Emerald Holding, Inc. - Annual Report: 2017 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

OR

Commission File Number 001-38076

Emerald Expositions Events, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit and post such files).  YES  ☒    NO  ☐

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, 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.

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

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

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, based on the closing price of the shares of common stock on The New York Stock Exchange on June 30, 2017, the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, was $392,872,312.50.

Shares of the registrant's voting stock held by each executive officer and director and by each entity or person that, to the registrant's knowledge, owned 10% or more of the registrant's outstanding common stock as of June 30, 2017 have been excluded from this number in that these persons may be deemed affiliates of the registrant. This determination of possible affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

The number of shares of Registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of February 19, 2018 was 72,779,195.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement relating to the 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report. The Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

Table of Contents

i

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

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

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

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

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

Except where the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “Emerald Expositions”, “Emerald”, “the Company”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to Emerald Expositions Events, Inc., formerly known as Expo Event Holdco, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries. In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, when we refer to our fiscal years, we refer to the year number, as in “2017,” which refers to our fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

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PART I

Item 1. Business.

BUSINESS

Our Company

We are a leading operator of business-to-business trade shows in the United States. We currently operate more than 55 trade shows, as well as numerous other face-to-face events. In 2017, Emerald’s events connected over 500,000 global attendees and exhibitors and occupied more than 6.9 million net square feet (“NSF”) of exhibition space.  We have been recognized with many awards and accolades that reflect our industry leadership as well as the importance of our shows to the exhibitors and attendees we serve.

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

We generated 93% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 through the live events that we operate. The remaining 7% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 was generated from other marketing services, including digital media and print publications that complement our event properties in the industry sectors we serve. Each of our other marketing services products allows us to remain in close contact with, and market to, our existing event audiences throughout the year.

Our History

Our current portfolio of trade shows has come together as a result of many acquisitions completed over the last few decades. In 1994, one of our predecessor companies, Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen (“VNU”), acquired Bill Communications, adding the Military and Hospitality Design trade shows to its pre-existing portfolio of events. This was followed by the acquisitions of Medtrade and GlobalShop in 1998. In 2000, VNU acquired Miller Freeman’s U.S. events portfolio, which significantly expanded our business into the Sports, Apparel, General Merchandise, Jewelry and Kitchen and Bath categories.

In 2006, VNU was purchased by a consortium of private equity firms and rebranded The Nielsen Company (“Nielsen”). The trade show operations, which became known as Nielsen Expositions, operated autonomously from the rest of Nielsen, except with respect to corporate shared services. Under Nielsen’s ownership, capital allocated to the exhibitions division for acquisition was limited and we therefore expanded our portfolio only modestly by acquiring the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International trade show in 2010 and the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show in 2012.

In June 2013, Nielsen Expositions was acquired by Onex (the “Onex Acquisition”). Rebranded Emerald Expositions, we have since focused on expanding our portfolio of leading events organically, complemented by an increased focus on acquisitions. Since the Onex Acquisition, we have acquired 15 industry-leading, high-quality events of various sizes for aggregate consideration of approximately $590 million.

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In January 2014, we acquired George Little Management (“GLM”) for $335 million. At the time, GLM operated more than 20 trade shows, including four of the largest 100 trade shows in the United States. GLM significantly expanded our presence within a number of industry sectors, including Gift, Home & General Merchandise and Sports, and added new sectors such as Technology.

In 2015, we completed four acquisitions. In February, we acquired the Healthcare Media division of Vendome Group, which included leading events such as the Healthcare Design Conference and Expo, Healthcare Design Magazine, Environments for Aging and Construction SuperConference (collectively, “HCD Group”). In March, we acquired the International Pizza Expo (“Pizza Expo” and together with the trade magazine Pizza Today, “Pizza Group”), the largest trade show for independent pizzerias in the world. In October, we acquired HOW Design Live and the HOW Interactive Design Conference Sense (“HOW”), the largest graphic design conference and expo in the nation. In November, we acquired the National Industrial Fastener and Mill Supply Expo (“Fastener Expo,” together with HCD Group, Pizza Group and HOW, the “2015 Acquisitions”), the world’s largest industrial fastener trade show.

In 2016, we completed six acquisitions. In August, we acquired International Gift Exposition in the Smokies and The Super Souvenir Show (“IGES”), the largest dedicated gathering of wholesale souvenir, resort, and gift buyers in the United States. Also in August, we acquired the Swim Collective and Active Collective trade shows (“Collective”), which include the first trade show focused entirely on activewear and the leading swimwear trade show on the West Coast. In October, we acquired the Digital Dealer Conference and Expo (“Digital Dealer”), the leading trade show series focused on the retail automotive industry’s digital strategy and operations. Also in October, we acquired the National Pavement Expo (“Pavement”), adding to our portfolio the largest U.S. trade show focused on paving and pavement maintenance. In November, we acquired RFID Journal LIVE! (“RFID LIVE!”), the largest trade show focused on radio frequency identification technologies used to identify, track, and manage corporate assets and inventory across a wide range of industries. In December, we acquired American Craft Retailers Expo (“ACRE,” together with IGES, Collective, Digital Dealer, Pavement and RFID LIVE!, the “2016 Acquisitions”), a wholesale craft exposition consisting of two shows.

In 2017, we completed four acquisitions. In January, we acquired CEDIA Expo (“CEDIA”), the largest trade show in the home technology market. In March, we acquired the International Drone Conference & Exposition (“InterDrone”), the leading trade show in the U.S. commercial drone market. In May, we acquired the SnowSports Industries America Snow Show (“Snow Show”), which at the time of its acquisition was the largest snow sports industry event in North America.  In November, we acquired Connected Point Marketing Group (“CPMG,” together with CEDIA, InterDrone and Snow Show, the “2017 Acquisitions”), a producer of best in class hosted-buyer model trade events focused on innovation for the hospitality, restaurant, healthcare, grocery and retail industries.  

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On May 3, 2017, we completed our IPO of 17,825,000 shares of our common stock at a price of $17.00 per share. We sold 10,333,333 shares, resulting in net proceeds to us after underwriting discounts and expenses of $159.1 million, and funds managed by Onex sold 7,491,667 shares from which we did not receive any proceeds. We used all of the net proceeds from the offering plus cash on hand, to prepay $159.2 million of borrowings outstanding under our Term Loan Facility (as defined herein).

Products and Services

We operate leading trade shows in multiple attractive, fragmented industry sectors that represent significant portions of the U.S. economy and serve a large and diverse set of global exhibitors and attendees. This fragmentation of exhibitors and attendees is an especially important characteristic of the trade show industry. In markets characterized by diffuse buyers and sellers, trade shows offer a great opportunity for interaction between large numbers of participants on both sides of a potential transaction (a “many-to-many” environment) within a short period of time, thus enhancing the value delivered to all trade show participants. Further, the highly fragmented nature of our markets enhances the stability of our entire platform as the loss of any single exhibitor or attendee is unlikely to cause other exhibitors or attendees to derive less value from and cease participating in a show.

We generated 93% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 through the live events that we operate. The remaining 7% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 was generated from other marketing services, including digital media and print publications that complement our event properties in the industry sectors we serve. Each of our other marketing services products allows us to remain in close contact with, and market to, our existing event audiences throughout the year.

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Trade Shows & Other Events

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

Gift, Home & General Merchandise

We currently operate 13 trade shows in the Gift, Home & General Merchandise sector focused on a broad range of consumer goods used in and around the home. Our events are primarily order-writing shows where exhibitors, whose product assortment is always evolving, generate sales during the shows themselves. The base of exhibitors and attendees across these trade shows is highly fragmented, which mitigates the importance of any single exhibitor.

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Sports

We currently operate 19 trade shows within the Sports industry sector focused on sporting goods and related apparel and accessories for various active outdoor pursuits ranging from camping, hiking, climbing, skiing, bicycling and paddle sports. We believe that several of our trade shows in this sector have iconic status in the markets they serve, and offer a many-to-many environment where, for example, thousands of specialty sports retailers from across the country interact with hundreds of specialty equipment and apparel manufacturers. The Sports sector is highly fragmented where the sports enthusiast clientele is well-served by independent specialized retailers.

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Design & Construction

We currently operate 5 trade shows in the Design & Construction industry sector catering to the construction, hospitality, and interior design sectors serving the hotel, resort, retail, healthcare facilities, restaurant, bar, spa, and in-store marketing categories. Targeted attendees include interior designers, architects, owners and operators,

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developers, and specifiers and purchasers working within these industries. This sector is well-suited for trade shows because design and construction are highly visual and tactile processes, requiring the in-person experience and interaction provided by trade shows. These trade shows enable designers and contractors to stay current with trends in product styles and techniques, which tend to change from year-to-year. Upcoming renovation and new-build construction projects are often discussed at these shows, making it important for both exhibitors and attendees to attend in order to stay close to the pipeline of future business. By aggregating a wide range of products under one roof, these trade shows save time and expense for designers and other attendees who would otherwise have to independently visit hundreds of showrooms that may be located in different cities. These shows are mostly lead-generating, enabling designers to see the latest trends and product offerings, and develop design ideas.

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Technology

We currently operate 6 trade shows in the technology industry sector, a sector we entered in 2014 through the GLM acquisition.

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Jewelry

We currently operate 5 trade shows in the Jewelry industry sector targeting high-end and mid-range segments of the jewelry market.

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Other Trade Shows

Our Other Trade Shows include 10 trade shows across the Photography, Food, Healthcare, Industrials, and Military sectors.

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Other Events

We currently operate more than 70 additional events across a wide variety of forums including B2B conferences, hosted buyer events, B2C events, summits, awards and luxury private sales. We hold luxury private sale events through our Soiffer Haskin brand and hosted buyer events under our CPMG brand. Through our HD Expo, ICFF, HCD and GlobalShop brands, we host close to 20 annual networking sessions called CityScenes. These networking events bring together both up-and-coming and seasoned industry professionals and are very well received within their respective industries.

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Other Marketing Services

Other Marketing Services consist of print publications and digital media products that complement our trade show properties, and generated 7% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2017. These print and digital media products are closely aligned with several of our events, and allow us to remain in close contact with, and market to, our existing event audiences throughout the year.

Competition

The trade show industry is highly fragmented, with approximately 9,400 B2B trade shows held per year in the United States according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, of which a majority are owned by industry associations, according to Advanced Market Research. Individual trade shows typically compete for attendees and exhibitors only against the other trade shows that are relevant to their industry vertical. The level of competition each of our trade shows faces therefore varies by industry vertical.

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

Seasonality

As is typical for the trade show industry, our business is seasonal, with revenue recognized from trade shows typically reaching its highest levels during the first and third quarters of each calendar year, and its trough during the fourth quarter, largely due to the timing of our trade shows. In 2017, 41%, 21%, 31% and 7% of our trade show revenue was generated from trade shows during the first, second, third and fourth quarters, respectively.

Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property and proprietary rights are important to our business. We undertake to strategically and proactively develop our intellectual property portfolio by registering our trademarks. We currently rely

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primarily on trademark laws to protect our intellectual property rights. We do not own, but have a license to use, certain trademarks belonging to an industry association in connection with our Kitchen & Bath Industry Show and CEDIA Expo. The KBIS license runs through 2028 and the CEDIA Expo license continues in perpetuity.

Employees

As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 427 employees. We are not involved in any disputes with our employees and believe that relations with our employees are good. None of our employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements with unions. However, some facilities where we hold our trade shows require our decorators to use unionized labor.

Insurance

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

Our event cancellation insurance, currently bound through the end of 2019, provides 100% indemnity for all of our events’ and conferences’ gross revenues individually and 50% in the aggregate. The coverage has no deductible and covers cancellation, curtailment, postponement, removal to alternative premises, or abandonment, of the event as well as enforced reduced attendance. In addition, coverage extends to include additional promotional and marketing expenses necessarily incurred by us should a covered loss occur. This insurance also extends to cover losses resulting from an outbreak of communicable disease as well as a terrorism endorsement covering an act of terrorism and/or threat of terrorism directed at the insured event or within the United States or its territories.

Available Information

Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, are filed with the SEC. We are subject to the informational requirements of the Exchange Act and file or furnish reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Such reports and other information filed by us with the SEC are available free of charge on our website at investor.emeraldexpositions.com when such reports are made available on the SEC’s website. The public may read and copy any materials filed by us with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Room 1580, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. The contents of these websites are not incorporated into this filing. Further, our references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors.

RISK FACTORS

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

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

At any given point in time, general economic conditions may have an adverse impact on the industry sectors in which our trade shows and conferences operate, and therefore may negatively affect demand for exhibition space and attendance at our trade shows and conferences.

Our results are influenced by domestic as well as global general economic conditions because we draw exhibitors and attendees from around the world. However, we are affected to a larger degree by conditions within the individual industry sectors in which our trade shows operate. For example, the downturn in the domestic housing market that began in 2007 had a negative impact on the performance of KBIS during the period from 2008 to 2013. The longer a recession or economic downturn continues, the more likely it becomes that our customers may reduce their marketing and advertising or procurement budgets. Any material decrease in marketing or procurement budgets could reduce the demand for exhibition space or reduce attendance at our trade shows, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

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

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

The dates and location of a trade show can impact its profitability and prospects.

The demand for desirable dates and locations is high. Consistent with industry practice, we typically maintain multi-year non-binding reservations for dates at our trade show venues. Aside from a nominal deposit in some cases, we do not pay for these reservations, and, while they almost always entitle us to a last look before the venue is rented to someone else during the reservation period, these reservations are not binding on the facility owners until we execute a definitive contract with the owner. We typically sign contracts that guarantee the right to specific dates at venues only one or two years in advance. Therefore, our multi-year reservations may not lead to binding contracts with facility owners. Consistency in location and all other aspects of our trade shows is important to maintaining a high retention rate from year to year, and we rely on our highly loyal customer base for the success of our shows. Moving major shows to new cities, such as the planned move of Interbike from Las Vegas, Nevada to Reno, Nevada in September 2018 and the move of OR from Salt Lake City, Utah to Denver, Colorado in January 2018, can adversely affect customer behavior. Similarly, significant timing changes, such as the acceleration of OR Winter Market from January 2019 to November 2018, can also result in unanticipated customer reactions. External factors such as legislation and government policies at the local or state level, including policy related to social issues, may depress the desire of exhibitors and attendees to attend our trade shows held in certain locations. For example, our organic revenue growth in 2017 was modestly adversely impacted by certain political issues in Utah that affected exhibitor participation at our 2017 OR Summer Market show. Our inability to secure or retain desirable dates and locations for our trade shows could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

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Attendance at our shows could decline as a result of disruptions in global or local travel conditions, such as congestion at airports, the risk of or an actual terrorist action, adverse weather or fear of communicable diseases.

The number of attendees and exhibitors at our trade shows may be affected by a variety of factors that are outside our control. Because many attendees and exhibitors travel to our trade shows via airplane, factors that depress the ability or desire of attendees and exhibitors to travel to our trade shows, including, but not limited to, an increased frequency of flight delays or accidents, outbreaks of contagious disease or the potential for infection, increased costs associated with air travel, actual or threatened terrorist attacks, the imposition of heightened security standards or bans on visitors from particular countries outside the United States, or acts of nature, such as earthquakes, storms and other natural disasters, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. For example, during the third quarter of 2017, we experienced disruptions to ISS Orlando, Surf Expo and ICFF South Florida as a result of the impact of Hurricane Irma, and we may be forced to cancel or re-locate future trade shows in the event of natural or man-made disasters. While we are generally insured against direct losses, one or more of the factors described above could cause a long-term reduction in the willingness of exhibitors and attendees to travel to attend our trade shows, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

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

Our success depends in part upon our ability to monitor changing market trends and to adapt our trade shows, acquire existing trade shows or launch new trade shows to meet the evolving needs of existing and emerging target audiences. The process of researching, developing, launching and establishing profitability for a new trade show may lead to initial operating losses. In 2017, we launched six new events. Our efforts to adapt our trade shows, or to introduce new trade shows into our portfolio, in response to our perception of changing market trends, may not succeed, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

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

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

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

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

A significant portion of our revenue is generated by our top five trade shows.

We depend on our top five trade shows to generate a significant portion of our revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2017, our top five shows were ASD Market Week March, ASD Market Week August, NY NOW Summer, NY NOW Winter and KBIS. For the year ended December 31, 2017, these shows represented 33% of our total revenues. Notwithstanding the fact that ASD Market Week and NY NOW represent multiple product categories and that all of our shows are highly diversified by customer, a significant decline in the performance or prospects of any one of these significant trade shows could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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We intend to continue to be highly acquisitive, and our acquisition growth strategy entails risk.

Our acquisition growth strategy entails various risks, including, among others:

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

Our exhibitors may choose to use an increasing portion of their marketing and advertising budgets to fund online initiatives or otherwise reduce the amount of money they have available to spend in connection with our trade shows.

Our trade shows have high NSF renewal rates, and we expect to continue to derive the substantial majority of our revenues from selling booth space to exhibitors. Although we have not observed a decline in demand for our trade shows as a result of the increasing use of the internet and social media for advertising and marketing, the increasing influence of online marketing and any resulting reductions of the budgets our participants allocate to our trade shows could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

We may lose the services of members of our senior management team or of certain of our key full time employees and we may not be able to replace them adequately.

We benefit substantially from the leadership and experience of members of our senior management team and we depend on their continued services to successfully implement our business strategy. The loss of any member of our senior management team or other key employee could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. We currently maintain key man insurance only for our CEO. We cannot be certain that we will continue to retain our executives’ services, or the services of other key personnel, many of whom have significant industry experience and/or institutional knowledge. Moreover, we may not be able to attract and retain other qualified personnel. The loss of the services of senior management or other key full-time employees, or our inability to attract and retain other qualified personnel, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

We use third-party agents whom we do not control to sell space at our trade shows, particularly to international exhibitors.

We supplement our sales employees with third-party agents, who often have deeper connections in international markets than we could have on our own. We do not have full control over these agents, and they have the potential to expose us to reputational and legal risks either through representing our company poorly, selling exhibition space at our trade shows to low quality or otherwise inappropriate exhibitors or violating certain laws or

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regulations including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other applicable anti-bribery laws in contravention of our policies and procedures. Our relationships with these agents are not always exclusive, and any of a number of factors could lead to a reduction or cessation of their efforts to sell exhibit space at our trade shows, potentially reducing participation at our trade shows and having a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

Changes in legislation, regulation and government policy, including as a result of U.S. presidential and congressional elections, may have a material adverse effect on our business in the future.

The presidential and congressional elections in the United States could result in significant changes in, and uncertainty with respect to, legislation, regulation and government policy. While it is not possible to predict whether and when any such changes will occur, changes at the local, state or federal level could significantly impact our business. Specific legislative and regulatory proposals discussed during and after the election that could have a material impact on us include, but are not limited to, infrastructure renewal programs; changes to immigration policy; modifications to international trade policy, including withdrawing from trade agreements; and changes to financial legislation and public company reporting requirements. In particular, changes to immigration policy could make it more difficult for some exhibitors and attendees to attend our events.

We are currently unable to predict whether policy change discussions will meaningfully change existing legislative and regulatory environments relevant for our business. To the extent that such changes have a negative impact on us, including as a result of related uncertainty, these changes may materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

Recently enacted changes to the U.S. tax laws may have a material impact on us.

On December 20, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate each voted to approve H.R. 1 (commonly referred to as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”) and, on December 22, 2017, the President signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law.  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act makes extensive changes to the U.S. tax laws and includes provisions that, among other things, reduce the U.S. corporate income tax rate, introduce a capital investment deduction, limit the interest deduction, limit the use of net operating losses to offset future taxable income, and make extensive changes to the U.S. international tax system, including the taxation of foreign earnings of U.S. multinational corporations. In addition, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act modifies the deductibility of certain executive officer compensation, which may limit our ability to deduct performance-based compensation, including compensation related to the exercise of options by certain executive officers. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is complex and far-reaching and we cannot predict with certainty the resulting impact its enactment will have on us.

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

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

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

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

We often enter into long-term sponsorship agreements with industry associations whereby the industry association endorses and markets our trade show to its members, typically in exchange for a percentage of the trade show’s revenue. Our success depends, in part, on our continued relationships with these industry associations and our ability to enter into similar relationships with other industry associations. Although we frequently enter into long-term agreements with these counterparties, these relationships remain subject to various risks, including, among others:

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

Our launch of new trade shows or new initiatives with respect to current trade shows may be unsuccessful and consume significant management and financial resources.

From time to time, we launch new trade shows or new initiatives with respect to current trade shows. In 2017, we launched six new events. We may expend significant management time and start-up expenses during the development and launch of new trade shows or initiatives, and if such trade shows or initiatives are not successful or fall short of expectations, we may be adversely affected. Because we have limited resources, we must effectively manage and properly allocate and prioritize our efforts. There can be no assurance that we will be successful or, even if successful, that any resulting new trade shows or new initiatives with respect to current trade shows will achieve customer acceptance.

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

Risks associated with our relationships with industry trade associations or other third-party sponsors of our events are particularly applicable in the cases of KBIS and CEDIA, which are trade shows owned by industry associations, and in the case of the JA New York trade shows and our Military trade shows, which are the trade shows in our portfolio where the show trademarks are owned by an industry association or other third party and not by us. Any material disruption to our relationship with these third parties could have a material adverse impact on the revenue stream from these trade shows.

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

We rely on trademark, trade secret and copyright laws in the United States and on company policies and confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to protect our proprietary rights, including with respect to the names of our trade shows, our exhibitor and attendee contact databases and other intellectual property rights. Our confidentiality agreements may not provide adequate protection of our proprietary rights in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary information or if our proprietary information otherwise becomes known, or is independently developed, by competitors. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate protection of our intellectual property rights for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our business. We rely on our trademarks, trade names and brand names to distinguish our trade shows from those of our competitors, and have registered and applied to register many of these trademarks. We cannot assure you that our trademark applications will be approved or that our federal registrations will be upheld if challenged. Third parties may oppose our applications or otherwise challenge our use of our trademarks through administrative processes or litigation. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our products

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and/or services, which could result in the loss of brand recognition and could require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing new brands. Further, we cannot assure you that competitors will not infringe our trademarks, or that we will identify all such infringements or have adequate resources to properly enforce our trademarks.

In addition, our business activities could infringe upon the proprietary rights of others, who could assert infringement claims against us. If we are forced to defend against any such claims, whether they are with or without merit or are determined in our favor, then we may face reputational damage, costly and time-consuming litigation, diversion of management’s attention and resources or other adverse effects on our products and services. As a result of such a dispute, we may have to rebrand our products or services, or enter into royalty or licensing agreements in order to obtain the right to use a third party’s intellectual property. Such royalty or licensing agreements, if required, may be unavailable on terms acceptable to us, or at all. If there is a successful claim of infringement against us, we could be required to pay significant damages, enter into costly royalty or licensing agreements, or discontinue certain of our brands, any of which could adversely affect our business.

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

The efficient operation of our business depends on our information technology systems. Since the Onex Acquisition, we have implemented an ERP business management system, and we recently implemented applications, including Hyperion planning software and a new customer relationship management tool. We also recently completed the transfer of our data storage functions to a new cloud storage services provider. We rely on our information technology systems and certain third-party providers to effectively manage our business data, communications, supply chain, order entry and fulfillment and other business and financial processes. Our failure to properly and efficiently implement our information technology systems, or the failure of our information technology systems to perform as we anticipate, could disrupt our business and could result in transaction errors, processing inefficiencies and the loss of revenue and customers, causing our business and results of operations to suffer. In addition, our information technology systems may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from circumstances beyond our control, including fire, natural disasters, power outages, systems failures and viruses. While we maintain disaster recovery plans, any such damage or interruption could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We could fail to protect certain employee or customer data.

We collect and retain certain employee and customer data, including personally identifiable information, and, in some cases, credit card data. Our various information technology systems enter, process, summarize and report such data. The integrity and protection of such data is critical to our business, and our customers and employees have an expectation that we will adequately protect their personal information. Public attention regarding the use of personal information and data transfer has increased in recent years, and the regulatory environment governing information, security and privacy laws, as well as the requirements imposed on us by the credit card industry, are increasingly demanding and continue to evolve rapidly. The changing nature of privacy laws in the U.S., the European Union and elsewhere could impact our processing of personal and sensitive information of our employees, vendors and customers. For instance, the European Union adopted a comprehensive General Data Privacy Regulation (“GDPR”) in May 2016 that will replace the current EU Data Protection Directive and related country-specific legislation in May 2018. Maintaining compliance with applicable information security and privacy regulations could increase our operating costs and require significant management time and attention.  Failure to comply with such regulations may subject us to negative publicity, government scrutiny or remedies that may harm our business, including fines or demands that we modify or cease existing business practices. We rely on third-party vendors to host our websites, customer databases and billing system. Any errors, failures, interruptions or delays experienced in connection with these third-party technologies and information services or our own systems could negatively impact our relationships with customers, adversely affect our brands and business and expose us to third-party liabilities. We exercise limited control over these third-party vendors, which increases our vulnerability to problems with services they provide. Furthermore, a compromised data system or the intentional, inadvertent or negligent release or disclosure of data by us or our third-party providers could result in theft, loss, or fraudulent or unlawful use of customer, employee or company data, any of which could harm our reputation and/or result in costs, fines or lawsuits, which could materially adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

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

We maintain business interruption, event cancellation, casualty, general commercial and umbrella and excess liability insurance, as well as policies relating to workers’ compensation, director and officer insurance and property and product liability insurance. Our insurance policies may not cover all risks associated with the operation of our business and may not be sufficient to offset the costs of all losses, lost sales or increased costs experienced during business interruptions or event cancellations. For example, during the third quarter of 2017, we experienced disruptions to ISS Orlando, Surf Expo and ICFF South Florida as a result of the impact of Hurricane Irma, and we may be forced to cancel future trade shows in the event of natural or man-made disasters. In addition, many of our trade shows are held in government-owned facilities, including three that are held on military bases operated by the U.S. government. These governmental entities may have the right to exclude us from the venues, or may not give us executed venue contracts until immediately prior to a scheduled trade show. While we are insured against losses arising from event cancellations, we are not reimbursed for any property that is discarded or destroyed or that we are required to replace because our existing assets are temporarily inaccessible. Such losses could have a negative impact on our business.

Certain events can also lead to reputational harm which could have a long-term negative impact on a trade show that would not be mitigated by insurance coverage. For some risks, we may not obtain insurance if we believe the cost of available insurance is excessive relative to the risks presented. As a result of market conditions, premiums and deductibles for certain insurance policies can increase substantially and, in some instances, certain insurance policies may become unavailable or available only for reduced amounts of coverage. As a result, we may not be able to renew our insurance policies or procure other desirable insurance on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Losses and liabilities from uninsured or underinsured events and delay in the payment of insurance proceeds could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We may face material litigation.

Although we are not currently subject to any litigation that we believe would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations, we may in the future become subject to litigation or claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, including from, among other things, breach of contract, defamation, libel, fraud or negligence or intellectual property infringement, as well as employment-related litigation, including claims of age discrimination, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, immigration violations, and other local, state and federal labor law violations. Litigation can be expensive, time-consuming and disruptive to normal business operations, including to our management team due to the increased time and resources required to respond to and address the litigation. An unfavorable outcome with respect to any particular matter or costs related to the settlement of any such matter could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

We may be unable to fully utilize the benefits associated with our favorable tax attributes.

Our favorable tax attributes include amortization of intangibles resulting primarily from our historical acquisitions. If we generate taxable income in the future, we may be able to utilize our amortization expense to offset future federal income tax liabilities. We expect amortization expense relating to recent acquisitions will be available to offset cash taxes on an aggregate of approximately $503.6 million of income over the next 15 years. To the extent possible, we will structure our operating activities to minimize our income tax liabilities. However, there can be no assurance we will be able to reduce it to a specified level.

Risks Relating to our Indebtedness

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

We have a significant amount of indebtedness. As of December 31, 2017, we had $562.2 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, with $149.1 million in additional borrowing capacity under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility (as defined below) (after giving effect to $0.9 million of outstanding letters of credit).

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Our high level of indebtedness could have important consequences to us, including:

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

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

We and our subsidiaries may be able to incur additional indebtedness in the future, which may be secured. While our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities limit our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to incur additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions and thus, notwithstanding these restrictions, we may still be able to incur substantially more debt. In addition, provided that no default or event of default (as defined in the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities) has occurred and is continuing, we have the option to add one or more incremental term loan or revolving credit facilities or increase commitments under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility by an aggregate amount of the sum of (X) (i) if the incremental loans are first lien loans, an amount such that the first lien net leverage ratio does not exceed 4.00:1.00, (ii) if the incremental loans are junior lien loans, an amount such that the secured net leverage ratio does not exceed 4.00:1.00, (iii) if the incremental loans are unsecured, either the total net leverage ratio does not exceed 5.00:1.00 or the fixed charge coverage ratio is not less than 2.00:1.00, or, in each case, if the incremental loans are incurred with a permitted acquisition, an amount such that the applicable leverage ratio will not increase as a result of the permitted acquisition (on a pro forma basis giving effect to the incremental loans); plus (Y) an amount equal to certain prior voluntary prepayments, loan buybacks and commitment reductions of loans under the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities, plus (Z) an amount equal to the greater of $160 million and 100% of Consolidated EBITDA (as defined in the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities). As of December 31, 2017, we had $562.2 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, with $149.1 million in additional borrowing capacity under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility (after giving effect to $0.9 million of outstanding letters of credit). To the extent that we incur additional indebtedness, the risks that we now face related to our substantial indebtedness could increase.

To service our indebtedness, we require a significant amount of cash, which depends on many factors beyond our control.

Based on our current level of operations, we believe our cash flow from operations, available cash and available borrowings under our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities will be adequate to meet our liquidity needs for the next twelve months. We cannot assure you, however, that our business will generate

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sufficient cash flow from operations, or that future borrowings will be available to us under our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities in amounts sufficient to enable us to fund our liquidity needs.

If we do not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to satisfy our debt obligations, we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as:

We cannot assure you that we would be able to enter into these alternative financing plans on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Moreover, any alternative financing plans that we may be required to undertake would still not guarantee that we would be able to meet our debt obligations. Our inability to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy our debt obligations, or to obtain alternative financing, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and business prospects. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

We will need to repay or refinance borrowings under our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities.

The Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility and the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility are scheduled to mature in May 2024 and May 2022, respectively. As of December 31, 2017, we had $562.2 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility, with $149.1 million in additional borrowing capacity under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility (after giving effect to $0.9 million of outstanding letters of credit).

Our ability to repay, refinance, replace or extend these facilities by their maturity dates will be dependent on, among other things, business conditions, our financial performance and the general condition of the financial markets. If a financial disruption were to occur at the time that we are required to repay indebtedness outstanding under our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities, we could be forced to undertake alternate financings, negotiate for an extension of the maturity of our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities or sell assets and delay capital expenditures in order to generate proceeds that could be used to repay indebtedness under our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to consummate any such transaction on terms that are commercially reasonable, on terms acceptable to us or at all.

Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.

Borrowings under our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. Interest rates are still low on a historical basis and are projected to rise in the future. If interest rates rise, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness will increase even though the amount borrowed may remain the same, and our net income and cash flows will correspondingly decrease. Assuming no prepayments of the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility (under which we had $562.2 million of borrowings outstanding as of December 31, 2017) and that the $150.0 million Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility is fully drawn (and to the extent that LIBOR is in excess of the floor rate of our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities), each 0.125% change in interest rates would result in a $1.4 million change in annual interest expense on the indebtedness under our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities.

In March 2014, we entered into forward interest rate swap and floor contracts effectively converting the interest ratio on $100.0 million of borrowings under the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities from a floating to a fixed rate in order to reduce interest rate volatility. The contracts have effective dates of December 31, 2015. Any swaps we enter into have costs associated with them and may not fully or effectively mitigate our interest rate risk. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Interest Rate Swap and Floor” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional details regarding these instruments.

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

Our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities contain a number of significant restrictions and covenants that limit our ability, among other things, to:

In addition, the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility contains a financial covenant requiring us to comply with a 5.50 to 1.00 total first lien net secured leverage ratio test. This financial covenant is tested quarterly if the aggregate amount of revolving loans, swingline loans and letters of credit outstanding under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility (net of up to $10.0 million of outstanding letters of credit) exceeds 35% of the total commitments thereunder.

These covenants could materially and adversely affect our ability to finance our future operations or capital needs. Furthermore, they may restrict our ability to expand and pursue our business strategies and otherwise conduct our business. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by circumstances and events beyond our control, such as prevailing economic conditions and changes in regulations, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with such covenants. These restrictions also limit our ability to obtain future financings to withstand a future downturn in our business or the economy in general. In addition, complying with these covenants may also cause us to take actions that may make it more difficult for us to successfully execute our business strategy and compete against companies that are not subject to such restrictions.

A breach of any covenant in our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities or the agreements and indentures governing any other indebtedness that we may have outstanding from time to time would result in a default under that agreement or indenture after any applicable grace periods. A default, if not waived, could result in acceleration of the debt outstanding under the agreement and in a default with respect to, and an acceleration of, the debt outstanding under other debt agreements. If that occurs, we may not be able to make all of the required payments or borrow sufficient funds to refinance such debt. Even if new financing were available at that time, it may not be on terms that are acceptable to us or terms as favorable as our current agreements. If our debt is in default for any reason, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Relating to Ownership of Our Common Stock

The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price you paid.

Our common stock has only been listed for public trading on the New York Stock Exchange since April 28, 2017. The trading price of our common stock may be volatile. Securities markets worldwide experience significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as other general economic, market or political

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conditions, could reduce the market price of our common shares in spite of our operating performance. The following factors, in addition to other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, may have a significant impact on the market price of our common stock:

In addition, broad market and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance, and factors beyond our control may cause our stock price to decline rapidly and unexpectedly. We are exposed to the impact of any global or domestic economic disruption, including any potential impact of the vote by the United Kingdom to exit the European Union, commonly referred to as “Brexit.” Furthermore, the stock market has experienced extreme volatility that, in some cases, has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies.

We may be subject to securities litigation, which is expensive and could divert management attention.

Our share price may be volatile and, in the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Litigation of this type could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any adverse determination in litigation could also subject us to significant liabilities.

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

As of December 31, 2017, Onex beneficially owned approximately 53.8 million shares of our common stock, representing approximately 74% of our outstanding common stock. Accordingly, for so long as Onex continues to hold the majority of our common stock, Onex will exercise a controlling influence over our business and affairs and will have the power to determine all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions such as amendments to our certificate of incorporation, mergers and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets. Onex could cause corporate actions to be taken that conflict with the interests of our other stockholders. This concentration of ownership could have the effect of deterring or preventing a change in control transaction that might otherwise be beneficial to our stockholders. In addition, Onex may in the future own businesses that directly compete with ours.

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

Two of our seven directors are affiliated with Onex. These persons have fiduciary duties to both us and Onex. As a result, they may have real or apparent conflicts of interest on matters affecting both us and Onex, which in some circumstances may have interests adverse to ours. Onex is in the business of making or advising on investments in companies and may hold, and may from time to time in the future acquire, interests in, or provide advice to, businesses that directly or indirectly compete with certain portions of our business or that are suppliers or customers of ours. In addition, as a result of Onex’ ownership interest, conflicts of interest could arise with respect to transactions involving business dealings between us and Onex including potential acquisitions of businesses or properties, the issuance of additional securities, the payment of dividends by us and other matters. In January 2018,

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Onex completed its acquisition of SMG Holdings Inc. (“SMG”), a leading global manager of convention centers, stadiums, arenas, theaters, performing arts centers and other venues. Certain of our events are staged in SMG managed venues and one of our directors affiliated with Onex is also a director of SMG.

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

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

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

We currently rely on certain of the exemptions listed above. Accordingly, while we currently have a majority of independent directors, our nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees do not consist entirely of independent directors. The independence standards are intended to ensure that directors who meet those standards are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors. Accordingly, our shareholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, Rule 10C-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as adopted by the national securities exchanges, requires, among other things, that:

As a “controlled company”, we are not subject to these compensation committee independence requirements, and accordingly, our shareholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to these compensation committee independence requirements.

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Taking advantage of the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to “emerging growth companies” may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) provides that, so long as a company qualifies as an “emerging growth company,” it will, among other things:

We intend to continue to take advantage of each of the exemptions described above. We have irrevocably elected not to take advantage of the extension of time to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards available under Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years after the IPO. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we elect to rely on these exemptions, or if taking advantage of these exemptions will result in less active trading or more volatility in the price of our common stock.

We have incurred and will continue to incur increased costs as a result of becoming a public company and in the administration of our organizational structure.

As a newly public company, we have incurred and will continue to incur significant legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company, including costs associated with public company reporting requirements. We also have incurred and will incur costs associated with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related rules implemented by the SEC. We have incurred and will continue to incur ongoing periodic expenses in connection with the administration of our organizational structure. The expenses incurred by public companies generally for reporting and corporate governance purposes have been increasing. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our expenses related to insurance, legal, accounting, financial and compliance activities, as well as other expenses, and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly, although we are currently unable to estimate these costs with any degree of certainty. These laws and regulations could also make it more difficult or costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. These laws and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as our executive officers. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to delisting of our common stock, fines, sanctions and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation.

We previously identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. If we experience additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting in the future, our ability to prevent or detect a material misstatement in our financial statements could be adversely affected.

A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of a company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. In the period ended June 30, 2014, our management identified a material weakness related to the calculation of deferred tax liabilities. This material weakness was remediated in 2015.

While we believe that this previously identified material weakness has been remediated, if other material weaknesses or other deficiencies arise in the future, there may be a reasonable possibility that a material

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misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis, which could cause our reported financial results to be materially misstated and require restatement.

Failure to establish and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.

We are required to comply with the SEC’s rules implementing Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which require management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of controls over financial reporting. Though we are required to disclose changes made in our internal controls and procedures on a quarterly basis, we will not be required to make our first annual assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. However, as an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the earlier of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 or the date we are no longer an emerging growth company. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating.

To comply with the requirements of becoming a public company, we have undertaken various actions, and will need to take additional actions, such as implementing numerous internal controls and procedures and hiring additional accounting or internal audit staff or consultants. We have hired a third-party service provider to assist us with implementation of our internal audit function. Testing and maintaining internal control can divert our management’s attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. Additionally, when evaluating our internal control over financial reporting, we may identify material weaknesses that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the applicable deadline imposed upon us for compliance with the requirements of Section 404. If we identify any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting once we are no longer an emerging growth company, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected, and we could become subject to investigations by the New York Stock Exchange, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources. In addition, if we fail to remedy any material weakness, our financial statements could be inaccurate and we could face restricted access to capital markets.

Future sales, or the perception of the potential for future sales, of the shares of our common stock in the public market by us or our existing stockholders could cause our stock price to fall.

As of December 31, 2017, we had 72,603,826 shares of common stock outstanding. Of these securities, approximately 18.3 million shares of common stock are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under federal securities laws. The approximately 54.3 million shares of common stock owned by our officers, directors and affiliates, as that term is defined in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), are “restricted securities” under the Securities Act. Restricted securities may not be sold in the public market unless the sale is registered under the Securities Act or an exemption from registration is available.

Our employees, officers and directors may elect to sell shares of our common stock in the market. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could depress the market price of our common stock and impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities.

In the future, we may issue securities to raise cash for acquisitions or otherwise. We may also acquire interests in other companies by using a combination of cash and our common stock or just our common stock. We may also issue securities convertible into our common stock. Any of these events may dilute your ownership interest in our company and have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock.

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If securities or industry analysts cease publishing research or reports about us, our business, or our market, or if they adversely change their recommendations or publish negative reports regarding our business or our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts and we cannot provide any assurance that analysts will cover us or provide favorable coverage. If any of the analysts who may cover us adversely change their recommendation regarding our stock, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, our stock price could decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

We cannot assure you that we will continue to pay dividends on our common stock, and our indebtedness could limit our ability to pay dividends on our common stock.

We paid a dividend of $0.07 per share in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2017. On January 26, 2018, our board of directors approved the payment of a cash dividend of $0.07 per share for the quarter ending March 31, 2018 to holders of record of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is expected to be paid on or about February 23, 2018 to holders of record of our common stock as of February 9, 2018. The payment of cash dividends in future quarters is subject to the discretion of our board of directors and our compliance with applicable law, and depending on, among other things, our results of operations, capital requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions, restrictions in our debt agreements and in any equity securities, business prospects and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. Because we are a holding company and have no direct operations, we expect to pay dividends, if any, only from funds we receive from our subsidiaries, which may further restrict our ability to pay dividends as a result of the laws of their jurisdiction of organization, agreements of our subsidiaries or covenants under any existing and future outstanding indebtedness we or our subsidiaries incur. Our Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities restrict our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. We expect that any future agreements governing indebtedness will contain similar restrictions. For more information, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Dividend Policy” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Long-Term Debt.”

Our dividend policy entails certain risks and limitations, particularly with respect to our liquidity. By paying cash dividends rather than investing that cash in our business or repaying debt, we risk, among other things, slowing the pace of our growth and having insufficient cash to fund our operations or unanticipated capital expenditures or limiting our ability to incur additional borrowings.

Although we expect to continue to pay dividends according to our dividend policy, we may not pay dividends according to our policy, or at all, if, among other things, we do not have the cash necessary to pay our intended dividends. The declaration and payment of dividends will be determined at the discretion of our board of directors, acting in compliance with applicable law and contractual restrictions.

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

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

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

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, 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 certificate of incorporation provides, subject to limited exceptions, unless we consent to an alternative forum, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, stockholder, employee or agent of the Company to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us, or our directors, officers or other employees, arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, or our directors, officers, stockholders or other employees, governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Because we are a holding company with no operations of our own, we rely on dividends, distributions, and transfers of funds from our subsidiaries.

We are a holding company that conducts all of our operations through subsidiaries. Consequently, we rely on dividends or advances from our subsidiaries. The ability of such subsidiaries to pay dividends to us is subject to applicable local law and may be limited due to terms of other contractual arrangements, including our indebtedness. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Long-Term Debt.” Such laws and restrictions would restrict our ability to continue operations. In addition, Delaware law may impose requirements that may restrict our ability to pay dividends to holders of our common stock.

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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

Item 2. Properties.

We have four key offices located in San Juan Capistrano, California; Alpharetta, Georgia; New York, New York; and Culver City, California. We also have several other smaller locations throughout the United States, including in White Plains, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Toledo, Ohio; Rye, New Hampshire; and Louisville, Kentucky. We lease our offices from third parties on market terms and, in some cases following an acquisition, through transition services agreements with the applicable seller.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

From time to time, we may be involved in general legal disputes arising in the ordinary course of our business. We are not currently involved in legal proceedings that could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

None.

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PART II

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

Market Information for Common Stock, Holders of Record and Dividends

On May 3, 2017, we closed our IPO at an initial offering price of $17.00 per share. Prior to that time, there was no public market for our stock. Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol "EEX". The approximate number of record holders of our common stock on February 19, 2018 was 25. Because many of our shares of common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of stockholders represented by these record holders. High and low stock prices for each quarterly period where there was a public market for our stock in the last two years were as follows:

We declared and paid three quarterly cash dividends of $0.07 per share in each of the second, third and fourth quarters of 2017, totaling $15.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. We intend to pay quarterly cash dividends on our common stock.  The payment of dividends in future quarters is subject to the discretion of our board of directors and depending upon results of operations, cash requirements, financial conditions, contractual restrictions imposed by applicable laws and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.  Based on the 72,603,826 shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2017, this dividend policy implies a quarterly cash requirement of approximately $5.1 million (or an annual cash requirement of approximately $20.3 million), which amount may be changed or terminated in the future at any time and for any reason without advance notice.

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Stock Performance Graph

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

The following graph compares the yearly percentage change in the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with corresponding changes in the cumulative total returns of the Russell 2000 Index and the Dow Jones Business Support Services Index for the period from April 28, 2017, the first day our stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, through December 31, 2017. The comparison assumes an initial investment of $100 at the close of business on April 28, 2017 in our stock and in each of the indices and also assumes the reinvestment of dividends where applicable. This historical performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data.

The following table presents selected consolidated financial data for the periods and at the dates indicated. The selected consolidated financial data as of December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, and for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014, have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. This financial data should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements, related notes, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and other financial information appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.  

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

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On October 28, 2016, in connection with the Third Amendment to our Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the “Third Amendment”), we redeemed all of our $200.0 million aggregate principal amount 9.00% Senior Notes due 2021 (the “Senior Notes”) at a redemption price of 104.5%.  The $9.0 million redemption premium was included in loss on extinguishment of debt in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income.  Due to the extinguishment of the Senior Notes, we also wrote off $3.8 million of outstanding deferred financing fees which were included in loss on extinguishment of debt in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income.

On July 21, 2014, we entered into the Second Amendment to the Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the “Second Amendment”) which re-priced the facility by lowering the interest rate and LIBOR floor rate.  We applied debt modification accounting guidance and determined the modification was significant for several lenders in the term facility syndicate.  Therefore, $1.9 million of deferred financing fees and original issue discount was written off in the third quarter of 2014.

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Quarterly Results of Operations (Unaudited)

The following table sets forth our unaudited quarterly consolidated statements of operations data for each of the eight quarterly periods ended December 31, 2017. The information for each of these quarters has been prepared on the same basis as the audited annual consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and, in our opinion, includes all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair statement of the results of operations for these periods. This information should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These quarterly results are not necessarily indicative of our operating results for a full year or any future period.

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

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

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

Recent Events

IPO

On May 3, 2017, we completed an initial public offering (the “IPO”) of 17,825,000 shares of our common stock at a price of $17.00 per share. We sold 10,333,333 shares of common stock in the IPO, resulting in net proceeds to us after underwriting discounts and expenses of $159.1 million, and funds managed by Onex sold 7,491,667 shares, from which we did not receive any proceeds. We used all of the net proceeds to us from the offering plus cash on hand, to prepay $159.2 million of borrowings outstanding under the Term Loan Facility (as defined below).

Refinancing

On May 22, 2017, our wholly owned subsidiary, Emerald Expositions Holding, Inc. (“EEH”), entered into an amendment and restatement of its senior secured credit facilities. The amended and restated senior secured credit facilities (the “Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities”), which were entered into with a syndicate of lenders and Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent, consist of (i) a seven-year $565.0 million senior secured term loan facility (the “Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility”), scheduled to mature on May 22, 2024 and (ii) a $150.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Facility”), scheduled to mature on May 23, 2022.  On November 27, 2017, EEH entered into the Refinancing Agreement and First Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement to reduce the interest rate applicable to term loans under the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility and on November 29, 2017, EEH entered into the Repricing Agreement and Second Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement to reduce the interest rate applicable to revolving loans under the Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Agreement. See “—Long-Term Debt.”

Cash Dividend

In connection with our IPO, we adopted a policy of paying quarterly cash dividends on our common stock. We paid a dividend of $0.07 per share in each of the second, third and fourth quarters of 2017. On January 26, 2018, our board of directors approved the payment of a cash dividend of $0.07 per share for the quarter ending March 31, 2018 to holders of record of our common stock. The dividend is expected to be paid on or about February 23, 2018 to holders of record of our common stock as of February 9, 2018.

Overview and Background

We are a leading operator of business-to-business trade shows in the United States. We currently operate more than 55 trade shows, as well as numerous other face-to-face events. In 2017, Emerald’s events connected over 500,000 global attendees and exhibitors and occupied more than 6.9 million net square feet of exhibition space.  We have been recognized with many awards and accolades that reflect our industry leadership as well as the importance of our shows to the exhibitors and attendees we serve.

Our mission is to deliver value to our exhibitors and attendees by producing highly-relevant, industry-leading events that enhance the productivity of an industry’s participants and facilitate interaction between its most

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influential stakeholders on a regular, scheduled basis. We currently operate trade shows within several diverse industry sectors including Gift, Home & General Merchandise; Sports; Design & Construction; Technology; Jewelry; and others including Photography, Food, Healthcare, Industrials and Military.

Acquisitions

We are focused on growing our national footprint through the acquisition of high-quality events that are leaders in their specific industry verticals. Since the Onex Acquisition in June 2013, we have completed 15 strategic acquisitions, with purchase prices, excluding the $335.0 million acquisition of GLM, ranging from approximately $5.0 million to approximately $36.0 million, and revenues ranging from approximately $1.3 million to approximately $15.1 million. Historically, we have completed acquisitions at EBITDA purchase multiples that are typically in the mid-to-high single digits. Our acquisitions have historically been structured as asset deals that have resulted in the generation of long-lived tax assets, which in turn have reduced our purchase multiples when incorporating the value of the created tax assets. In the future, we intend to look for acquisitions with similarly attractive valuation multiples. The 15 acquisitions we have completed are described as follows:

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Organic Growth Drivers

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

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Trends and Other Factors Affecting Our Business

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

How We Assess the Performance of Our Business

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

Revenues

We generate revenues primarily from selling trade show exhibit space to exhibitors on a per square foot basis. Other trade show revenue streams include sponsorship, fees for ancillary exhibition services and attendee registration fees. Additionally, we generate revenue through conferences, digital media and print publications that complement our trade shows. We also engage third-party sales agents to support our marketing efforts. More than 95% of our sales are made by our employees, with less than 5% made by third-party sales agents. These agents, who are mainly based in Asia and Europe, are paid a percentage commission on sales.

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Cost of Revenues

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Interest Expense

Interest expense represents interest payments and refinancing fees paid to our lenders. During 2016, we paid interest to the lenders under our senior secured credit facilities (as in effect prior to the 2017 Refinancing (as defined

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below)) and to the holders of $200.0 million in aggregate principal amount of our 9.00% Senior Notes due 2021 (the “Senior Notes”) prior to their redemption as described below. On October 28, 2016, we borrowed $200.0 million of incremental term loans, and we fully redeemed all $200.0 million in aggregate principal amount of the Senior Notes with the proceeds of incremental term loans, cash on hand and proceeds of an $8.0 million borrowing under our revolving credit facility. On May 22, 2017, we refinanced our senior secured credit facilities with the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the “2017 Refinancing”). As a result, interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2017 principally represents interest paid in respect of our former senior secured credit facilities, as well as interest paid in respect of the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities. We further amended the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities in November 2017 to reduce the applicable interest rates.

Because we refinanced our outstanding indebtedness in October 2016 and again in May 2017 (including reducing our total amount of indebtedness outstanding using proceeds from the IPO during the second quarter of 2017) and also re-priced the Amended and Restated Term Loan Facility in November 2017, interest expense for the periods presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may not be comparable to each other or to interest expense for future periods.

Depreciation and Amortization

We have historically grown our business through acquisitions and, in doing so, have acquired significant intangible assets, the value of some of which is amortized over time. These acquired intangible assets, unless determined to be indefinite-lived, are amortized over extended periods of seven to ten years from the date of each acquisition for reporting under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) purposes, or fifteen years for tax purposes. This amortization expense reduces our taxable income. Depreciation expense relates to property and equipment and represented less than 1% of our total revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015.

Income Taxes

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

As a result of our federal NOL carryforwards, we did not incur significant cash obligations for federal income taxes in 2017. We used substantially all of our federal NOL carryforwards during 2017, and therefore expect our provision for income taxes to increase for future periods. We also record deferred tax charges or benefits primarily associated with our utilization or generation of net operating loss carryforwards and book-to-tax difference related to amortization of goodwill, amortization of intangibles assets, depreciation, stock-based compensation charges and deferred financing costs.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enacted. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act significantly revises the U.S. corporate income tax law by, among other things, decreasing the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018.  As a result of the reduction in the tax rate, we are required to revalue our U.S. net deferred tax liabilities at December 31, 2017. We estimate the impact of the revaluation will be a one-time benefit to income tax of approximately $52.1 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017. Also as a result of the reduction in the tax rate, we estimate our effective tax rate in 2018 will range between 26% to 28%.

Cash Flow Model

We have favorable cash flow characteristics, as described below (see “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Cash Flows”), as a result of our high profit margins, substantial favorable tax attributes, low capital expenditures and consistently negative working capital. Our working capital is negative as our current assets are consistently lower than our current liabilities. Current assets primarily include accounts receivable and prepaid expenses, while current liabilities primarily include accounts payable and deferred revenues. Cash received prior to an event is recorded as deferred revenue on our balance sheet and recognized in revenue upon completion of each trade show.

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The implication of having negative working capital is that changes in working capital represent a source of cash as our business grows.

The primary driver for our negative working capital is the sales cycle for a trade show, which typically begins during the prior show. In the interim period between the current show and the following show, we continue to sell to new and past exhibitors and collect payments on contracted exhibit space. We require exhibitors to pay in full in advance of each trade show, whereas the bulk of expenses are paid close to or after the show. Cash deposits start to be received as early as twelve months prior to a show taking place and virtually 100% of booth space revenues are typically received in cash one month prior to a show taking place. This highly efficient cash flow model, where revenue is received in advance of expenses to be paid, creates a working capital benefit.

Free Cash Flow

In addition to net cash provided by operating activities presented in accordance with GAAP, we present Free Cash Flow because we believe it is a useful indicator of liquidity that provides information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated from our core operations that, after capital expenditures, can be used for the repayment of indebtedness and strategic initiatives, including investing in our business, paying dividends, making strategic acquisitions and strengthening our balance sheet.

Free Cash Flow is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure of liquidity and is not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP. Free Cash Flow should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net cash provided by operating activities or other measures determined in accordance with GAAP. Also, Free Cash Flow is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The most directly comparable GAAP measure to Free Cash Flow is net cash provided by operating activities. For a reconciliation of Free Cash Flow to net cash provided by operating activities, see footnote 4 to the table under the heading “Results of Operations - Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2017 to the Year Ended December 31, 2016”.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is a key measure of our performance. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income before interest expense, loss on extinguishment of debt, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, deferred revenue adjustment, intangible asset impairment charge, the Onex management fee (for periods prior to our IPO), contract termination costs and other items that management believes are not part of our core operations. We present Adjusted EBITDA because we believe it assists investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management and our board of directors use Adjusted EBITDA to assess our financial performance and believe it is helpful in highlighting trends because it excludes the results of decisions that are outside the control of management, while other performance metrics can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which we operate and capital investments.

Adjusted EBITDA is not defined under GAAP, and is subject to important limitations, including that Adjusted EBITDA excludes certain normal recurring expenses and one-time cash adjustments that we consider to not be indicative of our ongoing operating performance. Because not all companies use identical calculations, our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies.  

The most directly comparable GAAP measure to Adjusted EBITDA is net income. For a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, see footnote 2 to the table under the heading “Results of Operations - Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2017 to the Year Ended December 31, 2016”.

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Adjusted Net Income

Adjusted Net Income is defined as net income before refinancing charges, loss on extinguishment of debt; stock-based compensation; deferred revenue adjustment; intangible asset impairment charge; the Onex management fee (for periods prior to our IPO); contract termination costs; other items that management believes are not part of our core operations; amortization of deferred financing fees and discount; amortization of (acquired) intangible assets; and tax adjustments related to non-GAAP adjustments.

We use Adjusted Net Income as a supplemental metric to evaluate our business’s performance in a way that also considers our ability to generate profit without the impact of certain items. For example, it is useful to exclude stock-based compensation expenses because the amount of such expenses in any specific period may not directly correlate to the underlying performance of our business, and these expenses can vary significantly across periods due to timing of new stock-based awards. We also exclude the amortization of intangible assets and certain discrete costs, including deferred revenue adjustments, impairment charges and transaction costs (including professional fees and other expenses associated with acquisition activity and debt refinancings) in order to facilitate a period-over-period comparison of our financial performance. Each of the normal recurring adjustments and other adjustments described in this paragraph help management with a measure of our operating performance over time by removing items that are not related to day-to-day operations.

Adjusted Net Income is not defined under GAAP and is subject to important limitations. We have included the calculation of Adjusted Net Income for the periods presented. Because not all companies use identical calculations, our presentation of Adjusted Net Income may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The most directly comparable GAAP measure to Adjusted Net Income is net income. For a reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to net income, see footnote 3 to the table under the heading “Results of Operations—Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2017 to the Year Ended December 31, 2016”.

Results of Operations

Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2017 to the Year Ended December 31, 2016

The tables in this section summarize key components of our results of operations for the periods indicated.

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We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income before (i) interest expense, (ii) loss on extinguishment of debt, (iii) income tax expense, (iv) depreciation and amortization, (v) stock-based compensation, (vi) deferred revenue adjustment, (vii) intangible asset impairment charge, (viii) the Onex management fee (for periods prior to our IPO), (ix) contract termination costs and (x) other items that management believes are not part of our core operations. We present Adjusted EBITDA because we believe it assists investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management and our board of directors use Adjusted EBITDA to assess our financial performance and believe they are helpful in highlighting trends because it excludes the results of decisions that are outside the control of management, while other performance metrics can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which we operate and capital investments. We reference Adjusted EBITDA frequently in our decision-making because it provides supplemental information that facilitates internal comparisons to the historical operating performance of prior periods. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider such measure either in isolation or as a substitute for analyzing our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations include that Adjusted EBITDA excludes certain normal recurring expenses and one-time cash adjustments that we consider not to be indicative of our ongoing operating performance.

On October 28, 2016, in connection with the Third Amendment, we redeemed all of our $200.0 million aggregate principal amount 9.00% Senior Notes due 2021 (the “Senior Notes”) at a redemption price of

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104.5%.  The $9.0 million redemption premium was included in loss on extinguishment of debt in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income.  Due to the extinguishment of the Senior Notes, we also wrote off $3.8 million of outstanding deferred financing fees which were included in loss on extinguishment of debt in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income.

We use Adjusted Net Income as a supplemental metric to evaluate our business’s performance in a way that also considers our ability to generate profit without the impact of certain items.

For example, it is useful to exclude stock-based compensation expenses because the amount of such expenses in any specific period may not directly correlate to the underlying performance of our business, and these expenses can vary significantly across periods due to timing of new stock-based awards. We also exclude the amortization of intangible assets and certain discrete costs, including deferred revenue adjustments, impairment charges and transaction costs (including professional fees and other expenses associated with acquisition activity) in order to facilitate a period-over-period comparison of our financial performance. This measure also reflects an adjustment for the difference between cash amounts paid in respect of taxes and the amount of tax recorded in accordance with GAAP. Each of the normal recurring adjustments and other adjustments described in this paragraph help to provide management with a measure of our operating performance over time by removing items that are not related to day-to-day operations or are noncash expenses.

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Adjusted Net Income is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure of operating performance and is not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP. Adjusted Net Income should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net income, cash flows from operating activities or other measures determined in accordance with GAAP. Also, Adjusted Net Income is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies.

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Free Cash Flow is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure of liquidity and is not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP. Free Cash Flow should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities or other measures determined in accordance with GAAP. Also, Free Cash Flow is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Revenues

Revenues of $341.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased $18.0 million, or 5.6%, from $323.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.  The increase in revenue reflected acquisition-driven growth of $24.3 million, or 7.5%, and organic growth of $0.6 million, or 0.2%. This growth was partly offset by the impact of Hurricane Irma, which reduced revenue by $6.6 million, or 2.0%, although this impact was fully reimbursed by insurance proceeds reported as Other Income (net of cost savings achieved), and also due to discontinued activities of $0.3 million, or 0.1%.  Incremental contributions from acquisitions of $24.3 million related to the 2017 acquisitions of CEDIA and InterDrone, where the shows took place in 2017, as well as the incremental revenues contributed by Pavement, ACRE, Collective, RFID LIVE! and Digital Dealer which were businesses we acquired in 2016 after the respective shows for that year had staged.  

The organic revenue increase of $0.6 million, or 0.2%, reflected slight growth in trade shows and other events, partly offset by a mid-single digit decline in Other Marketing Services. Trade show organic growth of 0.6% included low-to mid-single digit percentage growth in our largest sector, Gift, Home & General Merchandise, and mid to high single digit growth in Other Trade Shows, offset by a mid to high single digit percentage decline in the Sports sector.  In Gift, Home & General Merchandise, KBIS and ICFF continued to be notable drivers of growth, while our two largest franchises, ASD Market Week and NY NOW, both reported slightly lower revenues than in 2016. In Other Trade Shows we saw strong growth from Pizza Expo and its new regional launch, Pizza & Pasta North East. The Sports sector decline was mainly attributable to a significant decline in revenues from our Interbike show, reflecting underlying market weakness, and by a high single digit percentage decline in our Outdoor Retailer Summer Market show, held in Salt Lake City, that was impacted by a partial boycott of our show by exhibitors protesting the state of Utah’s position on certain federally protected lands. The revenues of our Jewelry and Technology sectors were relatively flat.

Other Income

On September 7, 2017, as a result of Hurricane Irma, our Surf Expo and ISS Orlando trade shows were forced to close two days early.  The Company carries cancellation insurance to mitigate losses caused by natural disasters, and during the fourth quarter of 2017 received a settlement of $6.5 million to offset substantially all of the lost revenues from the affected shows.  As a result, we recorded Other Income of $6.5 million in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income for the year ended December 31, 2017 to recognize the amount recovered from our event insurance company.  

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues of $95.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased $10.6 million, or 12.6%, from $84.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. Incremental costs from acquisitions contributed $7.0 million and the remaining $3.6 million increase included $1.5 million related to launches, $0.3 million of savings on discontinued events, and $2.5 million of other cost increases, the latter mainly driven by the revenue growth of the KBIS and ICFF shows.

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Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses of $121.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased $23.0 million, or 23.0%, from $98.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. Incremental costs from 2017 and 2016 acquisitions contributed $5.9 million to selling, general and administrative expense. In addition, we incurred $10.1 million in one-time contract termination costs in connection with the relocation of the Outdoor Retailer show from Salt Lake City to Denver.  Legal, accounting and consulting fees related to our IPO and other transaction related activities were $4.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2017, a $3.2 million increase from the prior year.  Furthermore, we expensed $8.6 million in transition and transaction costs during the year ended December 31, 2017, mainly related to our recent acquisitions, which was a $2.2 million increase from the prior year.  The remaining $1.6 million increase in selling, general and administrative expenses was driven mainly by additional costs associated with operating as a public company of approximately $1.5 million and other net cost increases of $0.2 million, partly offset by a $0.5 million decrease in stock-based compensation.  

Depreciation and Amortization Expense

Depreciation and amortization expense of $43.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased $3.2 million, or 8.0%, from $40.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase was comprised of $3.0 million in additional intangible asset amortization related to intangible assets acquired in the 2017 and 2016 acquisitions and a $0.2 million increase in depreciation expense.

Interest Expense

Interest expense of $38.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 decreased $13.1 million, or 25.5%, from $51.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. The decrease was primarily due to a $12.2 million decrease in interest expense resulting from $14.2 million in savings following the October 2016 redemption of the 9.00% Senior Notes, which were repaid using $200.0 million in incremental term loan borrowings under the Senior Secured Credit facilities, which bore interest at a lower rate, as well as the interest savings attributable to the reduction in the principal amount of our indebtedness during the year ended December 31, 2017. These savings were partly offset by a $2.0 million increase in third party costs related to the refinancing of our Senior Secured Credit Facilities in May 2017 and the repricing of the Senior Secured Credit Facilities in November 2017 compared to the fees incurred on the $200.0 million in incremental term loan borrowings which occurred in October 2016.  The remaining $0.9 million decrease in interest expense was primarily attributable to a lower loss on interest rate swap and floor contracts.

Loss on Extinguishment of Debt

Loss on extinguishment of debt was $3.0 million and $12.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.  In conjunction with the refinancing of our Senior Secured Credit Facilities in May 2017, certain debt holders’ balances were fully extinguished. As a result, we wrote off unamortized deferred financing fees and original issuance discount of $1.4 million and $1.6 million, respectively. On October 28, 2016, we redeemed all $200.0 million of our 9.00% Senior Notes at a redemption price of 104.5%. In addition to the $9.0 million redemption premium, we wrote off unamortized deferred financing fees of $3.8 million as a result of the extinguishment.

(Benefit from) Provision for Income Taxes

For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, we recorded a benefit from income taxes of $35.0 million and a provision for income taxes of $14.0 million, respectively.  As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted on December 22, 2017, we recognized a $52.1 million tax benefit due to the impact of revaluing our net deferred tax liabilities from 35% to the newly enacted U.S. corporate tax rate of 21%.  Excluding the effect of this one-time adjustment, the Company’s effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2017 was 36.7% compared to 38.9% for the year ended December 31, 2016.  The decrease in the effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2017 was primarily attributable to excess tax deductions recognized by the Company on the exercise of stock options and the release of certain uncertain tax position reserves due to the lapse in their related statutes of limitations.

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Net Income; Adjusted EBITDA; Adjusted Net Income

Net income of $81.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased $59.6 million, or 268.5%, from $22.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase was primarily attributable to the $52.1 million tax benefit due to the impact of revaluing our net deferred tax liabilities from 35.0% to 21.0% as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  In addition, contributions from acquisitions during 2017 and 2016 and lower interest expense as a result of the redemption of $200.0 million of the Senior Notes in October 2016 and the reduction in the principal amount of our indebtedness as a result of the refinancing and repricing transactions during 2017 drove higher net income.  These gains were offset by higher non-recurring contract termination expenses, audit, legal and consulting costs associated with the IPO, other acquisitions costs and refinancing and repricing fees.  Adjusted EBITDA of $157.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased $5.8 million, or 3.8%, from $152.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. The reasons for the increase in Adjusted EBITDA were the same as for the increases in net income, excluding the $49.1 million increase in benefit from income taxes. Adjusted EBITDA benefited from the exclusion of the $15.8 million increase in one-time contract termination costs, legal, audit and consulting fees associated with the IPO and other related activities, and transaction and transition costs and $3.3 million of higher depreciation and amortization expense in the year ended December 31, 2017 versus the prior year. These benefits were offset by $24.0 million of combined reductions from lower interest expense, refinancing and repricing fees, loss on extinguishment of debt, stock-based compensation costs and management fees. Adjusted Net Income for the year ended December 31, 2017 of $80.3 million increased $16.6 million, or 26.1%, from $63.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. The reasons for the increase in Adjusted Net Income were the same as the reasons for the increase in Adjusted EBITDA.  In addition, Adjusted Net Income benefited from the absence of a $16.9 million decrease in interest expense and amortization of deferred financing fees and discount add-backs, offset by a $5.7 million increase related to the deferred tax adjustment and tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments deductions.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income are financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with GAAP. For a discussion of our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA, see footnote 2 to the table under the heading to the table under the heading “Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2017 to the Year Ended December 31, 2016”.  For a discussion of our presentation of Adjusted Net Income, see footnote 3 to the table under the heading “Results of Operations - Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2017 to the Year Ended December 31, 2016.”

Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2016 to the Year Ended December 31, 2015

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