circumstances, as management believes this is the most direct approach to incorporate the specific economic attributes and risk profiles of our reporting units into our valuation model. Under the income approach, the discounted cash flow model determines fair value based on the present value of projected cash flows over a specific projection period and a residual value related to future cash flows beyond the projection period. Both values are discounted using a rate that reflects our best estimate of the weighted average cost of capital of a market participant and is adjusted for appropriate risk factors. We perform sensitivity tests with respect to growth rates and discount rates used in the income approach. Under the market approach, valuation multiples are derived based on a selection of comparable companies and acquisition transactions and applied to projected operating data for each reporting unit to arrive at an indication of fair value.

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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

This Item 7A is not required for Smaller Reporting Companies.

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Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

Index to Consolidated Financial Statements

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Shareholders and Board of Directors

Cadre Holdings, Inc.:

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Cadre Holdings, Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Change in Accounting Principle

As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has changed its method of accounting for leases as of January 1, 2022 due to the adoption of Accounting Standards Update 2016-02, Leases, and several related amendments, as issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ KPMG LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2014.

Jacksonville, Florida

March 15, 2023

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CADRE HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

As of December 31, 2022 and 2021

(In thousands, except for share and per share amounts)

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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CADRE HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income

For the Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

(In thousands, except for share and per share amounts)

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(1) Net of income tax expense of $2,148 and $256 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

(2) Amounts reclassified to net income relate to gains on interest rate swaps and are included in Interest expense above. Amount is net of income tax benefit of $206 and income tax expense of $49 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

(3) Net of income tax expense of $587 and $24 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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CADRE HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

For the Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

(In thousands)